I think I am going to try to build a poker table

I have a few folding poker table tops, but have wanted a "real" poker table for some time. The table tops that I have have room for 8, but they don't really fit my kitchen table and aren't the best quality. My friend Mike builds poker table tops that you can put on a table that are pretty neat, but I kind of want to make one of my own. I looked online and found buildyourownpokertables.com which has some pretty good step by step instructions for the table. It is pretty much how I expected. You cut out the shape you want, cover it, and put on your bumper around the edge. It looks like you can also add cup holders and other things if you want. I am going to have to print out the specs and maybe ask my friend Mike for some help. The way he does it is a little different. His tables are modular so you can make the table into an eight seater or a ten seater. They are very nice, but I want to try to make my own. His bumpers are wood and I want to try to make mine with foam and leather. My one concern is that I want to make only a table top so that I can put it on my kitchen table when I have a game, but I fear that these instructions may make a really heavy table top. I will need to think it through and see what happens.

Finally, a GOOD BSG Episode

Over the last few episodes, my favorite show, Battlestar Galactica, has basically be stinking up my television. It has been a great disappointment over the past few weeks. The plot slowed, the drama became watered down, and any action was almost absent. The big reveals and cliffhangers were boring and not very shocking. Last week was OK, finding out a few odd secrets here and there, but last night's episode was finally back up to par with the episodes that have made BSG stand above all other shows on TV (in my opinion, of course). There was action, plot twists, drama, and all around BSG goodness. I am finally interested in what is going to happen next and was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole show. I'm not going to get into any details, but there is some serious doubt on who may live and who may die next episode. YIKES. I really don't have any idea how this show may end. I hope it finishes up as well as it started. I can still watch the BSG premiere mini series and be riveted.

Dreams or Nightmares? You decide.

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you are stuck in one of your old 'college' or 'high school' type jobs? You know. The kind of jobs that you work so that you can eat and buy stuff while in school. Well, I had one of those dreams last night. I was waiting tables at Friendly's. It was weird. It wasn't a terrible dream with mosters after me or anything like that, but I was waiting tables in a busy dining room with all of the customers from hell in my section. If you ever waited tables, my section was filled with all of the people that run you ragged and then tip you a dime. Theone that stands out, probably because she was predominant in the dream, was a little old lady. The elderly are notorious bad tippers no matter how good the service may be. Anyway, she had me running back and checking ingredients on things she was considering ordering, she was changing tables every five minutes, she was back in the kitchen harassing the cooks, and basically being a pain in the ass. The dream turned funny when she was asking me if an ice cream treat she wanted contained any ice cream. She was sitting in the deep fryer basket at the time. By the time I came back to show her the box of ice cream to prove to her that there was, in fact, ice cream included, she was gone. Then I was forced to work with teeny bopper girls that were trying to hog all the tables and I wasn't making any money. Thankfully, I woke up. All in all, although it wasn't a terrifying dream, I think I would prefer dreaming of zombies trying to eat my brains.

It wasn't as bad as a really bad Friendly's dream I had a long time ago. I was the cook and there was a time stamp that the waitresses used to show when the orders were put in to the kitchen. The bad dream came in when we finished cooking all of the orders, were getting ready to close up, and more orders were time stamped. I didn't see the orders, I just hear that terrible stamping sound. This went on for a while and really made me have a bad nights sleep. That was years ago. Anyway, I wonder why I had a dream about a place I worked at over ten years ago.

Bowling Blarg

My bowling game is seriously starting to frustrate me. The last two weeks, I am driving myself crazy. I am not sucking completely, and am actually still carrying a 196 average. What is driving me crazy is how inconsistant I am. The last two weeks I rolled over 600 series, but I was all over the spectrum. Last week I started out with a 246 but followed it up with a 160 and then a 190. Last night I started out with a 244 and followed it up with a 150 and then a 215. I am SO frustrated with starting out strong and then taking a dive. My biggest issue is hitting spares. More specifically, the spares on the right hand side of the lane. Even more specifically, the ten pin. I actually got a new ball entirely dedicated to picking up the ten pin. It slides and goes straight instead of hooking. It works perfectly, but I have not had a really good chance practice with it. So, I am still about 50/50 when it comes to the ten pin. This frustrates me to no end. If I were to hit my spares, I would easily have over 200 as my average. SO frustrating!

