Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Paris Phou's LiveJournal:

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Monday, March 9th, 2009
10:45 pm	New month, same results So it's been quite awhile since I updated last… used to be that this "blog" be a daily update, journal-ish type thing, but now that I'm super-busy with work, dealing poker, making money and trying to be social, I honestly don't have time to type stuff out that's all pretty mundane.  Nothing new and exciting going on… still working at the bank and still dealing poker on the side, about 4 nights a week.  I pretty much have a set schedule now though… work then poker on Monday and Tuesday, work then dance on Wednesday and Thursday, then work and poker or some other event Friday and Saturday.  This one-term no-school thing is quite handy… but it's going to be hard to adjust back into it either Spring term or Fall term (I have to talk to the advisor to see if I have to take a course in the Spring to stay enrolled). Let's see what else… in review of February, it was all pretty much the same.  On Valentine's Day, a day I love to secretly despise, I went to Keri's birthday party and had a good time because Dave drove. Got a chance to hang out with a lot of friends, drink a bit and meet a few new people like Dee.  We didn't do anything terribly exciting… chatted with Carolyn on Skype though, which was entertaining.  Not much else exciting in the way of being social… maybe when the weather warms up and my savings fund starts building up, I'll be able to take nights off from dealing and be a little more adventurous… it is a little lonely being me sometimes. (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 25th, 2009
11:44 pm	saturday to the saturday. So here I am at work, finally a Saturday that isn't bustling with stuff to do. I haven't written in a while, with the holidays being super hectic, and just simply not being motivated enough to take 15, 20, 30 minutes to type out a summary of the past few weeks. Anyways, since the car accident, I've been driving my dad's Jeep Cherokee around town.  Unfortunately for me, we haven't had one of those huge snowstorms where the 4 wheel drive would be useful. But anyways- what happened was I was coming home from work on the 22nd of December and as I was driving down 11 Mile, an old lady stopped in the right lane to let some guy into the road with a right turn… but the guy decided he wanted to turn left onto 11 Mile and I was going the speed limit but he pulled right out in front of me and I partially T-boned his front end with mine… and my poor car crumpled and busted the radiator, among other things.  So the cops came and my mom drove me to Beaumont where I waited for four hours for a CT and Chest X-Ray… but Megan the nursing assistant for my wing was very nice, even when my mom went off on here for my long wait.  Anyways, I took the next day off and my car has about $2000 worth of damage… I found out not enough to total, but too cheap to just let go… so we get $500 for no-fault collision in Michigan and that's it… pain in the butt. So what else… New Year's was pretty fun… me, Steve, Dave, Crystal and Keri went over to Nate Castle's place where we hung out for a bit and drank a little and played Rock Band until about 2AM. Not much else holiday-wise… got some cash to start saving up for a Las Vegas vacation (can't wait til April!) A few weeks ago, I started playing in weekend freeroll tournaments at Fairlanes Bowl- the charity poker room has a freeroll at 4 on Saturday and Sundays… free to enter with 1500 chips, $20 max-buy at the beginning, unlimited $10 rebuys in the first hour… Kyle visited from DC a few weeks ago and we both had good runs, making it to the final table, where I busted in 8th, and Kyle won the whole thing with only one rebuy- a $220 first prize. So we went Red Lobster for dinner after that, and then off to Ypsi to visit with Skinny and play some pool and darts and euchre until 2AM. Last week, I was in the tournament again, but a dealer got sick and had to leave, so I volunteered to deal/play because I was short on chips anyway.  That led to a job offer and this past weekend I started dealing on a regular basis... so I'm doing this dealing thing as a second job Thursday through Sunday, as both a weekend distraction from work type stuff and to make more money on the side so that I can really start saving for a real vacation in April. So if you like poker and want more info on the action, drop me a line and I'll tell you all about it. More on early january later... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
9:42 pm	my poor baby car Last weekend, holiday weekend, was definitely a lot of good times.  First on Friday, after the foot of snow made driving in and work itself very interesting (I had to help push out about 4 cars from our unplowed parking lot).  Then after dinner, I headed out to Nicolle's holiday party, but got stuck in the snow on the way there myself... but I eventually rocked out the car (possibly messing up the transmission).  The party was cool... got a chance to chat with some new people, caught up with Stefania, Nate, Nicolle, Amy S, etc. We played some drinking Jenga, and it was an excellent time, drinking and snacking... eventually called it a night around 1AM or so. Then on Saturday, I went out to Sarah C's birthday... first to Sakana Sushi Lounge in Ferndale.  Caught up with Steve and Hellen, bitched Tim out for not sending me my money over the phone, and witnessed a very small, string-like worm being found in Sarah and Kimberly's edamame.  So they got a few free drinks for not putting up a fuss, and eventually after that we went to Hartfield for some bowling.  Had some drinks and bowled a game and 3/4 or so.... then headed out to Amici's for some pizza and martinis (although I ordered a sandwich instead of having the vegan pizza).  After that, pretty much headed home after a snowy stop at Sarah's friend Dan's house.  Sunday was a little low-key party as Lindsay was having people over for Christma-kuh.  A few new people came over, but it was mostly people from Lamphere, including Courtney, Sarah C, Libby, Amy and her mom, etc etc etc.  Nothing too exciting, just enjoyed some latkes and "homemade" pie, and we all played some Wii.  After that though, Shelley texted me and she wanted me to accompany her to Royal Oak and hang out with some of her old friends, Jon, with his g/f, and his sister Janelle at O'Tooles.  Had a good time, getting to know these random people and eventually the party moved over to Woody's across the street. Just had some drinks and enjoyed life and made lots of small talk.  After a Coney stop, came home around 1 and went straight to bed.  So Monday started out fine, and work was pretty mundane... but afterwards was one of maybe the scariest moments of my life.  More on my car accident later. (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 14th, 2008
