Billiards And Trucking = B.A.T.

2026-02-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

To TikTok or Not to TikTok?

That was and still is the question!

I have heard so much about TikTok over the past couple of years with the USA talking about banning it because China was spying on all of us and trying to destroy America through it and then it was mostly about the money and how much it is worth and who is making money on TikTok and who is benefitting the most etc., etc., etc.

I finally bit the bullet in July of 2025 and downloaded the app onto my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and started surfing and scrolling allong with my brother-in-law and grandson as they seemed to be the ones I noticed most. I have to admit, it took me a while to see what the big deal was and why it can be so addictive to just stare at a cell phone screen for a period of time that seems to draw you into the cyber world and slowly the real world starts to fade away. I started to wonder about the idea of making money on TikTok and being the conservative capitalist that I am, that is where my mind went. I never claimed to be normal and as such, the normal additive nature of TikTok did nothing for me but the idea of making money was a thought that I could get on board with. I started posting and studying the system and the more I study, the more I got convinced that it was something that I should be able to do.

Here it is now a little more that 6 months later and I am committed to making this thing work if I can and I made my first sell and even earned a little over $2.00. I have not actually seen that money yet and don't even know how or when or if I will but the simple fact that my video prompted someone to purchase from TikTok and as a result I am entitled now to commission as a result makes me want to get deeper involved and see how far I can go with this thing.

My Niche is Pool and Positive Mental Attitude!

I am trying to follow the advice of the successful voices on TikTok and of course there are many of those and it is anyone's guess who has the solution that may work for me but I am an intelligent and well read senior citizen with lots of time on my hands to spend figuring it all out. I have narrowed down my niche to pool and positive mental attitude studies and I am also learning to play the Alto Saxophone so that must me a sub-niche and now let's see where I can go from here.

From the BMW528i to a Chevy to a Caddy to a Buick Regal to a Toyota Camry SE Hybrid

2025-03-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have had lots of different cars in my lifetime, but I somehow wound up driving a 2021 Toyota Camry SE Hybrid, and I absolutely love it. I can remember over the years loving a couple of cars that I had. I still miss the 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix and I guess that was my favorite out of the bunch, but this Camry is a dream to drive, and it rides really nice, and it is absolutely carefree too! It is hard to find any fault with that sort of thing, so I have to say I am very happy with it.

I bought this off the lot at Toyota of Thousand Oaks, CA, and it had 13,000 miles on it, so it was almost brand new. I got the balance of the new car warranty, plus I purchased the additional 100% maintenance and care package to cover everything. I wasn't sure at the time about that, but it turned out to be a really quality deal, and I have spent almost nothing on the upkeep since driving it home that day.

Here is a look at the transitions between that BMW and this Toyota.

2011 Buick Regal purchased used from CarMax in Camarillo, CA.

1994 Cadilac Coupe De Ville purchased used from Ward White in Simi Valley, CA.

2003 Chevrolet Malibu purchased used from Sean Lane in Westlake, CA.

Trying to get up to date on using and benefitting from Adsense

2024-10-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

This morning, I received an email from Google saying my "Adsense Inbox notifications will be deprecated soon". I thought to myself, "What the hell does that mean?" So down that rabbit hole I go and here I am on my blog site thinking it through as I write.

I went into my settings for Blogger, enabled the Custom Ads.txt file, and copied and pasted the text from the help page instructions. Now I just wait for Google to review my site and see what happens next.

73 and turning 74 this October 6th 2024 - Still in Trucking and still playing pool.

2024-08-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

It is Saturday afternoon and this is my first blog post in years! A friend and I were talking on the phone the other day and the subject came up on developing a good pool game. I remembered and conveyed to her that I used to write a blog and that I had written a piece about becoming a skill level 9 in the APA and what I thought it required. She asked me to share a link to that article with her. I actually found it without too much difficulty and sent her a link right away. I then started looking at those posts and realized that I no longer knew how to sign in to my Blogger.com account so I was off on that quest today. I finally figured it out a few moments ago with the help of a Google search. I can not imagine what people did (including me) before we had personal computers and Google.

So here I sit on Sunday afternoon after letting the above paragraph simmer in my sub-conscience for about 24 hours and I still am at a loss as to what I want to say in this post. I have been dreaming a lot lately or maybe I should say I have been waking up and wondering what that hell that dream was all about. I started trying to record my remembrance of those dreams a little while ago and I have now recorded about half a dozen or so. I am still nowhere near understanding what they mean, so I started listening to YouTube videos about the meanings of dreams. So far, it is still as clear as mud, but I have learned things about dreams that I never knew before. I am starting to wonder it that may be the purpose of the dreams in that it has made me look into the meaning of dreams and what they are understood to be. Time will tell and I will keep recording what I can remember about them and see where it leads me.

2018-07-26T09:40:00.003-07:00

Looks like I will have this table this weekend. Acme 9' Pool Table from the 60's, 70's or 80's
If you have any knowledge of the Acme brand, I would love to hear from you.
I am trying to decide if I want to keep it for myself or sell it.

