Author: Nick Momrik

I'm searching for my first hole-in-one. I enjoy being active and making things. I work for Automattic.

Taking Out The Trash

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I just spent about a half hour feeding photos, cards, letter, ticket stubs, etc. through my paper shredder. As I was unpacking things from my vacation up north I noticed a photo album and box of things in the back of my closet that had been saved from my last relationship. With 2004 upon us I was wondering why I still had them, so I decided to get rid of them. After 30 minutes of non-stop work, it’s amazing that the motor on my paper shredder isn’t smoking. I sure do feel good though.

I’ve never discussed this relationship with anyone, so you’re about to hear a side of the story which has never been told…

It all started back in my senior year of high school. I started dating a girl that was a junior and was being chased by several other guys at this same time. Hell, they even chased her after we became a couple. Everyone always would tell me that I was stupid to think that she wasn’t cheating on me with one of these other guys (or even several), but to this day I still believe that she wasn’t. At least not at the beginning.

We were together all the time and I do mean all the time. Too much really, after looking back on it. I became close to her family and really close to her mother. Too close! It was to the point where I didn’t spend much time at all with my family and wouldn’t listen to them for advice on the whole situation. I now wish I would have listened to a few things. Those early times during the first year were a lot of fun, but things changed a bit after I graduated and went off to college. For a short period of time I had even thought about skipping out my first year to be with her. It’s a good thing Mom talked me out of that idea!

Back to Poker

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During the Thanksgiving holidays, I played poker with friends and family a couple of times a day. It really wore me out from playing. So I decided to take some time off. Up until this past week, I had only played online once in the last month. It was a much needed break.

When I was home for the holidays, I started to play online a little bit and have once again found my game. I came out ahead during every session that I played. I’m still playing the .25/.50 cent tables and hopefully will move up to .50/$1 in the next month. I was coming out ahead by over 10 big bets per hour. I was getting good cards, but for the first time since I’ve been playing, I really felt in the zone. I was reading people’s hole cards really well and making good poker decisions. The increase in my bankroll reinforces this fact.

I’m beginning to really hate flush draws. I never seem to get them, but when I’m up against someone else, they play it to the river and hit quite a bit. Or maybe I just remember the times that I do get beat with a flush that hits on the river. It not only happens to me online, but in home games too. I got beat by Dad 3 times on a flush that he hit on the river while at home. We had a few tournaments at family gatherings and he even beat me twice in one tournament with a river flush. We were all-in both times! I guess maybe I’m not a No-Limit player. I do prefer playing limit poker, which is exclusively what I play online.

For New Year’s, my Mom and Dad were heading up to St. Ignace to the casino and I was invited to go. I decided to turn them down and go out with a few friends instead. We had a good time, but after hearing how my dad won $160 playing Texas Hold’em, I wish I had gone. He knows poker, but hasn’t been a student of the game like I have. I know that I could have won a few hundred that night with all the fish throwing money around in celebration of the new year. There’s always next time!

In the game of life…play the cards you’re dealt.

-Rounders

2004 Brings Change

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I’ve never been the type to come up with New Year’s resolutions, but this year is different. I’ve had one of those gut feelings lately about my future, and I believe that 2004 is going to be a year of some big changes in my life.

Because of this, I’ve decided to set some goals:

  • Get a new job in the area of programming.
  • Cut down on my sarcasm.
  • Try to relate to others more…walk in their shoes.
  • Open up. Everyone knows that I’m shy. It’s just how I’ve always been, even thought I don’t like it. I want to try to get away from that.
  • Get into shape (physically) and stay fit.
  • Stop drinking pop. I had done it for a few months earlier in the year, so I know that it can be done.

I always get a lot of ideas, which I go with for a month or two, but then my desire usually fades. I need some type of reminder to keep me motivated, so that is why I’ve created this list. Wish me luck!

2003 Comes To An End

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2003 has been a different kind of year for me. If I had to come up with an event that has shaped the year, I don’t think I could. In 2002, I got a full-time job, moved off-campus, and graduated from college, which were all rather large steps in my life. 2003 has been kind of dull and boring.

I have learned a few things in the past year though…

I’ve always said that your job should not seem like work. You should love what you are doing so much that you would do it for free. About 6 months ago, I finally hit the wall at work. I never planned on staying there long, but I can’t stand computer support and answering phones any longer. The only thing keeping me sane at work are the friends I’ve made there. Our crew (all young) is really a good group, but we aren’t appreciated for what we do.

I for instance, could do almost anyone’s job in the department with a few weeks of training. I’m not trying to brag, but I’ve always caught onto things quickly. I breezed through high school with a 4.0 and college was almost as easy (3.976). My skills are not utilized like they could be at SVSU. Hopefully 2004 will bring a new career path. Haha…that reminds me of something one of my cousin’s said at Christmas…”Anyone can find a job, I’m looking for a career.” I think that someone calling herself an Event Planner might have a hard time finding a job, let alone a career.

More and more people these days are asking me if I have a girlfriend yet. I don’t. It’s been about 4 or 5 years now since I’ve had one. Mom is the worst, especially around other people. She always has to bring shit up and acts like I should be in some kind of rush to get hitched. I’m only 24, there’s no hurry. I really hate it when people get on me about the subject. But…I have realized that I’m missing something in my life. The puzzle always seemed complete (for the most part) when I had girlfriends.