10:07 am	whoa So, it's been quite awhile since I've posted (a month), maybe the longest time between posts.  Mainly it's just because I've been quite busy and when I get on the computer I have lots of others things to do before writing on my LJ and then when I do finish them, it's too late to start something else. Anyways, the big things that have happened recently include my birthday, Thanksgiving, and a post-Thanksgiving party.  Don't really have time to run through them all, but here are the highlights: Birthday: * Went to Mr B's in Royal Oak after work on Tuesday the 25th to get dinner. * Had a good steak, played a lot of pool, had 2 or 3 shots, drank beer, and started to lose track of what was going on. * Walked over with Steve, Steve, and Jeston to Black Finn for another round * Left Black Finn because it was busy * Went to O'Toole's across the railroad tracks to have another bucket of beers. * I walked over to a table of girls (while wearing my birthday party hat) from Bloomfield Hills and convinced one of them to buy me a shot * Started to feel very... light-headed/wasted, as I was talking to the girls and apparently gave out my business cards because I checked my wallet the next morning. * Stevie Z drove me and the other guys home * I passed out on the couch. Thanksgiving and the post-Thanksgiving party were good times too.... but I'm running out of time because today is another Showcase day and I'm performing with Danyelle a Frosty the Snowman Mambo dance. Should be fun times, they always are, but now I have to get ready... back later tonight! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
12:50 am	Veterans Day In honor of all those Veterans who have served our country so that we could live in freedom today... Happy Veterans Day! So anyways, that means I have all day Tuesday off from work because of the bank holiday. Haven't posted in awhile... it's not that I have six million things to do, I just find it hard to talk about things all the time.  Some highlights... a couple days ago me and Holly and Dave and Crystal started a Saw movie marathon, and then Kitna and Steve and Holly's friend Fred came over and we all saw Saw IV after eating pizza, then, me and Holly and Fred went to MJR to see the Saw V. Seeing all five was a good way to interconnect a lot of things, but it wasn't that good of a movie... interesting new traps though. Nothing much else... school kind of sucks, I did not do very well on the last exam. And I may have to take the entire course again. Oh well, it happens.  Fantasy football is going well, I am going to win this week and only have 3 more games to go to make the playoffs.  I went to the casino today with Jeston and lost a bit... will get it back in a work bonus soon though. Still haven't decided what I want to do for my birthday- will spend some time tomorrow and the rest of the week to figure it all out.  Perhaps a two-night extravaganza combining my birthday with the day before Thanksgiving bar night.  Or maybe a guys' night and a free-for-all night.   Suggestions would be cool! My car hit 100000 miles a couple weeks ago, don't know if I mentioned that or not.  Work is not as crazy as it used to be, it's pretty much the same stuff day in and day out, but hopefully we use the bailout money we got to buy some other bank or part of a bank and maybe I can do something with that... haven't heard anything yet though. That's pretty much it. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
11:13 pm	Questions! Answer 1 or answer them all! Does anybody own all the Saw movies so that I can borrow them and catch up (I saw 3 and 4, and read summaries of 1 and 2)... i'd like to see them all before seeing Five either this weekend or next weekend? Does anybody want to check out my ballroom dance studio tomorrow (Friday night) 9-10PM?... You can just watch, get a few beginner steps, or if you've done some, practice some new moves on a wood dance floor! It's really fun and there'll still be plenty of time to go out and/or get a drink afterwards! Does anybody know anyone that is looking for a place to stay?  I still have one room available in my house with some great rent rates and lots of amenities including a brand-new shower, all utilities included and free wireless internet!  And cool roomates, me and Dave Krogh.  All for around $375! Answer one or answer them all in a comment or in an email (pphou@umich.edu) , all responses welcome! (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
9:58 am	one failure isn't the end of the world... Yesterday I chose to take a half day off this morning (Tuesday) instead of on Thursday in order to study for my Finance midterm that's on Wednesday, but I haven't been very productive at all.  I slept in til about 8:30, had breakfast at Big Boy and now I'm here at Biggby coffee using the free WiFi but not doing very much studying.  I'm very much not prepared for this thing, and for the first time in my entire life, I may be in danger of failing a test in school... but hopefully I can either get lucky or get a lot of work done this evening as I cram my butt off. Last weekend was kind of cool-  Keri was back in from Illinois, so me, Dave, Keri and Gayle went to Dave and Busters to have a drink and play some games and met up with Stevie Z.  Then around midnight, the girls called it a night, but me and Dave went over to Adam's for his birthday and played some Apples to Apples and watched a couple parts of Rob Zombie movies.  Then the next day on Sunday, our softball team won a game only playing 8 people (3 outfielders, no 2nd baseman), by being extremely lucky and the other team being extremely hungover/drunk.  This past weekend was also entertaining- on Friday, I went out with everyone in the branch to Hartfield for some bowling action and I bowled a great 218 and everyone was impressed.  They were also impressed that I was able to sing my way through I Will Survive, the Gloria Gaynor version, without being embarrassed.  Then I also karaoke-amubushed rob and bryan by putting a Sweet Caroline slip for them and they were horrible, but they had fun with it.  Left around midnight because it was getting kind of boring... unfortunately for rob, he apparently got a DUI on the way home, but he's old and we have a couple cops as customers, so he may get off kind of easy.  Then on Saturday, we went to Cedar Point and it was CRAZY busy- first we got a late start, but then hit a bunch of traffic getting off the turnpike... then we get there and the park was packed.  We got on the big three, including getting to ride the Top Thrill Dragster which was worth the price of admission itself... but the Maverick got knocked out of commission at the end of the night, so we had to settle for a Gemini, Magnum, Raptor for our last rides.  The fright zone got kind of corny at the end, and I would've rather just gone on a Sunday to just get rides, but it wasn't meant to be... next year will be a lot better. Anyways, this week is just midterm madness during the week, then U-M/MSU on Saturday before going out for a birthday party after and then softball all day Sunday depending on how much we win because it's the playoffs.  Busy busy busy... can't wait for November (birthday month plus vacation days in the middle of the month and Thanksgiving at the end!) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
