We finally moved on Sunday, August 13. It was a long day, in particular because U-Haul decided to give me a round-trip rental instead of a one-way, where I could've dropped the truck off 1 mile from our new house. Thanks to Greg T, Pete, Petey, Bill, and Kevin for their help. We're in the new house and if anyone needs my new address or phone, contact me.
- schneid
Monday, August 14, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
My family meets presidents...
I check my personal email for the first time in 3 weeks, and there are messages about two different family members meeting US presidents!
My Great Uncle Ben and Aunt Shig Kuroki were invited to dinner at the White House when the Japanese Prime Minister was visiting the US. Ben was a US war hero during World War II. My Uncle Denny has a page with a lot of links to information about Ben Kuroki.
My cousin Bob Levin is a doctor and has spent most of his career participating in Doctors without Borders in impoverished nations, mostly in Africa. Currently he is in Rwanda, where he was fortunate to meet Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.
- schneid
My Great Uncle Ben and Aunt Shig Kuroki were invited to dinner at the White House when the Japanese Prime Minister was visiting the US. Ben was a US war hero during World War II. My Uncle Denny has a page with a lot of links to information about Ben Kuroki.
My cousin Bob Levin is a doctor and has spent most of his career participating in Doctors without Borders in impoverished nations, mostly in Africa. Currently he is in Rwanda, where he was fortunate to meet Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.
- schneid
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Finished 2nd in TNP Tournament
OK, it was just our regular tournament with my buddies and there were only 9 guys. It's a $50 buy-in tournament with one rebuy allowed. I always try to go for broke, and either double up or rebuy early. But the last 3 tournaments, I've taken third, which doesn't even get your money back if you rebuy.
I finally broke the curse and took 2nd which was good for a $115 profit. Early on, I flopped top pair top kicker, made a big bet, and Ed went all-in. I hate to bust out with just a pair, but he could easily be making the play with less than that, so I called, and he had middle pair. No help came, and I doubled up.
I played pretty well, in particular making no big mistakes. I got lucky later when I busted Greg T. with my 55 vs. his KQ, a King flopped, but I spiked a 5 on the turn. Mark busted me out with his J8 vs my J9 when he flopped two pair. Mark played well but had quite a bit of luck, like when his AQ made a boat vs. Ed's KK. I also had Mark all-in with my AK vs. his A8, and I had him all the way to the river, when the board made two pair and we split the pot.
I laid down my hand quite a few times when someone came over the top. Most of the guys play pretty straightforward, so I usually didn't think they were making a play on me.
We then played a single table, winner take all tournament for $10 each, with the blinds going up after every orbit. I was out on the first hand. I flopped top pair and bet the pot, there were about 6 callers, this drunk guy made a min-raise, and I went all-in, figuring he could have anything. Sure enough, he only had middle pair, but he also had a flush draw which he rivered to bust me out. At the time I thought that I was about 3:2 to win that hand, but it turns out that top pair vs. a smaller pair with a flush draw is almost exactly 1:1.
The drunk guy then went on to bust out the next two players, each time as the underdog and catching a draw on the turn or river. Frankly, it didn't matter much, because the structure was such (fast blinds and only one winner) that you needed to make a move early. He had a huge stack of chips and ended up taking third, then the remaining two players made a deal to play to split the money, rather than just have one winner.
It was a fun night and we started out with a ton of chips in the main tournament, which gave a lot of room to maneuver and made the tournament more fun. In the past, when the tournament got down to three-handed, there was usually a big chip leader and the blinds were huge, and it ended quickly. This time, when it got heads up, we each had 40x the big blind, so there was a lot more play.
- schneid
I finally broke the curse and took 2nd which was good for a $115 profit. Early on, I flopped top pair top kicker, made a big bet, and Ed went all-in. I hate to bust out with just a pair, but he could easily be making the play with less than that, so I called, and he had middle pair. No help came, and I doubled up.