2014 - The morning after Christmas

2015-01-06T12:09:00.001-08:00

Today is Friday, December 26, 2014, the day after Christmas and just another day to work, live, think about yesterday and tomorrow, to give thanks for all the blessings received throughout the year and to take stock of what we have to look forward to in the year of 2015 which is just around the corner and only a week away.

I turned 64 this year and while I always find it hard to believe that I am this age I have to face the reality that the year 2015 will bring my 65th birthday and I will be that dreaded age of 65 and eligible to file for Medicare.... YIKS!.... is that even possible? What ever! Just like it says in a couple of my favorite songs from then and now; Charlie Rich sang in 1974 "I just keep on rolling with the flow" and in 2014, Caged Elephant sang "There ain't no rest for the wicked".

2014 has been a pretty boring year in all but not without highlights. Eddie and I have managed to make the mortgage payment just barely each month and some how we have managed to pay the other bills as they come and go. Big Rigs Inc. has settled in as an independent agent of Landstar Ranger and secured a good working relationship with several regular customers. Matson has been a life saver and Southwest Mobile Storage has maintained a close second. We see work from MSC intermittently and in just the past couple of weeks we have made inroads with Hapag Lloyd now too. Slowly but surely we keep expanding that customer base back to where it used to be, which can do nothing but help in the long run in our quest for a stable income source. So far, we have just barely been surviving but we have been surviving and that is the most important milestone at this point. The economy seems to be slowly improving and if that trend continues we stand to have a thriving business by the end of the coming year of 2015.

2014 saw the Hardinger Family move forward on several fronts with Blu, Jackie, TJ, Roger and Mikey all moving from Chicago to Simi Valley, California. They literally live within walking distance from Eddie and me and only a 20 minute drive from Samantha, Elio and Riley who by the way closed on a new home in Agoura Hills, California this year too! That amazing change has brought my family together in a way that was only a dream a year ago. We all got to spend Christmas Eve together at Blu and Jackie's house and it was a first for us all. Hopefully it was ONLY the first of many holidays that we will be together from now on.

Another high point of the year 2014 has been in pool where I have managed a few new experiences. In March I played 8 ball in the APA regional qualifier for nationals and while I did not win, I did managed to do very well and got to the semi-finals in Bakersfield where I lost in the round just before the finals. Then I attended the Mezz Western 9 Ball Tournament with Rich Hodge and there I played good but nowhere near the caliber necessary to say I was competitive with that group. I did not win a single rack in the two matches of "Race to 7". That means I lost 14 straight racks and two matches with scores of 7 to 0! You may be wondering, ":How the hell can that be considered playing good?" and I am here to tell you I played good but the other guys played better and they deserved to win and I did not. It was just that simple. On just about any other day I believe I could have won either one of those matches and I will try again the first chance I get. I totally loved that experience, even though I lost every rack! The last but not least worthy mention is that I qualified for the APA 9 Ball Singles Shoot Out which is really the regional singles qualifier for the APA Nationals. Going into that as an APA Skill Level 7 in 9 Ball I hope to be competitive and who knows, I might even qualify for nationals this time around. I have almost 3 months to prepare and that is something to look forward too.

In team pool we did great in the APA 8 ball format and our Sunday Double Jeopardy 8 Ball team came in 2nd place then proceeded to win the play offs and capture the Division Championship. That also qualified us for the next Tournament of Champions. Out of the blue I received notification from the APA Regional office that I am now invited to the MVP Tournament after all and even though I came in second behind Jerry Lin. It seems that because my record was good enough to hold up into the top 10 of our region it is sort of a consolation prize. My pursuit of the coveted Skill Level "7" continues.
Our BCA 9 ball team did not fair so well but we individually had some successes and we all enjoyed the competition through out the year. Finally the Kamikaze Kats were successful all the way to the end of the season and had a chance at the play offs but came up short on the very last night of the season when we failed to defeat the one team we needed to in order to advance. As a consolation though we have laid plans for next season by moving Miriam up to Captain and me down to co-captain. We lost Marisa and Jack but then gained Mary King and Eddie and shifted the team to the Tuesday Night T.O. Division 023 so we will have a whole new experience next season playing different teams in different locations with a new roster. All positive stuff to look forward too!

From a Lexus RX400h to a BMW 528i

2012-05-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

I have driven a Lexus RX for a long long time. 1st it was a 2000 RX300, bought slightly used in 2003 with 30,000+ miles on it. Next was 2007 RX400h bought brand new off the show room floor in December of 2006 while I waited for the RX300 to be service. I loved those vehicles even though I originally bought a Lexus to please my late wife Carol. It was her idea and I believe for her, it was more about the color & status symbolism than anything else. Regardless of her reasons at that time, the decision to go from a Honda Accord to a Lexus RX was never regretted. Time has passed and Carol went to her, well earned, eternal reward in January of 2010. I moved to Chicago for a year and half for work and also in my attempt to adjust to all the changes in life and then I moved back to Simi Valley in January of 2012. My RX400h was spending a lot of time parked in the driveway and since I really needed to free up some cash, I sold it just last week! It actually sold a lot quicker than I expected so I had to scramble to get another set of wheels fast. After two full days of researching the web and going all bug eyed on Craigslist, EBay, AutoTrader, Pennysaver, ConsumersDigest, and Google too I finally zeroed in on a BMW 528i that seemed to be priced right, it was local, the owner was responsive to my inquiries and I generally liked the looks and reputation of the vehicle. I made and appointment to test drive the car that day. It took all of about 30 minutes to strike a deal with the seller and I agreed to come back at the close of the business day to pay for and pickup the car.

