Well, I Did It!

Earlier than I expected, I finished building my bankroll! By that, I mean my goal for the year was to have a bankroll of 30K and then start taking what money I have above that and start investing it/paying off debts/whatever. Sure I could start moving up limits more, but I am fairly happy where I am and I want to get myself really finacially secure before I start into the real tough games.

Right now I find that I can beat games up to 30/60 and 10/20 NL handily though I am going to spend most of my time at 20/40 and 5/10 NL. If I see a juicy big game I will jump into it, but I think that sticking to mainly 20/40 Limit and 5/10 NL will decrease the stress in my life as I work on other commitments.

As for the WSOP Circuit Events at Ceasar's (going on right now), I think that I will make it for the last few events and maybe I can sattelite into the 10K. I am actually looking forward to playing some 30/60 at the Bellagio since the 15/30 was super soft the last time I was there. While I don't really have the bankroll to play $1000 events all the time, I want to give this a shot and I figure I can freeroll myself with a little bit of work. If I feel comfortable playing some of these events, I will probably look into playing a few of the smaller events at the WSOP this summer. I would like to try and play the main event, but I really can't spare 2 weeks of my life.

On a more personal note, I was able to take care of my friends last night and by that I bought a lot of good alchohol and got them drunk! I have about half a handle of Gvori left and a few assorted mixers, so this weekend should be fun! I also picked up a 750ml bottom of "Gentleman Jack" and that is the smoothest whiskey I have had yet. I am still a big fan of the Johnnie Walker Black Label (but that's because it's Scotch), but the GJ just hits the spot. Tonight I am hoping to mix up some White Russians and watch 'The Big Lebowski'.

The big things I need to do before I head off to Vegas are finish up some paperwork with my University and take care of that donation I was going to make to the Miriam Foundation. I was trying to do it through Full Tilt, but I couldn't make the donation how I wanted to, so I got the money refunded so I could make my own. I needed to get a reciept for tax purposes (I expect to pay a buttload in taxes this year and every little helps). So wish me luck as I try to get everything done!

Scrubs

So almost two years ago I was introduced to show that had already been running for three years called 'Scrubs' I didn't really get it at the time, but that may have been because in a few weeks I was going in for brain surgery (that's a story for another time). That fall when I had mostly recovered from my ordeal, my friends and I started to absorb the show. It was funny, witty and had the great John C. McGinley in it. Hell, the whole cast was great from the ever lovable Zach Braff to the crazily hot Sarah Chalke.

To sum up the show, it is about the goings-on at Sacred Heart, a fictious hospital. The show has followed three doctors, J.D., Turk, and Elliot, as then went from interns to intendings. It has crazy fantasy sequences and moments that will make you cry. It has it all. The perfect show.

The crazy thing is that J.D. on that show is me. Honestly, watch it and if you had never met me before in real life, that is a very close approximation of my personality. If you just added some of Dr. Cox's (McGinley) sarcasm to the mix and BAM! there's me.

Anywho, I just watched this weeks episode "My Lunch" through iTunes and it is a great example of Scrubs. A guest character from the 1st season dies, a doctor gets in touch with his sexuality with humorous results, and a main character starts to really question his role as a doctor. I was laughing and crying and I can't wait to see next week's episode.

Go watch Scrubs. This is probably its last season (a fact that doesn't really bother me because I think 5 seasons would make a perfect run for this show). Go rent it, go download it, go watch it. You'll never see the craziness of life in the same way again.

The Streak Is Over!!

Well, I finally won a tournament today! I don't think I've put one under my belt since last Summer though I do have a few final tables and a 2nd place finish since then. It wasn't a big field, but it was fun. It was a $200+16 at Doyle's Room, with 34 people. Top 6 got paid and I walked with $2700. Not my biggest cash (in fact for a $200+16, it was a relatively small cash), but it felt good to win. I completly served the competition and once we got down to 5 handed, I was in complete control. Of course, I win the tournament with complete junk where my 93o hit trip 3s on the flop. If I didn't win with junk, then it wasn't worth winning. The best part was the other guy had 97 on the 733 flop. I think he finally got sick of me pushing everyone around and called my reraise all-in on a Q turn.

