RISK A LITTLE TO WIN A LOT

I borrowed this pic from the Internet ;)

It might shock you to know that I play Keno when I go to the casinos. Most people know Keno has very poor odds. And it can be very boring sitting there, watching the ping pong balls bounce around as the Keno person draws the winning numbers one by one. But I know a secret. This is stress-free gambling. I will either WIN BIG, or lose very little.

THE GAME OF KENO
The game of Keno is similar to state lotteries. They draw the winning numbers from a hopper filled with numbered ping pong balls. The balls are numbered 1 through 80. Air is forced into the hopper which causes the balls to bounce around wildly, making the drawing completely random. In each game, they draw 20 numbers. 

Your task is to predict which numbers will be drawn in the next game. The top Keno prize in my local casino is $50,000. To win the top prize, you have to pick 8 numbers and hit all 8 of them. That doesn’t happen very often. You can also win smaller amounts for hitting 5, 6, or 7 out of 8 numbers. Can you imagine placing a $1 bet and winning $50,000? I can! That’s why I play this crazy game! LOL

There is a waiting period between games to give people time to turn in winning tickets and buy new tickets for the next game. Tickets are only $1. There are about 12 drawings per hour. So if you play every game and never hit any wins, you will lose $12 per hour. Not bad, considering you can easily lose $12 PER MINUTE in a slot machine. 

KENO ADVANTAGES
Keno has several advantages over other casino games. 
1.) Very small risk for a huge possible payoff. 
2.) The Keno lounge has very comfortable seats. 
3.) The drink girl will come around and bring you free drinks. 
4.) You can get up and move around freely.
5.) You don’t have to play every single game. 
6.) You can text or play games on your phone while you are sitting there. 

HOW I PLAY
When I enter the casino, I walk around, do some people watching, use the restroom, get a free cup of coffee from the self-serve drink station, and then find a seat in the Keno lounge. I watch two complete games without making a bet. Instead, I record the numbers that come up (20 numbers each game). Then I am ready to play. I pick my 8 numbers from the winning numbers of the two games I just recorded. My theory: These numbers are hitting now, so I will GO WITH THE FLOW. 

I pay for 5 consecutive games. If you only play 1 game, you must collect any winnings before the start of the next game. That’s less than 5 minutes! No exceptions! But where I play, and in most casinos I’ve been to, you have 24 hours to claim your prize if you pay for 2 or more consecutive games. When you play this way, you can get up and walk around as much as you like since you have 24 hours to claim your prizes. Just take your ticket back to the Keno desk before you go home and they will scan it and pay you if you have won. 

I will sit in the Keno lounge and watch the 5 drawings I’m playing. After that, I will get up and go for a walk. If I'm there with other people, I will find them and see how they are doing. If I’m spending a few hours in the casino, I will repeat this routine; play 5 games, then go for a walk, etc.

MY RESULTS
I haven’t won any big prizes yet. However, I lose less than anybody I know. In a normal 4 hour casino visit, I will lose $20 or less. But I have the prospect of winning $50,000! What a rush! 

SUMMARY
You won’t kick Keno’s butt very often. Honestly, most days you will lose, but it will be very little, much less than the average gambler. And one day, when everything lines up perfectly and all your numbers come up, you’ll be a BIG WINNER!

REMEMBER: RISK A LITTLE TO WIN A LOT

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.



Check out 
Duane’s YouTube Channel

WHAT WOULD 10 YEAR OLD DUANE THINK?

(royalty free image from clipartoday.com)

A Facebook friend recently posted a drawing he did. It was of a little boy looking at a man watching TV. What really caught my attention was the caption he added: “What would 10 year old me think if he saw me now?”

That really got me thinking. What was I doing when I was 10 years old? What did I enjoy doing the most? What were my hopes and dreams? How did I want my life to turn out? And the big question: What would 10 year old me think if he saw me now? 

Honestly, I think he would be impressed. I’m not saying my life is perfect and exactly how I hoped it would turn out. But on the plus side, I have a comfortable home, a reliable car, and no debt. I’m not currently working but I don’t feel guilty about it because I worked hard for many years. I know I will find a job when I’m ready to go back to work. 

Also on the plus side, I’ve had a lot of different jobs, done some traveling, and tried a lot of different things. It’s not as if I’ve been stuck in a rut, doing the same thing forever. 

