The season is once again changing into the colors of fall and frost. This is the shortest of our seasons, so it will soon turn to winter. Turning my thoughts to winter, it is once again time to start the Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament. This week, commencing Wednesday, September 24th we will start the 3rd Annual Holiday Classic Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament. This thirteen week tournament will continue until December 17th with the Championship Round being played the following evening on December 18th.

This is a free tournament sponsored by the Anchor River Inn in Anchor Point. There are no cash prizes, side bets, or any other method of exchanging money as it is illegal in Alaska. However, each player will start with a "bank" of $3,250.00 in chips each game. When the "bank" has been expended, the player is eliminated from further play. The game will continue until one player has won all of the chips. When the field of players are eliminated to the last eight, points will be earned dependent on what place you finish. As an example, going out in 5th place you earn 20 points where the person winning the weekly tournament earns 100 points. For each accumulated point, you get the equivalent of $5.00 in chips per point in the Championship Round in addition to your normal weekly "buy" in of $3,250.

In the Championship Round, prizes and trophies will be awarded to the top finishers. It is a great social time, we have a good representation of males, females, experienced players, and those learning the game. Games start each Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., there is no "late" seating in the game. If you happen to be in Anchor Point on a Wednesday evening and wanting to have a little fun, you are always welcome to join in. If you miss playing the Holiday Classic Tournament, the "Winter Class Texas Hold'em Tournament will be held January through February followed by the 3rd Annual King Salmon Texas Hold'em Tournament from March to mid May. Deal'em up!

Having a rather long "bucket list", I figure that I am going to be around for a long time. However, today, I discovered two things that I want to include on my personal "bucket list". I have never been a good athlete, a little boxing in high school and the Navy, but for the most part they involved a lot of work which I had an allergy to when I was a teenager. However, I have finally found a "sport" that I think I can compete in. "Senior Citizen Body Building Competition". It was only recently brought to my attention and it is an annual event. By working out a little, I could possibly qualify. Most likely, before I qualify for the big "Texas Hold'em Tournament in Las Vegas.

The second thing that I have added to my "bucket list" is to acquire a couple of "wiener dogs" from somewhere, train them to keep up with my retriever on the run and enter them in national races. The next race that I know of is being held in Buda, Texas on April 26, 2009. It will be the 10th Annual running of the "wieners". I know of of a couple of "wieners" that could be potential winners if someone was standing at the end of the track with a large poster of the Anchor River Inn. A lot of Alaskan Dogs have won the Iditirod and the Yukon Quest, but how many "wieners" have ever won a national race. Now is the time to start training. Up at 5 am, six days a week running them for a mile each day. Increasing their diet to Prime Rib or at least a good New York steak followed by a one hour run on the treadmill in the evening followed by a good massage. By April, they should be ready to run. To mentally prepare yourself and the "wiener dogs", perhaps you should visit the linked site and see what your potential is for picking a winner in the running of the wieners.

There are two things in my life at the present time that I have no control over, other than to complain and kick a few rocks in frustration. The first is the rain, we are into our fall season, however, only a few of our trees are showing any fall colors. In Anchor Point, we have not had a frost to date, which is unusual because this has always occurred in August. Instead, we have had rain, then some more rain and as of late a lot of rain. Being that it is 9/17/2008, I reviewed the data for this month to date. Out of the seventeen days of September, we have received precipitation thirteen days of this month. Frustrating to say the least when you you have a list of chores to accomplish prior to October 15th. I have no control over the weather, so I will sit by in the idle mode, awaiting for a day of semi-sunshine even a day of clouds would be nice change.

The second thing that I surely have no control, however, I do not intend to mend my ways. I will still drive and I will continue to purchase fossil fuels and hold no fantasy that any of the alternative fuels will occur in the near future. I figure, I will be driving on gasoline the remainder of my lifetime. I checked on the gas prices today, keeping in mind that the State of Alaska is no longer taxing gasoline as of September 1, 2008. The price of crude oil has dropped from a high of $137.11 a barrel on July 4, 2008 to $98.53 on September 12, 2008. A decrease of $38.58 in the span of slightly over two months.

Now, this is where the "fuzzy math" comes in which I have a hard time of getting a grasp on the problem. I have used Anchorage as a basis of my calculations since the cheapest gas prices can be found in this metropolitan area. Today, the lower prices in Anchorage ranged from $4.13 to $4.15 a gallon. The higher priced stations were charging from $4.25 to $4.33 per gallon. Locally, in Anchor Point we are getting gas at $4.49 a gallon.

One year ago today, the average low gas price in Anchorage was $2.83 per gallon. Using the lowest price ($4.13) available in comparing the past year, that is a increase of $1.30 per gallon. The concept of math disappears when you look at the crude prices. On September 12, 2008 the price of crude was $98.53 per barrel. On September 14, 2007 the price for a barrel of crude was $73.23 making a difference of $25.30 in this one year period. Oil prices went up $25.30 a barrel and gasoline increased $1.30 per gallon. In this case scenario, if the oil companies were making money in 2007 how much are they making this current year?

Don't even get me started on what the stock market is doing and how many major banks and financial institutions have been bailed out by the government over the past 48 hours. Seems we as tax payers can bail out the airlines, auto industry, housing lenders, Freddie Mac, Fannie May, and now the banks. The banks and major lending institutions are the ones that approved the big home loans with no documentation of income and inflated housing prices. Their fault, we as taxpayers should not have to bail them out. Does anyone recall about a year ago when Bank of America was actively advertising that they would make home loans to illegal aliens and they did not even have to show up with a social security number to secure a loan. Does anyone recall the adjustable home interest rate, get in at a low rate for a house you could not afford and then the interest rates start to increase on a daily basis. Who was there to bail out the homeowner, no one. The banks took back the property and sold the paper to the larger institutions.

O.K., there are three things in my life right now that frustrates me. I am going out on my deck, start a camp fire in my driveway, strip down to a loin cloth and do a "no-rain" dance.

Nightly news item that you may not see on the mainstream media. This picture is unique, sitting on the lap of this pretty blond is the shortest person in the world that can walk. His name is Pingping and when standing, he is 2 feet 5.37 inches tall. Why is he sitting oh her lap, well when they are both standing he can look up her dress!

The ladies name is Svetlana Pankratova, formerly from Russia but now living in Spain. Her claim to fame is that for a woman, she has the longest legs in the world. Her inseam is 52 inches in length and complains that she finds it difficult to find pants that fit her - I wonder why?

In Texas, following hurricane "Ike" the commercial set netters have given up their nets and are now using chain link fencing to capture the run.

This is a trivia question for those that like to pursue such trivial matters. However, the rules must be adhered to. Once you have made you guess, without the aid of looking it up on the Internet first, enter your answer in the comment section and then return to this site and click on the link to find the correct answer.

The question is: In the past forty eight years (48) what is the number one single, Rock and Roll song ever recorded and who was the artist as documented by Billboard Magazine.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRDGBpEqLfs

American Pit Bull

Today, Senator Obama while making a political presentation, he remained on script and made the comment; "If a Pig wears lipstick, it is still a Pig"

Senator Obama

A Pig With A Touch Of Lipstick


Now you can interpret that comment anyway you so choose. Personally I find it degrading in that it makes a known reference to Governor Palin in comparing her to a pig. Is this the same candidacy that was going to change the political campaign and talk issues, with no smear campaigning? If he and his campaign are intimidated by a "hockey" mom, how are they going to react the first time he has to make a stand on an issue that threatens us as a nation. I do not want him answering the phone at 3:00 a.m. on my behalf. No Thank You.