11:54 pm	I have a grapevine on the side of my house. The last couple weeks, since writing last have been kind of interesting but not anything spectacularly memorable.  Let's see, last weekend, Crystal, Dave and I went to the Crash Landing Bar and Grill which is a very short drive from my house on Dequindre and 11 Mile and we sang karaoke... there was this old guy there, like at least 70 years old, named "Mt Clemens Elvis" who was crazy... he would do kicks and jump around just like Elvis... and he's 70! Insane. The day after that I played softball and we actually had a tie game and then in the second game we got into a 6-0 hole, got it to 6-2, then went on a tear in the third inning... and made it 16-6... finally I scored the winning run when I hit a single to right, advanced to second on a poor throw, made it to third on a single and won it on Brian H's liner to center. 1-6-1 is a lot better than the Lions! Work's kind of interesting... one of my co-workers is probably either leaving for another branch or going to get fired at some point... she wants out apparently.  Now the 11 Mile and Coolidge intersection is blocked off so literally we had half the customers we normally do... makes for one boring job right now. School is kind of in a lull... the individual project was a hassle, but I think I at least can get a C on it... the midterm in 3 weeks is gonna suck though.  Fantasy football... I love Fantasy football... if I could make a career out of fantasy football, I would.  Sunday is now my most favorite day of the week.  Hmm, not much else to talk about... I got some landscaping done the other day, so my house is looking better than ever.  25th Birthday is coming up soon... Tuesday Nov 25th... haven't decided what I want to do yet.  But 25 on 25?  Should try to make it a good one.    (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
6:56 pm	long time no write. So here I am at the Royal Oak Public Library trying to study my corporate finance book but it's absolutely the most boring stuff I've ever read.  Not that I really know the stuff, I haven't taken finance since Winter 2006, but all these concepts are put in the most dull way possible.  Therefore, I am taking a break. The last couple weeks have been all right.  I started playing softball on Sundays and I've had a few good plays, but a few rusty ones as well. Maybe need to practice more.  Bowling was decent, but I couldn't string enough strikes together to get a 200.  Work has been work... nothing too interesting.  We've been getting busier and busier, and while that's good in that I have less time to get bored, it also means I have less time for things like update the livejournal and such.  Let's see what else... I got my new shower put in my bathroom so it looks a million times better than it used to. Went to a couple garage sales and found a bunch of old video game stuff on Sunday.  Last Saturday, I went to the LaSallette Church festival about a block away from work and Stacey, one of my regular customers, convinced me to volunteer for the Vegas tent and deal, and I said I would since she was giving me free beer and hot dogs.  So I went and dealt some during the poker tournament which was fun... and then I took over the roulette wheel.  I used a lot of the lines dealers at MGM and Greektown used to get people to play, and the ball had a mind of its own... lots of double 0 and single 0's to help the church out.  Finally I finished with a shift of Let It Ride poker, a table game similar to 3-card poker.  It was a lot of fun dealing, and I told Stacey to call me up for next year so I could do it again.  Fantasy football is going just as expected... I lead my division in the big money keeper league 3-0 behind Philip Rivers and Chris Chambers, last in a public league, first in the Steve Heinrich league, and last place in the $20 Brindy league where I didn't get to draft my own players since I wasn't home that Saturday.  Lots of wheeling and dealing though, as is my specialty.  Of course the Lions suck, but the fantasy helps keep me interested. Other than that, not much else.  (Comment on this)
Friday, September 5th, 2008
7:12 pm	not enough time to type. Last weekend was packed full of fun stuff… on Friday, after chatting on the phone with Tim Smith about the upcoming wedding the next day, Carolyn and I went to dance at the ballroom club one last time before she heads out to Korea in the coming weeks. We got there and the floor was much too small for the amount of people there, but it was fun times and we got to see a Latin showcase by a couple pros as well. Then we went over to karaoke at JD's to hang out with Dave, Crystal, Steve, Jackie, Laura, etc. and eventually had to call it a night because Carolyn was tired. The next day started out bright and early as I was helping my coworker Sh'Vaughn's husband move a couple couches from their apartment. The whole trip took about 2 hours as we had to load, unload and drop off at a couple different locations. But after stopping for breakfast on the way back, it was an okay way to repay a favor from a couple months before. Then I went home, cleaned up and then after watching a little college football, I went out to Logan's for a steak lunch with Monica, a friend from the dance studio. We shared, caught up, and chatted for an hour and a half before she had to go. After that, I started watching the U-M/Utah game (which was kind of disappointing), and at halftime, got ready to go to Anthony and Jenny's wedding. Once I was cleaned up, I headed out to Sterling Heights, to first pick up Tim, and then picked up Carolyn after that. Then we headed to Walgreens to buy a couple cards. Finally we got to the Gazebo at 13 and Mound and just snuck in right before the wedding party was announced. Pierre was a groomsman and a pretty integral part of the bachelor party planning, and so my parents were invited to the reception as well. The toasts were on polar opposites- Anthony's best man/cousin Nick improvised and kept it short, while Katie, Jenny's older sister, had one  At our table were a bunch of guys and we all went to high school together so that was fun, taking a couple shots and drinking with them. The dinner buffet was excellent as well… even though the food wasn't a sit down meal, there were lots of