Heading to Cairo, Egypt

I really need to focus on my poker play as I am financial broke. My whole plan is to play poker to finance my travels. In the last 3 months I have done more travel then poker and spent most of my winnings. So why am I heading to Egypt. Believe it or not I won a free entry into a huge poker tournament in Cairo. They are even paying my way to get there. I will be staying at the Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino which is where the tournament is being played.

As far as poker this week I was VERY happy with my play. My first hand I lost my full stack $100.00. So you might say why am I happy with my play. The reason is I stayed focused did not lose my cool and won it all back plus $30.65. I played 5.53 hours so that gave me an hourly rate of $5.54. See the hand I lost below. If I win big in Cairo I will be doing a bit of sight seeing so you might not hear from me for a while.

Cheers,

DUG

Finally back in Botswana

Yes, I am finally back in Botswana, as you may remember I was last left in Denver and had no idea how I was going to get back to JFK in New York so I could Botswana. Let just say I got back and leave it at that.

I have attached a few pictures of the kids welcoming me home to the village. What a great reception after being away for about 3 months.

As I have mentioned I am flat broke, so I have had to stay very focus with my poker play. I have had nice results with winning $196.00 playing 11 hours for a win rate of $17.85 an hour. I thought I would post a few of my winning hands and one big losing hand.

Over the next few weeks I need to stay focused as my goal of supporting my travel through poker play has not been working. Right now my travels have out spent my poker winnings.

See hands below.

Cheers,

DUG

AK


AK again


I thought he had AK, boy was I WRONG!!!!

The Big Move to Evergreen Colorado another ski trip December 2009 (Pictures Below)

Not me, but hopefully my brother’s family. When I arrived in Colorado I found out the reason my brother and nephew were in Colorado was not just for skiing, but to do a home inspection on a house they had put an offer on. The house is beautiful, built right into the mountain, just a mile from downtown Evergreen. So from the house looking out you feel like you are all alone in the middle or a mountain range, but in reality you are located just minutes from a really cool old mining town, 45 minutes from Denver and maybe 30 minutes from some of the best skiing and mountain biking in the world.

There is only one thing better then owning a house like this, that is to have a brother and sister-in-law that own one. I just hope everything goes through.

Friday was the home inspector, I am not sure if the guy was planning to spend 8 hours inspecting this house, but that is what it took, a very thorough job. I think my brother had something to do with that. In fact I think my brother did most of the inspecting. Once the inspection was done we were back to ski mode.

We got our skis on Friday night to save time on Saturday, we rented from Breezes Ski Rentals I highly recommend them. They have many locations throughout Colorado and the best part our hotel gave us coupons for 25% off. We stayed in Golden Colorado so we have an hour and 20 minute ride to the ski resorts. We decided to ski in Breckinridge for a couple of reasons I was use to the sloops and a friend of a friend had set us up to have breakfast with the world famous Wade Howard. You may have heard of him he has completed the Leadville 100 trail ride several times. Wade also invited his brother Jeff along Jeff works for the resort and was able to get us a discount pass for lift tickets what a great thing.

Skiing was good. I was much better then just a few weeks ago, but being a Saturday and closer to Christmas the sloops were a lot more crowded. I still enjoyed it, but learned skiing is a Tuesday to Thursday sport.

After skiing we headed to the Little Bear Saloon, in downtown Evergreen. What a great place, they have live music most of the time and good cheap food. The best part is my brother can walk there from his new house.

Sunday my brother and nephew flew back to the East Coast. I am still broke and need to get to JFK to get back to Botswana, I am sure I will be able to hitch a ride home. Or I need to find a 24 hour internet café so I can play some poker and win enough to buy a plane ticket of even a bus ticket to New York.

Enjoy the pictures and short video.

Cheers,

DUG

Pictures


Video

Botswana, Oh, NO! South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida

(PICTURES BELOW)
I can't wait to get back to Botswana. I ended up taking public transport to JFK International Airport in New York. When JFK was original built in 1948 it was the state of the art airport. Now it looks more like a third world airport.

I got to the airport early, but did not mind as I am reading Sarah Palin's new book “Going Rogue", I am about one fourth through the book a very easy read, I am not sure who wrote it but clearly it was not Sarah Palin, unless someone different is doing all of her live appearances, the quality of the writing can not be Sarah’s. The only negative I have about the book is the title, rather then “Going Rogue” she should have called it, “Sour Grapes” as Sarah blames everything that goes wrong in her life on someone else. In her entire life she NEVER made a mistake or even made a bad decision.

I was very engrossed in the book. I was reading about how Sarah was about to resign from a paid committee post because she felt she could not get people to make the changes needed. Rather then fight to fix things she thought quitting was best move. I thought I heard my name being paged. "LifeOfDUG please pick up a white courtesy phone". How could that be no one knew I was at JFK. I ignored the page, but then heard it again. So I put down the book and found a courtesy phone.

On the other end of the phone was Margarite. She had flown over with her uncle who had some United Nations work (parties to attend) in New York.

Margarite had decided to surprise me and take me to South Beach, Florida for the weekend. I headed over to general aviation to find Margarite’s Uncle's private jet. Instead of a 3 day trip home I had a 3 hour trip to South Beach.

Margarite found out from the village elders when I was returning and then planned this surprise. We had gone to South Beach last year and we both enjoyed it. Margarite thought we should do it again.

Margarite booked us at the same hotel as last year the Sagamore it is an artist hotel with unique art throughout the building and grounds, this year Margarite got us a beautiful suite I have no idea the cost, but was glad I was not paying.

Thursday, Margarite arranged dinner at The Restaurant at Setai it was a great unique experience. This restaurant normally has an Asian experience though the chef has a French bias add in thanksgiving and wow, this creative chef did wonders. From the coconut lobster bisque to the traditional turkey main course everything was great.

Friday besides a short run to work off Thursday’s dinner I never left the pool area. As I continued to read Sarah Palin’s book, I got a lot of comments from other guest at the hotel “Did you really pay money for that book!”, “You are a brave sole reading that book in public!” The temperature is a little cool for this time of year it stayed in the low 70's most of the day.

Friday night we hit a Tapas Bar, Tapas & Tintos for dinner on Espanola Way. The resturant was fine but nothing to write home about.

Saturday another cool day at the pool, Margarite was knitting wool caps for her nephew and nieces. It seemed every kid at the pool was fascinated. Margarite ended up giving knitting lessons to several of the children.

We never left the pool that day, except for dinner on Lincoln Avenue.

Sunday before we hit the pool we visited the Holocaust Memorial and the Miami Botanical Gardens. The memorial was a beautiful reminder of an awful time in history. For Margarite and I it brought back memories of visiting the Jewish ghettos when we visited Prague and Budapest a few years back.