I immediately became a BMW owner and enthusiast! Over the years of my driving just about everything, cars, trucks and motorcycles, I have owned Ford's, Chevrolet's, Buick's, Pontiac's, Mercury's, Dodge's an MGB, Honda's, Toyota's, a Chrysler, Volkswagen's, an Oldsmobile, but this was my 1st BMW! The next day I took it for a smog test. This is something I should have been concerned about before buying the car but like most used car buyer I was an absolute dummy and did NOT think of it until it became time to transfer the title. Back to the web to find a local smog test station that would not take advantage of an idiot like me. I call Brad at BJ's Auto in Simi and he was straight forward and likable on the phone so I decided to trust my instinct and run the car over for him to do the smog test, which he said he could do right away. Brad was great too, he looked the car up in his computer using the VIN # and informed me that I need to take it to a "Test Only" center and nicely stated no charge for that information. I nervously took my slightly used BMW 528i on down the street to West Valley Smog #1 and they were very pleasant to deal with but I still was holding my breath and crossing my fingers while they did the necessary test. Fifteen minutes later I was informed that my BMW had passed with flying colors! I had my certificate in hand and was now ready to go for a title transfer!!!! YEA! Yesterday, I took it in to the BMW Dealer in Thousand Oaks.I figured that, because they had been servicing this car since it was new, they would know just what it needed and while it would be very expensive, it would also set my mind at ease because I would know for sure that what really needed to be done would at least be known to me. $1602.75 later, I drove it home with only one concern left, I need to replace the two rear tires and that is something that can wait a little while. It WAS EXPENSIVE but I AM HAPPY with the overall result.

Are really good pool players "Nice Guys?"

2012-04-24T09:50:00.001-07:00

Our APA 8 ball team made it to 1st place in our division last week by winning 4 of the 5 matches we played on that last night of the season. We played the 1st round of play offs against the wild card team and that got me to thinking about this subject of "Really Good Pool Players." & "Nice Guys." and are those terms mutually exclusive. I have mentioned to several people over the last couple of years that I have noticed that most really good pool players are also nice guys (or gals, from here on out the term "nice guys" can be taken to mean either sex)and that has usually sparked a round of discussions on whether or not that is true or even a fair statement. Naturally there are differing opinions and everyone who has an opinion likes nothing better than to argue the merits of that opinion so I have decided to put forth the points that I feel justify my opinion. First of all the terms "really good pool player" & "nice guy" are both a bit subjective. I am sure there are many degrees or levels within each of those terms. Some "really good pool players" are naturally better than some other "really good pool players" and some "nice guys" are nicer than other "nice guys". There is obviously lots of room for interpretation throughout the field. Here are my observations and my interpretation of those observations. Pool is a great game of skill, strategy & endurance requiring players to exercise their talent, ability, intelligence, experience, knowledge, creativity, resourcefulness, focus, concentration, competiveness, patience, aggressiveness and sometimes that all important killer instinct. Pool is very often a "one on one" sport where there is a winner and a loser. One individual player must go head to head against another individual player. In competative pool matches as in tournaments, players will be pitted against many different opponents during the course of a series of matches. He may have to compete with his best friend, some casual acquaintances, his worst nemisis and often a series of complete strangers all in the course of one tournament, if he is fortunate enough to advance to the upper levels of that tournament. It is also not uncommon for a player to have to face the same opponent more than once in the same tournament. Finally it is common for pool players to meet repeatedly in matches at different times, in different places under different formats and rules and at different levels of their own advancements within the sport. In the APA, due to the "Equalizer Handicapping System", it is fairly common for players to have to match up against a variety of skill levels, facing anything from a beginner to a near pro level player at times. That means that a pool player can not expect his matches to be pro against pro or novice against novice like it often is in some other sports. The nature of the game places opponents face to face and while there is pressure to perform each player must execute precise shots of his own choosing, in near total isolation while the opponent observes. The two players then must switch places and the observer must assume the roll of performer while the performer becomes the observer. The resulting peer pressure can sometimes be absolutely unmeasurable in either position. Players who wish to excell at the sport must play a wide variety of personallities and skill levels and must weather the rise and fall of emotions and attitudes that go along with that variety or personalities. When winning a player must do so with humility and when losing he must maintain his composure, simply stated he must be a good loser as well as a good winner. Players who openly display undesireable emotions will often find themselves opposing some almost impossible odds of winning when the opponent digs in with a stubborn determination to win in response. The better a player wants to become the more he must play, the more he plays the more he must cope with the roller coaster ride of emotions that come along with winning and losing. From my experience, these very pressures cause good players to develop the social skills necessary to get along with all sorts of people and all the time maintain an intense focus on performing under pressure. Being a good sport and respecting your opponent as a person as well as a competitor will add to rather that detract from the quality of one's game. It also allows a good player to focus on the many other aspects of the game necessary to perform at a peak level and that in turn helps the person become an all around better player and a "nice guy" at the same time.

