Monthly Archives: January 2009

Yet another Short Week

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I could most assuredly get used to a 4-day work week. I have tomorrow off, having booked that before the start of the Search for America Tour.

Another day of R&R, tending to some tasks around the homestead. Sounds good, even if the tasks involve sleeping in, followed by a nap.

Great! And with 102+ hours still left in the time off pool. Enough for Bundy FunDays, coming in April. And a still-to-be-planned Search for America Tour.

A very nice thing about longevity on a job, is that days off accumulate like old magazines. Sweet!

-k-

Becoming a Jaded Roué Looks Easy

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I made several posts over the last few days about my freshly rekindled interest in horse racing. Until last week, it had been 15 years since I’d been to a track during the live racing season; the last time, our good friends Dale and Kathy spent a couple of days with us; they were on a Search for America Tour of their own. We all went to Pimlico; MLB cashed about $400.00 worth of tickets that day. As I recall, Dale, Kathy and I enjoyed the great crabcake sandwiches, a few libations, and each other’s company; we also gave thanks for our day jobs, our handicapping being our greatest handicap, falling far short of being remotely capable of supporting us in the lifestyle to which we’d have loved to become accustomed. But, as the old saw goes, a good time was had by all.

Dale and Kathy went back to Augusta; MLB and I settled into the rut of day-to-day life, and time just rolled on. We still liked the ponies, and watching the Triple Crown coverage on teevee scratched the racing itch.

My early interest in computers was partially fueled by my interest in compiling and analyzing racing data1. When we lived in the same small town in Northwest Kansas in the early 80′s, Dale and I were both sure that given the proper tools, proper analysis of the data, and astute money management, we could live relatively unencumbered lives, on our own terms, and still provide for our families.

28 years bring many changes; the TRS-80 of byegone times has given way to computing and storage power unheard of in the 80′s; the internet has brought the Daily Racing Form from dead tree media, into a fully customizable racing tool.

Sadly, Dale passed away about 6 years ago. I think of him often, and wish he were still here to enjoy the techno-marvels of race handicapping. It may still boil down to Bet on the gray horse, but we’d have had a blast.

So, on a lazy, cold Sunday afternoon, I’ve been trolling the internet for racing tips, tricks, and tools. I think I’ll sign up with Daily Racing Form on some type of low-cost plan, follow one track or so, and play on paper, like we used to do, update results, and get some good data.

Then, in a total non-shocker, I found online horse wagering sites. Once the system looks good, I’ll back it with a few bucks at one of these online places, and see how it goes. Even if the system winds up being Bet the gray horse, with every ticket cash, whether on paper or for real, I’ll raise a glass and toast my friend Dale.

-k-

1 This whole subject merits a post of its own; stay tuned.

Flyin’ the Colors Early

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No doubt about it this year; the Pittsburgh Steelers are my choice in the Super Bowl. It’s no secret that I’m an AFC fan, so the Steelers get a +1 right out of the gate.

Still, this is the used-to-be-hapless Arizona Cardinals’ first shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they were to win.

On the plus side, there’s no one from New England or New York in this year’s big game.

And that alone makes it seem like a victory already.

Yeah, team!

-k-

Goodbye Susan, Hello Dave

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Our TomTom 930 GO GPS is an amazing device; it has replaced Diane, our non-updateable “training wheels” GPS that we bought some time ago1. Diane convinced us that a GPS is a good thing to have, so we bought the TomTom prior to the Search for America Tour’s jaunt to Chicago last summer.

We always choose the text to speech2 conversion option on the TomTom, preferring more information to spoken voice quality. The pre-recorded human voices don’t deal with exit numbers, street names, etc., particularly well. TTS at least attempts to render the text instructions in an intelligible format3. The default voice of the TomTom is a computer-rendered voice named Susan, a pleasant enough TTS voice, which unaccountably started breaking up, to the point of being unintelligible, when reading sufficiently long passages of text.

This afternoon, I updated the unit via TomTom Home. I ran disk repair on the device, and for good measure, downloaded a new TTS computer voice named Dave, and made his voice the default TTS converter. We just took Dave for a spin on a short trip to pick up some supplies beer. And he did well. I just wish he’d said:

And now, friends and neighbors, turn right.

Podcast listeners will be in stitches.

-k-

1 Combination of Easy Pay on QVC, and a beer or three too many helped close that sale.

2 TTS.

3 Though at the cost of a sometimes overly literal interpretation; for example, exit 2S off the 581 in Roanoke was pronounced exit twos.

Be it Ever so Humble

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There’s no place like home, etc. Faithful Cat came up to meet the car as we drove up 2 hours or so ago, and now sleeps on his pillow on the washing machine.

The Cadillac Capitalist Car has been cleaned out and returned to Avis@IAD. We’re catching up on email, Atom feeds, and the like. Mark All Read has been my friend during the feed catch up.

As has been my wont, here are the final numbers for the Search for America Tour I, 2009:

  1. Miles travelled: 2143.
  2. Fuel Consumption: 91.5 Gallons.
  3. Total tour mileage: 23.42
  4. LTD mileage of the car at turn-in: 19.8, up from 18.9 at the start.
  5. Remaining range with fuel left in car at turn-in: 142 miles.

Leaving 142 miles of range in a “bring it back empty” deal hurts a bit; I’d planned on 100 or less. I overfuel like I underbet, I guess. Still, I’d rather be 20 gallons long than half a gallon short in situations like this. MLB has a reluctance to walk down the interstate for fuel.

