thank god for techies relentless hacking. the good kind of hacking. the kind that oh….boosts wifi signals. i think i may have nipped the whole “losing my wifi connection” thing in the bud. as long as my router doesn’t blow up, we’re all good.

I am so incredibly sore today, partially due to the cold weather and partially due to going for a run on Friday. My run on Friday was only 2.5 miles, but it gave me trouble. Even though i’ve lost quite a bit of weight in the last two years, it hasn’t improved my running time at all. I still get winded very quickly, but this has been a problem my whole life. My lungs just don’t seem to take in as much air as they should. My legs are fairly muscular so i’d be a good distance runner if I could just take in more air. When i got bronchitis in college, my lungs were tested for air capacity and i scored remarkably low. Hopefully i won’t have to out-run anyone anytime soon….

Start the new job this week…..very excited about that. I probably won’t talk about that much here considering my boss knows about my blog.

A few times this weekend i’ve been inspired to go to the gym, but my car is in the shop for its regular servicing so that plan is out. Hopefully I’ll get it back Monday and it won’t come with a bank-account-shattering bill.

Liz Phair rocks. Still. And she’s damn fine too!

Vinnie Vegas Report for 04/04/2004:
[disclaimer: this is a VIRTUAL gambling portfolio, bet at your own risk. ]
Odds based on those at bet365.com at time of blog posting.

Balance: $533.00

Resulting Bets

+ $21 [$11 + $10] on Georgia Tech +4 (-110, Georgia Tech b. Oklahoma State 67-65, 04/03)
+ $21 [$11 + $10] on Duke +2 (-110, UConn b. Duke 79-78, 04/03)

Final Balance: $575.00

Analysis: Georgia Tech has been playing remarkably well the past few weeks and has beaten top teams Duke and UConn. This pick was not that difficult to make. The Duke pick was tough as UConn has been blowing out opponents right and left in their quest for the NCAA championship. I thought this was a fantastic matchup and the game proved me right. A last second three pointer by Duke (down 4, it didn’t matter) allowed me to cover on this game. It will be interesting to see how UConn responds in the championship, having had to have come back to beat Duke in the final three minutes. They need to get the ball to Emeka Okafor who should dominate inside. If Okafor can keep out of foul trouble and Ben Gordon hits key shots, look for UConn to win this game.

Vinnie Vegas Report for 04/03/2004:
[disclaimer: this is a VIRTUAL gambling portfolio, bet at your own risk. ]
Odds based on those at bet365.com at time of blog posting.

Balance: $555.00

New Bet:

$11 on Georgia Tech +4 (-110 vs Oklahoma State, 04/03)
$11 on Duke +2 (-110 vs UConn, 04/03)

Final Balance: $533.00 (two open bets)

Vinnie Vegas Report for 03/28/2004:
[disclaimer: this is a VIRTUAL gambling portfolio, bet at your own risk. ]
Odds based on those at bet365.com at time of blog posting. Starting balance of $500.00 on 2/1/04.

Balance: $513.00

Resulting Bets:

+ $21 [$11 + $10] on UConn -9 (UConn b. Alabama 87-71, 03/27)
+ $21 [$11 + $10] on Saint Josephs +3 (Oklahoma State b. St Joes 64-62, 03/27)

Final Balance: $555.00

And now an excerpt from Mollod & Tesauro’s, “The Modern Gentleman”, perhaps my favorite book i’ve read this year.

“Just as drinking rookies seek out the anodynic properties of vodka (liquor so versatile it goes splendidly with tonic, juice, and most flavors of Gatorade), home-bar pretenders eschew the shaker for tepid prefab mixes that require little more than ice. The boozy-crafty gent takes charge of fixing, mixing, and pouring and makes deft use of distillates in imaginative concoctions. Once you’ve reached martini curiosity, master a few vintage favorites and hone a feel for what goes together.

Guests appreciate a homemade Scotch and soda, but why not bestow a novel drink? Hand off living-room hosting to an able first mate so you can wrestle in the kitchen with tools that sound like Batman villains: the muddler, the jigger and the strainer. No matter how cold the frsoty shaker, grip with vim and hold on like a wing walker. You’ve arrived as a home concoctionist when a tumbler full of drinks requires service of the reamer, lemon spout, citrus stripper, or bar spoon.”

Vinnie Vegas Report for 03/27/2004:
[disclaimer: this is a VIRTUAL gambling portfolio, bet at your own risk. ]
Odds based on those at bet365.com at time of blog posting.

Balance: $535.00

New Bet:

$11 on UConn -9 (-110 vs Alabama, 03/27)
$11 on Saint Josephs +3 (-110 vs Oklahoma State, 03/27)

Final Balance: $513.00 (two open bets)

And now that my brackets are pretty much out of contention, thanks to Gonzaga’s loss [they always seem to screw up my bracket whether i pick them or not] I can finally concentrate on the team I really care about in this tourney. GO CARDINAL! Or as my friend Jennifer says, Go Xmas Trees!

You too can watch my picks go down in flames.

My Murray State and ETSU picks are starting to worry me now……

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year….”

For even the casual sports fan, everyone just gets a thrill out of cheering for the most unlikely upsets in the annual NCAA tourney. Granted, those cheers are almost always related to an office pool bet. Since i’m currently unemployed, I didn’t have an “office pool” to make my annual donation. I never seem to win, but its always fun to throw $5 or $10 at a bracket and cross my fingers. Thankfully, and quite unexpectedly, one of my fraternity brothers invited me in to his work pool. I didn’t fair too well on this first day but pools aren’t won by the first/second round games. All of my later round teams are still in…..for now. First place is over $700 so with a little luck, its worth a shot. Go Gonzaga! Go Stanford!

As for employment, the search continues. I made it to the final round for one position, but they’re still deciding. If I don’t hear back by friday, i’ll be waking up early on Saturday to take an exam for a County position. The county position is in legal support, which is okay, but i’d MUCH rather have the position in downtown sf. Google called back [after a prescreen the other day] and realized that they had already interviewed me for a position in the same group over a year ago. I’m surprised it took this long for them to figure it out. Shouldn’t their HR system check that they’ve talked to me, before they call me for a prescreen?

Grabbed some sushi tonight for dinner at Barracuda, a new restaurant in Burlingame. It is on Primrose across from the Library in the spot of many other failed restaurants. Nice decor, great food. Loved their “robatas” which are basically kebobs. I recognized the brunette behind the bar (Bartender? Host? I couldn’t tell what she was doing) from somewhere. She might’ve been someone I went to school with, but either a year behind or a year ahead of me. Or maybe the sister of someone I went to school with? I’m stumped and will probably have to ask her next time i’m there if I don’t think of the connection first.

Did some volunteering with OneBrick a few days ago, and am helping out with another one of their events on Saturday after that exam. All that and a couple fantasy baseball drafts and a game show audition. Busy!

The annual vegas trip is booked, and i got quite a deal on airfare and hotel so i’m looking forward to memorial day weekend. It’ll be nice to see “Frankie Field”, “PJ Poker Face” and all the rest of my college friends and fraternity brothers who are going. Last year will be tough to top, but I think we can do it.