Spring in Southern California

2012-04-03T10:56:00.002-07:00

Time goes by even if we choose to try to ignore it. It is spring time and the sun is shinning and the sky is blue and the flowers are popping out everywhere and we are coming to the end of another APA Winter Session. Our 8 ball team is very close to 1st place and may be there after the great performance by the whole team last night in taking all five matches. Our APA 9 ball team, not so much, we are securely intrenched in last place and can only hope for a wild card to get us into those play offs. Finally our BCA 9 ball team is in 4th place and struggling every week to stay there. My big contribution is the fact that I have a -2 handicap and I currently hold up the entire league with a 30% win ratio... the lowest of the league and I am on the very bottom of the roster which is where the foundation of any structure belongs, right? Every week I think I am doing better but I still have a long way to go to compete with these guys and gals. They are good pool player, for sure!

As Time Goes By - in Trucking and Billiards and Life

2012-03-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a long long time since I sat down to write in this blog. A lot of things have happend since 2009. Of course a lot of things happen every day, somewhere in the crazy old world. Where do I start to talk about all those things that I consider worth talking about? Let me begin in the present, since that is the most recent of times. When playing pool it is important to try to keep one's mind in the present. Previous shots are over and can no longer be changed. The next shot is in the future and will depend a great deal on what happens when the present shot is completed. It really only makes sense to focus on the present shot because that is the only one that matters now. The present state of mind is the one that will effect the out come of this shot. The present physical act will determine how accurately this shot is executed and as some one once said "We are what we think." and by extention we will do what we think we will do. It is now Saturday morning, I started this last night but as I was writing my mind began to wander and I had to put it off for a while. That is funny because what I was talking about, "The Present" is now the past. The future is now the present and so life goes. It is a very rainy day and it feels good to sit and watch all the dirt and grim of winter being washed away by a good hard pouring rain. Everything outside is starting to turn green just like it always does following the rain in Southern California. All those plants seem to just leap out and bask in the rain like they are fully aware that the sun will soon find them all fresh, clean and green and ready for spring time. Today I spent almost the whole day going through photos, picking out the ones of me and Carol together and then I put them in cronological order as best I could. I scanned them into the computer and then uploaded them all to an album on facebook. WOW what a job that was and as I was closing the album I realized there are a lot of photos that I need to round up and scan and add to that album. It is a labor of love so I feel I also HAVE to do it. That is my present at the present.

Think B4 U Shoot, then Shoot without Thinking

2009-12-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

I was talking with my friend, Sean Lane just the other day about the impending 9 ball match that we were expecting to play that evening. The discussion started out with us agreeing that it was important for us both to play our best, to not only win both of our matches but also to win our match by as much a margin as possible.I mentioned to Sean that I knew how to win my match if I could just avoid those stupid things I too often wind up doing.
Sean explained to me that I should look over my shot, decide how I needed to hit the shot to make the object ball and to get the necessary cue ball movement to obtain an acceptable leave on my next shot. Determine the speed, the spin, the angle the stroke etc. Sean suggested that I make all those decisions then forget about position and focus on striking the cue ball in the proper place with the correct speed and stroke of which I had just decided was necessary to accomplish my intended result.

Guess what! BAM! That is exactly what it means to "Think before you shoot, then shoot without thinking!" I often forget to think of this very simple rule to playing good pool, yet every time I find myself remembering that very same rule a little while before playing a match, I play exponentially better in that match.

That trend continued and I played one of the best matches I have ever played. I wound up beating a very good skill level 8 with a score of 55 to 21 (Match score of 16-4). Another interesting thing was that Sean also won his match with a match score of 16-4. I would like to think that Sean gave me some excellent advice and maybe by doing so he subconsciously took his own advice and it helped him in a similar way that it help me. Imagine that!

14.1 Continuous Straight Pool - My new obsession

2009-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

A while back I ask the question on several pool and billiards forums "How do I practice break out shots?" and almost with out fail the answer came back from everyone and everywhere "Learn to play straight pool!"

I have been a closet fan of 14.1 since I first saw Oliver "The Machine" Ortmann beat Steve "The Miz" Mizerak in the U.S. Open or maybe it was actually referred to as the BCA Open Championship match at the Pick Congress Hotel in Chicago in 1989! The actual name would not and still does not matter that much to me, I would have gone regardless of what they called it!

I sat in the stands very close to Connie Chung who was a famous T.V. news personality in Chicago at that time. Of course she nor anyone else knew who I was. I went to see this match by myself using a free ticket which was given to me by a friend. (My friend bailed at the last minute in favor of some other engagement and I decided to not let that spoil my opportunity to witness my first pro pool match ever!) My friend Denise would probably be shocked to learn how my life has changed over the past 20 years since I saw that match. I have not seen or talked with her for almost 20 years now either.