There is a WSOP Circuit Event starting this Friday at Ceasar's in Vegas that I might go to now since I can play some of the smaller events. Plus the cash games are juicy. I just need to get a lot of my shit done before I go, so probably will head down there next week if I get all set. The championship event is on May 10th, so maybe I will spend my birthday there.

AFTERWORD: I really didn't feel like this deserved another post, so I will just add it here. I decided to watch a 50/100 game before I went to bed. It ended up being real fishy with two players on supreme tilt and I sat down. Man did I get some rough beats! I basically broke even and made one bad play (I called down with a decent A high when I was sure the guy had a big pair, but I wanted to make sure my read was good because I had made that laydown a few times already). I don't think I will sit in that game for a while just in case I might self-destruct, but I am pretty sure I can beat it. Even when the tilted players left, I felt that I had an edge over the table. Play was better than the 30/60 tables I've played, but not that much. Maybe over the summer I can move up for good, but right now I am all about growing my bankroll comfortably.

Fear and Loathing in Berkeley

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.

I have been partying what seems like non-stop for the last few days. I am generally a very moderate creature, but sometimes I just need to let loose. I have been to a party or some social event every night since Wednesday. I am pretty sure I melted my brain, my liver looking for a new home. It's time to post up the signs and find myself. Pull it together.

Ok, there we go. Feeling better. Frankly, I am just exhausted and ready to go back to the day's labors. Poker has crawled to a snail's pace and I am happy where I am. Probably going to fall short of my goal this month, but still making good progress. This week I am going to dedicate myself to finishing getting my life in order for the rest of the year. Set an alarm and stop goofing off. I am probably going to also put some hours in looking over my poker game for areas of improvement. See what needs to be done.

On a related poker note, PL Omaha is a crazy game. Yesterday at Doyle's Room where the max buy-in is 500 at the 5/10 table, I was stuck $1700 before showing a nice profit. Players were so terrible and I just lost two big pots where I was a decisive favorite (Imagine flopping trips, a straight draw and a flush draw and losing).

Off to sober up...

ALWAYS DRAW FOR THE GUTSHOT.

NOTE: This is my 2nd "article" for my blog. I am going to start posting links for past articles. The last one is entitled "What Can I Beat?" if you want to search for it.

In Limit Holdem, there is a maxim that some people take to heart: Never draw to a gutshot straight, that is, a straight in which you can only hit one card to make. But you know what I do? I ALWAYS draw for the gutshot. Sure I am a 10-1 underdog, but the look on a person's face is priceless. Or in the case of online poker, the chat box. I get called a fish at least ONCE a day and usually many times.

You might be thinking now how can a winning player draw for such longshots? It's easy: implied odds. Let's say that you have KJo in the big blind. A late position person raises and the Small Blind calls and you do as well. The flop comes:

7c Ah Qd

Well, you can assume that your are in no way ahead of raiser unless he was getting real frisky. ~SB checks, you check and the raiser bets and the ~SB folds. There are 7 bets in the pot and you have a 10-1 shot. What do you do? I call. The turn is a beautiful 10. Do you bet? No, you check and then go for the raise. Who is going to see the gutshot coming? The low blow will faze them so much that they will have no choice but to call down. And you pick up a pot with 20 small bets in it. That's twice as much as the 10 you needed to make the call in the first place!

By now, the concept of implied odds should be fairly clear: it is the amount of money you can expect to win on later streets if you hit versus how much you need to put in. Some people in limit holdem play so tight that they lose on profitable opportunities like this. Of course, some people play so loose that even with implied odds, they aren't getting the right shot. A good player needs to be always watchful for profitable opportunities and sometimes that requires playing tight and other times looser.

A little addendum: your implied odds are always dictated by how obvious it will be that you hit your hand. KJ on the above board is not as obvious as KJ chasing on a 789 flop. You want to be drawing to a not so obvious powerful hand and you have to put you opponent on a hand that will pay you off big time. If you think your opponent is weak, then try to take the pot through aggressiveness than through just hitting your hand. It is always easier to just pick up the pot than to hit a miracle.

Sigh...

