HARD TO COMPLAIN...BUT

I have found in life that the way you feel and react to things are all about perspective. Here is what I mean..

I have been in Florida and the Bahamas for 2 weeks. I believe everyone,if they can, should honor spring break. Now some of you will say, "Jack,spring break is for kids" I say that if we all acted more like children sometimes, the world would be a happier place. Who wouldn't enjoy a "mandatory nap time each day." I think everyone wins with a forced nap.  Most would only see the positive to having 2 weeks to relax and hit over 69% of my hoops selections in the process. All good,right?

WRONG!  I am sitting in the Atlanta airport writing this entry. I dont want to be in the Atlanta airport, in fact I dont particularly like Atlanta. But I am here and have been running around this airport since 8am est. Here is how my day went.

My sons basketball team made the finals and the league they are in decided to wait until after spring break to play the last game so I cut my spring break a day short so my kid can enjoy a championship game that ,by the way, I feel very confident they are going to lose. Me, being the "giver" in the family paid 600.00/ticket to get a one way flight from Nassau to OKC to get home on Monday. ok, back to my day..

I woke up in Nassau at 4:45 AM est. After standing in line for over an hour, I get to the ticket guy and he tells me the agent booked the flight for tomorrow, not today.This is not good news @ 6am. I gt on the phone, start yelling,fake crying and basically roll on the ground until they get me on the booked flight bound for the ATL. We get to Atlanta around 9am and dont have seats on the 11am flight for OKC. We stand by. LOSER. THey tell me we are going on the 3pm flight. After a delay and another oversold flight,God intervenes and gets 3 seats on that flight. Guess who isnt going on the 3pm flight.

I then standby for the 6pm flight. Although I was 1st on the standby for the 3pm flight. I have been lowered to 10th for the 6pm.  guess they think they did me a favor by getting my family on the flight. To make matters worse, some of the guys that were lower than me on the earlier flight have jumped me in the stand by order. Didnt matter, I didnt make that flight either. It is now 7:30pm and I am standing by on the 9:20 pm to Tulsa. Yes, Tulsa. The plan,if Im lucky, is to get into Tulsa around 10:30 tonight,rent a car and drive to OKC.  By the way, the fact that my font has changed during this email and I dont have any freakin idea why or how to get it back is iceing on my s@$ * cake!!!

Dont know where my luggage is and am missing the hoops game I paid 3k to get back and see.

I guess it is all how you look @ it. I guess I should be thankful my colon didnt explode!  Get well soon, Jim.

EASTER IN THE BAHAMAS

I will tell you that writing on this blog is kind of like having a dog. They are great when you play with them but you start to feel guilty if you leave them in the backyard and neglect them. I have been a bad owner. I promise to keep the entries more current when I get back home. The good news is we are going to start adding pictures to the blog which should be fun.

Things are going GREAT! I am hitting around 70% of my hoops selections this month and my clients and I are making a lot of money. The Bahamas are good. Like usual, there are good and bad things about Nassau. They have the best water park I have ever seen and the weather is great but some of the rules make the people here look stupid. I will talk more about that later but I will tell you my children and I staged a beach human chain protest that didnt go over well. Lister to The Fat JAck Sports Hour next weekend for that story.  I really am feeling close to my children and wife and I do think that has something to do with my winning success in the hoops. I seem to be better at my job when everything else is going good.

HAPPY EASTER. I dont normally get really religious but Easter is a pretty big day for us Christians. In fact it is the most important day if you are a Christian. Think about it, if Jesus didnt rise from the grave then he is just a great man that did great things. The fact he died for our sins and (like Mohammad Ali) predicted the future and said he would be rising from the dead makes him the Mack Daddy he is. The greatest prediction ever! Better than Joe Namath,better than any of Ali s predictions.Easter is the day that put Jesus on the map! Celebrate the best pick ever and if you dont know about the history of Easter, take this weekend to learn more. It is a BIG DEAL! 

