So we've all survived 1 month of the new year. I'm posting a journal entry here because I don't talk to some people as much as I used to and I don't know when other people are around.
But now that the first month of the year is over, I wanted to see how the new year has started off for people. I've been keeping busy with work and I've also now been going to the gym for 1 hour on the days that I work, for a total of 5 hours a week. Pinball is off to a good start for me, and I'm in a tournament with a team of 2 other people in less than 1 week away from now. My brother got a puppy a few weeks ago so he's been trying to train it--I'm glad I don't have to do the training or the cleaning, although I did fix up the house a bit over here so that way there's room and safety for the puppy. There have actually been a few sunny and slightly warm days in a row over here, as well as a couple rainy days. So who knows how long winter will last over here!
If anybody wants to let me know how their new year has started off, just let me know. Take care for now, everyone.
Well I just got home from another pinball tournament. It seems that pinball tournaments are usually on Friday or Saturday nights so I don't exactly get to go to them because I work on those nights. Apparently from now on there will be bi-monthly tournaments locally so perhaps I'll get to go to more of those in the future. Tonight's tournament actually was a rescheduled tournament--long story short, it was held tonight on a Tuesday (my day off) instead of the planned Wednesday.
I wasn't sure what to expect since most of the time I only play pinball with certain regular players; primarily those who play with me in my Pinball League, so tonight I was up against some players whom I had never played with before. I believe there were 21 participants, and it was in a double elimination format, meaning that everyone had to lose twice to be removed from the tournament. I was familiar with all 4 of the games on location so I knew a couple of the basic objectives--however, no 2 machines ever play exactly alike, so I had to relearn strategies within seconds after seeing what was working--and not working--for me. I happened to beat the first 5 opponents I was playing games with, so that put me into the finals right there since I didn't lose a single game! I usually don't make it 1/2 as far when I've been in past tournaments, so that was a big enough achievement for me and the main goal that I was aiming for.
So the final round started, and it was on the 1 machine that I had not played that night. I happened to lose that game, but since that was my first elimination we had to play a different game after that to see who would ultimately win since my opponent had already lost 1 previous round and it was a true double elimination format. So we played another game and he beat me again. But I was very glad to lose to him since he recently earned the title of World Pinball Champion in the world tournament a few months ago (and he even won $10,000 from that tournament, but that's a whole different story!)--so that meant that my skill level was comparable to that of the professional top players if I made it to the very last round of the tournament and went up against the number 1 player in the world.
Since it was a smaller, local tournament I ended up winning $10 for finishing in 2nd place. I also won a pinball shirt in a raffle that was held. I am proud that I finished the highest out of everyone in my League, so I represented us well. I am also glad that I beat a guy in my 3rd round whom I think was trying to cheat when he and I played--he claimed he thought 1 rule didn't apply (it's pretty much a standard rule regarding earning extra balls--I know that and I've only been playing for 1 and 1/2 years) but he also made a comment about playing in tournaments for 20 years so he should know that it's a standard tournament rule. And it was nice getting to play against new people and just getting out to socialize with all those people. Plus it's awesome that I get to improve my world pinball ranking tonight for doing very well. It is fantastic that there is a large, strong, and lively pinball subculture in this state, so that means there are many opportunities for me to play pinball often and to see new games and meet new players.
I hope that I can keep improving my skills and someday become 1 of the higher ranking players locally.
I cut my own hair today. I was in the bathroom and about to take my shower and realized I should do something with my hair. So I picked up some scissors and took care of it... Surprisingly (and luckily) I didn't ruin my hair.
I cut off almost 5 inches so my hair is still pretty long. But it's enough to be a difference.
Is there anybody out there that wants to play with me some time soon?
Hahaha I'm talking about the games they just added on here now! There's quite a few games now but I don't know what most of them are because of the weird names. Haha. But I'm always up for a versus game during a late night chat. It would be a nice break from me playing my computer games on Steam. But take care for now everyone, and try to avoid the hot weather if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!
Mood: Entertained Music: "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" album by Eloy