I am having the worst luck this week. Yesterday I decided to go to Stocktan with some friends because there is supposedly a juicy game there. I was told it was 30 minute ride. Nope, more like an hour and 30 minutes. But we get there and I am pumped. They took us off the waitlist because we took so long, so we put ourselves on again. And we wait. I go grab some food at Hometown Buffet. Come back and wait. Go for a walk. Wait some more. After 4 hours of waiting, they end up sitting us down within 15 minutes of each other. It was a real easy game, but I was just not making it in the bigs pots. I had 3 big outdraws in $1000+ pots. It was very frustrating.

So I end up playing in a rebuy tournament on Doyle's Room. In 3+ hours with 30 people left and a $5,000+ 1st. 27 get paid and I am playing great with an above average stack. I proceed to get crippled when some smuck calls my sizeable all-in reraise with
Q9 against my AJ. Here's the kicker: the flop is KJ10. Sigh...

I am later busted out the next and when the same guy raises and I call all-in with 3 BB with Q9s. Of course, he has A9 and I don't suck out. Hello, my name is bubble boy.

I am having a rough month and the only way I am keeping afloat is good money management. I am in no real danger of going broke, but I am having a rough month. Hopefully I can just break even for the month after paying off my bills.

I Would Like to Buy Syd Field a Drink

As a I mentioned a few weeks ago, I want to start writing a screenplay. I read Syd Field's main book on screenwriting, and it helped a lot. It helped put structure to my ideas and I am ready to write. I developed an idea that should prove interesting. I have the basic story down, so I can start the actual screenplay. Not to ruin anything, it is basically a poker film-noir.

I am fairly excited about this because even if it bombs, at least I am doing something with my life right now besides poker. Not to say I am burned-out as such, but I want to have something to show for my effort besides money. I don't want to spend ALL of my time trying in front of a computer screen.

On a similar note, I am going to try running. I just need to get my lazy ass to put on the shoes.

And for the poker update, I've managed to recover 50% from my Wednesday catastrophe. I think my goal for the month is going to fall a bit short with the bills that I have to pay, but if I can maintain my bankroll after paying everything, then I will be happy.

I Am a Sick, Sick Man

Here's the hand and I will analyze it after it:

Curious George 8161197-16777 Holdem No Limit $5/$10
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Hand Start.
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Seat 1 : nickjensen has $835
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Seat 2 : XA_kid has $2,464
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Seat 3 : mrpillowtlk has $623.50
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Seat 4 : arne_and has $701
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Seat 5 : skintagain has $621.56
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : Seat 6 : yolav has $1,163
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : yolav is the dealer.
[Apr 14 17:08:49] : nickjensen posted small blind.
[Apr 14 17:08:50] : XA_kid posted big blind.
[Apr 14 17:08:50] : Game [16777] started with 6 players.
[Apr 14 17:08:50] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Apr 14 17:08:50] : Seat 2 : XA_kid has 3s Kc
[Apr 14 17:08:52] : mrpillowtlk folded.
[Apr 14 17:08:57] : arne_and folded.
[Apr 14 17:08:57] : skintagain folded.
[Apr 14 17:08:59] : yolav folded.
[Apr 14 17:08:29] : nickjensen called $5
[Apr 14 17:08:33] : XA_kid checked.
[Apr 14 17:08:33] : Dealing flop.
[Apr 14 17:08:33] : Board cards [6s 2c 4c]
[Apr 14 17:08:35] : nickjensen checked.
[Apr 14 17:08:40] : XA_kid bet $20
[Apr 14 17:08:43] : nickjensen called $20 and raised $45
[Apr 14 17:09:26] : XA_kid called $45
[Apr 14 17:09:26] : Dealing turn.
[Apr 14 17:09:26] : Board cards [6s 2c 4c 6d]
[Apr 14 17:09:27] : nickjensen bet $80
[Apr 14 17:09:31] : XA_kid called $80
[Apr 14 17:09:31] : Dealing river.
[Apr 14 17:09:31] : Board cards [6s 2c 4c 6d 7s]
[Apr 14 17:09:31] : nickjensen bet $160
[Apr 14 17:09:39] : XA_kid called $160
[Apr 14 17:09:39] : Showdown!
[Apr 14 17:09:39] : Seat 2 : XA_kid has 3s Kc
[Apr 14 17:09:43] : Seat 1 : nickjensen has 5c Qc
[Apr 14 17:09:43] : nickjensen has Pair: 6s
[Apr 14 17:09:43] : Seat 2 : XA_kid has 3s Kc
[Apr 14 17:09:43] : XA_kid has Pair: 6s
[Apr 14 17:09:43] : XA_kid wins $627 with Pair: 6s (King kicker)
[Apr 14 17:09:48] : Hand is over.