Eleven years later in the summer of 2000, my wife and I met a couple playing pool on a bar table at a pub in Thousand Oaks, California. They ask us if we would join their APA 9 Ball team and we jumped at the chance to play league pool and the rest is history as they say...oops.....I have digressed....!

Here it is 2009 and I am learning to play 14.1 continuous straight pool and I have, as of August 28th, managed to make my first 25 ball run and I also managed to record that run on video. I NATURALLY uploaded it to youtube.com because I was so danged proud of myself for doing it. When I upload a video to my YouTube.com account now it is automatically announced on my Facebook.com Profile, my Twitter.com page and should also be linked to my blog here on Google Blogger.com. Nothing like tooting your own horn, huh?

So these videos got the attention of the gentleman who is responsible for the CueTable.com forum and Wei in return ask me to post my videos on his forum so we could talk about the shots. Naturally I jumped at that opportunity and got right on it. As a result of putting those videos up on CueTable.com another gentleman noticed. Non-other than David "Blackjack" Sapolis of DeadStrokeUniversity.com.

BlackJack and Wei both commented on my videos and gave me some excellent pointers on how to improve my game of 14.1! Now I need to get back to the table and start applying some of the advice these two super players have so generously supplied to me.

My next goal is to break 30!

Defensive Pool Shots in the APA

2009-08-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

We were playing 9 ball last Thursday in our APA league match and I was scoring while on the other team there was a skill level 5 scoring.
The other teams player was a skill level 4 and was hooked pretty badly. He proceeded to shoot an amazing 3 rails around the table and made contact with the proper object ball just barely after which the object ball touched the rail making it a perfectly legal hit and a great shot.
I mentioned to the skill level 4 that I was marking a "D"....that comment caused his captain to spring out of her chair and proclaim "That is ridiculous! He was just trying to hit the ball, he was not playing "D"!" I responded that because he did not hit the object ball hard enough to expect to make it or any other ball on that shot that it should be marked as a defensive shot.

I have heard this same discussion take place many times durning APA matches so I was extremely happy to see this great video show up on YouTube.com today. It is by none other than APA Co-Founder Terry Bell and it is extremely well done. Thank You Terry and all of the APA for your efforts in making this instructional video.

Chris Malta's 2009 Scambuster Road Trip

2009-08-18T14:39:00.001-07:00

I used Chris's advise regarding drop shipping long before most of the get rich ads you see on TV now.
He is really a smart guy so listen to this little video and then decide for yourself. Just be ware of all those scams to get your money if you do nothing else.
Chris Malta's 2009 Scambuster Road Trip

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Life and Pool

2009-07-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

I woke up a little after 6 AM this morning and could not go back to sleep so I decided to relax in the Jacuzzi for a little while and watch the sun climb into the sky.

As I sat in the 100 plus degree water and felt my aching joints loosen up and my slightly old muscles relax my mind began to drift back to the "good old days when times were hard". I started to remember a lot of the things my Mom used to tell me when I was a kid and we were dirt poor. My Mom has been gone for just a little over a year now and it is hard for me to believe, even now, over a year after her passing away, that she really is gone from this earth. I used to call her on Saturday or Sunday morning while I sat in the Jacuzzi and we would reminisce about the "good old days when times were hard" so it just seems natural for me to think of that and of her as I sat there in that warm, soothing, bubbling water.

I play a lot of pool and while I enjoy playing pool I have begun to relate the game of pool to life. I have heard many good pool players say that pool is more than a game, it is a way of life. Some of the older and greater players have said "The game of pool is like the game of life." The more I play the game and think about it in those terms the more I see just what those wise old pool players are trying to say. Maybe Tom T. Hall should have included pool in his song along with "Old Dogs and Children and Watermelon Wine....".

Pool is a game that is win or lose. It is a game that for there to be a winner there must also be a loser. As long as we play pool we will always have to accept that we will not always be the winner so it is simple logic that we must sometimes be the loser. As in life, the game does not always go the way we would like and we don't always have the ability to control the outcome. We are sometimes the fortunate recipient of an easy or lucky win so we must accept that sometimes we will be on the other side of that coin and be dealt an unlucky or unjust loss and we must know this will happen before it happens.

My zodiac sign is Libra and that supposedly means that I seek balance in all I do. I have come to believe that balance is important in all things and that is true in life and it is true in pool too. Me must have a good offensive game balanced by a good defensive game. We must win and we must also lose. We must pursue our dreams and all the time protect those things in life that are important to us. We must find balance between our commitments to family, career, personal growth, spiritual growth, present concerns and plans for the future. The Chinese have known these simple truths for thousands of years and call it Yin and Yang. Scientist refer to a law of physics that requires that for each action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. The Bible teaches us about the forces of good and evil.

In pool, as in life, we tend to learn more from the hard times or loses than we do from the easy times or the wins. That very well may be human nature but I sincerely believe that we can learn good lessons when we win and even better lessons when we lose. The real trick is to focus on the correct portions of the game or focus on the correct portions and events in life. Our life is what we focus on and there are good things happening even in bad times and so goes the game of pool.

