I guess I owe an explanation as to why I didn't play in the WPT Championship at the Bellagio. It's my favorite tournament of the year but i didn't feel up to it.  No, I'm not sick, as evidenced by the fact I've been playing 10-12 hours a day in the cash games.  But after attending two funerals last week, along with my wife being out of town for six weeks, I just felt like I wouldn't have the discipline or patience to sit through a long tournament.  At least in the cash games you can quit when you need to be somewhere else.

I never realized how much I depend on my wife to take care of the pets, run the house, pay the bills, keep food in the house, etc. Louise has allergy problems which led into asthma, which triggered a heart condition known as A-Fib. Her doctor told her she had to stay out of town until the pollen level subsides. I know there is lots of pollen in the air because I've been sneezing all month and I usually don't have a problem. I sure hope Louise gets home soon.

I never expected to become part of the Twitter craze, but Doyles Poker Room started my page www.twitter.com/texdolly and now I'm posting on it.  I don't think my old-fashioned cell phone will work so I have to do it from my computer each day.  What will they think of next!

I headed over to my CPA to get my taxes done and ran into a traffic jam.  Hundreds of people were blocking the streets having what they called a "tea party".  I think they were protesting the current financial crisis our nation is going through, but some of the signs were ridiculous.  "Impeach Obama", "What comes after trillions", "Stop spending our money" and other statements blaming our president.  For Pete's sake, let's give the guy a chance to straighten this mess up.  I got a lot of heat for voting for McCain, but I knew when I cast a late vote, John didn't have a chance to win. I was just being loyal to the Republican Party.  But now that the nation has spoken that they wanted Obama, we should all support him.

-DB