driving test: fail!

haha, i just failed my driving test. it's not that funny but i just gotta laugh; you see, the mistake i made is a very rare one -- halfway through the test, the power to the signal lights went out. eep! dangerous! haha, couldn't remember what to do (treat the intersection as having 4-way stop signs) and went right through. dangerous maneuver! fail! the examiner said everything else was fine -- if the power outage didn't happen, i'd have passed. so yeah, just gotta laugh. who'd have expected it? my first power outage experience.. on my driving test. haha. c'est la vie, c'est la vie.

texas hold'em

i was playing texas hold'em online, with virtual money not real ones so while i gain experience on mechanics, it's a bit harder to gain experience on the real thing - the psychology. i did learn a few lessons though.

one: patience does pay off. i held my hands and went to town when i had good ones. i not only outlasted a few of the stars but for a few brief moments, was the chip leader.

two: patience and fortitude does not beat skill. there was a player on my table who from a few observations, i could tell was a better player than i was. his cash reserves fluctuated far more than mine did but he rose much faster as well. it seemed like he had a lot of good hands but i felt it was also because he was better at bluffing and calling bluffs. myself, as of now, i can tell roughly if a player is reckless or conservative but not much beyond that.

three: emotions really do play a part and must be controlled. while playing online leaves things impersonal for most part, you could still feel the emotions. when i became chip leader over a few others in a dramatic fashion (i lured them in), i knew that for at least the next few turns, they'd be trying to take me out anyway they can.. even if their hands aren't so good. knowing this, i managed to make a profit. haha. of course, later on, my streak ended when i hardheadedly went all-in even though the chance of winning wasn't that great -- my judgement was still clouded by the fact that i almost.. almost took him out (i was 1 card from taking him out when the river card gave him a double. doh!) and that the failure let him double up on me.

four: know when to stop. i was playing it with the mindframe of a poker tournament player and wanted to practice my head-to-head skills. but still.. reaching $6k+ from $200.. if i wasn't so heady with my winning streak, i might have decided to stop, fake money or not. i mean, imagine what the feeling would be like if it was *real* money. $6k just like that. would you stop? it's like the "deal or no deal" show.. if you're on a streak, would you stop? i guess this is when knowing why you went in becomes critical -- the emotions do get.. a bit strong. very dangerous especially if you're on the losing end of things.

anyhow, that was a lot of words. i'm curious about mahjong as well but as it is, texas hold'em poker seems pretty cool. espn and other sports channels cover poker tournaments and its just so cool watching them go at it.

i suppose this is the part where i make a disclaimer: i'm ok with responsbile gambling since i think it gives things a bit of flavour BUT i'm hesitant about institutionalized gambling. on one hand, i think it's unfair to deprive everyone of something because of some people.. on the other hand, that some people seem to be a fairly large percentage (yes, yes, impressions are not equal to facts and statistics) and the effect on their lives and the lives of others.. really, i don't know. as for actually banning gambling.. that has enough qualifications for a post of it's own. haha.

GMAT

yay! i took my GMAT today, the remaining deciding factor for my MBA application.. and i scored my dream score. exactly. i got 42 for Verbal, 49 for Quantitative, with a final score of 750! that's 98th percentile! i just have to thank God. i don't know what else to say. my studies had a two-week hiatus and last night, i scored 730 on the practice test. didn't sleep well, cough getting worse.. and a better score.

Thank You God.

i happy.

speed

i finally went on the freeway today, going about 60-65mph (96-105kph), and i learned something. you get used to the speed. at first, my body was telling me, hey, fast, fast. then, things normalized. all of which is pretty run of the mill.

it was when i got *off* the freeway that i noticed that i had adjusted to the freeway speed. i used to be able to tell when i was going about 35-40mph (56-64kph) but after the freeway, until the instructor told me to slow down, i didn't notice i had been accelerating up to 45mph already. ooh.. come to think of it though, i went through this cycle when i moved out of the residential districts (25mph / 40kph) to the highways (35-40 mph). had to adjust then as well.

ah well. "It's not the speed that kills. It's the sudden stop." hehe. applies to much of our lives i would think.

much ado about nothing

just watched a play, adapted from Shakespeare into a more contemporary setting, 19th century California. pretty interesting stuff. the director was Tony Plana, from Ugly Betty (i don't watch). there was singing, dancing, and all the lovely stuff about theatre. and of the Shakespeare i've read, i've like Much Ado About Nothing the best.. mostly because it's silly and the only non-tragedy. heh. where else do you get quotes like:

If it prove so, then loving goes by haps:
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.

haha, lovely. anyway, it was by the East LA Classic Theatre, with quite the social bent, encouraging kids to pursue their dreams, the importance of education. the company seems to be quite the stepping stone for young (and old) actors to get their career started. earn their membership to the Actor's Equity Association, get contracts and agents, then from there to the Screen Actors Guild and so on. a pretty good night all in all.