choices, it was hot and tasty, and there was even a roast beef carver (which is highly underrated… I'll take medium rare roast beef slices over an overdone tenderloin or filet any day of the week) The potatoes were also to die for. Anyways, after the meal and the usual bridal party dances and such… it was time to celebrate… Carolyn and I of course, danced everyone's socks off early on until the more rap and party favorites (cha-cha slide, solja boy, cotton eye joe etc), came on. We got a lot of compliments on our coordinated moves, which is always nice to hear. After a few dances with other people (I caught up with Kristy during one dance and did a lot of freestylin' as well). Finally, it was last call and we finished up with a fast waltz… and overall, it was one of the most entertaining, best weddings I've been to. Of course, there weren't really many single girls there that didn't have dates, but you can't win em all. So after the wedding, I dropped off Carolyn first before dropping off a heavily drunk Tim. Then me and Steve S. went to Jacmar's for some karaoke and most of the bridal party was there drinking and singing… had a good time catching up a couple more people and then I sung a Macarena since they didn't play it at the reception. Anyways, after that, me and Steve H. went to Ram's Horn for breakfast and were followed by Alina, a high school friend Kristina, and Eric and Nick… breakfast was really slow, but eventually we ate and got out of there around 4AM. (Comment on this)
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
12:20 am	Parties and Such  So last weekend was the "goodbye" party I hosted at my house on Friday night and it was definitely a good time. The people saying "goodbye" were Christa and Nick moving to Ohio, Keri moving to Illinois, and Carolyn and Jeff teaching English in Korea for a year. And of course anybody else that was coming to the party and going somewhere for awhile.  I picked up Carolyn from her broken down car and we cleaned up and set up… then people just started showing up and finally Jeff got there with the keg. We had a good time playing beer pong, eating snacks and eventually someone ordered pizza. I had a tough go at the table, probably because of the length adjustment, going only 3-3 overall, getting destroyed the last two games. Anyways, towards the end of the night, people started tricking inside from it being a little chilly outside, and I was just a little intoxicated, but ended up passing out around 2 on my couch. But overall we had a good time and nothing too crazy happened to my house. The next day, woke up and went over to Keri's to help her pack her aunt and uncle's truck and trailer. I was a little late, but still helped load up with Jeff and Carolyn as well. On the way home though, Keri's aunt and uncle lost a couch cushion, so Carolyn and I picked it up off the ground underneath an overpass… kind of an adventure. Spent most of the rest of the afternoon doing nothing and recovering… then Carolyn and Jeff came over, me and Dave got pizza, then Keri came over to officially say goodbye since she was leaving early Sunday morning. So anyways, I bade her farewell and while I'm going to miss her, we'll always be friends and I'm sure that we'll chat often enough. Sunday was kind of a wash, with not much to do and some cancelled plans, so after some errands, I met up with Carolyn and Jeff at St. Malachy's summer festival... played some bingo, won one, bought some plates at a flea market, then played some charity craps, blackjack and roulette and ended up winning about $17 from hitting red 25 (my birthday that I always bet) 3 times... pretty fun stuff... then a bit to eat and then called it a night... came home and did nothing the rest of the night.  The week's been kind of a bore, but then there's the weekend ahead... tentative plans Friday, then Tony D's bachelor party on Saturday, and probably recovering on Sunday... should be a good time. (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
4:25 pm	13 days later Haven't had much time to post lately, I've been doing lots of things during lots of days and nights.  Work is work- but with increasing traffic, I have less time to waste since I'm doing something all the time.   On Thursday, after my halfday of work, me and Jeston went out to Kalamazoo to visit Kyle and go play golf.  I hit a few good drives, but my approach irons were pretty bad.  In the end I won though, although on the last hole, me and Kyle accidentally played the wrong balls. After a quick round of golf, we went back to his parents' house to eat hamburgers and hot dogs off the grill, and then went out on the lake for a little boat ride.   Last week I had my bathtub measured, and I'm getting the new bathliner in a couple weeks, which will make the bathroom look ten times better.  Last night, we had a party here at the house and with the keg, beer pong, music, snacks and such it was a good time. I don't remember much after 2AM. Didn't have the best night of beer pong either, went 3-3 overall.  Last Sunday was showcase and the formation was okay. Christa and Carolyn came to watch so that was nice.  I have a fantasy football live draft next Sunday, bachelor party this Saturday, don't know what else coming up.     (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
1:40 pm	Stay-cation Update and the roll of a lifetime. So the past week or so I've been on vacation from work- it's bank-policy that all non-management workers take 5 consecutive days off at some point during the year so that no one does anything silly like take 5 consecutive Fridays off or something like that. So anyways, I had tossed around some ideas such as go to Vegas or Atlantic City for maybe 3 days, but I figured that if I really wanted to take my vacation budget of $600 and spend it all, I could just do it here and save on the flight and/or gas and maybe take a bigger vacation next year.  Last Saturday was our garage sale and that went really well- Friday we had some good sales and Crystal made about $150 altogether selling lots of health and beauty care products she got free from Target coupons and such. I sold about $50 worth of junk I didn't need anymore as well. On Saturday, I was off, so Dave, Jeff and I played some Monopoly outside in the sun and Dave won even though Jeff had the huge Boardwalk-Park Place combo. Then we all kinda just hung around all night until Shelley and I had to go pick up Carolyn in Mt. Clemens at 1 in the morning. Sunday was a decent day- slept in awhile, and pretty much did nothing all day until the evening- went up to Warren City Center for a live concert and sat with Carolyn and Jeff and Keri. Then we went out to Royal Oak and Memphis Smoke for Dave's concert with Nate Castle and the Sliders and there were a lot of friends there including Steve, Shelley, Crystal, Tom Torrento et al. After we had a dinner and drink, I drove everyone back home since it was kind of late.  