Gamblin' Ramblin$

Another Year Gone...Wheee!

So...what has happened or is happening? Well...work sucks more than ever. I have never been so depressed about my job. After 20 years it has come to point where I just don't feel like going to work...imagine that?

Actually, I like working and I really like(d) my crew of employees but I have been instructed to move a couple of them to other stores while bringing in some new blood. I prefer to do things on my own terms but this time I have been given no choice. Damn.

Besides my crew, the only other redeeming point of working where I do is being able to meet with my chipping buddies on Mondays.

I could do without the homeless people wandering in, the people reeking of alcohol or pot, and the incredibly stupid. Am I an elitest snob? Yep! I'm tired of dealing with people who will pay cab fare to buy airtime for their pre-paid phones...that's one of the more stupid things we witness but we can't forget the drivers who insist that one way signs are for everyone else...not them!

The bright side is that I picked up some very cool chips and made lots of progress toward earning my Black Belt. If things proceed as scheduled, I test for my Black Belt in September.

Enough for now, I'm sick, tired, and grumpy. Happy !@#$%'in New Year!

A nice workout

With the recent snow, classes have been smaller than usual. Tonight's sparring class only had 3 people besides Instructor Mark. Grandmaster is in Korea visiting his family over the holidays.

We didn't actually square off and fight, but we went over fakes and non-blocking defense. Very intense and strenous, but a bunch of fun!

A few more New Ones

New Release

Palms Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 $7
12-20-04
Limited to 2507

Another JD chip from the Palms...to be honest, I liked last year's better. This one is just kinda...there, y'know? Nothing special. The Palms must have some kind of advertising deal with Jack and that's fine, but not much went into this chip. The Palms has done much, much better.

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays to all! A few new chips to announce so the Googlebot will have something to do next time around.

I'm in the championship game of my fantasy football league so I'll have other things to follow during the course of the day. The kids were thrilled that Santa was able to deliver Nintendo DS's and the elusive PS-2.

I hope everyone's day is a joyous one.

New Release

Hard Rock Christmas 2004 $5
12-20-04
Limited to ???

A nice, gentle Holiday chip from the HR with a simple message to go with the winter theme. Nice touch, nice chip.

There were a few more Hard Rock chips released this month, here are some links to them.

Hard Rock Green Day American Idiot $5 and $25
12-07-04
Limited to ???

Hard Rock Honest Abe $5
12-07-04
Limited to ???

So I'm a slacker...

...so what?

While I'm waiting for chips to arrive, I'll post some new releases. I need to talk with Pete...he hasn't posted too many new ones and I know there are several out there.

New Release

Palms 3rd Anniversary $5 Chip
12-01-04
Limited to 1500 for each $5, 500 for the $25

I picked this chip over the other $5 and $25, wonder why? The others have nice artwork but not this nice! Three years for the Palms and in that short time it has become the place to see and be seen.

The chip program, headed up by Gene Trimble, is setting standards for quality and attitude toward the collectors.

Woohoo!! I'm in Print!

Weelllllllll...kinda!

My article has now appeared in PokerPages. Damn, that makes me proud. Here's a taste, follow the link to view the rest.

Casino Chips

To the gamblers they are a way of tracking wins and losses. To the casinos they are cash. To the collectors they are pieces of history and art to be archived and displayed.

Never Assume

With the craziness of work and being sick (again!), I haven't gone to class for a while. I decided to go to an early morning class then head off to work. Being a Thursday and a sparring day, I figured that the class would be filled with soccer-moms(and dads) getting in some training while the kids are at school.

WRONG!

Only two other people were there, a lady who was preparing for her black belt test and Grandmaster Hwang. Uh-oh! No sparring...just sweat and review. To say that he worked our butts off would be understating things just a bit, but what a work-out!

Chip activity

Entries have been kinda sparce lately...yeah,yeah...I don't want to hear it! I do have a few chips on the way, here's a sample:

1) 25 cent Binion's Horseshoe w/bldg- This one that has found its way back to me! What an awesome chip.

2) $25 Golden Nugget- One of those drilled, shaved, ugly chips from the 40's. Ugly yet essential for my GN collection.

3) $1 Cal Neva Lodge- A super rare T-Mold that you never, ever see. Only known undrilled but mine is drilled.

I'm working with another collector to obtain 3 Rare GN chips. A dealer sample 7th issue $5, and 2 small-keys from the 40's...yah!!

Details to follow

MMMMmmmm...pie!

This is a recipe for pumpkin pie that I like to use. I made a mistake and used condensed sweetened milk instead of evaprated milk...the results were quite good.

PUMPKIN PIE

3 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Pie Shell

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Lightly beat eggs. Add pumpkin, sugar, salt, and spices. Blend well. Add evaporated milk. Pour mixture into pie shell.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes or until almost set. Turn oven off. Do not open door. Leave pie in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes. It should be set when removed. Cool pie on rack.

NUMMY!!

Catching up

Ok...with all the holiday preparations at the store, sneaking in some classes, I haven't had time to Blog at all. There are a few new chips to report about and a couple of new ones that landed here too.

The person who won my $1 Christmas Tree chip wasn't happy with it! OMG!!! It's not mint, I never said it was, but it is the best looking one I've seen. I offered him his money back but received no reply.

Another collector recently contacted me about Golden Nugget stuff...hmmm...Golden Nugget! Perhaps a chip or two may end up here as a result.

More entries coming soon!