APA 9 Ball South Coast Regional Championships - Sunday June 14, 2009

2009-06-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

It took a while to get the video and slides put together because I had a lot of challenges to over come that have absolutely nothing to do with pool or the APA.

Hopefully this little video is worth the wait. With no further ado, here is the recap of the "Terminal Velocity" run for the gold!

Meanwhile, my wife, Carol and I have survived a pretty rough fall on our patio last Saturday, June 20th which resulted in us both going to the emergency room at Simi Valley Hospital for treatment. Carol had 3 fractured ribs, a fractured collar bone and a fractured clavicle plus a small cut and bump on the back of her head. I managed to compile a broken nose and a pretty nasty cut that required14 stitches to my forehead and nose. That was all on Saturday afternoon so we both spend most of the day on Sunday just trying to rest and recoup.

I then on Tuesday June 23, 2009 did this to remember just how that fall happened. Guess who's silhouette this is and NO it is not Michael Jordan's!

APA 9 Ball South Coast Regional Championships - Saturday Matches

2009-06-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

The APA 9 Ball South Coast Regional Championship turned out to be a true pool player's tournament in all aspects of the game this past weekend at the Arena Sports Grill and Bar in Simi Valley, California. Pool players from all around the area converged on the Arena and the Grand Vista Hotel for a week end of fun and games but there were some very serious faces in the crowd too. Everyone was focused on the pursuit of a coveted APA National Championship qualification that would get their team admission to the once a year gathering of APA pool players from all over the United States and even other parts of the world as the APA continues to grow like a weed sprouting up all over Canada and now in Hawaii, Puerto Rico and other parts of the world.

Here is a little quote from the APA National Web Site:
"National Team Championships
August 21-29, 2009 Las Vegas, NV
The culmination of weekly APA League play is the APA National Team Championships, held annually at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. This event consists of three individual National Team Championships: Open 8-Ball, Ladies 8-Ball and Open 9-Ball"

I have to tell you up front, I spent all my time watching as a spectator because neither of my teams qualified. I would much rather have been playing and I am reasonably sure my teammates on the Maximillians would say the same, but I enjoyed the next best thing.

That was cheering for friends and I specifically followed the efforts of "Terminal Velocity" because 5 of the 8 players were former and current teammates. I have watched them grow into some really good pool players and each one exhibits a unique view and perspective of the game. I am proud to call them my friends and seeing them win would be very close to "as satisfying" as being in the winning circle with the Maximillians. I was not the only spectator though! A lot of players were there to cheer for their friends and family.

There were smiles all around and everyone enjoyed the competition and companionship of the like minded. Pool players are not that different from anyone else but it does take a special gene to enjoy a sport like pool that dishes out the agony of the long hours mixed with the tenseness of stiff competition under the watchful eyes of your friends, teammates, opponents and league management all at the same time.

The matches heated up as the day went by. Phil and Taz had their hands full trying to keep all the tempers in check, but they always do a great job. Some players competativeness can blur their view of the rules, their actual vision or their perception of the events right in front of them.
The league operators are ready and willing to offer a cool head and a keen eye to help keep everyone moving along on the straight and narrow. Skill levels got adjusted and team captains had to rethink their strategies if they wanted to be still in the trophy chase on Sunday.

A few cocktails were consumed and great food was eaten, cheers and applause were made on good shots and moans could be heard following a bad roll or a close miss. Teams won and teams lost, laughs were heard from happy players and some tears were shed over loses. In the end all had a great time and most of them will be in that race again next year. Only a few can brag about winning and that is exactly what makes it all worth the effort for most.

Here is a short video that captures some of the good times:

The APA 8 Ball South Coast Championships

2009-06-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

The South Coast Region of the APA held the 8 Ball Championship at The Arena Sports Grill and Bar in Simi Valley, California this past week end of June 6-7, 2009. The 9 Ball Championship will follow next week end and also be held at the Arena. The Arena just happens to be my home court but my teams were not fortunate enough to make it this season and so The Maximillians have been relegated to the postion of spectators and sometimes cheer leaders for our friends who did make it. That is not all bad, but I believe I am safe to say that most of the players on The Maximillians would rather have been involved in all the sweat and stress that goes along with the race for those coveted spots at the APA Nationals.
A lot of 8 ball teams arrived at the Arena Saturday morning all full of excitement and anticipation. The prize for the 4 winning teams would be a trip to the APA National Team Championships in Las Vegas, NV Aug. 21 – 29 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, and of course a lot of the cost of that trip is covered by the APA South Coast Region. When the clouds of chalk dust cleared only four lucky 8 ball teams would be making their plans for that trip in August. That means that, mathematically speaking, one team out of 8 would make it. Those are not bad odds either, so there was good reason for every single player there to be looking forward to the next 12 to 36 hours or so of 8 ball battles.