It was just so much easier for me back in high school. You saw the same girls everyday, making it easy to get to know them. I need to find a way to get over my shyness so that I feel comfortable talking to strangers. I will very very rarely go up to a girl I don’t know and start talking to her. Maybe if I’m drunk, but that is even pushing it. Some of my friends can’t believe I don’t have a girlfriend yet because they say I’m the nicest guy and I would treat a girl right. Sure, but meeting them is the first step and where I struggle.

Recently I’ve come to understand that helping other people is more rewarding than doing something for yourself. Christmas was a prime example this year. I didn’t really care what I got, I was more excited to see how everyone liked the gifts that I bought. Helping Mo with his website is another example. Sometimes I get extremely frustrated, but when we finally get something working correctly, it feels great. I want to do my part to better the world around me.

Look for a post tomorrow relating to some of the above lessons I’ve learned.

Well, the plans for tonight are to head over to Greka’s Tavern with some friends since I’m still up here in Rogers City. Their slogan is “The Best Bar on 1st Street”, but anyone who knows this town could tell you that it is the only bar on the street! I plan on getting extremely drunk so that when we walk home it won’t feel so damn cold.

Be safe, don’t drink and drive, tip your bartenders well, and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Drill Another One

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Just got back from the dentist…AGAIN! I had another big cavity filled to use up the rest of my dental insurance for the year. I hate going to that place, but it’s my own damn fault. If I would take better care of my teeth, I wouldn’t have these problems. Yesterday I couldn’t eat on the left side of my mouth because of the two big cavities I had filled and today I can’t eat on the right side because of this one. It’s so much fun!

My brother’s team beat Boyne City last night 58-50, so it’s back to Cheboygan tonight for the championship game. They play against Cheboygan who beat St. Ignace yesterday. I think his team will be out matched (or should I say out coached?), but you never know in high school sports. At least it gets me out of the house and out of this town for a few hours.

Enjoying My Break

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I’ve been enjoying my holiday break a great deal. At the same time, I miss being back in Saginaw at my apartment, but this is a nice little get-away. I’ve been sleeping in until at least 10 every morning and I didn’t even leave the house yesterday.

The big project yesterday was to get a page up with poker chip tricks tutorial, and so far the page is getting a lot of attention. According to my web hosting stats, almost 500 visitors stopped by my site yesterday, which is amazing since I’ve never had 200 visitors in a single day before. My brother Isaac helped me out by doing most of the camera work on the videos. We used my digital camera and it worked out pretty well. Once the videos were done I wanted to compress them a little bit and I removed the audio to save some space. I used a DivX 5.1.1 codec for the compression, which seems to be giving a couple of people problems viewing the videos. Later tonight I hope to work on getting another video format posted as a 2nd option.

Update: Those having problems are now able to view the videos after installing the DivX 5.1.1 codec, so I will not be adding a 2nd video option for now.

Today I went and contributed to the Ryan family college fund. Doc. Ryan is my dentist, who I’ve been visiting frequently since I got my own dental insurance. I think I’ve bought half the equipment in their office by now. They filled two big cavities on upper left teeth. The numbing is starting to wear off and I can feel some pain coming on. It’s funny how my teeth never hurt until after I go to the dentist, even though my chart shows red marks on just about every tooth. As a kid my teeth were always hurting, but over the past 5 years or so I really haven’t had any pain. Maybe I’m simply used to it.

In a few minutes we are off to Cheboygan for Isaac’s varsity basketball game. I’m not even quite sure who they play, but hopefully the Hurons will come out on top. It’s a mini tournament they are playing in, so I’ll be going back tomorrow for either the championship or the consolation game.

When I get home tonight I’ll be working on the poker chip trick videos like I mentioned earlier. Maybe Isaac will even want another ass-whoopin in March Madness. I’ve only lost one time so far in the game…any challengers?

Poker Chip Tricks Tutorial

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When I was learning how to do tricks with my poker chips, I had a hard time finding information on the different tricks. In order to help others in the future, I’ve created a page with explanations and videos for the tricks that I know how to do. The tricks are:

  • Chip Flip (Front to Back)
  • Knuckle Roll
  • Chip Twirl
  • Shuffle

Poker Chip Tricks Tutorial

A Good Birthday

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Overall it was a good birthday, but not that much different than any other day. I woke up around 11:00, when Heather and Isaac gave me their gifts. Isaac got me some Coors Light stuff and Heather got me a new basketball and a spare battery for my camera, which was pretty sweet. Jere came over around 12:30 and we played a few games of March Madness on XBOX. I kicked his ass!

After I finally made it to the shower, we headed over to Tom’s and watched Rounders, the greatest poker movie of all time! If you haven’t seen it and like poker, definitely check it out. I came home around 5:00 and opened my gifts from mom and dad, which included more Coors Light stuff and a nice little pair of binoculars, which I hoped I would get. They are nothing special, but will be perfect for taking to sporting events. After that, we went out to eat. My food was awesome! I started off with a salad from the salad bar, and it was one of the best I’ve ever had. Next we had a few appetizers and my main course of shrimp scampi was great too! When we got home, I headed back over to Tom’s for some poker.

Around 10:00 we headed to the bar, which was the worst part of the day. There were a ton of people there, so when we walked into Greka’s it was like walking into a smoke filled sauna. Tom bought me a few screwdrivers that were easily the worst I’ve ever had. Needless to say, Jere and I left after we finished our drinks, so this is where I sit.

Tomorrow I’m off to Alpena for the Momrik family Christmas gathering. Maybe I can win the poker tournament.