As the saying goes, “I wouldn’t take a million dollars for the experience, but wouldn’t pay a nickel to do it again.” Until I’m rested up, of course.

-k-

Old Dominion, RoVA Edition

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We’re safely in Roanoke VA, 200+ miles from home. In RoVA1, not NoVA2

It’s amazing to me that one state can encompass salt-of-the-earth common folk, and the effetely pretentious ones to whom we drive tomorrow. Whatever. Faithful Cat will be glad to see us, when we get there.

On the Search for America Tour, Economy Run Division, the average mpg for our fire breathing Cadillac Capitalist Car has risen to 19.6. Our average on this trip is 1903.3 miles/81.9 gallons = 23.23+ mpg. These calculations are important; we have the “bring it back empty” option on the Avis3 rental, so adding enough, though not too much, petrol is my assignment for tomorrow. After a decent Cracker Barrel breakfast, that is.

-k-

1 Rest of Virginia, not where we live.

2 Northern Virginia, home of the type A yuppie douchebags, where we currently live.

3 The Official Car Rental Company of the Search for America Tour.

Eastbound and Down

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Tonight finds us in Cookeville TN, at the Hampton Inn1. We’d originally planned to head back on Thursday, but I’m still fighting off a cold, and the trip down really beat me up. Nodding off at the wheel, as I nearly did a couple of times on the way out, is not a Good Thing. Even though it seems that Cadillac can drive itself. It can’t.

So, we went 480 miles or so today, and plan to be in Roanoke VA, tomorrow night. That’s another 364 miles. Then up early on Friday, and a 225 mile or so run up I-81, and home.

Speaking of the Cadillac, its life-to-date fuel economy is now at 19.4 mpg; we goosed that up from 19.2 on today’s leg. It’s truly a fine car; it has some buttons whose functions totally mystify me. The little icons on them render few clues either. Reminds me of an old joke, with buttons labelled “WA”, “WW”, “PP”, and “ATR”, which decorum prohibits detailing here, except that I’ll not push anything labelled ATR. I promise.

Anyhoo, a few brews, some college hoops on the teevee, an early start tomorrow, another Cracker Barrel2 breakfast, and we’ll be back in the Old Dominion in 24 hours, Lord willing, etc.

-k-

1 The Official Hotel of the Search for America Tour.

2 The Official Restaurant of the Search for America Tour.

Chalks

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The MLK Day racing card at Oaklawn was a reasonably easy one as far as ticket cashing was concerned. I cashed 3 wins and an exacta in the first 8 races. Problem was, favorites dominated the day, so payoffs were light. Combine this with my new-found love of boxing in a longer shot, and profits were razor thin. This indicates I need a review of money management, a crucial, though often overlooked element of any kind of gaming.

On the plus side, the 5 horse in the 4th race was a mortal lock for the win. This horse, named Meeither, paid $8.20 to win, and won handily. I had 4 bucks on this one; two for me, and two for James. Not much of a contribution to the Slusher kids’ scholarship fund, so I’ll just suggest that James and I turn the bounty into some type of liquid refreshment, when next we meet.

I’d forgotten just how enjoyable horse racing is. Man, I had an absolute blast. And Oaklawn is a beautiful place.

-k-

A Day at the Races

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Brother-in-law and I ventured out to the investment bank known as Oaklawn on Saturday afternoon. We had modest results, so we may still both safely be numbered in the working stiffs category.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a live horse race, though we go to Oaklawn for simulcast wagering on nearly every visit here. Live racing is much better than simulcast, and also drives home the point that my greatest handicap in wagering is, well, my handicapping. I can still read the racing form OK, the small print notwithstanding. Then I struggle over all the strategies that can be applied to this small mountain of data, the “going up in class” ploy, the “going down in class” idea, the “bid, but hung” angle for the last race, the switch from turf to dirt, and on and on. So it was probably fitting that I adopted a simple stategy; I boxed a near-favorite and a resonable, though longer odds horse in an exacta bet, and then bet the longer shot to win. 6 bucks per race, and hence a maximum $54 outlay over the 9 race card.

And the method bore fruit in the 4th race, as a 10-3 exacta fetched $54.40. And again in the 6th, as the 1-5 exacta brought another $21.60. This last win was the outcome of a 1-5-12 exacta box bet; had the 12 horse at least showed, this would have been a nice little ticket to cash. It is worth noting that both these races were maiden claiming races, and hence there was a paucity of data on these lightly-raced horses. So maybe pure dumb luck was my source of success. The money’s just as green, though. We left after the 6th; the hardness of the concrete, and the chill of the day got to us. As it was, I walked out $18 ahead, after paying admission, program, eats, drinks, and wagers. Any day in the black is a good day.

Frequent commenter James left a coment on my last post, wherein he requested that I place a bet on the 5 horse in the 4th. I’d have happily placed the wager on Mrs Stoner Creek, who, if memory serves1, went off at 15-1 or so, 2 pounds overweight, and wound up in 5th or 6th. I’ll probably head back there today, where the 5 in the 4th is named Meeither; morning line is 6-1, with the comment:

Meeither won twice here last year with better speed ratings than most in the field and may surprise today in deep stretch.

So, I’ll probably have the ladies drop me by the track this afternoon; brother-in-law will walk down the hill from his job(he’s working today), and meet me. More yarns will be spun. More wagers will be made. More lies will be told.

This is great!

-k-

1 The paper with the results has already hit the recycle bin; brother and sister-in-law are efficient like that.