I’ve made a few new life changes this past week. First being that I’m not going visit 3rd and Spring Garden anymore for breakfast. A story of my Uncles that goes way back is that he boycotted a restaurant up the street because they burnt his toast one too many times. I however am boycotting for a different reason. The panhandlers are driving me away. These guys feel like their entitled to my money because I drive an Acura TL. I’m not their friend. I’m not going to pretend that I am their friend and it’s not in my character to act like a dick. Thus, I’m never eating there again.

The second is that I made a deposit on Bodog. I only deposited 100 bucks. I’ve hit my first two baseball bets one of which was betting on the Marlins against the Phillies a few days ago and another last night betting on Kershaw’s gem against the Padres. I know this is almost unbelievable but I managed to win 500 dollars during the 4+ month football season last year betting practically every week. I by no means think I’m a winning sports better, and have lost in prior years, but my goal for the year is to never have to deposit for the rest of the season. I have 146 dollars in Bodog currently and I’m sure I’ll add a bet or two I make to the blog occasionally. I’m aware of one sports betting fact that took me a while to learn, the less bets you make, the better chance of success.

I’ve decided to do the Half Marathon in the middle of September. This is going to accompany a significant life change for the next 3 weeks of not drinking any alcohol. The bottom line is that I can’t train for a half marathon effectively getting smashed every weekend. I ran 3 miles in 17:27 yesterday and felt pretty strong. I know that’s a far cry from 13 but after getting in shape for the summer, it’s time to see what I’m made of. The goal is obviously 1:18. I intend to start doing some longer runs starting shortly and we’ll see where that takes me. I’ve also decided to stop drinking coffee in the mornings and maybe even try to eat healthier.

I also will visit Harrah’s a few more times to play poker. To win 2 buy ins in a 6 hour period at literally NO RISK is pretty encouraging. To play a session with literally no luck involved and winning 600 makes me want to go back. I hit plenty of hands and I know the cards treated me well but I was rarely putting my money in behind and when I did I usually had good implied odds to hit my hand. Bottom line, I feel like I have a pretty sizable edge at that game and will have to spend some time to see some results.

I feel like these changes in my life are all positive. Hopefully I will feel healthier, thus sharper mentally and good things will come. Basically we’ll see how good a sober me can be. People who know me probably scoff at this but it’s only for 3 weeks and I have come to the realization that I can’t take my potential to the next level filling my body with 20 beers each weekend. This half marathon will be my finish line.