Great night for darts. Took down Gecko’s 13-6. As for me, went 6-0 with some six marks, five marks, tons+, and a 3bc. Maybe my slump is over…

Sorry, wrong hat.

Oh well, just thought it was time for a quick update on my so called life. Just finished a somewhat stressful week at work. I have been temporarily promoted to the Deputy Director position while the incumbent continues his battle with cancer. No big deal really, I’ve been basically performing the duties for the past several months. Now I’ll just make a tad more money for the effort.

One of my star employees has interviewed for a job in the States. I’m pretty much f’ed if she takes it as she is heading up the transition to the new National Security Personnel System, which is a ton of work and she has been doing an outstanding job with all the details required for our November implementation. I’ve been pushing her as hard as I dare to stay, but I think she will go if the offer is made. Well, no point in worrying about it overmuch, life goes on.

I was also recently “awarded” my first medal from the Army. Yes, folks, I am the proud recipient of the Korean Civilian Service Medal. What did I do to earn this honor you ask? Why, I completed two years of service here in the land of the morning calm. Which I guess makes it kinda akin to a Special Olympics participant award, but you know I still thought it was pretty cool. I guess I’m just easily pleased these days.

Lately I find myself dreaming of the Philippines. I’ve been checking out some expat websites and it is pretty amazing how well you can live there for just a small amount of money. I’m talking about having a nice house, live in maid, and livin’ large for two grand a month. And there are some real beautiful places, whether you like the beach or the mountains. It’s a freakin’ tropical paradise. Yeah, I need to go there and check it out on the ground. The poverty that surrounds you would take some getting use to for one thing. Still, nowhere is perfect and all things being equal I think I could adapt to living like a king in my golden years. Here’s one of the houses I kinda liked:

This is in a new subdivision in Tagaypay, a couple of hours north of Manila. It is actually pretty expensive for the Philippines at 6 million pesos, or about $122,000 US. I’ve seen better deals out there, but I’ve always fancied the idea of living in a log house. And this house would cost three times that in the USA. Well, who knows what the future holds. You gotta take each day one at a time and not get caught up living in the future (or the past for that matter). But it is also prudent to plan ahead. Watching my boss fight his battle with cancer and seeing people my age dying unexpectedly is pretty good motivation for thinking about what is really important in life. For me, it sure as hell isn’t work. I’m thinking January 2, 2011 is when I’m going to check out from the rat race. Here’s hoping I live that long.

I finally had some coworkers, including my Director, over for a dinner party last weekend. It went pretty well I suppose, although I’m not much for being a host. Lots of pressure to have everything turn out right. My boss finally told me to relax and enjoy myself. So, I had some more beer and things did turn out ok. Afterwards we all headed over to Grand Ol’ Opry for some good old fashion country music. We got a kick out of watching the Koreans doing the line dances and Texas two-step. Most of them are damn good and certainly much better at American-style dancing than I am. And of course at midnight we all stood up and sang “Proud to be an American” and “The Star Spangled Banner” which is the tradition at the Opry. A good night all in all.

What else? Well, I have hired a Korean tutor. My self-study program had kinda hit a wall, owing mostly to my lack of motivation and my tendency to be easily distracted (i.e. I find practicing darts more pleasurable than practicing Korean). Anyway, my tutor is the sister of a friend and I’m hoping my ego (read: fear of appearing stupid) will help me get my ass in gear and actually study. Plus, I am paying for these lessons so maybe the desire to get my money’s worth will also provide some incentive. I’ve also agreed to give her one hour a week of English tutoring (for free). I’m kinda looking forward to seeing if I’m any good at that sorta thing. I’m going to the bookstore later today to find an appropriate textbook to use.

And finally, let’s talk darts. I’m off to a slow start so far this season. I’ve managed to go 8-4 through the first two weeks, but my game is definitely off. I’m not getting much in the way of marks, and every leg is a struggle. Surprisingly, my wins are coming mostly in ’01 although I still believe cricket is my best game. I’ve been working hard in practice at hitting more triples, and that paid off last night in the Dolce tourney as I won the singles and finished second in doubles. Maybe I’m breaking out of my slump, we’ll see what happens Monday night.

And there you have it. The latest and greatest from yours truly.

Well, the first game of the summer/fall dart season commenced Monday night. We drew our nemesis and rival Alley Ratz from the 3 Alley Pub. Last time we met was in the league championship game, which we narrowly lost 10-9. Nothing nearly as dramatic this time as we were beaten rather handily 12-7.

It seems I always draw Max of the Ratz in singles–Monday was our third straight regular season matchup. Last season we traded 2-1 outcomes. He got me this time 2-1, although if I hadn’t been so inept in the third cricket leg I might have reversed that. I can’t afford to be off my game like that if Take it Easy is going to be competitive in the Artic Division (basically high B or low A calibre teams). Cuatro and I did take cricket doubles 3-0, but it was meaningless at that point as the match had already been decided.

The bright notes were Lonnie’s continued improvement. He played well against Eric who in the past would have dominated him. I’m looking for big things from Lonnie this season, he just needs to keep his confidence and improve his consistency. We also got our team jersey’s, although they arrived too late to be worn during the match. Lonnie did the graphic design, which is pretty damn cool–the Korean peninsula as the outline of a dart board. I will try to get a picture of the team in uniform next week.

Another tough matchup coming against the Wolfhound Pub team. Stay tuned.

Getting back into the routine of my life here, including the Friday night tourney at Dolce Vita.

The three week layoff has left me feeling a little uncomfortable with my throwing. I’m still getting decent results, but I just can’t seem to find my rhythm. Plus, I had some equipment trouble and had to replace my shafts with some that are a tad heavier. My darts seem to be highly sensitive to any aerodynamic alterations, and last night I was getting a lot of fallouts/bounceouts and a general lack of zip in my throws.

Regardless, Lonnie and I managed to finish second in the Early Bird tourney, and Dave and I took first place in the Die Hard event. Didn’t place in the Prime Time tournament, but my partner Margaret and I gave it a good run. So, coupled with my 100,000W payout from the challenge league championship I came home with more money in my pocket than I started with, which is good because I am definitely broke after my vacation.

Monday night the regular Seoul International Dart League season begins. We open with Alley Ratz from 3 Alley Pub, the team that beat us in the championship game last season. They look to be even stronger this year, so we have got our work cut out for us. Still, nobody has more fun than we do and I am really looking forward to getting back into the competition.

And that’s all I have to say about that.