I played pretty well, in particular making no big mistakes. I got lucky later when I busted Greg T. with my 55 vs. his KQ, a King flopped, but I spiked a 5 on the turn. Mark busted me out with his J8 vs my J9 when he flopped two pair. Mark played well but had quite a bit of luck, like when his AQ made a boat vs. Ed's KK. I also had Mark all-in with my AK vs. his A8, and I had him all the way to the river, when the board made two pair and we split the pot.
I laid down my hand quite a few times when someone came over the top. Most of the guys play pretty straightforward, so I usually didn't think they were making a play on me.
We then played a single table, winner take all tournament for $10 each, with the blinds going up after every orbit. I was out on the first hand. I flopped top pair and bet the pot, there were about 6 callers, this drunk guy made a min-raise, and I went all-in, figuring he could have anything. Sure enough, he only had middle pair, but he also had a flush draw which he rivered to bust me out. At the time I thought that I was about 3:2 to win that hand, but it turns out that top pair vs. a smaller pair with a flush draw is almost exactly 1:1.
The drunk guy then went on to bust out the next two players, each time as the underdog and catching a draw on the turn or river. Frankly, it didn't matter much, because the structure was such (fast blinds and only one winner) that you needed to make a move early. He had a huge stack of chips and ended up taking third, then the remaining two players made a deal to play to split the money, rather than just have one winner.
It was a fun night and we started out with a ton of chips in the main tournament, which gave a lot of room to maneuver and made the tournament more fun. In the past, when the tournament got down to three-handed, there was usually a big chip leader and the blinds were huge, and it ended quickly. This time, when it got heads up, we each had 40x the big blind, so there was a lot more play.
- schneid
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Awesome Movies
I couldn't fit all my favorite movies into the little space they give you, so here's a list. Not that anyone cares, but if you really like one of the categories in general, and haven't seen a movie I put in that category, I recommend that you see it.
Comedy
Office Space
Elf
Drop Dead Gorgeous - this is one of the funniest movies you've never seen
Houseguest - it's too bad that Sinbad hasn't made any more movies
Amelie
Daddy Day Care - very funny and Steve Zahn is hilarious
Grosse Pointe Blank
The Princess Bride
Groundhog Day - you have to watch a few times to appreciate how funny Bill Murray is.
What About Bob - the first time I saw this, I thought it was stupid. But the more I see it, the funnier it gets.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
A Christmas Story
Happy Gilmore
Fletch
Liar Liar
Blues Brothers
This is Spinal Tap
Big
A League of Their Own
Thriller
The Sixth Sense
Identity - great movie that I'd never heard of
Memento
The Da Vinci Code
The Usual Suspects
The Silence of the Lambs
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
The Spanish Prisoner
Heist
Signs
Runaway Jury
Seven
Action/Adventure
Braveheart
Saving Private Ryan
Minority Report
Pulp Fiction
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Drama
Catch Me If You Can - I wouldn't exactly call it a drama...it's funny, it's a true story, it has elements of a thriller. An all-around great movie.
Almost Famous
A Beautiful Mind
Forrest Gump
Lost in Translation
The Shawshank Redemption
Erin Brockovich
Stand by Me
The Untouchables
Glengary Glen Ross
Titanic
Hotel Rwanda
American Beauty
Witness
Sports
Remember the Titans
Breaking Away
Rudy
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Twelve Monkeys
Blade Runner
The Matrix
The Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Star Wars
Brazil
Jurassic Park
Gattaca
For Kids
The Incredibles
Monsters Inc
Madagascar
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Over the Hedge
Robots
Finding Nemo
Toy Story
A Bug's Life
Music
Purple Rain
That Thing You Do
Documentaries
Spellbound
Bowling for Columbine
- schneid
Comedy
Thriller
Action/Adventure
Drama
Sports
Science Fiction/Fantasy
For Kids
Music
Documentaries
- schneid
Monday, June 05, 2006
Volleyball
I actually played volleyball today at lunch for the first time in about four years, if you don't count Westy's annual beer parties. Now that I'm back at Tellabs, Mike K. put me on his 4-man team, and we play once a week during lunchtime. I didn't think I would survive...that 75 minutes was the longest I've exercised in three years. Yes, I'm that badly out of shape and overweight. 205 lbs. is not a proper weight for someone 5'7". But it actually felt great to be out there, and my body does remember how to play volleyball. I'd like to work my way up to playing basketball at lunchtime too. The courts are right here at the Tellabs facility, which is very convenient. I might ride my bicycle to work a couple of times a week from the new house. Home and work are both near the Prairie Path, so I could ride without getting killed. It's about 8 or 9 miles which is a reasonable distance, and would probably take about 45 minutes.