I will be home Monday and more then.

DADDY TRIP BUT TORN

It is Wednesday and I am Orlando. No, I am not playing in Arnold Palmer's tournament although most of the players are @ our hotel. I have seen over 20 players in the tournament. I haven't seen John Daly but I am here with my 5 year old daughter and I don't drink so I don't think we are hanging in the same areas.  Every year I take each of my children on a "daddy trip". This is a time for each of my children and I to truly spend some quality time together. When we are at home or on family vacations it is all about the "group".On a daddy trip it is all about that child. You will really get to know your child when they are the only one to talk to. I highly recommend every parent that has children under 15 to start this tradition. You don't have to go to Orlando. You can go camping or simply to a hotel in another town. You will learn  A LOT about your child and your child will learn that you are more than a "bread winner" or a parent, and that you are someone they can truly look at as a friend and a person that wants the best for them. Remember, your kid is only 5 years old once, do something to help make that time special for you and them.

I am torn because I had to miss my sons playoff basketball game. We played Bob Stoops sons team tonight. I got updates throughout the game but apparently the officials were star struck and kept calling fouls on my baby!  I know this official, he looks like the  barbers in the movie Coming To America. I am not a fan but I understand they don't make much money and don't deserve to be yelled at so my family is on a strict "no yelling at the officials" policy.(no matter how bad it is)  We won 14-13. Jackson had 8 points and 4 fouls. I am sorry I missed it. Next up Brent Venables ( Oklahoma Defense Coach) kids team.This team is from the same school as our team and all of the kids know each other. I don't think the official is a fan of defense so it should be a good game.lol

 

BORN IN THE USA

 I am back from Mexico with some final thoughts about our neighbors to the south.

1. It is a country of contrasts. Some of the nicest and hard working people I have seen all year AND some of the biggest liar's and thieves I have seen outside of Vegas.

2. Some of the nicest resorts(and I have seen some nice ones) AND some of the poorest areas I have ever seen. 

I will go back to Mexico but I sure am glad I am from the United States.

Last week was a great example of why I am able to make money selling and betting on sports picks. I didn't work all week, just laid on the beach. I bet 5k on each of my selections and after a win with Cal Santa Barbara on Thursday won 9,000.00 from Monday thru Friday. I have clients that bet anywhere between 25.00/game and 10k/game but 4 out of every 5 weeks this season they have put money in their pocket after betting on the selections.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. FAT JACK I LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD WEEK!!!

Next up... The Caytie and Daddy trip.  I leave next Tuesday for Orlando for a special and interesting 4 days with my 5 year old daughter. I will tell you more on Monday. Have a great weekend.

DAY 2-TACOS,NACHOS AND A GOOD OLD MEXICAN SHAKEDOWN

Still in Mexico and things are going ok.The one thing that really stands out when you go to a resort is the amount of ugly people in the world.  It seems that lots of countries love speedos. Lots of  big women love bikinis. I am all for people being comfortable but sometimes people need to cover some of their junk up.

We rented a car to go into town and shop a little. About 15 min into the trip I saw the Mexican police closing in behind me with the lights on. I move over to the side of the road and to my surprise the police pulls up behind me. I asked in as broken English as I could speak " is problem sir?" "see senior" he responds ,sounding a bit like Speedy Gonzalez. " you were using your cell phone while driving."  I said "see senior, I can also chew gum and walk at the same time."  He says " that is a 60.00 ticket. I will take your drivers license and turn it into the police station. You can go there and pick it up and pay the ticket."  I said " is there any way I can just pay it now?" He replies  "see senior, you can pay it now but I dont have my receipt book to give you."   I reached in my pocket and pulled out 45.00 and said "will 45.00 do?"  "OK" he replied and gave me my license back.  My wife was appalled with what had just happened and the shopping trip was over.

Mexicans 2 cheatings for +65.00 and  Fat Jack 2-1 for a net profit of 4500.00 in the sports books. Virginia+5 and   Miami,Fl -8 tonight. They are going to have to think of something better if they want my money!!