Poo is great

Well, poo in the potty is great. Alydia has been a great pain in the neck about potty training. We would ask her to try and she would say, 'Tomorrow." or "I will in five days." So finally, I told her that she was wearing underwear from now on and that she had better not mess them up. She has been going on the potty ever since. I am SO psyched! No more buying Pull Ups at $10+ a package. We will be able to afford more stuff for me!

Bloggin' Blahs

I, like Mona, have been pretty bah-humbug about blogging lately. Her reasons, lack of material and using Facebook more, my reasons, lack of material and plain old fasioned laziness. I have facebook too, but don't use it for too much. I just haven't had much in mind for blogging. I lead a boring life, I guess.

I guess I can bitch about TV. I am pretty mad that I am so invested in Lost and BSG. Both shows started out GREAT with mind blowing plots, good acting and great effects. Now, they are kind of pissing in the hay. I watch the Lost premire last night and was SO confused. Maybe I should re-watch the other episodes to try to remember last season, but I don't think it will help. Lost just jumps around too much. If you blink, you miss what is a flash back and what is supposed to be current day. BSG is a little better, but the story has gotten stale and a little boring. I think they are trying to add shockers into the plot to shake things up though like (*****SPOILERS********)

Adama and the prez in bed together and Chief's baby not being Chief's baby. I guess the uprising lead by Gaeda is adding a little bit of interest in the show, but I don't know what can happen in the shows final episodes that will make me feel good about the show's ending. Are they seriously letting the final Cylon reveal to be Sol's dead wife? Boring.

The Next Firefly?

Did anyone know that Joss Whedon, creator of three of my favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, has a new show coming out in February? It is going to be called Dollhouse and is about a group of people that have their minds wiped regularly and imprinted with new memories for different reasons. It sounds a little weird, but Joss has been TV money in my mind. The show is going to air on Fox, and as usual with Joss' shows that fall out of the main stream, it is already getting the shaft. Fox has been moving the air date around and switching the day the show will run. It is almost they are shelving Dollhouse before it can get going, much like they did to Firefly. I LOVED Firely's short season, so I am DEFINATELY going to give Dollhouse a try. If nothing else, Eliza Dushku will be some nice eye candy. She was in Buffy and made some appearances in Angel. From the commercial I saw, it looks like when she gets her new memories, she is lying nekked on a table with little towels or something covering her naughty parts.

Hey Woody

If you read Woody's blog, you know he is not as excited about 24 as he has been in the past. I guess I can understand why. Last season was a memorable as a fart in the wind. I remember that Jack left the country. Other than that, I don't recall much of the show. 24: Redemption was pretty good, so I decided to DVR the new seacon of 24 for watching on my days off. So far, 24 has been pretty good. I am still amazed by the ease that Jack gets out of jams and gets the bad guys. I don't believe that this sort of thing could happen in real life. I know that there are soldiers that could kill me with a piece of paper if they put their mind to it, but I just can't think that one person could get himself into so many jams and come out alive. Oh well. That is why we have suspension of disbelief. Just because I can't truely believe in Jack living such a blessed life doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the plot twists and turns of the show 24. So Woody, don't be afraid of getting into 24. So far it is pretty good, and there is a hot red head by Jack's side through the first three or four hours.

A Good Night

Thursdays are great. Am I a broken record? I know I spout off on how much I love going out with my friends Thursdays. Really, it is my only chance to blow off steam in the week. I guess I play on my Xbox most other days, but I am still at home, probably cleaning or cooking as well. Thursdays are just about me and having a good time. I was getting pretty grumpy stuck at home three weeks with Christmas and New Years Eve both falling on Thursdays this year. All work and no play make Eric something something. Last night I bowled well except for my first game. 160 followed by two 220+ games. I was pleased overall. Poker went OK. I lost my first $20 playing sloppy, but cleaned up my game and left up $20. Considering we only had 5 people playing, that is pretty good. All in all, fun times.

A Tough One to Swallow

The Fiesta Bowl was a tough one. Ohio State played a tough game against Texas and was leading by 4 with two minutes in the game. Of course, Texas scored the winning TD with only 16 seconds to go. Texas seemed to get alot of favors from the refs. Oh well. I am not too bitter. I half expected OSU to get blown out. Instead they kept it close and lead for most of the game.