Preflop: I am not going to get too frisky in the BB. I generally don't raise in Blind on Blind confrontations unless it is in a tourney.

Flop: His check raise seemed really...off for his play and I was playing 2 tables with him so I had gotten a feel for his play. Plus I do have outs.

Turn: That didn't help anyone. After he bet, I was fairly sure he had the flush draw and no 6. I didn't want to raise him incase I'm wrong and he might just come along with the flush anyways.

River: That 7 scared me a bit, but I was still 90% sure I was ahead. I was calling any bet up to the pot. He would have to push to get me to fold.

I think that a raise on the river would've been a good move incase he had the A-high flush draw. In retrospect, that was a pretty big mistake.

Gorf and Good Books

Ok, my new resolution is to learn better self control. Yesterday was a horrid day for when it should have hurt 80% less. I sometimes just need to quit, especially in Limit games, where I tend to steam the most.

I did what I normally do and withdrew all of my money and took the day off. I started fresh at Doyle's Room because of the soft NL games and I think I will rebuild here. The 5/10 NL game is very, very soft with little risk. Add in that the max buy-in is 25% less than other sites, seems like a nice place. I've been able to recoup about 25% of my losses, so I should be back up and running by next week.

I picked up Barry Greenstein's Ace on the River and it is very excellent, having to do with the physcology of a good poker player. I think that I have very good technical skills and I now want to really move up to the next level.

I am going to try and hit up a real live NL game on Sunday, so I'll let you guys in on what happens.

Well, I'm Back

My little exodus is over. Overall, I am really glad I decided to do help my grandmother. She can be very trying at times, but I know I can get very annoying and I don't have age as an excuse. Was able to plug my hands into Poker Tracker and here are my stats since I was away:

Total Hands: 4593
Saw 49% of the flops, 31% while not in the blinds. I played a lot of heads up/3-way, so this big gap makes sense.
Win Rate/100 Hands: $315.47
BB/100: 12.02 (That is about half limit and half NL)
Went to Showdown: 34%
Won $ at Showdown: 52% (I would actually like to get this higher to 60% because I am still making some stupid calls at the end)

So I was running very, very hot. Today is a personal day so that I can get stuff done, but tomorrow I am going to play a big NL live game at a card club in Hayward. Should be fun!

Maybe I Can Be in Rounders 2: Electric Bugaloo...

Well, today proved to be interesting. While playing a SH game of 15/30 Limit, someone in the observer chat asked if anyone wanted to play in a charity tournament happening in a few minutes. After being inspired by my run-in with Phil Gordon, I said sure. It was $100+25, with $100 going to the prize pool and $25 going to charity, the Miriam Foundation. Well, 9 people registered and, lo and behold, at the one table was Andy Bloch, Clonie Gowen, and Erik Seidel, the runner up to Johnny Chan with 7 WSOP bracelets. A little story about me and Erik first:

A year ago, I went to Howard Lederer's Poker Fantasy Camp after having won a free trip the last November through Full Tilt Poker. It was an awesome experiance (my first time to Vegas since I turned 21) and Erik Seidel was there. There were 2 tournaments during the camp, one with cash prizes paying out the top 18 and one winner take-all for a seat to the WSOP. I busted out of the 1st one (though I friend I had made won it) and was deep into the 2nd with four tables left when I was moved 2 spots to Erik Seidel's left. I wish I could say I outplayed him, but I really didn't get involved in any pots with him. However, he got super short stacked at one point and the guy between was determined to bust, going over the top with very marginal hands. After surving a few double ups, Erik folded, but Mr. Maniac went all-in again. I was on the button with Q10 of hearts. I had 10,000 chips with the blinds at 400-800. He had me covered by a bit. I thought about it for half a minute, figured I probably had the best hand (and there was enough money in the pot giving me odds if I didn't) and called all-in. To my surprise the SB who had the both of us covered called as did the BB who had 5K in chips. The maniac flipped up J8o, the SB flipped up 99 and the BB flipped up K5o. I spiked a 10 on the turn to win the pot and vault into the chip leaders. I built myself up to 100K for the final table and took it down for a seat that I sold for 10K. And all because Erik was on my right.

