Just wanted to let you know where I've been since last year. Mike and I moved to quaint southern OR from the bustling metropolis of Seattle.
I found a foster sister that had been looking for me for 40 years and it seemed that even though I loved so many people in and around the Seattle area, my heart was back home, with another sister and also my best friend from high school. Have you ever had people light up when they see you, like a dog when you walk into the room, wagging their tails? Well, that's what it's like with any of those 3. It is so nice to be cherished and wrapped in love all the time.
Of course, it kills me that I am no longer near my kids, but they both have their own lives too. Yesterday, when my baby was crying, I wanted to be there to hold her and it tore me up that I couldn't.
The pool scene here is very low key. Mike and I have been barred from playing in many tournaments. In the past couple years, though, we have seen a vast improvement in the way the players are thinking the game and playing safes. 99% were bangers when we got here and now I'd say only 85% are. Almost everyone here has blue chalk around their ferrules, even on their high end cues, lol.
It's one of the first thing I teach - how to chalk properly! I have given seminars and do private lessons and it is gratifying to see my students progress.
No one has 2 day tournaments around here and even where there is a weekend tournament, they start at noon or 2:30. I belong to 3 leagues and it has kept my basic skills up, but I'd be lost on a big table now. The same with Mike. There are bar box tournaments every day, but the level of play has not kept him sharp and he makes a few dollars playing them, but he refuses to go to larger tournaments out of the area because he is so out of stroke. It has gotten better since Jesse Allred moved down here. At least he has some good competition there. Anyway, we are finally being accepted by the majority of players who grumbled about letting us into tournaments and leagues, and there are some really good people here who want to better the sport.
Work-wise, OR has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, and the Rogue Valley has one of OR's highest unemployment rates. Businesses large and small are going out of business. I feel fortunate that I am employed by the local newspaper. I was a sales manager, but they deleted my management position so when I return from Vegas, they created a new position (with the same pay and the opportunity to make way more) where I will be a specialized marketing consultant for all their high end print products (3 magazines, inserts, Design Print and Deliver (DPD's), commercial printing, direct mailers, pre-prints and pre-print jackets, and finding co-op funding for advertising). I will also be in charge of training on those products. I guess I will lose my corner office and parking spot though.
Mike was working for Harry and David (they're the ones that offer Fruit of the Month) but was laid off in December. Now it's back to just playing pool and taking care of our dogs.
Speaking of our dogs, you can go here and see some pictures. They are so cute and I miss them a lot.
My pm box is empty and cleared so all of you who have tried pm'ing me can now do so and I will check it.
So I am here in Vegas, and played in the Senior Singles and finished 7th/8th out of 109 ladies. Lost both hill-hill yesterday where I played miserably. Does anyone know how to switch on the good-playing side of yourself???? The speed was so fast and the rails banked short and english didn't take...even my runouts were death-defying acts. Sheesh.
Good news is that Glenn Atwell and I are playing in the Finals of the Master Scotch Doubles tonight at 5 pm. We have to play around his 10 ball singles matches, so it might not happen then either. Thanks go out to Shark Skin for supplying our very nice shirts to wear in the Finals.
I have missed all my AZB family and I see many new faces/avatars since I have been gone. Will try to post stuff that's relevant (or at least humorous), and contribute more to the forum.
I want to wish all AZBers who are playing in Vegas, the best of luck!
I found a foster sister that had been looking for me for 40 years and it seemed that even though I loved so many people in and around the Seattle area, my heart was back home, with another sister and also my best friend from high school. Have you ever had people light up when they see you, like a dog when you walk into the room, wagging their tails? Well, that's what it's like with any of those 3. It is so nice to be cherished and wrapped in love all the time.
Of course, it kills me that I am no longer near my kids, but they both have their own lives too. Yesterday, when my baby was crying, I wanted to be there to hold her and it tore me up that I couldn't.
The pool scene here is very low key. Mike and I have been barred from playing in many tournaments. In the past couple years, though, we have seen a vast improvement in the way the players are thinking the game and playing safes. 99% were bangers when we got here and now I'd say only 85% are. Almost everyone here has blue chalk around their ferrules, even on their high end cues, lol.
It's one of the first thing I teach - how to chalk properly! I have given seminars and do private lessons and it is gratifying to see my students progress.
No one has 2 day tournaments around here and even where there is a weekend tournament, they start at noon or 2:30. I belong to 3 leagues and it has kept my basic skills up, but I'd be lost on a big table now. The same with Mike. There are bar box tournaments every day, but the level of play has not kept him sharp and he makes a few dollars playing them, but he refuses to go to larger tournaments out of the area because he is so out of stroke. It has gotten better since Jesse Allred moved down here. At least he has some good competition there. Anyway, we are finally being accepted by the majority of players who grumbled about letting us into tournaments and leagues, and there are some really good people here who want to better the sport.
Work-wise, OR has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, and the Rogue Valley has one of OR's highest unemployment rates. Businesses large and small are going out of business. I feel fortunate that I am employed by the local newspaper. I was a sales manager, but they deleted my management position so when I return from Vegas, they created a new position (with the same pay and the opportunity to make way more) where I will be a specialized marketing consultant for all their high end print products (3 magazines, inserts, Design Print and Deliver (DPD's), commercial printing, direct mailers, pre-prints and pre-print jackets, and finding co-op funding for advertising). I will also be in charge of training on those products. I guess I will lose my corner office and parking spot though.
Mike was working for Harry and David (they're the ones that offer Fruit of the Month) but was laid off in December. Now it's back to just playing pool and taking care of our dogs.
Speaking of our dogs, you can go here and see some pictures. They are so cute and I miss them a lot.
My pm box is empty and cleared so all of you who have tried pm'ing me can now do so and I will check it.
So I am here in Vegas, and played in the Senior Singles and finished 7th/8th out of 109 ladies. Lost both hill-hill yesterday where I played miserably. Does anyone know how to switch on the good-playing side of yourself???? The speed was so fast and the rails banked short and english didn't take...even my runouts were death-defying acts. Sheesh.
Good news is that Glenn Atwell and I are playing in the Finals of the Master Scotch Doubles tonight at 5 pm. We have to play around his 10 ball singles matches, so it might not happen then either. Thanks go out to Shark Skin for supplying our very nice shirts to wear in the Finals.
I have missed all my AZB family and I see many new faces/avatars since I have been gone. Will try to post stuff that's relevant (or at least humorous), and contribute more to the forum.
I want to wish all AZBers who are playing in Vegas, the best of luck!