Big Game Tonight

Ohio State is taking on Texas tonight in the Fiesta Bowl. I am not too optimistic about the Buckeyes chances, but anything is possible. They are a good team that has been flat a few games this year. Texas, on the other hand, is a great team that lost one game in the final seconds and got screwed out of the National Title game. Texas is going to have a huge chip on their shoulder, but Ohio State is going to have a 'nothing to lose' mentality towards the game. I don't think anyone, outside of Ohio, thinks that the Buckeyes can win tonight. I think that the spread is 8 points. Hopefully, Ohio State will have a good game and proove to the country that the Big Ten can still roll with the big boys.

One thing that really gets me is all of the weird names of the bowl games. It's less about the sport and more about sponsorship and money. Not the Orange Bowl, it is the FedEx Orange Bowl. Not the Gator Bowl, it's the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl. The best is the Capital One Bowl. they aren't even trying to make it look like anything but a bowl game created to make mo' money. Let's not forget the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. I think they should call that one the Focker Bowl. It kind of makes you wonder about the games without sponsorship in the name: Motor City Bowl, Emerald Bowl, Independence Bowl........aren't these games good enough for some company to glom on to? I also can't believe the number of bowl games. There are 40 or more bowl games and only 120 or so teams that are able to play in the games. So, 8o of the 120 teams get a bowl game. Seriously? Why not just let everyone get their 'participant ribbon' bowl game. Just think of the possibilities. M*ch*g*n could have played in the Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Bowl this year.

Zombie Killin' Fun

I discovered a little fun tid bit on my newest Call of Duty game. After completing the whole game, a new level is opened. It is a level full of Nazi zombies for you to kill. GREAT fun. You are stuck in a building with several windows blocked off. Slowly, Nazi zombies start to tear down the barriers and try to eat you. You start off with a pistol, which sucks, but you can buy more weapons when you gain points. You can also open additional rooms and better guns are in the different rooms. Shot guns are pretty effective in large groups of zombies, but you have to watch out with grenades. They tend to blow the legs off the zombies, which leaves you with zombie torsos crawling on the floor trying to bite your knees. The game doesn't really go anywhere, but it you go up levels the more zombies you kill. Higher levels mean more zombies and faster zombies. It is creapy fun.

Anyone remember Buck Rogers?

I got off of my NetFlix system and haven't had any DVDs to watch lately. I have been getting movies that I know Jessica wants to see, so I haven't been able to watch a disk and send it back the same day. Plus, the holidays put a kink into the Post Office deliveries, so not as many movies coming in. So, I have been watching the 'B' movies and shows that NetFlix has available online. I went through Jericho, which was great, and now I am watching Buck Roger in the 25th Century. If you don't know, Buck Rogers is a 1980s astronaut that gets frozen in space and then thawed 500 years later. I used to watch the show a lot as a kid, so I am pretty much refreshing my memory. It is great seeing the cheesey effects, the cheesey acting, and the rediculous 80's view on what futuristic clothing would look like. Basically, all the women wear lycra pants that are super tight and tops that show off boobs and bellies. They look like futuristic hookers. Fun stuff. It isn't a great show, but it is fun to watch.

I also got a DVD of Babylon 5 in the mail. I thought I would give it a try, since it went on for so many seasons. It must be good then right? I haven't decided yet. It made me wonder though. What is better? 80's special effects that are basically models and props, or newer CGI effects that that are obviously fake and a little rediculous looking? Babylon 5 is DEFINATELY not a product of George Lucas's crack team of animators. I think I am going to go with the retro look. Yes, it is cheesey and plastic looking, but at least it has a real look. The cartoony CGI stuff in Babylon 5 might actually throw my interest in the show.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I never really got into New Year's Eve too much. It just seems like another day and time to buy a new calendar to me. It used to be exciting when I was a kid because I was allowed to stay up late. I still stayed up late, but I was playing Xbox. Pretty exciting, huh? New Year's Day was kinda fun though. I went bowling with two of my bowling teammates. The bowling alley that we go to had an all-you-can-bowl special: 3 hours for $10. We rolled seven games. Fun times. I used one of the games for practicing picking up the ten pin. It is the hardest spare for me since my ball hooks so much. I think I got it figured out now. Honestly, it will help my game a lot.

My resolution is to lose weight and cut back on my drinking. Honestly, I think these two are linked. I drink too much which makes me have more calories in my diet. Also, when I drink, I snack. I am going to try Adkins or South Beach again. They worked out pretty well for me in the past. The hard part will be motivating myself to excercise. Ungh.