 

FEELING BETTER AND WORKING SMART

I am in Cancun today. Things are warm and sunny and I am in a better frame of mind. This is important if you you are one of those people that wants me to pick winners.It is a scientific fact that  it is hard to pick winners when you are cold.

I have never been a big fan of Mexico. I am trying to like it but some of the people here make it hard. I am not a cheap person but I dont like to feel like I am being "taken".  I told myself I was going to try and not be sensitive to that and understand it is part of the culture for them to try and extract as much money from me as they can while I am here. That plan worked until we stepped off the plane. Our bags were lost ( which is fine) that gives me the chance to buy a speedo and blame it on Continental Airlines when people don't like it. We then went to get a taxi. I asked the people inside "how much to get to the Excellence Playa Mujeres?"  A guy named Pablo said 62.00. "That sounds good,I responded."  Pablo said "go outside and see one of the girls for a cab"  I went outside to the girls and said we need a cab to Excellence Playa Mujeres. The girl said "no problem, that will be 84.00."  I begin to ask how I lost 22.00 during the walk outside and she suddenly forgot how to speak English!  I dont care if it is 64.00,82.00 or 282.00. I am in Mexico and dont want any trouble so I will pay what they say but they need a different plan because I shouldn't have to feel like I am being screwed on the cab ride.

The joke is on them because they now have sports books in some of the hotels. Yes, sports books. I went to the Moon Palace yesterday and bet 5k on both of my selections, Virginia+5 and San Diego -20 1/2. BOTH WINNERS !! So I gave some to the Mexican Cab driver and too a lot from the Mexican sports book. Ohio-4 tonight for 5k. THey can work hard at cheating me and I am going to work smart and pay for the trip. Have a good day and I will check in tomorrow.

FEELING BETTER AND WORKING SMART

I am in Cancun today. Things are warm and sunny and I am in a better frame of mind. This is important if you you are one of those people that wants me to pick winners.It is a scientific fact that  it is hard to pick winners when you are cold.

I have never been a big fan of Mexico. I am trying to like it but some of the people here make it hard. I am not a cheap person but I dont like to feel like I am being "taken".  I told myself I was going to try and not be sensitive to that and understand it is part of the culture for them to try and extract as much money from me as they can while I am here. That plan worked until we stepped off the plane. Our bags were lost ( which is fine) that gives me the chance to buy a speedo and blame it on Continental Airlines when people don't like it. We then went to get a taxi. I asked the people inside "how much to get to the Excellence Playa Mujeres?"  A guy named Pablo said 62.00. "That sounds good,I responded."  Pablo said "go outside and see one of the girls for a cab"  I went outside to the girls and said we need a cab to Excellence Playa Mujeres. The girl said "no problem, that will be 84.00."  I begin to ask how I lost 22.00 during the walk outside and she suddenly forgot how to speak English!  I dont care if it is 64.00,82.00 or 282.00. I am in Mexico and dont want any trouble so I will pay what they say but they need a different plan because I shouldn't have to feel like I am being screwed on the cab ride.

The joke is on them because they now have sports books in some of the hotels. Yes, sports books. I went to the Moon Palace yesterday and bet 5k on both of my selections, Virginia+5 and San Diego -20 1/2. BOTH WINNERS !! So I gave some to the Mexican Cab driver and too a lot from the Mexican sports book. Ohio-4 tonight for 5k. THey can work hard at cheating me and I am going to work smart and pay for the trip. Have a good day and I will check in tomorrow.

IVE HAD ENOUGH

   It is March 3rd and it is thinking about snowing today. Not the good snow but the 40 mph wind,cold cutting thru your clothes,ball shrinking cold snow.  I have had enough. It is time to shut down my engines and get it back to neutral.

 I am leaving for Mexico @ noon today. I will post an entry  from Cancun with more insightful and hopefully entertaining news.