Don't tell anybody, but ...

... our team knocked out a few others in the bridge tournament yesterday afternoon and evening. We're playing in the knockouts. What that means, in lay terms, is that - if you lose, your team is 'history' for that event. And so we'll continue on this afternoon. If we survive that session, we'll be playing for the championship starting at 7pm tonight.

I don't know if I can do it, to tell you the truth. I fell into bed when I got back home going on five hours ago now, but then woke up a couple of hours later with a leg cramp - not one of those really awful ones that makes me want to cry out in pain, but bad enough. And now I'm trying to kill some time until I absolutely can't keep my eyes open for another second and then I'll try that sleeping act again.

I have to get some sleep! Today's first game doesn't start until 1:30, so I've got plenty of time, but still!! The next to last hand last night I could hardly keep my eyes open. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I can clearly remember when I could easily put two back-to-back sessions of bridge together and then go out and party afterwards. You know, spend hours and hours drinking, dissecting hands, laughing and generally just carrying on and having one heck of a good time, dancing and whatnot. And then repeat the whole process the next day! Could I ever have been that young?


I wrote about this tournament for the Examiner and you can read about it here, if you wish. Hey! You can help me out a bit, if you'd like, by "subscribing" to my page by "Email" every time I publish.

It won't co$t you anything except a little time and it would help build up my 'page views', which is one of the criteria Examiner uses to pay its writers. You shouldn't get placed on any unwanted mailing lists or anything like that. Just make sure that, when you get an e-mail telling you that I've published another article, you click on to where it says "read more" or "keep reading" (one of those-type dealies).

How do you subscribe? Well, first you have to go to my page by following the link above. Then, in the rectangular box with the photo of me you'll see the words "Subscribe to Email" ... click there, and directions will follow for you to sign up. It's that easy.


Boy, is that crass self-promotion or what? (Yes, it certainly is. Personally, I dislike self-promoters and now I've become one, haven't I? Ye gods! Well, at least I'm not trying to puff myself up by putting someone else down. I can feel good about that, anyway!)


Well, shuckeydurn! I'm still wide awake. I'm going to hit "Publish Post" shortly and then start another post. Well, maybe I'll catch a few of my "Favorites" first. Something, anything! I don't have a TV that works right now. A brand new Toshiba 15.6" wide screen with a built-in DVD player is waiting for me out in Katy ... a present from my daughter and her husband for my birthday. Here's what it looks like ... ...


Is that neat or what? It'll be a perfect replacement for the one I have. Kind of exciting, although now I'll have to learn how to use a DVD player. Always something, huh? :)


Before I hit "Publish Post", however, for any of you who are interested in bridge, this past week I published the third in my series on defense for the Examiner. I'm pretty proud of this series. I do each in Word first and then copy them directly onto my page. For this series, I'm using an original cartoon-type drawing that a bridge friend made for me many years ago when we were living in Ohio. Think I've already referenced this ... ... yep, in my "Sunday morning" post of June 1st. Cartoon's in there, too. (I'm repeating myself. Maybe that's a good sign. Maybe I'm finally getting tired enough to go back to bed and get some badly-needed and refreshing sleep. That would be a good thing!)

You will probably notice, any of you who do go to my page in the Examiner, that I still don't have my act fully together. It's not as professional-looking as I would like. I don't have all of my articles indexed and cross-referenced as they should be, plus my link list is almost nonexistent. All of that is because I still haven't taken the time to get on a conference call that Examiner offers several times each week for help with some of this stuff. That should be happening within the next few days.


I should probably tell you who all else is on my team. Well, Julian Barr (of course, altho he's not my partner for this event) and his partner, Bill Breslin. Julian's the captain. We're known as the "Barr team". My partner is Bob Cohen, with whom I played for the very first time this past Tuesday night at John Zilic's. You've heard me mention John before, I'm pretty sure.

The "knockouts" are Julian's very favorite event. Although I like team games, the "Swiss" is my personal favorite. I do not recall ever having played in a knockout before. Think this is a first for me.

Well, my eyes are now beginning to have a little trouble staying open. Oh, wonder of all wonders! I think I'll send an e-mail to my daughter and ask her to call me around 11 or 11:30 or so this morning and see if I answer the phone. And then keep calling until I do!

That should work. Meanwhile, if you have occasion to think about our team later on today, please send all the strongest positive vibes you can spare our way. We'll be doing our very best to receive them!