For dinner we hit The Vix at the Hotel Victor. Dinner and the service were great I highly recommend Vix at the Hotel Victor.

Monday I did an easy 8 mile run then another tough day at the pool. I finished reading, “Sour Grapes” I mean “Going Rogue”, so I bought another book “To Big to Fail”, this is a great read and I highly recommend it.

We decided to have dinner at the Barton G. You may remember last year we had Thanksgiving dinner at this restaurant. Before dinner we did a quick walk through the Delano Hotel. Sitting in the lobby minding her own business was Alli Ludwick. Alli is the only daughter of Big Bill Ludwick. You may remember Big Bill Ludwick from when he and I played some poker back in Botswana.

Alli would not give us a straight answer as to why she was sitting in the Delano but we did convince her to join us for dinner.

Alli is the star miler at the University of Miami or at least that is what Big Bill tells us. Alli, very humble, unlike her father, did tell us she is on the track team but that was it.

The Barton G was outstanding as usual all the meals were over the top.

Even though Alli has been at school for 3 months, this was her first trip to South Beach. At this point we found out why Alli was at the Delano, she was suppose to meet at blind date there, but when we showed up she decided to blow her date off and join us.

After dinner we gave Alli a tour of the Art Deco section of South Beach and then we toured some of the clubs on Ocean Drive we finished back at our hotel. It was great to see Alli what a great surprise.

Tuesday is our last day in South Beach so I was at the pool at 7:00 am.
Around 8:00 am Georges and his 5 year old daughter Alana showed up. At this point the hotel was empty and we had the pool to ourselves.

Georges and his family were from Sweden. Over the last few days we had grown friendly with Georges’s family. So you may see an excursion to Sweden when we go to Greenland next summer.

The plan was for Margarite to drop me back at JFK and then I have my three day trip back to Botswana. Before we took off I checked my email and saw my brother Ross and nephew Austin were heading back to Colorado for some skiing.

I have no money and had not played any poker for a week, but I was hooked on skiing. So I begged Margarite to fly me to Breckenridge instead of JFK. After much begging and whining she gave in and dropped me off at the Fort Collins, Colorado Airport.

Will, I ever get home to Botswana?

Cheers,
DUG

Heading back to Botswana

I have now spent 2 months in the United States, and it is clearly the best country in the world, I am ready to head back to my village and see what has been happening. Yes I am flying back on Thanksgiving. It was the cheapest ticket I could find. I fly JFK to Heathrow to Rome to Istanbul to Cape Town to Botswana. If you count the travel from the Airport to my village, my guess is this trip will take me three days.

Since being back on the East Coast after skiing in Colorado, I ran in the Philadelphia Half Marathon. I ran the race in 1 hour and 46 minutes, I was very happy with the time since I had not been training and I decided to run that morning. Running 13.1 miles is a cake walk compared to a 26.2 mile marathon.

I had a nice week of poker, won over $80.00 and played less then 2 hours which gave me a very nice hourly of over $40.00 an hour.

Once I am back in the village I will give you and update on what has been happening in my village.

Cheers,

Skiing Breckenridge and Keystone Colorado November 2009

Here I am in Breckenridge Colorado, what a Life this DUG guy has. The flight out was uneventful, but long. Flying a Cessna a little over 1,500 miles is a long way, I think we had to stop for fuel 8 times. I need to play some poker and hopefully earn enough to buy a commercial ticket back to the East Coast. I love flying with Austin, but maybe I need to wait until he gets a faster plane for these long trips.

We met up with Big Ed at the Valdoro Mountain Lodge what a great place, facilities seem new and the people are very helpful, the best part is the place in empty, between the lack of snow and the economy, we have the place to ourselves. Who ever said a depression is bad.

We all met up about 3:00 PM on Saturday, got situated, the place we are staying, is a time share so Big Ed’s place has two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. We went out and rented skis, though the snow is light we have confidence we will get some snow before we have to go back. We got our skis at Mountain Outfitters in Breckenridge. We also did some food shopping, then we just hung out.

Sunday morning I got up and did a quick work out, I am trying to hold my fitness from the Wineglass Marathon, as I might do a spring Marathon and I have registered for the Diamondman Half Ironman Triathlon in September 2010. I was happy the altitude did not bother me as we are at 10,000 feet.

Once we all had breakfast we headed to the slopes. There is a gondola in the center of town that takes you up to all the ski facilities. I had not skied in over 25 years and that ski experience was a fall down an icy mountain in West Virginia and then a few days in the lodge drinking beer. So I thought to get a better handle on this ski thing, I should take some lessons. Big Ed decided to join me on the lessons. Austin was going to try Telemark skiing so he also was going to take lessons.

The folks at the sale center were very helpful they lined up Jay as Austin’s instructor and Ian Leirfallom as Big Ed’s and my instructor. We all met at 10:00 am I had signed up for a 3 hour lessons. We started with the basics, it was very interesting in that most of the other students in the area were under 6 years of age, and most had more skiing skills that I did.

Once I learned how to wedge (stop) we went to the bunny slopes, were Ian taught me a few skiing skills, tipping, wedging my skis to stop, and how to turn. I felt like I was getting these skills and could go down this VERY gradual slop in full control. I was skiing and enjoying it. We had about 15 minutes left in our 3 hour lesson. Big Ed was a much better skier then I, so Ian had spent time teaching Big Ed how to ski backwards.

To get back down to the ski village, we had to go down a much steeper slope then we had been learning on. Ian said it would be easy and just focus on the skills he had taught me. The last skill taught was how to crisscross the hill so you do not gain too much speed in fact you could turn up the hill to slow or even stop. I could do this skill to my right very well, but not at all to my left. We started down the hill / mountain, I crisscrossed about 4 times and then started picking up a lot of speed and knew the only way to get control back was to crash and boy did I crash, ripping off one ski and wrenching my knee. Luckily nothing broke. Ian helped me up and we slowly made it back down the mountain.

Austin enjoyed his Telemark lessons, but decided he was more of an alpine skier. After a $40.00 lunch (3 hamburgers), Big Ed and Austin went skiing on the harder trails, and I went back to the bunny slope. I realized a good part of skiing, like mountain biking is confidence, the last fall had taken away some of my confidence and I felt like I was starting over from square one. After about 1.5 hours of practice I was getting tired and still had to go down the steeper hill (where I had crashed earlier) so I decided before I got to tried I better head down. Almost in the exact same spot as before I crashed. This time I was going a little slower and was a little more graceful, the big issue was without Ian to help, I could not get back on my skis, no mater what I tried I could not get up. After about 5 minutes of trying to get up, a very nice couple saw me struggling, and stopped to helped me up they also made sure I made it the rest of the way down.

