Still On Wisconsin Time

I'm at work at 7:30AM!! Wow, that never happens. It was nice biking in to work before the temperature went over 80.

Renewable Energy

I just spent the weekend at a renewable energy fair in Wisconsin with Tiffany. Actually, it wasn't just any renewable energy fair, it was the biggest one in the country! There were all sorts of booths and tents where people discussed important issues like solar energy, wind energy, composting toilets (!), and various other means of using renewable energy to realize the potential of sustainable living. Tiff was promoting the first and only non-profit environmental law firm in Wisconsin (she's working for them this summer), Midwest Environmental Advocates, and I was helping by fetching lunch and giving her a few breaks to go check the rest of the fair out. I did get an opportunity myself to see two of the talks. One was about "bursting the hydrogen bubble", basically saying the hydrogen fuel cell technology is a long ways from being a viable source of energy while other technology, like hybrids, are feasible right now. The other talk was about advanced photo-voltaics (solar panels) and was a bit technical but interesting nonetheless.

I'm working in the library at UW right now and it looks like the data I've been transferring to my computer at Steward are finally uploaded, so time to get back to work.

Doh

So I'm playing in the pokerstars bloggers tournament right now. There are about 2200 players, about half of which are "sitting out" and the top nine finishers get a spot in the WSOP, I believe. Pretty good odds, I'd say!

I already doubled up when I slow-played a full house with K-7 until my opponent made a flush on the river, but I didn't get any action at all when I had A-A on nearly consecutive hands! Nevertheless, I'm feeling good about the tourney so far.

Oh yeah, kudos to US soccer for drawing with Italy.

Oh my god! A-A again! And no action again!!

And no action with J-J...

1:33pm: AKs no action.

1:42pm: Just folded a big pot with J-9... Things aren't looking so rosy anymore.

2:00pm: Blinds up to 75-150. My M is just about 10.

2:13pm: Pocket 3s turn into a boat and I'm up to 5000.

2:22pm: The people who never showed up are finally starting to bust out. There'll be about a 1000 people left who are actually playing. I just got moved to another table and my M is about 13.

2:37pm: Blinds up to 100-200 with 25 ante. My M is down to 7 because of the increase in blinds. No more sitters at my table.

2:52pm: Blinds at 200-400 with 25 ante. My M is about 4 and I'm looking to go all-in at the first chance.

2:56pm: And I'm out. I was first to act with Q-9 and moved all-in (M was about 4 with the blinds coming around...). The button called with A-10 and I didn't hit. I finished in the top quartile, whoopie! Of course, the bottom half never even showed up :P

This Just In

USA soccer still sucks hosewater. Not that this is any kind of surprise or anything, given that our best athletes play football or basketball or baseball (to a lesser extent) or even ice hockey before they play soccer. And it didn't help any that we were essentially playing an away game against the Czechs today. But that's more of a minor excuse. The bottom line we learned today is that the hype over the US Men's soccer team was overblown.

Catching Lightning In A Bottle

I signed up for a free, "bloggers only" tournament sponsored by pokerstars.com. At the bottom of this post is the (poorly coded!) advertisement I'm supposed to post so that I can enter. Apparently, if I get incredibly lucky, I can win a seat in the main event of the World Series of Poker. Of course, they don't even say how many people are entering the event, which takes place Sunday June 18 at 1pm MST. If it was only 10 or 15 I'd still have a small chance at winning. But it'll probably be more like 10,000 or something. You never know though...

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5824371

French Open Finals This Weekend

Tune your TVs to NBC at 9am Saturday for the French Open women's final and on Sunday at the same time for the Men's final. The men's final should be particularly awesome if Nadal and Federer are not upset in the semis. Federer beats everybody easily... except Nadal. And Nadal is an especially exceptional player on clay. It should be a great match, provided they both win their semifinals. And there's the added bonus that the coverage will be live!

Frisbee In the Thunder

I was at an ultimate frisbee practice last night, which was something of a surprise, given that I wasn't sure if we'd even be playing due to the rain/thunderstorms prevailing at 7:45pm, when I left for the field. Fortunately, I didn't let the minor rainfall deter me, because once I got there the rain let up and the practice went fine. What is more, I got to see lightning flashing first a few miles north of the field, and then towards the end of the practice a few miles south. Somehow the storm must have skirted right around us though, because the thunder was never loud enough for me to notice it. Seeing lightning flash at night is a very cool thing.

Big 3rd Place Finish!

I finished 3rd in poker last night, netting a gigantic payout of $10.75 for a monster $5.75 profit!!! At least I got my money in when I had the best of it: I had about 450 and raised on the button with A-2 to 150 with the blinds at 30-60. My opponent called with K-J from the big blind. The flop was A-Q-7 and I was already planning on betting the flop, figuring a higher kicker was just something I was going to lose all my money to. My opponent bet 100, but I still felt top pair was good, so I raised all-in. She thought for a bit and called. I was feeling pretty good until a 10 came (I don't even remember whether it was on the turn or river!), giving her a straight and me my $5.75 profit. I was picking up great hands all night though, so I certainly can't complain about my luck.