Cut to today's tourney and Erik is on my immediate right. I make a comment about him being a lucky charm. The pros in chat said they were going to donate their winnings to the charity and I decided to as well. I managed to knock out both Andy and Clonie when I had AQ vs. Andy's QJ and we both made straights (I made the higher one) and Clonie when she moved all-in with A9 and I called with AK.

So we are 3-handed, me, Erik, and Guy Who is Not Donating (GWND). I had the chip lead with 6K with Erik and the other guy having about 3.5K each and the blinds at 60/120. GWND was down to 800 after doubling Erik up with in a 1010 v. JJ. He then proceeded to survive a race against my 77 with his A10 and for a few hands I was in 3rd place with Erik accumulating chips. I kept the pressure on and got some of those chips back when I pushed in the SB with 22 and GWND called with A9o. I had 3700 vs. his 2700 with the blinds at 100/200. After they hold, he goes to comment "I knew that you were weak" and says he made the right move. I disagree, but that is something for another day.

We start heads up with Erik having a 1K lead on me. This is for pride now since we are both donating our winnings. Plus I guess the winner is getting a blurb in the New York Times. I pull ahead and then fall to a 4K to a 9K deficiet. I fight back to reverse the positions when I limp with AK in the SB, he pushed with 66 and I call, winning the coinflip. Erik makes a comment about how I should drag him everywhere, we laugh and say gg. What a rush to beat Erik Seidel headsup, which I am sure only a few people can really say. Plus it wasn't just a big luckfest, we had lots of play and it was 25 hands overall.

I will leave you all with this:

"Matt Damon!"

A No-win Game of Poker

I already posted the beginning of this story on Pokertips, but I wanted to provide a little closure as well. Here is an e-mail that I sent to Phil this morning:

Phil,

This is XA_kid with whom you played heads up for about 40 hands at
30/60 on Full Tilt Poker on 4/6. I also met you before at the Howard
Lederer Poker Camp a year earlier. I was the guy who won the WSOP
entry tournament and had the shorter speech at the dinner.

I wanted to apologize for leaving but I couldn't in good conscience
play against a guy who was donating his winnings to charity. While
you might have the overall edge, I had developed a game plan at that
point which combined with the swings of heads up Limit play had at
least a decent chance of winning. I had toyed with the idea of
donating what I won to the same charity, but the real winner would be
Full Tilt through the rake and I would much rather donate in person,
which I plan to do.

As I said when we played, I do appreciate the charity work you do
(and all of the poker pros who do it). How much did you end up for
the night in you don't mind me asking? If you were to play a
short-handed table, I would join you in donating at least some of my
winnings to charity. Then I could avoid the conscience issue and it
would be less volatile.

Sincerely,

My Name Withheld

I just got a response from him:

I won $2000 last night. Thanks for your contribution
to a very worthwhile cause. I could tell that you knew
what you were doing, and as you know heads up is an
extremely volatile game with big swings. To me, it is
the purest form of poker.

It is really amazing the "bad" players that sit down to
play against me heads up... in the last month, I'm up
nearly $20k in 30-60 heads up for the charity... Definitely
looking forward to making a very sizable donation!

Best of luck and see you at the WSOP.

Phil Gordon

I think that sums it up quite nicely.

Why It's Great to Be a Jew

I was reading my friend Hustlr's blog (check out the link on the right) and was inspired to write a little bit on why it is great to be a Jew.

Every holiday involves drinking and eating. There is even one where everyone HAS to get smashed!

We are 10-25% funnier than the general populace. I'm sorry, but it is true. Proof: Mel Brooks

Our only eating restriction is no pork and shellfish and most of us ignore that anyways. At least the shellfish part.

Channukah is 8 days, Christmas is 1. Plus Channukah is all about kicking Roman Ass. We need a Macabee Video Game!

We have to only fast for one day, unlike the month that Muslims have to do for Ramadan. Not to knock any Muslims, but this seems like a plus to me.

Unlike the whole 40 days of Lent, we only have to give up bread and bread-like products for a week and we get delicious substitutes (mmm...Matzah and Horse Radish)

Everyone is bound by international law to feel sorry for us because of the Holocaust. Acting like a douchebag? Blame it on the Holocaust! Turning into a userer? Blame it on the Holocaust. Plus we get the ultimate revenge in there being so many books, movies and video games that involve killing Nazis. I am sure that there have been more 'Virtual Nazis' killed than Jews in the Holocaust.