I found Big Ed and Austin having a blast on the harder trails, my knee was still aching so I just hung out and watched for a while. I decided to ordered another ski lesson with Ian for the next day.

After Austin and Big Ed were done, we headed to town to exchange Austin Telemark skis for Alpine skis. We were all a little sore so we headed to the hot tub for a few hours and then a nice dinner at Taddeo’s Italian Restaurant the service was great and the food just OK.

After dinner we all crashed hard, a day of skiing can wear you out.

Monday we headed to the mountain I had another lesson with Ian at 10:00, when we meet he explained he felt some of my trouble was do to my skis. He said they he thought the skis I had were to long and high performance for a beginner. So we went over to the ski shop where Ian helped me get a pair that would better suit me.  This alone was worth the cost of the lesson. We then headed up the mountain and reviewed all the basics from the day before, we spent about and hour practicing the skills he had taught me and then we went down the long run I had crashed on the day before. I made it down 2 out of 3 times without falling. I was building back my confidence. While Ian was helping me Big Ed and Austin had been doing the more difficult runs. After Lunch I went back to practicing on the harder part of the easy run, making it down several times without falling. Big Ed and Austin offered to guild me down a much longer run telling me it was not any steeper then the run I had been doing just longer.

So we took a lift that went up and up and up and up to the top of the mountain. As we got off I saw clearly that this run was MUCH STEEPER then the run I had been doing, but the only way down was by skiing so off we went. Big Ed and Austin did a great job of coaching me down and I only fell once. I was very pleased with my progress and decided to take a break.(See video below)

We skied a few more runs and then called it a day. We were all fried, I returned all my skis I had two sets at this point and then we picked up a new set for Tuesday. We cooked dinner in, and then just all vegged out.

Today (Tuesday) we are going to ski at Keystone also JB, Big Ed’s wife is coming to town to meet up with us. Her assignment was completed early so she decided to join up with us. I still have not figured out if she is KGB, CIA, MI6, or CSIS, but she has to be a agent for one of these spy agencies.

It ended up that Keystone only had blue black trails open, so Big ED and Austin did a couple of runs and then we headed back to Breckenridge. I focused on the green runs and really improved my skills. Big Ed and Austin worked all the trails. We all had a blast. We meet up with JB, and had a great dinner at Hearthstone Restaurant beside having great food and service, during the week they have a two for one special. During dinner, JB talked a little be about her last assignment, though she is very discreet, we figured out it had something to do with getting a Pakistani scientist out of Pakistan to gain asylum in the United States. As you look at the pictures you will not see any of JB as she tries hard not to be photographed.

One great thing that happened today on the ski lift I ended up sitting next to a US Airways pilot who is also an armature poker player. We worked out a deal he got me a free ticket on a flight back (first class) to the east coast and I have to give him some poker lessons over the internet. This was a huge plus as I have been so tired after skiing that I have no time to play poker, so if this ticket did not materialize, it would have been flying back with Austin.

Heading back to Botswana next week, it has been almost 2 months on the east coast.

Some Bad news on my return, Big Ed emailed me that Haley Rose Gans had died on the same slopes that Big Ed and Austin had been skiing on. Haley was just 14. This really sucks.

Cheers,

DUG
See pictures and videos below.
Pictures


Video DUG Skiing Breckenridge


Video Big Ed and Austin Skiing Breckenridge


Video Big Ed and Austin Skiing Keystone

Off to Breckenridge for Some Skiing

I got a call from Big Ed, he is a relative of Margarite’s, he had heard I was in the United States and wanted to see if I was up for some Skiing. I was about to head back to Botswana, but what the hell. So I said sure, Big Ed had a time share with his wife and his wife could not make it ( I think she is in the KGB) so Big Ed invited me. All I had to do was get there. The travel was going to be an issue, I had been away from home for a little over a month now and my policy of not playing much poker while I traveled was killing by travel kitty. I knew that playing poker while I was not focused was not a good thing, but going broke paying for my travel habit was worse. So I played a little poker this week and it turned into a very nice week, winning over $200.00.

The $200.00 might pay my expenses, but how was I going to get there, I had been hanging on the east coast living off some old friends, now I need to buy a plane ticket. Then I remembered Austin. Austin is my nephew that is also a pilot that happens to love to ski. So I made a deal with Austin, you fly me to Breckenridge and I will take care your housing. Since Big Ed all ready had that covered I was good to go. So off to Breckenridge we go.

Cheers,

DUG

How to join an Online Poker Room

Play Online Poker

There are two dominate Online Poker Rooms. FullTiltPoker and PokerStars, there are many other sites these two are the premier on-line Poker Sites. I have played both and find the only real difference is the interface. Personal preference will dictate which site you like best. Each has its little difference, but there is no particular features that will help you win more money on one site over the other. Everything I explain is works in all countries including the United States.

Both site offer bonuses on your initial real money deposit. These bonuses are free money. Even if you are just a break even poker player, these bonuses will turn you into a profitable poker player.

Just click on either site links to join a site qualify for your bonus.


Play Online Poker


People always ask me are these sites safe. There have been online poker sites that have been caught cheating, these are the smaller ones and they quickly go out of business. PokerStars and FullTiltPoker make so much money that there is no reason for them to cheat, and in fact they spend a lot of money on security to make sure players are not cheating.

Remember you are not winning or losing to the Poker Site you are winning or losing to other Poker Players. At any one time there will be hundreds of thousands of players playing poker. The online poker site does not care who wins or loses. They get a very small piece of the pot, usually 1 or 2 % with a cap of a few dollars if the pot is very large. With hundreds of thousands of players there are thousands of hands playing each minute and the site is making anywhere from 10 cents to 3 dollars per hand. Do the math there are a lot of reasons to make sure players feel safe playing online poker.

People ask how you get money in and out of a Poker Site. I have always used a bank clearing house called Instant Echeck. PokerStars and FullTiltPoker are connected to Instant Echeck so it is very easy to use. All you need is your bank routing number and account number.

Anytime you do a financial transaction over the internet there is a chance of fraud. For this reason I have set up a checking account I only use for the purpose of putting money into my online poker account. I keep a minimum balance in this account, so if anybody ever hacked into it, they would not get much money.

As far as getting money out of an online Poker account, you can use Instant Echeck and the money will be electronically transferred back into your checking account. Or you can request a check. I have always used the check request and somewhere between 5 and 15 days a check will show up. One issue with FullTiltPoker is they have a minimum check request of $100.00 where PokerStars does not have any minimum that I have had to deal with.

I have been playing online poker for over 4 years now and have never had a problem either putting money in or taking money out, so try it you will like it.

If you are still unsure about putting money in, you can play free money games for a while and get use to the interface and try both sites and then when you are ready for real money you can deposit money into your poker account. Remember to click on the below link to join so you get your bonus.