These social+athletic+fun pursuits are another big reason why Tellabs is such a great place to work.
- schneid
These social+athletic+fun pursuits are another big reason why Tellabs is such a great place to work.
- schneid
We have paint and carpet!
The carpet has been installed at the new house and the painters are almost done. The only white walls left in the house are in closets - everything else has been painted a different color. Now that the carpet is down, it will be easier to work at the house because we can take the kids with us. We didn't want the kids playing in the house due to the bare floors and tack strips.
Remaining tasks: bathroom countertops, tile, vinyl, and appliances. We're planning on moving in July, although we haven't set a date yet.
- schneid
Remaining tasks: bathroom countertops, tile, vinyl, and appliances. We're planning on moving in July, although we haven't set a date yet.
- schneid
Friday, May 26, 2006
House is progressing...
The granite countertops were installed at our new house. The painters are in there right now, and I'm waiting to receive one more estimate before getting the carpet and flooring done. When it's complete, we can move in. But we're not sure if we want to leave the old house empty when we're trying to sell it. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
- schneid
- schneid
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Lots of work to do on new house
We have a lot of work to arrange on the new house when I return from my trip. Within the next few weeks, we hope to finish the carpet, tile floors, paint, countertops, bathroom counters, and refinish the wood floors, not to mention general cleaning and landscaping. We're going to be pretty busy and our current house is still for sale.
- schneid
- schneid
Trip Report
I've almost finished a long two weeks of traveling. I plan to write a few posts on the details of the trips, but here's a quick summary.
I've been participating as a member of the appraisal team in a CMMI Level 2 appraisal of an organization in Tellabs. This is a very intensive process which, not including prework, has lasted 10 working days at 3 sites - Naperville, Dallas, and Petaluma. We started each day at 8:30 and almost always finished around 6:30.
In addition, my mom took us to Las Vegas for four days in the middle of the appraisal to celebrate her 60th birthday. The appraisal was coincidentally scheduled around my vacation. So, here is my travel/work schedule from the last two weeks. Monday and Tuesday in Naperville, went to Dallas Tuesday night, Wednesday in Dallas, went home Wednesday night, left for Las Vegas on Thursday. I was supposed to come home to see my kids on Sunday, but our flight was cancelled. If I went home on Monday, I would have missed my flight to San Francisco on Monday afternoon, so I flew directly from LV to SF. I arrived in SF on Monday, and came home on the red eye on Friday night, arriving at my front door at 7:00 AM on Saturday. At 11:45 on Sunday morning, a limo brought me to O'Hare to return to Petaluma. I continued to work on the appraisal in Petaluma until Wednesday, then took a red eye back to Chicago. Whew. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off.
When we were in Las Vegas, that was the first time that my wife and I had left our kids with anyone for more than one night. My mother-in-law flew in from Florida to watch our kids. Including the first half of my Petaluma visit, I was gone for 9 days which is by far the longest I've ever been away from my kids. I really missed them.
We had a fantastic time in Las Vegas and were fortunate to stay at Bellagio and saw Cirque de Soleil and Danny Gans, and had dinner at Circo. Thanks Mom! I also played some poker, saw lots of poker pros in Vegas, shook hands with Phil Ivey. Hung out with Rodney and Rebecca in Mill Valley, played poker in Petaluma, had dinner at The Girl and the Fig and hung out with Rodney in Sonoma, had dinner with the appraisal team in Bodega Bay, visited my cousin Mimi and her husband David in San Francisco.
These will probably be the only details I'll add: the poker pros that I saw playing at the Bellagio were: Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Chip Reese, David Sklansky, David Gray, Johnny Chan, Eli Elezra, Scott Fischman, Minh Ly, and Eskimo Clark. I'm sure there were others that I didn't recognize.