Monday was my first real vacation day so I went over to Greektown to kill some time and get back to playing poker. I ran pretty good and was up about $150, but then I got too loose and bored and dipped back down to about up $50... so I got up and went over to the craps table and started hitting a few points and I had a very good roll for myself.... won about $120 by about 7PM after being there about 8 hours, so I came home, ate dinner, mowed the lawn and did laundry... pretty boring, but relaxing (for me anyway), stuff.  Tuesday I headed over to MGM for lunch at the buffet and then played some blackjack and craps... ended up winning about $450 altogether after hitting a couple perfect pairs and then some hard 8s and 6s at the craps table. Made some plans to play some golf the next day, then went out for some drinks after dinner.  Wednesday, Dave took the day off from work and so me, him and Jeff went to Rackham and played nine holes of golf. I was hitting the ball off the tee really well, but my short game suffered a little bit- not enough practice probably. In the end, Dave had some good beginners luck and we had a good time walking the 9. No birdies and I missed two short par putts. After golf, we went over to Mr. B's in Royal Oak for some free pool, and happy hour drinks. Then I dropped Jeff off and then, after cleaning up, me, Keri, Jeff, and Carolyn went to Dave and Busters to hang out, drink and play games. Then Dave and Crystal also met up with us. Also found out about Keri's new job in Illinois, won some air hockey games, couldn't beat the Skee Ball and basically had a nice night out. Called it a night around midnight when the place was closing.  Thursday morning I hit Greektown again and had a rough go at the poker table- had a guy call me down all the way with 2-8 suited and he hit 2 pair on the river against my pocket kings, but the craps table at Greektown treated me well and I won back my poker buy in. Then I ate lunch at Fishbones before heading to Jeff's to help him move some stuff to his mom's house. Then I picked up Carolyn and we bought a dishwasher with my casino winnings (by this time I was up about $500 for the week.) from Lowe's. Then I dropped them off and I headed home to change- and I went to the wave pool in order to cool off from the hot sun. I spent an hour and a half or so- lots of little kids around, but the water was nice and the slide was fun. I came home, showered, and ate dinner before heading to Roger's Roost and having a drink with Carolyn and Jeff. After we left there, I was feeling a little antsy, so I went back to play some more poker and this time I had a lot better luck and won about $80 although I was up around 200, so I lost a little back... and eventually threw a little more craps and won $240 so I was up another $300 that day.... came home around 5:30 in the morning.  "All you need is one good roll."  So Friday morning I slept in til about 11 or so and was bored again and had nothing to do until the bbq that evening, so I hit MGM again. Got to the table, planning to play for a couple hours and then grab a free lunch at the buffet. About 4 rolls in, the guy 2 to my right with his "girlfriend" was set to roll and I put my usual 2 dollar challenge bonus bet which I do for every shooter. Well, little did I know that this guy would have the roll of a lifetime. He started hitting sevens and elevens on come outs and hit his point at least 6 times. After the challenge got past 10, I was looking at a $500 win without even touching the dice since I got there. The basic gist of the game is that during phase 1, seven and eleven are wins... but if you throw something other than that, then you enter into phase 2 where seven is a loss. So if you go a long time without throwing a seven during phase 2, you are more likely to win a lot more. Well, this guy just kept rolling and rolling... he seriously rolled for 45 minutes or so... and everyone at the table was winning... and winning big. Finally, he hit 15 wins... which meant $1000 for my $2 bet... that on top of my nearly $700 in front of me. Then he hit again! one more and it would mean $4000! and he did it! I seriously was high fiving everyone, tipping the dealers with multiple bets, and even at one point gave everyone at the table a $5 bet on a hard 8 (if he threw exactly 4 4, everyone would've won $45... he threw a 5/3 and missed). Finally after 17 passes, he sevened out... lots of applause... and I was the only one on the challenge bonus! So my $2 paid 2000-1 which meant a $4000 win! So I still had my roll, but the pit boss started processing my paper work since anything over $1000 at a table requires a W2-G and is reported to the IRS. I was absolutely ecstatic as I rolled a couple points, but lost on my own roll pretty quickly. Finally, everything was taken care of and they gave me 4 orange chips worth $1000 each... and I tipped the dealers fifty and gave the shooter fifty bucks. A craps player could go years between rolls like that and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I immediately cashed out and brought my winnings home, took a picture of the 40 hundred dollar bills, and went straight to the Fifth Third in Warren to deposit it into my account (definitely will be telling my coworkers about it on Monday... but didn't really feel like going to work while still on vacation.  So after thinking about it over lunch, I decided I needed to definitely upgrade my shower/bathtub, so I got an estimate and decided on doing it... so I'm getting a new bathliner since they are easier to clean, and an entire bathroom upgrade would be about 5-7 grand... so this is basically phase 1 of my bathroom restoration hopefully done by next year. And I'm paying off one of my credit cards in full, so definitely putting my winnings to good use.  Friday night, I gathered up a bunch of food, and went over to Keri's place to have a BBQ. We had a good time, me, Keri, Jeff, Carolyn, Shelley and then Dave and Crystal- enjoyed chicken and hot dogs and potato salad. Had a few beers and a fun time was had by all. Eventually rode home with Dave and Crystal around 1AM.  Last night went to Dragonmead and had a couple beers with Christa, Nick, Carolyn, and Keri and lost to Nick in darts... but the beer was tasty... and after driving Carolyn home, I headed to Greektown to play poker and hit a couple straights, but eventually lost $100 total but won $100 in craps to break even by 6AM. So overall, I went to the casino seven out of nine days of vacation and up about $4700 altogether.... not bad for not going to Vegas eh?  I definitely don't want to go back to work tomorrow, but I definitely am not going to the casino for awhile so I don't lose it all back... putting the money into the bathroom will be money well spent.     (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, July 26th, 2008