Play Online Poker


If you have any questions of comments feel free to enter a comment of send me an email at DUG@LifeOfDUG.com

Below is a hand I won that I should have lost, I was a real donkey, but sometime donkey’s get paid off.

Cheers,

DUG

See explanation below the hand replay



Table 'Romilda' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: xlebisol ($138.35 in chips)
Seat 2: Torfly ($93.25 in chips)
Seat 5: Redstar18 ($182.50 in chips)
Seat 6: DUG ($102.30 in chips)
Seat 7: Van Belle ($104 in chips)
Seat 8: Micha126 ($208.65 in chips)
Seat 9: jtodb222 ($100 in chips)
Torfly: posts small blind $0.50
Mokoman80: is sitting out
Wilkall: is sitting out
Redstar18: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [3h 6h]
DUG: calls $1 This is a wacky hand that if I hit no one will know what I have.
Van Belle: folds
Micha126: raises $4 to $5 Very tight player has AA, KK, QQ, JJ or AK
jtodb222: folds
xlebisol: calls $5 Loose player could have anything
Torfly: folds
Redstar18: folds
DUG: calls $4 No matter what hits I am going to act like a hit a set.
*** FLOP *** [4c Tc 7s]
DUG: checks A Check raise is in order.
Micha126: bets $10
xlebisol: folds
DUG: raises $19 to $29 This should get him to fold.
Micha126: calls $19 Must be AA or KK.
*** TURN *** [4c Tc 7s] [8d]
DUG: bets $68.30 and is all-in Now, I have to either give up the hand of Go all in. I think I can get him to fold with and all in.
Micha126: calls $68.30 Oh @&^&
*** RIVER *** [4c Tc 7s 8d] [5d] Had 4 outs and hit one of them 8% chance to win.
Mokoman80 has returned
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [3h 6h] (a straight, Four to Eight)
Micha126: shows [Qc Qd] (a pair of Queens)
DUG collected $208.10 from pot Not a bad pot for a Donkey
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $211.10 | Rake $3
Board [4c Tc 7s 8d 5d]
Seat 1: xlebisol (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: Torfly (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Redstar18 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: DUG showed [3h 6h] and won ($208.10) with a straight, Four to Eight
Seat 7: Van Belle folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Micha126 showed [Qc Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 9: jtodb222 folded before Flop (didn't bet)



Play Online Poker

Redskins VS the Eagles Professional Football

A poker buddy of mine knew I was in the United States so he offered to sell me some Football tickets for the Monday night football game. I had only been in the United States for a few weeks and had already been to Corning New York for the Wineglass Marathon. Then I was off to Ann Arbor to visit my niece and go to the Penn State University of Michigan Football Game,  now on to Washington DC for Monday night football.

My brother Lee lives in DC you might remember him from my blog post on his wedding.  Rather then go alone I invited Lee along. I got the tickets for $110.00 I had no idea if that was a good deal or not. I trusted my poker buddy and never thought he would rip me off. I later found out through my brother that the Redskins have been playing real bad and we could have gotten better tickets for $25.00 to $40.00. That is life, I will make the money back beating my buddy in Poker.

The game was great for Eagles Fan and not so good if you were rooting for the Redskins. Since I was there just to enjoy the game and catch up with my brother I had a great time. See attached Pictures and Video below.

After the Game I made my annual pilgrimage to the Fruit Cake Factory, if you are interested feel free to look at last years story. This year we made 80 LBS.

As far as poker goes I have built my bank roll back up to a respectable number and in fact have made some nice withdraws to pay for all the travel. I am now back playing $.50/$1.00 and hope to continue with a strong finish for the year.

I have started playing ACE KING more aggressively and that has paid off nicely, almost always trying to end the hand before the flop or if need be right after the flop there is an example below.

From DC I am off the Colorado for some skiing and snow boarding.

Cheers,

DUG

Pictures


Video


AK Playing to WIN!

University of Michigan VS Penn State Football October 2009

I am heading up to visit Laney my niece who is attending the University of Michigan. You may remember Laney as she joined me white water rafting on the Snake River in Hells Canyon back in July.

I arrived Friday night to a damp cold Michigan fall. Laney had a hot date so I was on my own. I found a great town about 8 miles west of Ann Arbor called Chelsea. Chelsea had a great Main Street lined with restaurant and shops. I decided to grab dinner and a beer at Cleary’s Pub. I had great meat ravioli and the owner personally greeted each customer.
Pictures


Saturday was the big day, University of Michigan VS Penn State, a true college football rivalry. Penn State had not beaten University of Michigan at Michigan since 1995.

I met Laney for brunch and a tour of campus. The game was at 3:30 so we headed to the stadium about 3:00. This was some sight 100,000 plus fans all walking toward the big house. My guess about 50,000 of the 100,000 were somewhat impaired which added to the great atmosphere.

I expected a close game but was quickly let down. Within the first minutes University of Michigan scored a touch down, and boy did they make it look easy! At that point I thought this was going to be a blow out. Well it was, Penn State 35 University of Michigan 10. Not what I expect after the first few minutes. After that first drive University of Michigan fell apart. Penn State scored on its first drive and tied the game just 4 minutes into the first quarter. From that point on it was all Penn State.
Video

What a great atmosphere cold, windy, and raining 106,325 people half drunk and 90% of the University of Michigan fans pissed off, just a ton of fun.

After the game I met back up with Laney and we had dinner a good friend of hers, Lulu.

Then I headed back to my hotel since Laney and Lulu said they were going to study, but I knew study meant party.

Sunday morning Laney and I had breakfast at the broken egg. And then off to study group for Laney and Washington DC, for me.

I had tickets for Monday night football, Philadelphia Eagles VS the Washington Redskins.

My brother Lee will be joining me for the game.

Cheers,

DUG

Wineglass Marathon October 2009 and Corning Museum

Please vote on what Naomi’s next piercing should be.

I Flew into JFK, smooth flight compared to my last flight to the United States on a B-17 bomber.

We all meet at my brother-in-laws house. Running in the marathon, is Michael my brother-in-law, Naomi, they both ran the Philadelphia Marathon with me last year.

We had a 4.5 hour drive to Corning, New York. It is Friday afternoon and the race is on Sunday. Dan, Naomi's husband is joining us for support. Also joining us are Mercury, Baby, and Fat Chelsea, Naomi and Dan’s kids.

Pictures (keep reading below)


We arrived in Corning, New York at 6:30 PM, checked into the hotel, unloaded our stuff and headed out to look for food. Corning, New York was a farming town, then in the early 1800’s a glass manufacture from Manhattan moved to Corning to gain space. Corning has easy access to railroads and river barge traffic so it was a perfect location. This converted Corning to a manufacturing / farming town with a thriving downtown. This still holds true today.