I was only in Dallas for 18 hours and I can't even remember it now.
- schneid
I've been participating as a member of the appraisal team in a CMMI Level 2 appraisal of an organization in Tellabs. This is a very intensive process which, not including prework, has lasted 10 working days at 3 sites - Naperville, Dallas, and Petaluma. We started each day at 8:30 and almost always finished around 6:30.
In addition, my mom took us to Las Vegas for four days in the middle of the appraisal to celebrate her 60th birthday. The appraisal was coincidentally scheduled around my vacation. So, here is my travel/work schedule from the last two weeks. Monday and Tuesday in Naperville, went to Dallas Tuesday night, Wednesday in Dallas, went home Wednesday night, left for Las Vegas on Thursday. I was supposed to come home to see my kids on Sunday, but our flight was cancelled. If I went home on Monday, I would have missed my flight to San Francisco on Monday afternoon, so I flew directly from LV to SF. I arrived in SF on Monday, and came home on the red eye on Friday night, arriving at my front door at 7:00 AM on Saturday. At 11:45 on Sunday morning, a limo brought me to O'Hare to return to Petaluma. I continued to work on the appraisal in Petaluma until Wednesday, then took a red eye back to Chicago. Whew. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off.
When we were in Las Vegas, that was the first time that my wife and I had left our kids with anyone for more than one night. My mother-in-law flew in from Florida to watch our kids. Including the first half of my Petaluma visit, I was gone for 9 days which is by far the longest I've ever been away from my kids. I really missed them.
We had a fantastic time in Las Vegas and were fortunate to stay at Bellagio and saw Cirque de Soleil and Danny Gans, and had dinner at Circo. Thanks Mom! I also played some poker, saw lots of poker pros in Vegas, shook hands with Phil Ivey. Hung out with Rodney and Rebecca in Mill Valley, played poker in Petaluma, had dinner at The Girl and the Fig and hung out with Rodney in Sonoma, had dinner with the appraisal team in Bodega Bay, visited my cousin Mimi and her husband David in San Francisco.
These will probably be the only details I'll add: the poker pros that I saw playing at the Bellagio were: Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Chip Reese, David Sklansky, David Gray, Johnny Chan, Eli Elezra, Scott Fischman, Minh Ly, and Eskimo Clark. I'm sure there were others that I didn't recognize.
I was only in Dallas for 18 hours and I can't even remember it now.
- schneid
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Working on the New House
We've been busy cleaning up the new house. We removed all the carpet and pad. We are washing all the walls and ceilings, which is very tedious. We had the furnace and A/C serviced and the humidifier replaced.
My dad arrived yesterday to help us out, in particular with getting estimates from contractors on a lot of the work to be done - painting, carpeting, countertops, vinyl floors, and refinishing the wood floors.
Some of the work that we will probably do ourselves includes repairing drywall, replacing the light fixtures and installing cabinets in the laundry room.
Greg T. and I are going to finish the basement when the other work is done. The plumbing is roughed in for a full bath, but we need to get a plumber due to city code. I'd like to have a bar, rec room, bedroom, bathroom, and storage room.
You know, it's a real pain having two houses. We need to spend all our spare time at the new house, but things still need to get done at our current house, like moving the lawn, cleaning, etc. And you have bills for both houses too!
Hopefully we are on track for moving in June.
- schneid
My dad arrived yesterday to help us out, in particular with getting estimates from contractors on a lot of the work to be done - painting, carpeting, countertops, vinyl floors, and refinishing the wood floors.
Some of the work that we will probably do ourselves includes repairing drywall, replacing the light fixtures and installing cabinets in the laundry room.
Greg T. and I are going to finish the basement when the other work is done. The plumbing is roughed in for a full bath, but we need to get a plumber due to city code. I'd like to have a bar, rec room, bedroom, bathroom, and storage room.
You know, it's a real pain having two houses. We need to spend all our spare time at the new house, but things still need to get done at our current house, like moving the lawn, cleaning, etc. And you have bills for both houses too!
Hopefully we are on track for moving in June.
- schneid
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