Of course pool would not be pool if there were not a few cocktails to be consumed. Heather had the situation well under control on that battle front. Double wielding a couple of Buds, Heather backed them up with a great smile as she did her part to lighten the mood of the competition which managed to get heated to a boiling point on several fronts at a time any way. The entire staff of the Arena ran around waiting on pool players and spectators non-stop with cold beverages and great food from the kitchen of the Grand Vista Hotel which is conveniently right next door to the bar.
Dan was on hand to make sure that APA members and other customers were all taken good care of as he ushered in a birthday party group and did what ever else it took to keep thing moving along smoothly. I even noticed him sweeping up some spilled pop corn from the floor at the end of the bar while the bartenders were busy catering to customers. Dan has gone above and beyond in making the APA welcome at the Arena and has encouraged many 8 ball and 9 ball teams (my own included) to make the Arena their home.

Taz and Phil were both there making sure the all the players and matches moved along according to schedule, at least as much as humanly possible. They really have these tournaments down to a science. While some players are kind of slow pokes and some matches drag on beyond belief it all seems to work out in the end when Phil and Taz are holding the reins. The DJ Booth seems like it was made for Taz and she takes full advantage of the control booth like setup to keep the tournament information updated and on target. She keys into her trusty laptop computer, the most recent match results and then post that info on the main Bracket Posters out on the patio where everyone and anyone can follow their own team or like in my case the team of friends who were still in the competition. In the APA all players handicaps are recalculated immediately after every match allowing the league to keep players and matches properly rated according to the APA Equlizer System even as matches develop throughout the day and evening hours.
Since there are no full time referrees on duty during these championship matches, someone has to be the judge when there is a possible rule infraction about to occur. Phil and Taz, as "Tournament Directors", share in the responsibility of over seeing the matches and either of them can be summoned by a player to observe a close hit. They must position themselves in a way that allows them to observe the shot then judge, based on APA rules, as to the legality of the hit. Some times a game, a match or even the championship itself can hang in the balance of outcome of a single such shot and it is very important that the call be made within the APA rules. As you can see in Phil's expression, it is a duty taken very seriously.

2 Year Old Pool Shark - Youngest APA Member

2009-06-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

This kid is only 2 years old and is already featured on ABC News and touted as the youngest member of the APA (American Pool Players Association).
He appears to have his own miniture pool table that is more his size but he also makes amazing bank shot (or kick shot) on a full sized pool table in this video.
Imagine having to play this kid when he reaches 21.

He is on YouTube too:

And of course he has his own web site to called Poolprodigy.com:

Of course with this kind of talent, this kid also played at the Rivera Hotel and Casino during the APA Tournaments in May of 2009. The local TV station picked up on Keith Odell and here is a piece they did about him.
http://www.ktnv.com/global/Category.asp?c=164911&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3726344

Billiards And Trucking = B.A.T.: The APA Skill Level 9 - What does it take?

2009-06-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Billiards And Trucking = B.A.T.: The APA Skill Level 9 - What does it take?

APA South Coast 8 Ball Tournament of Champions

2009-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Eighteen APA 8 Ball Teams converged on The Arena Sports Grill and Bar at the corner of Enchanted Drive and First Street in Simi Valley, California this past Saturday May 30, 2009.
The APA South Coast 8 Ball Tournament of Champions got under way at 9:00 AM and everyone there had high hopes of finishing in the money plus locking up a berth in the following weekend's APA South Coast Regional to be also held at the Arena in Simi Valley.

League operators Phil and Taz Brooker were on hand to run this event in their usual efficient manner. Phil and Taz are a couple of the most dedicated and respected APA league operators in the nation. Phil proudly advertises the APA by driving a Pontiac wrapped in the APA Logo, Slogans and web addresses. The usual announcements about rules etc. were made then table assignments were made and the battles began.
All the teams worked hard to get here and they all pretty much felt that they were the team that would come out the winner. That is the way pool players think, after all! That is also one of the things that makes playing pool so great and playing team pool is a step up from just playing individually against your peers. Many times in events like this the team has to come before the individual and that is as it should be. "The good of the many must outweigh the good of the one." Of course there is a little bit of peer pressure when your team gets to participate in an event like the Challenge of Champions. Egos and reputations were worn on the sleeves for all to see and others to consider ways to meet the challenge.
The APA is an amazing opportunity for newer pool players to benefit from the knowledge and experience of many highly skilled players. There is the opportunity for newer players to experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Both are in abundant supply and ripe for the harvest by those lucky enough to compete.
Win or lose the game of pool is full of rewarding memories and should be viewed as a life time challenge to improve and become the best you can be both on the table and off. Friendship bonds are made over a pool table that can last a lifetime as well.

Of course winning is always more fun than losing and when a player pulls out a particularly tough match you can usually see the results in his (or her) face. Look at Mr. Moss of the "Tuesday's Gone" team. Can you tell he just won his match by looking at the smile on his face? His team went on to lose the match over all but for the few moments following his match the whole world was coming up roses. (**Note**I have been alerted by Marty - The Captain of "Tuesday's Gone" that their team did win that match and went on to collect the $1400 prize...Congratulations to the team and sorry about the error. Best Wishes in the Regionals, Tom)There were smiles all over the Arena because the pool was only part of the reason people gathered there. Competition on the pool tables was fierce for sure but the things most people will remember may not be the pool but instead simply the good time they had socializing with friends, family and even complete strangers who will some day become friends or even family in some cases. The smiles were plenty and they were not all just about winning either. Speaking of smiling faces....you have to know that bartender Christina manages to provide great service with a great smile to everyone. She doesn't even have to play pool to smile (although she does play a pretty mean game of pool too).

