Letter From The Editor - Friday, December 16th, 2005
Jon Eaton
December 16th, 2005
I'm sure all of my readers are probably wondering what's going on with the site. For two weeks we keep speaking of these "daily updates" and news headlines and so forth that are supposed to be constantly updated. I feel like I have let everyone down for not doing my job! Let me explain a few things though that have kept me from doing my job.
This past Saturday I just got a new house here in Vegas. It's one of those little homes in the planned communities where all the houses look almost identical. I kind of dig the neighborhood and love the house, and love the fact I am so far from the strip. It's about a 10 minute drive to the strip now, as opposed to being in the middle of the traffic jams the strip creates where I was before.
However, my ISP never got around to getting my cable turned on, until Thursday. I can't say I have high remarks for Cox Communications. If you move to Las Vegas and are looking for high speed Internet, they might be your best and only option. I can't say that I would recommend you use all their services, though, as I would probably recommend satellite television since their customer service and punctuality are lacking.
Oh, yeah... I also don't have natural gas. I am writing this on Friday afternoon in my 60-degree house! My feet have been so cold that I have on three layers of socks. The gas guy came yesterday before the cable guy--but he was there at eight in the morning! Who has ever been awake at eight in Vegas if they weren't still awake from the night before? Now I have to wait until Monday for that to get turned on.
It has been one headache after another, and I wasn't motivated in the least to write in my downtime. Bad excuse but I couldn't do any daily updates and couldn't talk to others or even play a hand of poker. If I can't be involved in poker actively, I can't write about it. I guess if I was getting a huge salary and was the editor of some magazine with multi-million dollar advertising deals, I might think differently--not that I don't value you and this site! I am just saying, when I am in a situation like I was in this week, it's really hard to get on the ball to write effectively and need everything to be just right.
It's sort of like poker. You don't want to play when you're tilting, right? I don't want to write when I am in such a bad mood because I can't get ahold of the cable company, and my hands are frozen, and I haven't showered because I have no hot water, etc. I don't want my frustration to give me a bad case of writer's block, and make my columns even worse. You deserve more.
I put up a pair of Jeff's articles this week, both of which are great reads. The one on ettiquette is something I addressed lightly before. Let me be the first to say I haven't always behaved at the tables. Jeff is fast to admit this too, though he is better about it than me. I don't do anything out of line generally but will sometimes let frustration get the best of me.
Hey, I am young and will be the first to say that I never claimed to be a perfect gentlemen. In fact, I think perfect behavior at the poker table is boring and dry, and we need some spice in the mix. That usually isn't me, as when I am playing I usually don't say anything and just keep to myself. But even a dirty word or insult here or there doesn't kill us, and should generally (at least in my humble opinion) be ignored and just looked away. If you really get your panties in a bunch and start e-mailing poker room support because someone called you the s-word, you need to reexamine your own personal morals and ethics here. Did this guy really do anything bad to you, or did he just call you a name? If so, why are you resorting to third-grade level things such as telling on him and having his chat revoked?
If you really get offended at a poker table, I recommend finding a new game. It's too full of low lifes who will curse every time they lose a coinflip and berate a dealer anytime they have aces cracked. I understand being offended for one reason or the other, but realize others have different tollerance levels for this thing. You're not the only person who matters in the poker world.
In short, you don't need to be unfriendly at the table. I recommend just not saying anything, and keeping to yourself. But if it happens to you or you call someone a name, just realize that it's just a game of poker and move on.
