Happy Birthday USA and other musings

For the handful of people that may read this, I would like to remind everyone to reflect on the men and women that have given their lives into making this country what it is. While we have our problems, I can think of no better place on this planet to spend my existence than right here in the good old USA....unless I had an island in the south pacific that I could call my own with no taxes or traffic laws. But I digress. Take the time to thank a serviceman/woman the next time you see one for what they stand for and sacrifice in order to wear that uniform.

I don't think I mentioned it here, but a few weeks ago I was witness to one of the most moving scenes in my life (outside of my wedding to Jen and the birth of our children). I was sitting in an airport terminal here in Columbus waiting for my flight, and across the walkway was a flight of servicemen/women heading somewhere. There were numerous family members saying their goodbyes, and the amount of tears and emotion that surrounded the departure of the servicemen was profound. One young couple held an embrace for what seemed like 10 minutes as they were repeatedly making the last calls for boarding...you could see the pain and sadness that they felt for their upcoming seperation. Many young children were there, obviously not really comprehending that mommy or daddy was leaving for a long time...was one of the most profound moments I have ever witnessed. As much as one could complain about the state of our lives on any given day, most of us are very fortunate to have the people and creature comforts that we are surrounded with and should take the time to be thankful for what we have.

Disappointment has been replaced with giddiness after the tournament on Saturday. Many thanks to all of the other players that have made comments here on my site or on their personal blogs regarding the tournament and my performance. I am very happy with the way I played and was really victimized by the cards and the poker gods in not winning the tournament and the trip to the WSOP. I'll be back in season 2 with a vengence, as I would love the opportunity to travel to Australia for the Aussie Million in January.

Been checking out the specs on the monitor I won on the dell.com site....man, is this thing going to be SWEET....can't wait to get my hands on it. jen and I are planning on converting our 'formal' dining room (aka kids play area) into our computer/media room in the near future...giving the kids the basement for the toys and allowing us to utilize the computer and monster monitor as a second entertainment center for movies and such, given that it is bigger than our current TV and all. Amazing.

Anyway, time to head home for lunch with the family.

ttfn.