10:07 am	Garage Sale today! (Saturday July 26) I am having a garage sale at my house today 9AM-5PM! Come on and take a look at all our awesome merchandise- sellers include me, Crystal, Dave, Jeff, Carolyn etc. etc. etc. We have everything from housewares, clothing, shoes, health and beauty care products, CDs, cassettes, furniture, and games! Come by and visit!  29027 Tawas Madison Heights, MI 48071 on 12 Mile just east of John R and West of Dequindre!  (Comment on this)
Friday, July 18th, 2008
12:24 am	Last week.  Last week was pretty dull and uninteresting… oh, one thing that was interesting was that Elyse, the girl renting my spare room moved out a couple days ago, so I again have a room available for $350 which includes utilities and free cable/wireless internet. If you haven't seen my place and are interested, let me know ASAP… available immediately. Didn't do much during the week save for play some poker with Eric D and some old people from Lamphere who were in my brother's grade. Went out for ice cream a couple times, and pretty much took it easy.... but on Tuesday I found out that a daylong workshop for the bank was going to be in Chicago over the weekend... so I took advantage of the opportunity- I was picked to kind of assist on a powerpoint presentation during the diversity section of the day.  I left for Chicago early on Saturday and made it to Riverside Dr. to the Fifth Third bank headquarters in Chicago... the workshop was pretty darn boring though. So... after everything was said and done, I headed over to IIT/Vandercook to meet up with Keri since she wasn't doing much during the weekend. Went and parked and got settled in before we headed out... we walked around Grant Park and Michigan Ave, then went to dinner at Ed Debevic's, this 50's-60s themed diner that had lots of entertainment... although the service was slow and rude (as it normally is apparently), it was a good time. After a quick jaunt to Trader Joe's, we went back to the dorm and just sat and talked for awhile and had drinks... which was good because I was exhausted from the long day... so I settled into her extra room and called it a night at like, midnight. Sunday we said our goodbyes since I was headed to the casino, but first I went to Lou Mitchell's, the breakfast place featured from Top Chef... but the line was SOO long, so I just took a picture and decided to not wait around for 2 hours. I stopped at the new casino... Four Winds in New Buffalo... and the buffet was awesome... better than all the detroit ones and just below the Bellagio. Anyways, I had one of my best rolls ever in craps and eventually won $300 playing five-dollar craps... made the trip much well worth it. Then I stopped in Ann Arbor for some poker action with the guys... found out John and Cheyenne are engaged, which has been a long time coming, they've been going out since my first year in Ann Arbor at Meijer. Anywho, I played somewhat sloppy poker, but did get all my chips in Aces vs. Kings, and flopped a set of 10s against Steve... ended up losing about $10 total. I eventually made the long drive home and overall it was an interesting, profitable, and entertaining weekend to say the least.  This week has been pretty dull... but I have a vacation week coming up very soon and I still haven't decided what I want to do... maybe make it a stay-cation or incorporate some day trips. That's about it.  Oh, the reason I stopped at Four Winds Casino is that my new life goal is to play craps at every casino in Michigan and collect players cards from each place... there's a total of 22 as of right now, with 2 or 3 in construction and not including Caesars Windsor.... my beginning listing (casinos in Michigan I've been to up to this point):  Four Winds Casino Greektown Casino MGM Grand Casino Motor City Casino Casino Windsor (not actually Michigan, but close enough and I've already been there) Soaring Eagle Casino Basically, I've been to all the ones within 2-3 hour drives of Detroit... so to hit the UP and Traverse City area ones will probably require road trips and hotel stays in the future... I think I can do it within the next 10 years though. While it's not a very big accomplishment, it's something to shoot for I guess.  Have a nice day.   (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 10th, 2008
11:41 pm	July 4th weekend   Last Thursday, the day before July 4th weekend was really really busy at work, so I didn't have much time to relax and wind down into the weekend. After leaving work and picking up my brother's sleeping bag from my parents' house, I came home and Jeff, Carolyn, and Gayle were there ready to pack up for camping. We got a primitive campsite at this place I found at the last minute called Oak Shores Campground just outside of Decatur, MI which is 20 minutes past K-zoo. So the drive there was pretty uneventful. Lots of catching up and such… then we stopped at McDonalds/Subway along the way. Finally, we pulled into the campground around 9PM and began to set up camp. The firewood was wet, which made it a little tougher to start a fire, but eventually Carolyn and Gayle got their tent up and me and Jeff got ours. Then I got on the phone and talked Keri through the twists and turns off the freeway… so by about 11 or so we were all set up and pretty much exhausted, so we called it an early night. Since I had forgotten my pillow, my night on the grass below the tent was quite a bit uncomfortable. So I got up quite early, around 7 or 8 and took a shower and me and Jeff threw the football around for a bit after eating corn pops for breakfast. By then the girls were awake and getting ready for the day- so we made plans… first we went to the Decatur July 4th parade which was actually quite crowded and had lots of different things. Then we went into town for some supplies (bread, beer, and pop), and Gayle used an ATM machine for the first time which was quite interesting. After that, we had sandwiches and then we headed to the campground lake for the afternoon. We swam for a bit before renting a rowboat, so me, Jeff, Gayle and Keri went out on the rowboat for an hour so which was fun because we didn't really know how to row that well. After that, we laid out for a bit, before Carolyn and Jeff went to check out the trails, and Keri and Gayle went out on the boat again… I fell asleep on the beach and got a very nice sunburn/suntan. After we cleaned up, we came back to camp and cooked a dinner of hot dogs over the fire, chips and beer… very rustic. Anyways, there wasn't much else to do so we piled into the car and headed back into town to see the fireworks, which were long and drawn out… and it was quite chilly. Then after the fireworks we came back, made smores, and had a few drinks… finally it got chilly out so we headed back to the tents to sleep.  