We are like cocroaches. You can't kill us though you can keep our numbers down. We are one of the longest (if not THE longest) surviving culture on the planet.

We get less points taken off for unattractiveness just because we are Jewish, some of the more rare male specimens to be found.


To be fair, I will post some of the downsides:

Some people irrationally hate Jews.

Jews control Hollywood, and with all of the crap that comes out these days, it is mostly our fault.

We are bad at sports. Watching Jews play basketball is, on the whole, like watching a badger do ballroom dancing.

Stuck up Jews are annoying. Very annoying.

Jewish Princesses are worse.

The allergies kill. Want to know why there are not a lot of Jews in the midwest? It's all the damn flowers and fresh air.

We go senile at earlier ages. It's true. I sometimes have to post on this blog just to see what day it is.

We are either great drivers or horrible drivers, with a majority on the horrible side.


Ok, hope I didn't offend too many people. Remember, this is all tongue-in cheek.

What Can I Beat?

I'm going to post a series of articles on topics that I do not see discussed very much. This one is a repost of a thread I made at Pokertips.org. I do not proclaim to be anywhere near the best and the ideas presented here are not in any way supposed to be the end-all-be-all. These are in the end, my opinion and designed to provoke discussion. Enjoy!

"What Can I Beat?"

I have been playing a lot of SH Limit Holdem over the last few months and when faced with hands that can only beat a bluff many times in a heads up pot, I have come to rely on the question "What Can I Beat?" Here is an example:

I have A7h. I raise and on of the blinds calls me (as they are very likely to do). The flop is 10h9c2s. I am checked raised be a player who I know will play his draws aggresively, so I want to call him down, but I don't want to raise just in case he wakes up with a real hand or decides to keep on raising, putting me to a tough decision. So before I proceed, I go through and mark off the cards on the turn that I will fold to. Here, I will fold to a QJ87 and maybe a K or a 6. All of these cards either pairs him or completes his draw.

The turn is a 9d. If I was ahead, then I still am ahead. He bets and I call. The river is a blank. If he still bets, I will evaluate the hand once more and if I think I have a 7-1 shot in winning, I will probably call. This once again depends on how I have seen his play in the past. If he checks his busted draws and bets his made hands, then I am going to fold. If he bets the entire way whether he misses or hits, then I am going to bet.

Here is another example where a guy could've saved himself a bet. This is a hand I just played, actually.

I have Q10o in a 4 handed game in the BB. UTG/CO raises and I call. I check raise on a J8x flop with two diamonds. He calls. I bet the blank on the turn, he calls. The river is a 10d. I throw in a value bet, capable of folding if he raises. He calls with A9o. He should've asked himself here: What Can I Beat? Every hand that I could possibly have made it there unless I was on a stone cold bluff (which I would never bluff that river...ok I sometimes would) He could've saved himself a bet and fought another day. If you really want to know the stakes, I'll post them later, but there are showdown muppets at every level.

I think that the key to Limit Holdem is critical thinking because so much info is thrown out there (more than I think in NL) that you can save yourself some money (and thereby make yourself some money) by saving bets or raising with marginal hands where appropriate. Keep on asking yourself questions in a hand and you can come up with the best course of action.

I Think I've Used All of My Up-and-Down

It has been a crazy, variance filled weekend. After tilting a lot in 5/10 NL, I had to take the next few days to rebuild. Everything is honky-dory now, but that was a little stressful. I can't wait to get home and plug my hands into pokertracker. I would post some hands, but it would take too long for me to dig through the many thousands of hands that are sitting on my laptop. After I sort them through the database, maybe I'll go on a smorgasborg of hand posting.

On a more personal note, my grandmother just got a place in an assisted living home, which is coincidently right near me. This takes off a lot of pressure for my family because we have been worried for her wellbeing since my grandfather died a year ago.

I am starting to get hit with bills, but I am hoping to be mostly debt-free by the end of the year. My biggest thing is my student loans, so hopefully I can cut those down significantly. Actually, that's mostly my only thing. I am so glad I've staved off having a credit card.