Riding the Storm Out

What was left of Katrina came through the Nashville area this morning. The worst part of it seems to have gone through the western end of the metro area, and we're on the east end so it wasn't too bad out our way. We all ended up sleeping in the basement last night just to be careful, although I stumbled upstairs about 5:30 and went back to sleep in the cool comfort of our bedroom. The A/C doesn't work very well in the basement and we're too cash strapped to get it serviced right now, so it wasn't very comfortable down there for this F.H.W.B.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Since I'm back in Nashville full time life gets busy and since none of my former blog buddies want to play with me it's just not as interesting. Hopefully their tears and other drippy things will dry up soon. It's hard being the only heartless bastard in my corner of the blog neighborhood. Maybe one day I'll find someone that can take the heat as well as dish it out. Apparently Mr. Croft is looking for some "Hatch Luvin" (tm), at least judging from his last comment anyway.

I'm taking a break from poker right now, but will probably start playing some more freerolls soon. I'm thinking of becoming the first professional freeroller. I'm sure the endorsements would start rolling in fast.

Boring Blogs

Someone broke my heart by passing along the news that someone else found my blog to be boring. I'm doing my best here people. I'm a 37 year old fat white man. I have a wife, a kid, another kid on the way, and a mortgage. There's not a lot of stuff going on that others would find exciting. It's a great life for me though.

I suppose I could tell stories about ripping off people less fortunate than me, or scour the web for pictures of women my 37 year old weiner would never hope to even be in the same room with, but I have higher standards here at the Wayward Hatch. Heck, I could even buy a PONTOON boat and act like it was the greatest thing ever, but I'm not so full of testosterone to inflict that kind of torture on my friends and family.

So I'll keep posting things that matter to me. I mean, it's my blog, so I have that right. In the end, this is a journal for me to share my experiences and opinions with anyone that might happen to care. Even if no one else read it, I'd keep writing it. It helps me to keep my focus and avoid dumb mistakes like buying a PONTOON boat.

Life With a Pregnant Wife

Marissa had a weird night last night. She probably drank too much caffeine during the day and started acting a little strange around midnight. About 1am she woke me up talking. I couldn't understand her at first, but after she repeated it several times I finally heard her say "Did we go out to Ferlie's farm?"

Then about 3am I wake up and Marissa is standing at the foot of the bed holding one of my feet. She puts it back down on the bed and proceeds to wrap it up in the comforter. She claims I was shaking my foot during my sleep and keeping her awake.

We're halfway folks. Hopefully Hatch will survive it.

Rah rah rah

So last night was the first Junior High football game for Mt. Juliet Christian Academy, where Victoria just started 7th grade. She's on the cheerleading team, so I showed up at 6:30 yesterday evening to show my support.

It was hot. Hot and sticky, with absolutely no breeze. It wasn't as hot as sticky as say New Orleans or Mobile is this time of year, but at my size it might as well have been Eufaula, Alabama. Sweat just poured off from just sitting in the stands. Then after about half an hour, a huge swarm of gnats showed up. I could wipe the back of my neck with my hand every 30 seconds and have about 10 gnats on my palm. Someone finally passed out a can of Off and people descended on it like it was the last drop of water in the Sahara.

To top it off, the home team lost to Red Boiling Springs, but not as badly as they did last year. Yes, there's a town in Tennessee named Red Boiling Springs. It's waaaayyy up in the middle of nowhere northeast of Nashville, up in tobacco country. It reminds me a lot of Calcis or Sterrett back in Alabama, although the school there is the standard red brick construction just like SCHS where Heff and I attended.

The opposing team had one player in the #70 jersey that I think may have been bigger than me. For a minute I was afraid Uncle Bull had finally made the drive down I65 to finish our "power struggle" but then I drank some more Gatoraid and came to my senses. That was one big corn-fed boy, I'm telling you. He was knocking around our little sixth graders and putting them flat on their Wilfreds.

I'm just glad we didn't have to drive there this year. I paid $2.53 a gallon for gasoline last night, which is the most ever for me personally. I'm really glad I have the Honda at this point. That 38 mpg is really sweet and I only have to fill up every other week. Marissa's SUV needs to be traded, but I'm pretty sure we're still upside-down on the loan.

Vassar Clements

There was sad news out of Nashville yesterday as legendary bluegrass violinist Vassar Clements passed away at the age of 77. About 4 years ago I went with my friend Jason to the Station Inn downtown where Mr. Clements was playing fiddle with what was basically a local pickup band that had a German banjo player. They had never practiced together, but Clements would just start playing whatever song they picked seemingly at random. You could tell he was a true master of his chosen instrument.

Speaking of which, the violin he's played in recent years has an interesting history. Its true origins may never be known, but it is at least 300 years old and has been handed down personally from musician to musician. Hopefully this will continue and it won't wind up in a museum somewhere. Whatever musician gets it next will have some big shoes to fill.

