Zorbas.

I've been meaning to write this for a couple of days now...what happened at Zorbas really hit me pretty hard last week.

For those that don't know, a fire started in the apartment above Zorbas last week, and destroyed the top floors of the building that houses the restaurant, along with Zas and Pitaya on the first floor. Zorbas itself didn't burn down, neither did the other two businesses. But it was such a massive blaze that the water damage and smoke damage was extensive.

Last night, Matt Mortenson, the owner, and my boss for four years while I worked there, posted some pictures of the damage. It was hard to look at. Again, no actual fire damage, but the memorabilia on the wall....the floors....the walls...all just really in pretty bad shape.

I actually went over the day of the fire. If you follow me on twitter or facebook, I posted two pictures. It's hard to explain. Those four years, I met some of my closest friends, people I still get to talk to and hear from. It was amazing how many of them I reconnected with on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

A lot of people have offered Matt their support, although none of us can really do anything. He said during an interview with our morning show that he was staying positive, and was still cracking jokes.

And that's my lasting memory of Matt. Continuous positivity. He suffered through some very difficult times while I worked there, as he took over the business from the previous, longtime owner. Yet he stayed positive, focused on what he could control, and remembered that his family was his #1 priority at all times, and the business a close second.

The other thing I will always appreciate about Matt was his willingness to engage in a marketplace of ideas. Matt is a religious man, and his faith tends to make him lean in a more conservative direction. Yet many of his employees tended to be much more on the liberal side. As a result, we would have these very serious discussions about things ranging from abortion, to presidential politics, to financial matters, all while slinging gyros. And he encouraged it, and participated. It meant a lot to a lot of people. I hope he understands how many people were affected by the way he treated us as employees over the years.

That's all for now.

I think I'm close to running...

So close. I did another great rehab workout on Monday, and I've been slowly, SLOWLY increasing the amount of weight during some of the exercises, and the pain has not come back. Now, the muscle is just sometimes tired, which is to be expected. So are many of the other leg muscles, because they haven't been used in that way in 7 months.

It feels great.

Tomorrow, it's going to be 58 degrees outside. I'm thinking of at least going for a nice walk, and seeing what happens.

Well....at least I've been tweeting a lot more than I used to.

So that's good. Follow me! @mikecation.

As for Tulsa...I will go if the station approves the approximately $200 it will cost to drive out there in terms of gas. I'll have room and board with the Stacklers, and would love to have the opportunity to go, no matter whether Illinois loses first round or not. The NCAA tournament is just so much fun.

That's all.

I think Holly asked for my poker blog address...it is now on the right side of the links over there!

So, I now have a poker only blog:

If you want to read more of my blog updates, I'll try to keep the minor things over there. Bigger things, here.

Quick poker blog:

I barely played this month. That being said, I had my best month since October. I ran hot, sure, but also played very smart when I actually had hands. So I can't be upset. I'm up about 12 bucks for the month. Not much, I know, but considering the horrible November-January I had, to be profitable is good. My overall bankroll is at $233. That's awesome. A year ago, I had less than half that. I'm proud of my development.

I've also got some goals to shoot for from now until September:
-Watch 1 video per week. It's a must.
-Once I hit the second week in May, every Tuesday, I'm going to get home early from work, take a nap, and play the big Tuesday day tournaments. I want to do it every single Tuesday. That would be a huge thing for me.
-Once we hit that time frame, I want to spend one day of each weekend playing for 4 hours. I want to put myself to the test, and really grind, and increase my brain's ability to process the information. So that's the way to do it.

OK. Bankroll at 233. Only 767 left to become a thousandaire.

One of the biggest disappointments that I'll ever have:

That my singing of the national anthem last Thursday at the Illini Wrestling match was not filmed in any way, shape, or form.

OK, so in case you didn't hear, yes, I sang the anthem last Thursday. To summarize, as I was reading off the senior day intros and stuff, Tim, the Event Management person, started to freak out because his music computer broke. At the same time, James Big Poppa Morton, Tim's boss, went looking for the backup national anthem CD, but it was nowhere to be found. At this point, both of them were a bit in panic mode, which put me in panic mode. James tried to tell me that maybe if I just got everybody started, it would be OK.

Well, I decided that if I got things started, I would just have to do it.

So I did.

It wasn't the greatest thing in the world, and I definitely wavered a bit, but I think it was close to being on pitch, and I remembered all the words. Now that I look back on it a week later, I'm actually very proud of myself. I was extremely nervous, but didn't freak out, and just blasted through it. And I'll always have a great story to tell.

Other notes: I've been ridiculously busy, and haven't played a lot of poker. That's not good.
I got an iphone 3. $50. Nice. Switched over to AT&T in the process, which is fine. I liked t-mobile, but not enough to have brand loyalty or anything.

I'm trying to tweet more. If you are so inclined, feel free to follow me!

Please note:

The list of meats used in the Grilling of the Meats to the side. They were all spectacular. I don't even know who made the porkbellies, but holy crap was it delicious.

My car managed to break again. Something snapped on the undercarriage (which I like to say too much...undercarriage), and is currently dragging on the ground while I drive. Haven't had time to fix it quite yet, however.

I'm thinking strongly about my next tattoo...a block I and a microphone. I don't know if I want to get it now, or when I'm done announcing.

My new intern starts this morning. I'm excited to have a little bit of intern help, but it should be a good amount of training to get her up to speed.

Mike

Day after the Blizzard

I like Lil Wayne.

I wish he performed fewer songs, so he'd concentrate more in each individual song.

A couple of other random thoughts

2 hospital trips within one month. That's pretty crazy, huh? I can honestly say that might be the first time that's happened in my life, maybe since I was a toddler. Other than a follow up type of a thing. So....there's always a first. Let's hope it's the last, at least for a while...after tomorrow's appointment.

Poker...I've battled my way back to having a positive month, so far. I'm pretty proud of that. I would really like to win more, though. I've got stuff I'd love to buy.

Netflix on the Wii...good stuff.

So, I missed the Ben Folds concert last night. That flipping stinks. I can't tell you how disappointed I am. Not many opportunities to see your favorite artist, but then I have to go home and sleep since I've lost sleep, blood, patience...you name it.

Got some Gator for Grilling of the Meats XII, which is coming up in approximately 10 days. Julia had better get going on that one.

I had something I wanted opinions on when I started this. I've lost it.

So, I spent the entire day Tuesday in the ER.

That wasn't the most fun that I've ever had.

Among the firsts for me:
CTScan
Ultrasound (that wasn't administered by my spectacular trainer, Amber "Beef" Nagele)
IV
Having multiple women look at my junk at the same time.

Needless to say, I'm OK this morning. Some internal abdominal stuff, but nothing serious, and the pain has reduced immensely. But thank you to Julia for taking the day off work and keeping me company, and to both of my parents for offering to leave where they were and come at a moment's notice.