Happy Anniversary

One year ago today, I turned off of I-80 with the U-Haul, and arrived in Reno to start my new life. So, was it worth it? Am I happy that I did it?

In a word, abso-fucking-lutely.

The best thing about living in Reno has been the weather. It's always sunny in Reno, as the Sierra Mountains block most of the storm fronts that come off the Pacific Ocean. Even during the winter, it's sunny most days. That is a big difference from the Cleveland area, where the sun might shine 5-7 days from November to March.

As a mailman, I love the lack of rain. During the summer, there was a three month period of no measurable rainfall. Yesterday, we had our first storm system in months. The amount of rain falling from the sky was not that much, and it was gone in a few hours, followed by more sunshine. It's a big difference from the all-day soakers that we would get in NE Ohio.

Since there no rain, there is also no humidity. The summer temperatures are in the mid to upper 90's, but it doesn't feel like it. Yes, there were a couple of days when it was damn hot out there, and that sun can be very intense with the higher elevations. But overall, it's much better to be outside all day in Reno rather than Cleveland.

Even the winters are milder. The coldest that the daily high temperature got was around 25 degrees. Back east, it was not uncommon to have a full week with daytime temperatures hitting the 10's or even single digits.

Up in the mountains, they got buried in snow last winter. It was so much, that the ski resorts were still open on Memorial Day weekend. But down in Reno, we only had a few snowfalls that added up to around 12 inches for the entire winter. Cleveland had at least five different blizzards that dropped more than 12 inches of snow each.

Anyways, this isn't "The Biggest Little Weather Blog In The World", so it's time to talk about the main reason I moved across the country. Living five minutes away from the two best poker rooms in Reno has been glorious, especially after being used to drive 2+ hours to either Detroit or Mountaineer / Pittsburgh.

However, I'm now playing less hours per week than I did back in Cleveland, and that is because of work. Back in Ohio, I was Regular Carrier. I had a route, no mandatory overtime, and a set schedule for off days. Since I transferred to a new office, I had to start over on the seniority list as a sub, I am working six days a week, 55+ hrs each week. I haven't had a day off since June.

I was playing cards on my off day, and maybe the night before when I headed up for an overnighter. I also had my Saturday nights home game, and sometimes on Sundays. Now, I'm trying to play on Thursday and Saturday nights for a couple of hours, and on Sundays. But some weeks, that doesn't even happen. These days, a four hour session at a $1/$2 table is a long session for me.

Unfortunately, I don't see my work schedule improving much in the next year or two. At least I'm getting a huge paychecks every two weeks. "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned, but money earned is guaranteed."

One thing I do miss about living back east is having buddies to talk poker with. I don't have anyone out here to discuss poker, and that's probably why I'm still doing this blog.

As far as my results for the past year, they've been good and bad, as you loyal readers have noticed. How much of that was variance and how much was me is anyone's guess.

Because of my lack of free time, I really haven't been trying to get better or focus on bigger games. I guess you could say I'm now a "Recreational Bumhunter". I play for fun when I have a chance. When my work schedule improves, then maybe I can take poker more seriously, by focusing on bigger games and trying to become a better player.

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On a side note, the Grand Sierra is having their Fall Pot Of Gold tournament series now. On Sunday, they're having a $400 Bounty tournament at noon ($50 Bounty). I haven't done a Live Blog since the WSOP, so I'm gonna do one for this tournament. Tune in at 12n (3pm EST) for the first entry. Hopefully, I can actually make it to the dinner break this time.