She has that smile for customers simply because she likes people and she doesn't have to win a game before she is able to share the smile with customers. It is people like Christina that make the Arena a great place to relax and enjoy your well earned leisure time.

Back to the challenge matches that heated up on 4 of the six 7' bar boxes at the Arena. These matches were for more than just qualifiers, there was some real money awaiting the victors. This is an excerpt from the APA South Coast web site about the Challenge of Champions:

"In addition to qualifying for the South Coast Championships, the top eight finishers in the Tournament of Champions will receive a good-sized monetary award. In each format, the top four teams will receive $1400 and each fifth-place team will receive $600!"

Finally we do have all those pool table warriors battling it out for the top dog spot and it would be impossible to describe all the tension, the excitement, the nail biting and the sheer joy of being involved in the competition regardless of which side of the action you found yourself. I have put together a small video to try to capture some of the stuff that make competing in the APA Challenge of Champions in 2009 so much fun. You can see why the spots are so coveted.

Although it may be hard to recognize many of the players in the video due to lighting I am sure that most of the players who gave me their expressed permission to include the footage will recognize themselves. Anyone else shown who may wish to NOT be included can contact me and I will edit them out of the footage with my sincere apology and utmost respect for your wishes.

CueTable Billiard Contest 2009 05

2009-05-30T15:21:00.001-07:00

This was a tuffy but I finally finished the video for the CueTable Billiard Contest 2009 05 this morning. Now I anxiously await the next challenge!

How much is a BILLION dollars?

2009-05-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Dan and I were talking about this very subject the other night after our pool match and today he emailed me this little thing that he found somewhere. It is so good I didn't feel right just sending it to the email recycle bin so here it is preserved for posterity on the World Wide Web.

Feel free to copy it or link to it here or pass it on to your friends and family and even to your favorite politician who could learn a truly good lesson if only he would.....

This is too true to be funny . . .
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR taxmoney.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases:

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors wereliving in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes,at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...let's take a look at New Orleans ....It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans ... Interesting number...what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (everyman, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your homegets$1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four...your family gets $2,066,012.

Imagine, now $700 billion bailing out banks in the US.
That's enough to fund complete medical care for every man, woman and child currently alive in the US for 11 years !

50 billion to bail out the auto industry ?
Washington, D.C. <> Are all your calculators broken ?

Accounts Receivable :
Taxes
Building PermitTax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax(Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee (Tax upon Tax)
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Income Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY???
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened ?
Can you spell 'politicians!' ?
And I still have to press '1' for English.

I hope this goes around the US at least 1 billion times then we can talk about "How much is a Trillion Dollars?"

Pool and Billiards - Darts and Collectibles

2009-05-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

We have a whole new look at BigRigToys.com!

BigRigToys.com was established way back in 2002 as a computer science class project. My Instructor at Cal Lutheran required all of us computer science majors to create an E-Commerce site as our final class project in pursuit of our BS in CS degree and BigRigToys.com was mine.

Almost 7 years later and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears later BigRigToys.com has been given a face lift to bring it into the current world of E-Commerce with a big bang and a little bit of flair.
Thanks to Nadine at NoFlakes Web Design we are not all about looks either. Behind that beautiful face lift are many new features that you will want to try out. The one we are particularly proud of is the "Shop Cues by Price" Section. We are all on some kind of budget and sometimes it helps to be able to see everything in one place that fits into that budget...doesn't it?...Take a look for yourself. You may fine that your budget will allow you to get a special cue that you had not previously thought possible.

Don't hold your breath too long because we are not done yet. We have plans for the future and we will be adding more products within the categories of Pool and Billiards, Darts and Dart Boards (both soft tip and steel tip) and Collectibles too. We already have collectible die cast trucks in the 1:64 scale model variety and collector plates depicting "Gone With The Wind" and "The Sound of Music" but we still plan to add more product and more variety too.

Then we also will be doing all kinds of little things behind the scenes to enhance your experiance when you visit us online. You should try out the BAT Forum right away. It's FREE and you can discuss your favorite topic with folks just like you or you can get some free advice on improving your pool game. Pool players and Truckers have always had a lot in common. Trucking is what we do for a living but pool and darts are some of the many things we do for fun. You will find a group that understands the work we do and enjoys the games we play. Give it a try, I'm sure you will meet people that will amaze you in one way or another.

Woopra - Lastest in Web Analytics

2009-05-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

I have web pages and I have a couple of blogs! If you do too then you have to see Woopra.

I have only known about Woopra for a few days now but let me tell you, it will change the way web masters analyze their web sites.

Woopra allows the web master to monitor in real time the visitors to a web site. It is so amazing that I will not even try to describe it here my self. I am embedding a video produced by Woopra to do that much better than I ever could.

See this for yourself, you will be amazed! Even if you are not into web building you will still find it mind blowing what can be done now with a little imagination and a whole lot of hard work behind the scenes by these folks.

Here is the Woopra 1.3 video: