mdrichards's blog

Why Your Bank Is Broke

"Since October, the government has deposited $165 billion into the accounts of the nation's eight largest banks. Yet those same financial firms are now worth $418 billion less than they were four months ago. And the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the government's preferred shares are worth at least $20 billion less. In Wall Street terms, that's throwing good money after bad. All told, the government's annualized rate of return on its investment in the nation's largest banks is -1,096."

From Why Your Bank is Broke via Mat.

That's Not My Name

Loving this song. No idea why, it sounds like nonsense.

02 - That's Not My Name

The Ting Tings

Patience -- Or How To Go From Last To First In One Hand

Full Tilt Poker Game #6322219268: $33 + $3 Sit & Go (Turbo) (48104022), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:46:22 ET - 2008/05/07
Seat 2: AceJackSooted (3,400)
Seat 3: 92090205 (1,925)
Seat 4: OnTop2000 (1,910)
Seat 5: vova1234 (1,730)
Seat 7: VacheQuiRit (1,915)
Seat 8: arbe387 (1,480)
Seat 9: emdee74 (1,140)
emdee74 posts the small blind of 50
AceJackSooted posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #8
arbe387: lol
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to emdee74 [Ac Ks]
92090205 raises to 1,925, and is all in
OnTop2000 folds
vova1234 calls 1,730, and is all in
VacheQuiRit folds
arbe387 folds
emdee74 calls 1,090, and is all in
AceJackSooted folds
92090205 shows [Qd Th]
vova1234 shows [Ts Tc]
emdee74 shows [Ac Ks]
Uncalled bet of 195 returned to 92090205
*** FLOP *** [As 4c Qh]
VacheQuiRit: feeling better?
*** TURN *** [As 4c Qh] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [As 4c Qh 9c] [6s]
92090205 shows a pair of Queens
vova1234 shows a pair of Tens
92090205 wins the side pot (1,180) with a pair of Queens
emdee74 shows a pair of Aces
emdee74 wins the main pot (3,520) with a pair of Aces
vova1234 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,700 Main pot 3,520. Side pot 1,180. | Rake 0
Board: [As 4c Qh 9c 6s]
Seat 2: AceJackSooted (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: 92090205 showed [Qd Th] and won (1,180) with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: OnTop2000 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: vova1234 showed [Ts Tc] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 7: VacheQuiRit didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: arbe387 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: emdee74 (small blind) showed [Ac Ks] and won (3,520) with a pair of Aces

QotD: Where in the World...

If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live?
Submitted by Eileen.

If money were no object I'd likely live in a few places. I'm sure I would have a home in Southern Arizona, probably something like a condo in Tucson. I would also likely want to have a place in Barcelona or Madrid. But what I would really love is a high end RV that I could just drive all over the place. I would love to drive to and visit all of the states, and basically just be where ever I wanted.

Thank you for calling Vonage

Most anybody who calls toll free numbers these days expect two things. First, that you will be talking to somebody in India. Second, that when your call is nearly completed you will get an "upsell" offer of some product or service. Usually these upsells are preselected by computer and the agent has no choice in what they offer, but they *must* offer it or face pretty serious employment consequences. Both of these things are the result of the extremely high cost of providing toll free support and don't particularly bother me.

I called Vonage today to cancel one of my lines. The fact that this is pretty much the only things you can't do on the web site is terribly annoying. I'm pretty certain that I was connected to a call center in India where I spoke to a young lady who claimed her name was Mary Jane Velasquez. Hmm, okay.

Once we got through the terrible connection and she was able to pull up my account she was very sorry that I was canceling a line but happy to help. A few minutes later my line was canceled and the change was instantly reflected in my account details on the web site. Awesome.

Then comes the upsell. Without skipping a beat she makes the offer: a special deal on an additional line.