We headed downtown about half mile from our hotel. Market Street is their main street with shops, restaurants, and apartments above. This area is known as the Gaffer District. Gaffer is the professional title for a Glass Blower.

There were many types of restaurants, so you might think we had a lot of choices of where and what to eat. With 1,400 runners in town for the marathon several restaurants were full. We found a great bar/pub called Holmes Plate. We all had great meals and the owner Brendan Holmes said if we needed something he did not have he would make it for us, understanding we were running a Marathon on Sunday. Holmes Plate has great service, great food, and great people, I highly recommend it.

On Saturday we had an early run in the morning so off to bed we went. Michael and I shared a room. He could do a commercial for Flowmax, he must have peed 15 times in one night. After the first night I moved into the living room so I could get a full nights sleep.

Video (keep Reading Below)


It was Saturday morning the race was on Sunday our work out for Saturday was to simulate the race. Naomi's coach Bob Kaehler an Olympic Rower and physiologist, prescribed this method of gearing up for a marathon, the last week before your race you taper your workouts, then two days before the race you run 4-6 miles easy. The day before the race you run 2 miles easy, 3 mile at race pace and then 2 easy as a warm down. The key is to run the runs at the same time of day as the race, in our case 8:00 am.

The Wineglass Marathon is a point to point marathon. Many marathons are loops with the start and end at the same location. In the case of Wineglass you start in Bath, New York and run 26.2 miles to Corning, New York. The course is a slight down hill, with two mild up hills, you start at an elevation of 1,150 feet and finishing at an elevation of 950 feet.

After our run we drove up to Bath, New York to check at the race course so we would not have any surprises on Sunday. Michael had a goal of breaking 4:00 hours. This was his second marathon and first one he had really trained for I was confident he would make it.

This was Naomi's 4th marathon, she ran Philly with me last year in 3 hours and 46 minutes. She set a goal for this marathon of qualifying for the Boston Marathon which means she has to do 3 hours and 40 minutes or less. They do allow you to round down to the nearest minute, so that means she has 59 seconds leeway.

After watching Margarite run Boston last year I also got the bug to run Boston. For me I would have to run a 3 hour 30 minute race. A full 16 minutes faster then I ran Philly last year. When I started my training I thought I could do it. I had run the Marine Corp marathon in 2006 in
3 hour 36 minutes, so it was only 6 minutes faster.

As my training progressed I realized this goal was not in the cards, without me giving up some of my dedication to poker or travel. So I changed my goal to "JUST HAVE FUN". Yes you can run 26.2 miles and have fun. Last year was a ton of fun.

With no time goal Naomi asked me to pace her for the first half and Michael asked me to pace him the second half.

While I agreed I was concerned if I could keep up with Naomi for 13.1 miles and then stay with Michael for the rest of the race after a short break while I waited for Michael to catch up. We would see!

The course looked great the only concern was they do not close the roads. All the marathons I had run prior were on closed courses, meaning "No Cars". Though this was a smaller marathon compared to the others I had run, New York 40,000 runners, Marine Corp 35,000 runners, and Philly with 20,000 runners. Wineglass would have 900 for the full marathon and another about 500 running a 3 person relay. Though smaller it only takes one car and one runner to have a disaster.

After driving the course we all just hung out and rested up for our big day.

Sunday, woke up at 6:00 am. I like to get up a few hours before a race to make sure my body is ready for the day’s stress it is going to have to endure. My morning breakfast is potato salad, which I make with hard boiled eggs and mayonnaise. I will be out running for close to 4 hours burning somewhere between 3 and 4 thousand calories. I find this combination for breakfast gives me the proper carbohydrates, protein, and fats to carry me through the race.

Dan drove us to the start. With just over 1,000 runners at the start it was very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. We did run into Naomi's arch enemy Karen. From what I could tell they belonged to the same running club and Karen always beat Naomi. For the race they both had the same goal 3 hours and 40 minutes.

I gave Naomi her pre-race strategy. This was to make sure we do not go out to fast as the first mile is a good down hill. After that any down hills we should pick it up and the few up hills relax in to them and if need be slow a little.

And most important stay behind Karen until we knew we can crush her.

The start was perfect we got caught up in the crowd which slowed us down and we crossed the first mile mark at 8:29. We had a goal pace of 8:20 per mile which would get Naomi to the finish at about 3 hours and 38 minutes, giving her a 2 minute cushion. The pack quickly thinned and we picked up the pace and completed mile 2 at 8:08 pace.

The weather was perfect 50 degrees and partly cloudy. I had started with cap, gloves, and arm warmers. At mile 3 I had warmed nicely and gave Dan my cap and gloves.

At mile 5 we had settled into a pace of 8:18 2 second faster then our goal. We had also made up for out first mile everything was going perfect. Car traffic was light but the cars were not very courteous to the runners. At one point the runner in front of me was heading right for a car that was heading right for us. The car slowed and finally stopped I moved to our left while the runner in front kept heading straight at the now stopped car. I realized the runner had her head down and did not see the car. I yelled "CAR UP!!!". As she looked up she jumped to her left and missed running into the car by about a foot.

I have seen runners space out before by not in the first 6 miles of a 26.2 mile race.
Miles 7 through 10 went great. Naomi had warmed up nicely we passed ten miles at 1 hour 22 minutes and some change holding our pace of 8:18. Karen had started off about 300 meter ahead of us and at the 10 mile mark we had closed the gap to about 100 meters. Naomi was getting antsy to pass but I held her back. I knew we had a hill at mile 14 and I did not want Karen behind us on that hill.

We crossed the half way point 13.1 miles at 1 hour 48 minutes giving us a 2 minute buffer for Naomi's goal time of 3 hours and 40 minutes. At this point I would have put her finishing at 3 hours and 35 minutes negative splitting the second half (running the second half of the race faster then the first).

At this point I felt good and decide to keep running with Naomi and blow Michael off. Dan had his bike and was giving us water as we ran. I asked him to let Michael know the new plan. I found out later Michael had found a hot chick Leigh to run with, so he was happy I did not drop back and interfere.

Karen also had a pacer running with her. As we hit the mile 14 hill we had caught Karen and were on her and her pacers heels. I could tell Naomi was getting antsy and wanted to pass. I told her in 5 miles, mile 19 we could pass.

Then we realized Karen was slowing to the point if we did not pass Naomi would miss her goal, so we easily passed and got no resistant’s from Karen. She never even challenged us.

