I made it into work but my butt was dragging. I’ve been hauling ‘terra stone’ (they look like little cut outs of key holes…make that big cut outs of keyholes) for a patio slab that already exists off of my glass slider from the dining room.

So far in four trips, I’ve hauled 430 of them weighing over eight pounds each. On two of the trips, Vivienne went with me and helped me hand pick the colors I wanted and helped me with loading and placing. While it doesn’t sound like much, it’s over 3,000 pounds (each trip) by the time they are loaded on a cart, dragged/rolled to check out at Home Depot, loaded into the bed of my truck, loaded into a wheel barrow, then laid in order on the patio.

The other two trips I did mostly by myself other than one trip, an errant guy at Home Depot that had helped another woman load something, asked if I wanted help when I was over half done. Chit Mon! I said, “Yes!” And my son arrived as I was down to the last 30 stones going into the wheel barrow on another trip.

Ain’t it amazing that when I check out of the Garden Center at Home Depot and a WOMAN checks me out, she never asks if I want help loading it? Sure, I could ask for help but what ever happened to people offering it?

The yard is coming along – lots of small finishing touches need to be added but the mass of the work is done. Today they will deliver five tons of Arizona River Rock, the last of 41 tons that will decorate my front and back yard. I can never sell this place, my sweat and hard work along with lots of my hard earned $$$$ are involved here, not to mention the fact that it’s my design and choice and how could I stand to drive by in a few years and know someone else lived there now? *sniff* This is my baby!

So when I slid into the Poker Pit, a few minutes before I was to tap out a dayshift dealer that wanted to go home for the night, I was wondering if I would make it through my shift. I was beat.

For the most part, the night was easy…deal, try to focus on the bets, the game play, push the pot, start over. Sometimes it’s so mundane that it’s hypnotic and hard to keep a focus. Table 16 that would have been the ‘big game’ if they were in town, was a four handed Chinese Poker game. They were playing Deuce to 7 in the middle.

Jimmy G. was in the 1s and he must have been having a hell-uv-a night…not a good one. He had almost no chips in front of him and after the third hand I dealt, he mumbled, “We just aren’t in sync are we, Linda?”

I really don’t know how anyone ever gets in sync with Chinese…at least not for serious money.

At one point he even told me not to deal anymore. I waited. Then another time, as the other three players were taking to long to set their hand, he laid his down – without separating it into three hands – and said he was going to the bathroom. It forced the other three to wait for him to return. The whole damn thing was crazy.

My next game was $15-30 H. Romey was in the 3s. It’s a strange world, this poker land. I used to deal to and play against Romey years ago in Montana. We never got along. When I first met him, he was a clean cut, youngster (I was a lot younger than too) that had some manners and style to his play. As the years progressed, he became noisy, abusive, and extremely hard to deal with and to…not just my opinion but most of the folks in that area agreed.

We aren’t buddies now but we have ‘history’ and he’s toned down. I’ve seen him in the room off and on over the last five to six months but this was the first time I’ve dealt to him. He took some beats, went busted, and exited the game gracefully. Time changes everything.

I hit the Must Move of the $10-20 NLH. It was almost painful to watch one player give all of his chips to O’Neil…on several different buy-ins. The pain wasn’t in pushing the pot to O’Neil, it was in wondering how desperate this guy was to give away his money.

The Main Game of the $10-20 NLH was pretty close to the same venue. Scary on how easily these guys just throw their chips in and declare all-in. Ugly on listening to a regular state, “They play so bad.” That comment doesn’t even need to be made.

One young guy went on a rush – he looked like he was scared to death. Grant bet $400 on the Flop, another player made it $750 all-in, the Youngster made it $1,000. I told him he would have to make it $1,150. He looked at me like I should be committed. He said he was raising it.

I agreed. He was raising but the initial bet was $400, he would have to raise it $400 over the ‘all-in’. He did…not because he knew what I was talking about.

He won the pot with the nut Flush. So-o-o-o-o-o not only is the yard work wearing me out, so is the job. Time for sleep.