Last night I covered the PokerStars Sunday Million in addition to the Sunday Warm-Up for the PokerStars Blog. This is a little unusual as California Jen typically handles the Million so us more easterly bloggers can get a little shut-eye. But I had vacation time left over from last year and needed to fill a hole in my writing revenue stream after getting Shamus to cover my week on the Warm-Up earlier this month when I was busy drinking my bodyweight in Coors Light in Vegas, so when Jen said she’d be out of town and needed some help covering, I volunteered. There were some technical issues (probably on my end) that made the night a little nerve-wracking, and there’s always the inherent jealousy that goes along with watching total strangers parlay a $215 entry fee into a mortgage-wiping score in one night, but the real challenge for me was the waiting.

Tom Petty was right, it really is the hardest part. Waiting for people to bust out so I can write the wrap-up, waiting for everything to load so I can check my work, waiting for more people to bust out so I can cover the next event, etc. etc. So of course instead of using the time in any type of constructive way, I played Dragon Age on Xbox (best Christmas present of the year!) and read a Mercedes Lackey book that I picked up the day after Christmas.

Yeah, I know I issued a moratorium on book purchases until I’d waded through the dozen or so books that I have scattered around the office at home. Yeah, I know I issued a moratorium on frivolous spending as I’m trying to buy my dad’s house. Yeah, I know I could have just asked for the books for Christmas and done a little responsible consumption instead of my normal Cookie Monster on a Tollhouse binge shopping method. But I got a coupon.

Those may be the most evil words in the English language. I knew I was screwed when the header showed up in my inbox. 40% off any one item. I was dead at that moment. I knew Books-A-Million carried the Absolute Sandman series. I knew they’d probably have Volume 2. I didn’t have Volume 2. I knew that Volume 2 went for around $65 on Amazon, and $100 retail. That meant that with my 40% off coupon, I could walk into an honest-to-god real live bookstore and buy something cheaper than on Amazon (the shipping v. sales tax argument doesn’t work with me – I buy enough crap on Amazon in a year to justify the Amazon Prime membership that gets me free shipping. And it really does work out to be a money-saver over the course of a year, which says sad, sad things about how much crap I purchase). So I did.

I went over the BAM at Cotswald and found Volume 2. And after tax I paid $64 and change. And then I bought a bag full of other books off the clearance rack. And one paperback because the third volume of a series I’d already read the first volume of was on the clearance rack, but you can’t read 1 & 3 without reading 2, so I paid full price for the paperback version of the middle book. But I had a $5 off coupon, too, so I had the nice sales cutie ring me up as two separate transactions so I could use both coupons, so I guess I got the paperback cheap, too. And my other bag of books cost me about $33. So I told my wife that I bought the Sandman Volume 2 for full price and got the other bag of books free! Which is mathematically true, if not a completely accurate statement.

I have the willpower of a bulemic on an ipecac bender. Hope you had a Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrated!

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