At this point I was feeling great we had just passed mile 16 just over 10 miles to go and our current pace would get us in at 3 hours and 36 minutes. I started asking myself, could I make up 6 minutes in 10 miles and hit a 3 hour 30 minute race and qualify for Boston. That would be dropping from an 8:20 pace to a 7:46 pace. Not really do able but I felt good and I thought Naomi felt good, so I stepped up the pace to 8:00 I quickly lost Naomi, I knew at this point she would make her goal and qualify for Boston so I did not worry she did not stay with me. At mile 19 still 7 miles from the finish and 3 miles into my faster pace, I realized my brain had more confidence then my legs had strength and endurance. My right hamstring told my brain slow down or "I WILL SLOW YOU DOWN" it was clear if I did not slow down my legs would cramp and force me to slow, so I reluctantly slowed back to an 8:20 pace. At mile 20 I got the shock of my life Karen had caught me and even passed me and no Naomi so she must have passed Naomi also.

I found out later it was Karen’s pacer that was fading back at mile 14 not Karen she felt great. I stayed with Karen until mile 21, where she accelerated her pace at that point I had a few options. 1) Trip her and as she falls give her a good kick in the ribs. 2) Try to stay with her 3) Listen to my body and let her go. I went with option 3 and Karen ran a great 3 hour 35 minute marathon 5 minutes under her goal.

At this point my legs were really starting to break down I had to slow again as I did Naomi passed me looking strong but showing some pain it was now mile 22.

Toward the end of mile 22 my legs gave out I hit their limit of my training. I had to walk and completed mile 22 at a 10:30 pace. The next 3 mile I walk ran with times of 12:34, 10:05 and 11:39. I saw I could still hit a 3 hours and 50 minutes if I ran the last mile which I did but a little slower then I needed to at a pace of 9:39 and finished at 3 hours and 51 minutes the key is I hit my goal of having fun. It was a great race.

I found Naomi she finished in 3 hours and 40 minutes and a few seconds, qualifying for Boston. And just behind me was Michael finishing at 3 hours and 59 minutes hitting his goal of under 4 hours. The good news this means Naomi is getting another piercing. Each time she does and event she piercers a part of her body, the list of her current piercings is to long to list. Please vote on the next piercing.

There was a nice celebration after the race then a walk back to the hotel for showers and stretching.

We all needed to get some protein in us after trashing our muscles. This is an issue for Naomi, since she is a vegetarian. She needed a tofu meal. So we went back to Holmes Plate, Brendan the owner had said he would make us what ever we wanted. He was telling the truth. He made Naomi a vegetable stir fry with tofu. He actually went to the store and got her the vegetables she wanted. Naomi said it was awesome. Everybody’s meal was great and they have 17 beers on tap. What a great place if you are ever in Corning please stop by ask for Brendan and tell them DUG sent you.

Monday Michael and I visited the Corning Museum of Glass. Well, worth the visits a lot of live demonstrations as well as great education and exhibits on the history of glass

Then the 4.5 hour ride back to Michael’s.

Cheers,

Dug

P.S. Next week I am off to the University of Michigan

Lots of Traveling in October, first stop Wineglass Marathon

I am heading back to the United States for about a month. I have several trips within this big trip so rather then go back and fourth I thought I would turn it into one long stay. My first trip is to Corning, New York, home of Corning Glass, where I will be running the Wine Glass Marathon. I will have all the details and the results on my next post, plus updates on my other adventures while in the United States.

Life in the village as been somewhat routine, when I am not playing Poker, I have been mostly hanging out with the elders, playing with the kids, or training for the Marathon.

As far as poker goes, I have to work on my discipline if I every want to build my bankroll back up to a level I can move up in stakes. I continue to play at the .25/.50 level. For the month I lost $87.65 playing 42.08 hours for a loss of $2.08 an hour. With Bonuses and points I was about even. I was doing fine until I had a couple of bad beats and went on Tilt. This caused me to play bad and lose several hands I should not have even been playing. The good thing about poker is you keep learning and improving, and by forcing myself to stay at this level until I get the right size bank roll will make me a better poker player.

Below are three hands you may enjoy;

Hand 1, I hit a straight flush on the river and the opponent slow played his pocket Ace’s until the river. With such low bets I had to call and then boom he goes all in when I have the NUTZ.

Hand 2, I hit quads (4 of a kind) though I did not win much money I did get the guy to call my value bet on the river when he was playing the board.

Hand 3, this was the poker gods watching out for me. I put my opponent on AK and I thought I was ahead, only to find out, if I had not hit on the river I would have lost my whole stack.

Hand 1


Hand 2


Hand 3


Cheers,

DUG

Philly Distance Run 2009

The wind generator / water pump has been working great and all the villagers are as happy as can be. We have started doing research on our next project which is solar power. Also we will be planting our pineapple crop soon and are excited as our compost toilets have been working very well, this will give us a 2 fold benefit; one we will not have to buy elephant dung this year, as well as we should have a great pineapple crop.

I have been staying focused on my poker play again staying at the $.25/$.50 tables. So far this month I have won $209.35 while playing 21.55 hours and 2,137 hands. As you can see my volume is down but my quality is way up. My hourly rate is $9.71 an hour and my profit per hand is $.10.

Margarite went to the United States to run in the Philly Distance Run, she ran with the Full Moon Running Club, I have posted the pictures and video below. I did not join her on this trip as I will be spending most of October in the United States, more on that in a future post, please enjoy the pictures and also some fun hands below the pictures and video.
Pictures


60 second Video


Fun hand I won on the River:


Fun hand I won on the Turn:



Cheers,

DUG

The Wind Generator and Water Pump are now complete

 (Pictures and Video Below)
As you may remember we had decided to see if we could learn to manufacture some of the parts for the wind generator ourselves. My friend Raymond (Ray) Mathis of Tutto Metal Design back in July had come over through his church to teach us some metal working skills.

Ray came back with his nephew Nathan to see how our progress was coming. He was very happy with our success. He suggested rather then just manufacture some of the parts he thought we should build the entire Wind Generator and Water Pump. Ray agreed to stay and help. We completed the project and it is up and working. You can see pictures and videos of us working on the project. We had one issue and that was finding the correct axle for Windmill part to connect to the tower, so as you can see in the picture I had to donate my bicycle for this. (complete pictures and video below)

So now we have completed 2 compost toilets and the wind generator and water pump is complete based on our energy and conservation plan we are ahead of schedule. Our next big project with be installing a solar array. With planting season coming up, most likely we will not tackle this project until the summer time, maybe December, January.

As far as poker for the month of August, I did not fair to well. Mostly my fault playing when I was not focused, the one bright spot is I won a few tournaments, so while my cash games were down I ended up making money for the month. In the cash games I lost $338.25 playing 23.17 hours or $14.60 an hour. I played 2,598 hands and lost an average of $.13 per hand.