Saturday we got up nice and early and piled into the truck to drive to the Western Michigan Wine Trail to visit some wineries, take some free wine tastings and generally just enjoy being out in a beautiful Saturday. The first winery, the round barn was very quiet and we were able to try some good wine with little interruption. The next couple were bigger, but they were also busier. So it was actually a nice little tour and then after that, we were hungry so we hit the freeway and stumbled upon the St. Joseph, MI exit and went to Chilis for lunch. Then after lunch we went down to the beach- it was 100 times nicer than anything around here, packed, and hot, but not too hot. So we walked around, walked to the pier, took a few pics, etc. Then we went into town to shop a little and have some ice cream. After we got back to camp, there were a few activities going on around us... me, Jeff, and Keri went to play pool at the game room for a little bit, but then kids started coming in, so we left. Then Carolyn, Jeff and I went to go play nickel bingo with some old people... that was quite fun because I won the second round we played in, so I was playing with all profit. Fun times. Anyways, after bingo and doing a swing and a rumba at the ice cream social, we all gathered around the fire for the last night- Jeff and I were drinking the High Life, while the girls sipped on Labatts. I got a little buzz and then suggested truth or dare, a clean version since there were lots of people around. Dares included: me eating a piece of burnt marshmallow-roasting stick covered in mustard, Gayle playing football with herself until she hit a metal building and made a loud noise, Carolyn eating a graham cracker from out of Gayle's mouth, Jeff crawling on hands and knees in the street making loud noises, among others. After awhile, Jeff and me were still drinking when the girls went to bed, but we interrupted them with some fake farting into their tent.  Sunday morning was long in getting everything packed up... but we eventually made it after making tuna noodle casserole over the fire which was exciting. Then after a final few walks, Keri left and then we packed up shortly thereafter. It was an uneventful ride home save for almost running out of gas. Finally made it back to my house, unpacked, and sat around the whole rest of Sunday evening.  More on the current week to come. (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
10:13 am	No more class On Monday I had a half day from work since I for sure have to work on Saturday, so I called up Steve and he continued to work on installing the garage door opener for my garage. I also worked on my essay for International Business that's due on Tuesday. So I checked on him a couple times every hour or so, and then Carolyn called and so, me, Carolyn, Jeff, Steve and Dave went down to Detroit to walk around the River Days at the Riverfront. It was pretty nice there, lots of kids around, a couple bands on like 3 stages, and good food. Then the fireworks started and we stood and watched the loud explosions, which I have to admit was pretty cool and a lot more exciting than the MH fireworks I'm used to. So all in all a good night overall. Tuesday I had to work all day and then I headed over to Panera to finish up the essay for the group and then do my final two pages for that class… which I'm 1000% happy it's over. Not that it was really boring or really hard stuff, but just going to class every Tuesday and Thursday after days of work was just painful. I'm definitely looking forward to not having to go to class anymore this summer… it's not so bad in the fall and winter since there's not as much stuff going on.  Anyways, after I finally finished all that stuff, I ate dinner and then I got a call and headed out to play some low-limit hold'em poker with this guy Eric I used to go to high school with at his trailer. We had 5 total for a $10 tourney and I got a couple good hands early on… but then I got crippled when Eric flopped a straight against my two pair and I didn't boat on the river.  But I eventually backed into 2nd place when Eric eliminated Jake by flopping a set and holding up against Jake's flush draw.  I went all in on the first hand of heads up and he had me beat with A-3 against K-5 and he turned a 3 to knock me out. So I broke even on the night since we agreed 2nd would get the $10 back… so I left and then got gas with my $10 and then called it a night… after chatting on the phone with Keri.  Wednesday was pretty dull… I had work and then I went and grabbed dinner before heading to formation practice at the studio. I can't wait til July 4th… who doesn't love 3 day weekends? (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
7:17 pm	Dodge, Dive, Dip, Duck... Dodge Two weekends ago was the dodgeball tournament hosted by the City of Madison Heights, but the day before we had a little gathering at my house which was a lot of fun. Me, Jeff, Steve and Jon were doing a little dodgeball practice early on, but then we moved downstairs to play beer pong and have a good time. Me and Steve won about 3 games in a row, but then we lost to Pierre and Tony later on. And then me and Keri lost a tough one in overtime after I redemptioned Carolyn and her friend Lauren. After beer pong games, and because it was Friday the 13th, Carolyn had a grand idea to wander around the cemetery at 13 mile and Ryan rd. When we got there it was pitch black and Carolyn wandered off… so we split up into different directions to try and find her… but apparently I was a little tipsy and so Keri and I got a little lost ourselves… but we made it back in one piece and found Carolyn laid out on the grass, a little more drunk than us. So anyways, we came back home in Jeff's car and we just watched TV the rest of the night til everyone was gone. The dodgeball tournament itself was a lot of fun. After all the teams got there, we got the rules, pretty standard stuff, and then the action started. Me, Jeff S, Mike, Jon F, Steve, and eventually Tony's brother David formed the Loud Noises!. We won our first match handily, but it was getting kind of hot and we didn't have any water early on, so we lost to the next team we played 3-2, which was unfortunate. Then we played against Blaha's team and we barely won 3-2 after some lucky breaks. I got hit in the face twice and in the… low zone… once which didn't feel too good… but one guy on another team took a hit to the groin and apparently twisted his ankle on the way down, so he was out for a good 5 minutes while everyone kind of crowded around. In the last match, we played a couple really tough games and took it to the taller, more competitive guys, but we lost 3-2. But we had a good time and won the consolation match against Blaha's Hot Lunch team. After the tournament, the Loud Noises and Hot Lunch went out to