On Sunday (back in Livermore), I got to meet up with KI for lunch and some hangout time in the new downtown Livermore. We both reflected on how our hometown has "grown up" with an actual downtown area that's all fancy (and expensive). When we were growing up, it was just a little town that didn't really have much downtown. But now there's a big movie theater, fancy restaurants, and that day there happened to be a classic car festival. I snapped one picture of our new "main street".
Tonight, I went out to the strip with my cousin and her husband. We ate at the buffet in the Hilton Grand and spent some time just playing penny and nicket slots. They were kind of interested in watching me play poker (and potentially playing themselves), but there was only one table going and no open seats. The game was a very soft $1-2 no limit game with a player who was either steaming or just gambling, because he kept putting in $30 raises preflop and showing down some very weak hands. But they didn't play and I didn't play.
And I (finally) have pictures. This first set is my beef jerky experiment. The first one is the rig when it's set up. It's a box fan resting on top of a laundry basket (because I needed to get it off the ground so that it can actually circulate air), and then there are air filters with the sliced meat on them. The second picture shows all of the meat after drying.
Here are some pictures from our weekly ping pong tournament. I'm not that good, but what furstrates me is that I'm playing worse than I should. I'm very inconsistent, so I can put up a good fight (or make a strong comeback), but then run off a few terrible points. And when the game is to 11, just a few points is a big deal.