See Pictures and Video Below

Cheers,

DUG

Making of a Wind Generator and Water Pump Video


Making of a Wind Generator and Water Pump Pictures





August Players I won and lost money from.

Player	Amount	Player	Amount	Player	Amount	Player	Amount
ASMoney	$52.75	gbandman21	$1.00	JonathanAH	-$0.25	Darrell_IOM	-$2.00
rapsusklei	$50.45	avrgblind	$1.00	moto53	-$0.25	sucofmodeerf	-$2.00
angryus	$50.00	McFussball81	$1.00	mmbuxtehude	-$0.25	Gl2@\/iTy 13	-$2.25
il joker Ahs	$41.00	roberlander	$1.00	ezy-ezy777	-$0.25	brechet007	-$2.25
PokerPete888	$39.00	Philyann	$1.00	Burkinator99	-$0.25	UT_Pitbull	-$2.50
gutter23	$36.00	vinniepooh	$1.00	Donk a Pro	-$0.25	aellbert	-$2.50
Mamakan	$31.75	BergenNH	$1.00	doru	-$0.25	SimonHengst	-$2.75
beubeu3300	$29.00	skywalk3r360	$1.00	TheNammy	-$0.25	Rusty Nails	-$2.75
NFlorida	$28.50	CRaCKGeK	$1.00	Angel Molina	-$0.25	Brightlight5	-$3.00
Phelipe22	$23.05	iberxx	$1.00	CruzArg	-$0.25	xmoos	-$3.00
bosto123	$22.75	bedtime4ya	$0.75	JakobFrost	-$0.25	jozsef75	-$3.00
clems717	$20.50	sosaed	$0.75	Jabba7805	-$0.25	cswilson1	-$3.00
Ball63	$18.50	gto12030332	$0.75	nastybasti	-$0.25	Joeyons	-$3.00
XOoSnoopyoOX	$17.50	mcl313	$0.75	Sagi3000	-$0.25	Prestonjw	-$3.25
uhYESIAM	$17.25	guff85	$0.75	SaarZocker76	-$0.25	TgGolf	-$3.25
cedroco	$16.50	quantum28	$0.75	benito boy	-$0.50	Pickeljoe	-$3.50
motschoo	$16.00	Valnier	$0.75	gsheizer	-$0.50	junkman_1962	-$3.50
ShedMiddle	$15.00	Toasted12	$0.75	pacholke28	-$0.50	paracu337	-$3.75
Stubbikoenig	$12.50	SpectacuLism	$0.75	ole1501	-$0.50	tikamp	-$3.75
chirak1982	$11.75	SV13111992	$0.75	castorlber	-$0.50	peskypin	-$4.00
mirussel	$11.15	Seca11	$0.75	frosty012	-$0.50	oki213	-$4.00
HonamLoveYou	$10.75	alreet	$0.75	freud55	-$0.50	Nitewin	-$4.00
mandataire	$10.50	punxstar	$0.50	muo2	-$0.50	bal'c crew	-$4.00
Jelly747	$10.25	waltynz	$0.50	moertelmu	-$0.50	sony_001187	-$4.00
nasdaqer2	$9.50	kim-hai77	$0.50	Airfoil	-$0.50	circadisastr	-$4.05
Lilicita	$9.25	ChadK350	$0.50	Kikiriki77	-$0.50	N!vereN	-$4.25
mlo64	$9.00	Skibi	$0.50	atlwindsurf	-$0.50	lessharm	-$4.25
dustin489	$9.00	BE-Tiger	$0.50	k1Knockout	-$0.50	Capri88888	-$4.50
akkimmer	$9.00	NixChou	$0.50	LCMCVP	-$0.50	sublime7887	-$4.50
The_LateShow	$8.25	4dgamble	$0.50	zokki123	-$0.50	CheOmsk2	-$4.50
evile33	$8.00	cacauAT	$0.50	xTJaxx	-$0.50	Checkmater	-$4.75
931243732	$8.00	1964bingo	$0.50	DeluxeSamy	-$0.50	jonnie14	-$4.75
LONGO1981	$7.95	leits	$0.50	Warmachine28	-$0.50	Zenzor	-$5.00
talio22	$7.75	Leeroykt33	$0.50	karbagreen	-$0.50	x Coolface	-$5.00
saoumas	$6.50	aceupdaslv85	$0.50	bluemoon2010	-$0.50	phase 2000	-$5.50
Momess	$6.25	l337O	$0.50	vittorio15	-$0.50	bowlman628	-$5.50
timmiq	$6.25	quietm	$0.50	tugjd	-$0.50	Chino88	-$5.50
ItzGood2BMe	$6.00	angeldb	$0.50	synaptique	-$0.50	AKHUND1	-$6.00
vialli99	$5.95	nucleardude	$0.50	coolcart	-$0.50	NASMO	-$6.00
goods2001	$5.50	Kaspar0312	$0.50	sharas2006	-$0.50	chemita30	-$6.25
Solmo3	$5.25	zbpoker	$0.50	settecba	-$0.50	3TripletDad3	-$6.25
Estoque	$5.00	seene	$0.50	HSVJobig	-$0.50	xrocket16x	-$6.75
calimero703	$5.00	k1ngsize	$0.50	Heaven$ent	-$0.50	Ronfar3	-$7.00
polluvious	$5.00	TrapoLeproso	$0.50	harkonens	-$0.50	Mike280677	-$8.00
JesseFelix	$4.75	canalla18	$0.50	redisni	-$0.50	lissi stinkt	-$8.75
luismon	$4.75	mrSteijn	$0.50	raveman210	-$0.50	controletti2	-$9.00
NerdNeedCash	$4.75	seven9	$0.50	NOBIF38	-$0.75	DeadMan2410	-$9.25
Tdd21	$4.50	Robbiepsych	$0.50	aufgehts007	-$0.75	jthuan	-$9.50
FREDERICIA	$4.00	JP917	$0.50	emilionu	-$0.75	rrobert333	-$10.25
mArio JAws	$4.00	guti0815	$0.50	AgentOr4nge	-$0.75	keule1978	-$10.75
Glenn999888	$4.00	-Ak47-2009-	$0.50	Asia80	-$0.75	ThangLuon	-$10.75
maerchenmari	$3.50	pcboi	$0.25	Withgor	-$0.75	Coolaak1	-$11.50
szúnyogírtó	$3.25	bars00k	$0.25	daytrippers	-$0.75	RolfR	-$12.00
jesus_hp	$3.25	factoryy	$0.25	stevefurrier	-$0.75	natisfinest	-$12.25
Vazman81	$3.00	Bob_124	$0.25	stephmary	-$0.75	turbotroll	-$14.00
klikth	$3.00	eqyinoon	$0.25	SmallFRYbigF	-$0.75	tiltbad	-$14.00
FineusJ	$3.00	buizert	$0.25	phillme13	-$1.00	lecardsharp	-$14.35
stumblehere	$3.00	Elfingord	$0.25	oll220	-$1.00	TITO´S FCB	-$14.75
Felias999	$2.75	bse1234	$0.25	meracer	-$1.00	goos43	-$15.00
clRi	$2.75	koless2	$0.25	marcoohtje	-$1.00	G-Dawg-4	-$15.00
BradxxBonner	$2.50	kimmo70poker	$0.25	L1n0x	-$1.00	ekkPainmaker	-$15.00
christysson	$2.50	Biznez69	$0.25	KofR&R	-$1.00	DEER RIFLE	-$16.50
N.OLD BOYS	$2.50	jesson 666	$0.25	Xident	-$1.00	Joe017	-$16.50
Icolts2k6	$2.25	jackal5050	$0.25	Ken2it	-$1.00	IcarusJam	-$16.50
d2makerx	$2.00	sil693	$0.25	Vipercheers	-$1.00	Maxipouce	-$19.00
Filibert	$2.00	bersekus	$0.25	darkblue1976	-$1.00	RayselCH	-$20.50
riksanchez	$2.00	Seany Gee	$0.25	jtodb222	-$1.00	markiepooh99	-$22.05
Bibifokof	$2.00	ibiza007	$0.25	1488311	-$1.00	sutata	-$22.75
bigirwin23	$2.00	wervolf	$0.25	tenor75013	-$1.00	geoste54	-$24.50
Nostromo9366	$2.00	hippitro	$0.25	Project wise	-$1.25	13uck1ey	-$25.25
goland1	$2.00	0-DakArus-0	$0.25	CambraSilver	-$1.25	ryanmack91	-$25.50
LoboPunter39	$2.00	rijkrock	$0.25	Michael_M112	-$1.25	Maxorero	-$31.30
bw07507	$1.75	captin57	$0.00	Erbauer	-$1.25	e306	-$32.50
genjix	$1.75	MrPowell222	$0.00	Freeloadin81	-$1.50	GexKelly	-$33.50
LuckCHE	$1.75	makro1983	$0.00	monsterali	-$1.50	Klaus20	-$34.75
Woja	$1.75	/V\0NTANA	$0.00	Matt242	-$1.50	UomoScettico	-$38.00
ogabay	$1.75	Dooley2005	$0.00	Maina777	-$1.50	Trevtrain	-$38.65
bereve82	$1.75	XYakte	$0.00	linau	-$1.50	jmp110372	-$42.75
JohnyBotton	$1.50	zolraman	$0.00	Doubledoub	-$1.50	LIONHEARTFF8	-$44.00
Eddiherkules	$1.50	Jared66	$0.00	weasmymoney	-$1.50	tkpl99	-$44.50
Sanogo18	$1.50	sk_limx	$0.00	tripa22	-$1.50	HomerrrJay	-$49.75
Oki_don_doki	$1.50	sami37	$0.00	Sprayed	-$1.50	timmerlmao	-$59.75
capaneo	$1.50	alex1719	$0.00	gorozito	-$1.75
sayk974	$1.50	Roxyharry	$0.00	KillahWhale	-$1.75
kawelljd	$1.35	robo007	$0.00	Txorkoman	-$1.75
guennsen001	$1.25	cee23	-$0.25	damir haus	-$1.75
Knoss	$1.25	Cryp2Nite	-$0.25	Erkan52	-$2.00
Nookx	$1.00	GetTheMath	-$0.25	doyaknow23	-$2.00
newxenic	$1.00	galareta	-$0.25	ArianK	-$2.00