Baby Update

So Marissa is in her 20th week of pregnancy, putting us about halfway through the process now. You can check out her baby belly on her blog. She's having a good bit of pain in her back and hip, so I try to massage her as often as I can. I keep trying to bring home treats to make her happy, but her tastes change so often it's hard to keep up.

In about two weeks Marissa will undergo her first ultrasound, so we should know whether it's a little Hatch or Hatchette that's looming on the horizon. We got the changing table put into the baby room this past weekend so now we just need to paint and get the crib put in there to get the room completely set up.

Memories of South Georgia

Looks like Wilfred finally got all those pictures organized and set them to music in a beautiful and poignant montage. (Montage is a collection of pictures for those of you from Midlothian.)

I think some of them are pictures Heff sent from his last family reunion as well. You sure got a purdy mouth Uncle Bull.

Speaking of something purdy, here's Uncle Paul after he fell into that vat of hair growth formula that Granny cooked up last week. Over 400 posts on the Hatch Blog now, and this is the first nipple shot ever.

How Did It Take Him So Long?

There's a new reality show coming up on VH1. Gene Simmons' Rock School.

"In Gene Simmons' Rock School, the fire-breathing, blood-spitting bassist of Kiss tries to turn a classroom full of prim and proper British prep-schoolers into a hot and heavy rock and roll band. Gene is invited to Christ's Hospital, a 450 year-old boarding school outside London. There, the students wear uniforms, march in procession, and study classical music."

If there's a quick buck to be made, Gene is all over it. Paul Stanley will probably make a guest appearance to teach the kids how to wear high heeled boots and cover for your lead guitarist when he's too coked up to sing his lyrics.

Today's Duh Moment

Wow, I probably never would have realized a FICTIONAL book might have lies, distortions and errors. Thank goodness we have a world full of idiots to protect us. They also want the FICTIONAL movie to feature an acknowledgement that it's fiction.

The Heartbreak of Heff Loss

In more midweek news, Heff is still missing from the blogosphere and is presumably still being whipped into blogless submission by his ex-girlfriend, who apparently drove off with his boys stuffed into the glovebox of her truck.

In what may be related news, the House of Hatch received this week a tiny envelope with only the word "Midlothian" as a return address. Inside were found two dried up pea-like objects and a note that simply read "T.M.S."

Weekend Update

I placed in the money in two 2000 player tournaments in a row this weekend. I came in 90th on Friday night and 100th tonight. A grand total of 50 cents won. I think I am getting better at these tournaments. I placed in the money or bubbled out just short in most of the ones I've played in the last few weeks.

Amazing Tale

A true badass Canadian war hero was recently laid to rest. The man lived. He "used to kill enemy troops with a half-metre-long, Indian-style warclub bristling with nails." I hope somebody writes a book about him someday.

Lamentations and Gnashing of Teeth

So how tight should you play when you're on the bubble of a large tournament? I don't know why I'm asking this question here, since I'm not sure anyone that reads this blog actually plays poker.

Here's the situation earlier tonight. I was sitting in about 50th place in chips with 120 out of 2000 players left in the tournament. I was in ultra tight mode obviously. In the big blind I was dealt the dreaded Hilton sisters. At this point, this was the worst of the 4 hands I would play with at this point. Someone in middle position raised it to 6000. Small stack on the button pushes. I think about it a second then push in the rest of my chips, which was about 12k. The guy thinks about it a second then calls. He's got me covered by about 1000 chips.

He shows AJo and of course an Ace hits on the flop and I'm whining like Uncle Bull having to go out with the boys without his boys.

Aggression got the best of me here. I should have put him on an Ace and just called the raise to see the flop. With a flopped Ace I would have played a lot more carefully. I lost my concentration and got into a routine.

Early in the tournament, I only play AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, and AKo usually. If I do play them I just push in. With 1900 people standing in the way of you making the money, it's a great strategy. With only 120 left I have to play a lot smarter and get more information by seeing the flop. My opponent probably shouldn't have called that large of a raise with AJo, but it paid off for him in the end obviously.

Tuesday Trivia

1. What is the proper name for a castrated bull?

Hatch - 4 Blogs - 0

"Heff's gone, gone, gone, like a sad, sad song, on a record made of wax, Blog O'Heff ain't coming back." - (sorry Mark Collie.)

Ok, it wasn't really me that killed Blog O'Heff. It was a bad break-up between Heff and his HO, I mean SO (Significant Other). At least it went out with a bang with alcohol, cops at the house, and goats scattered all over the neighborhood. Heff even pulled a Reetha and woke me up at 3am to share the news. I've known Heff for about 25 years now and I've only seen him really angry once about 8 years ago or so. I'm betting this would have been twice had I been there.

Someone else will have to console Uncle Bull, since I'm not allowed to talk to him anymore.