lunch at Marinelli's for some Italian food. Had a good time talking about the games and ideas for more dodgeball in the future. Keri came up after lunch and we hung out for a little while cleaning up my house from the party the night before, and then I had to go do some work for my class. After dinner, Keri and I were going to go miniature golfing, but the course closed at 9:30 and I didn’t feel like driving out to Sterling Heights or CJ Barrymore's, so we just took a walk at the park and went on the swings…. I had to eventually let her go since she was leaving for Chicago the next day for 6 weeks for grad school… but July 4th isn't that far away. Not much else this past couple weeks… last weekend was a little quieter… I played poker on Friday at Greektown and lost $150 playing 3-6 with a kill, but sat next to a buddy of mine from LHS, Eric Dewitt, and he apparently has some low-limit games every week, so I might start playing with those guys for awhile. And then on Saturday, me, Jeff, Carolyn and Dave went to go see Steve, Laura, and Adam play their show as the What?! They were at Berkley Front, and after they played, Steve and Dave hung out for awhile at our house. Then on Sunday I played golf with Carolyn and Jeff at the Par-3 course at Metro beach which was kind of tough because my short game is so inconsistent… but it was a nice hot day and the ice cream afterward tasted super good. Fireworks yesterday… more on that later.  (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
11:44 pm	Early June activities So the last couple weeks have been pretty much filled with lots of different adventures but not all the same stuff… some highlights… Christa and Nick's wedding was a couple Saturdays ago… first I had to work in the morning and then I rushed over to St. Sylvester to watch the ceremony. It was about an hour long, which felt a little longer since I'm obviously not Catholic, but it was kind of interesting-- always good to have a little cultural exposure. So after the ceremony and saying hi to all the girls (Carolyn, Dianna, Keri, Gayle, and Shelley, all bridesmaids), me and Steve and his brother Mike went over to Buddy's for some pizza and then went to Lowe's to pick out my new garage door opener… mainly to just be walking around Lowe's in dark suits. But anyways, after the break, I showered and changed out of my work suit to my regular suit and went to the reception which was literally only 2 miles away at 11 Mile and Ryan. The reception hall was kind of small and the food was pretty standard, but there was an open bar, so I had a few drinks before dinner. Anyways, the first dance and all the traditional stuff took place… but me and Carolyn did a little ballroom before the beginning of the reception. Then after dinner, the fun really started and they played all the wedding classics… the hustle, cha cha slide, macarena, chicken dance… Frank got a locomotion going… a polka got thrown in there...then someone (I think an old person) requested a waltz which I started with Keri trying to get her to turn the right way for awhile… but it was a classic Viennese waltz which is twice as fast, and so Carolyn cut in so we circled for awhile- I got caught on Christa's dress though so I kind of strained my quad quite a bit. Anyways, we did a lot of dancing… let the young kids do the Solja Boy and whatnot… then I led Rachel, my guest (Carolyn's sister) through a foxtrot, and then towards the end of the night, Keri and I did the last couple slow dances together. After the reception, me, Keri, Steve, Carolyn, Jeff and a few others came back to my house and we just hung out for awhile and played some video games, so the afterparty wasn't very hopping, but we were all pretty exhausted from the dancing. The next day I didn't do much at all except for work on the group project for my International business class most of the afternoon. Then Jeff came over to pick up his video camera which Keri found after she came over to hang out for awhile. Then Dave, Keri and I walked over to Shakers to get some ice cream since our cable was out from the thunderstorm in the middle of the day. On Monday my leg was feeling horrible, I could barely walk around at work… but I went to a group lesson but wasn't very effective. After that I went to Lowe's to buy a new air conditioner, but then it started to rain a ton… Keri was in Sterling Heights at a band concert so she picked me up and we went to Kuehnen's to have a drink. Tuesday after work I went to class and had to turn in the midterm which was kind of a mess, but it turned out okay (because I just found out we got a 100% on it). Then me and Dave worked on putting in the new air conditioner in the kitchen window. On Wednesday, I had a day off from class, so Keri and I went on an adventure… and went to the Warren City Fair and I played $20 worth of skeeball and couldn't win… (we think it was rigged). Then I had to trade cars with my mom, so I took her new used Lexus out for a spin to drive Keri back to her house to get some stuff…. I liked the big engine, sunroof, and power seats. Thursday I had to do a presentation as part of our group for class, and that went really well… it was interesting enough, and we got some classmates involved… my part was pretty simple, but it turned out okay. And then after class, Keri came over and we met up with Carolyn and Jeff to go on the swings, the Ferris wheel and the carousel at the fair. Then we found Dave and Crystal playing Crystal's token game which is to her what Skee ball is to me. Anyways, we watched that for awhile. By then it was pretty late, so we called it a night since we would be having a party the next night.   More on Pre-dodgeball party and Dodgeball tournament tomorrow! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
8:00 pm	Pre-Dodgeball Practice/Party!   Event Info Host: Paris Type: Party - House Party Time and Place Start Time: Friday, June 13, 2008 at 8:00pm End Time: Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 1:00am Location: Paris' house! Street: 29027 Tawas City/Town: Madison Heights, MI   View Map Google MapQuest Microsoft Yahoo Contact Info Phone: 7342740985 Email: parisphou@yahoo.com Hey everybody- this Friday, June 13 come on over for some fun and games! We will be having some dodgeball (or other outdoor games) fun before the sun goes down, and then after dark, we will be hanging out and having a bonfire (if I can obtain or creatively make a firepit). So come on out and have a couple drinks (if more than 10 people confirm on here, I'll buy a keg for some beer pong), come anytime after 8PM, if you'd like to contribute chips, snacks, dessert or beer, that'd be awesome. In case of inclement weather, party will be held inside. Free parking in the lot next door! We'll be partying 8-1 or sometime after that, so drop on by whenever you want! (2 Comments |Comment on this)