One Day Trip to Richmond for John’s Birthday

Pictures and videos below

Got a strange call the other day from Sara Erikson  not only is she a Famous Hollywood Actress, she is the daughter of a good friend of mine John Erikson. You may remember last fall I had visited John the world renowned soy candle maker based in Richmond Virginia.

Sara was calling me to let me know she was having a surprise birthday party for her dad's 60th birthday and she expected me to be there. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

I said no problem I would not miss it, when is it? Her response, “Next Week! After a few seconds of silence I said why the short notice. Sara came back with a very quick "You know how long it takes to find a person that lives in some tiny village in Botswana”. I said, “I will be there, some how”.

I had not planed on going back to the United States I had a lot of work to do on the wind generator project and had just been to the United States for the Idaho Trip. So I had an issue of time and money. I would only be able to go for the day and I needed to find a low cost way to get there.

I had heard that there were some World War II B17 bombers that had been sitting in Botswana since about the mid 1940's heading back to the United States to join a museum. So for 50 U.S. Dollars I could hitch a ride. Perfect. Then I found out a United States diplomat would be heading to Uganda on one of the air force corporate jets, and they would give me a ride to Uganda, from there I could hitch a ride back to my village in Botswana. I think Margarite’s family pulled some strings to get me the ride back.

The flight over was like flying in a steal trash can noisy, bumpy, and cold, (see video) but very cheap. We took off in the evening then flew east banking back west directly to the east coast of Florida, then straight up the east coast of the United States. We had to refuel three times in mid-air. The flight was a total of 30 hours flying time. Most of the video was shot on the east coast of the United States since it was dark for the ride over until we hit the United States.

Cliff picked me up at the Air Nation Guard terminal in Richmond, Virginia and took me to his house which is where John’s party would be.

Everybody would be joining at 6:00 pm and John would show up at 6:30 it was Saturday night and John already had a few surprises this week. The first a very sad event Brando John’s great dame and long time companion passed away on Tuesday this was a sad day and low point of the week. Then on Wednesday Sara showed up along with her mom to surprised John coming all the way from Hollywood and spent a day and a half cleaning John’s house. On Friday Andy and Pam showed up at John's. Andy and Pam are John's brother and sister in law. Boosting John's spirits even higher, a few hours later John's son Prentise showed up from Memphis. This surprise almost put John over the edge. From what I heard watching a 60 year old man cry not once but three time can be heart wrenching and emotional.

So now it is Saturday and John thinks he is coming to Cliff’s for a barbeque unknown to John, Sara has gotten about 20 of John’s closest friends together for surprise number 4. Also another famous actor Peter Oldring  Sara’s fiancé  has flown in from location for John’s party.

John was very surprised and started crying again a very sad week had improved quite a bit for John. The party was fun the highlight was John and Cliff performing their magic tricks. See videos.

The travel over was tough I am glad I attended you only get so many friends and so many days in your life so when you can maximize both, it is a great feeling.

Travel to Richmond worth watching


Intro and Magic Tricks I


Magic Tricks II


Magic Tricks III


Magic Tricks IV and some fun stuff


Pictures


Cheers,

DUG