I’m a positive, happy person. Mean and negative people are deleted from my life as quickly as possible. I used to want to save them all, but I learned that if people don’t ask for help, it’s usually because they don’t want to change. Some people are literally happy being miserable. I don’t get it, but it’s true. Since adopting a “live and let live” philosophy, I feel a huge burden has been lifted off me. Who put that burden there in the first place? I did. 

Something else I finally let go of is the need to make everything around me perfect. I used to drive myself crazy trying to make everything exactly how I wanted it to be. I usually came up short of perfection, which added stress to my life. I finally asked myself, “Who says it has to be perfect?” Only me. Not anymore.

So, back to “What would 10 year old me think if he saw me now?” When I was 10 years old, I loved to ride my bike and play outside. I still ride my bike often. I keep it inside the house. I do regular maintenance on it and keep it tuned up and ready to go anytime I want to ride it. I still play outside, but it looks a little different than it did when I was 10. Now it looks like going for walks, mowing and watering the lawn, and gardening. 

Is my life exactly what 10 year old Duane expected? No. Am I happy? Yes. Would 10 year old Duane be proud? Absolutely.

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.


Check out Duane’s Youtube channel 

$ WHAT'S NEXT? $

   

(free clipart from Google Images)

Now that I've accomplished my goal of finding a job I enjoy, its time to set some new goals.

I love my job but I'm not going to lie to you, being a handyman does not pay very well. I really miss my paychecks from the laboratory work I used to do. That was the best paying job I've ever had. One of my current goals is to match or exceed that income. I have a long way to go, but I have a few ideas. 

Most of my ideas do not involve changing jobs. I'm trying to think outside the box, and come up with alternate sources of income. I have three ideas that seem very promising. Two of them are already showing small profits. The third hasn't been put into action yet. 

More to come later. Sorry for the teaser. :)

If you have any money making ideas, I'd love to hear about them. 

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.


Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel　

UPDATE

I’ve been jobless for more than 10 months. Thanks to the US Unemployment Insurance program, which I have paid into since I was 15 (36 years!), I have been receiving weekly paychecks this whole time. It’s a good thing, because jobs are hard to find. Never-the-less, I have faith I will find a good job before the money runs out. That’s my goal and as you know, setting and reaching goals is kind of “my thing”.

So what have I been up to since my last blog post?

I feel a little guilty because I haven’t written in six months. There are two reasons for my absence. First, I strive to keep my posts interesting, intriguing, positive, and thought-provoking. If I don’t have something to say that meets all those requirements I will usually say nothing. Second, I have been spending a lot of time outside and less time on my computer.

I read somewhere, years ago, that you should spend at least an hour every day outside. Something about nutrients you get from the sun and spiritual health that comes from the earth. I dunno about all that, but it does feel good to spend time outside, especially when the weather is nice.

Bicycling is still my favorite hobby. So far this year, I bought a used mountain bike on Craigslist, cleaned it, tuned it, adjusted it, and made several upgrades with new parts. Fun and easy stuff if you have any mechanical interest and a good assortment of metric tools. 

I rode this bike for about 3 months, then I donated it to a friend who wanted to buy her son a bike for his birthday but was having trouble finding a good used bike. It felt wonderful to help others and to know the bike I had cared for would be loved and ridden and enjoyed. Time to acquire another bike from Craigslist. I found a Schwinn I really liked at a good price and brought it home. I will probably keep this one forever. It just feels perfect for me.

At the beginning of this year, I couldn’t imagine riding my bike 10+ miles in one day. I mapped out some routes of 1 mile, 2 miles, and 4 miles. I really thought riding 4 miles one direction then back home would be the farthest I would travel on a bicycle. Wrong. As summer came and the weather warmed up, I found myself staying out longer and going farther and father on my bike.

To date, I have ridden more than 20 miles in a single trip and I now feel that 10 miles is a SHORT RIDE. Isn’t that interesting? Is there a lesson here? You tell me.

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.

　
Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel　

RE-DISCOVERING A FAVORITE HOBBY

JOBLESS, 122 DAYS

I’ve had a lot of time to think and do what I want to do without the pressure of working at a job for 4 solid months. I have to tell you, I am loving the freedom I have now!

In the past, I have fantasized about how wonderful it would be to retire from my job and spend my time doing what I want to do. This first taste of what retirement will be like is as wonderful as I had imagined. I still get up early, 6am at the latest. But it is because I want to, because I love mornings. The world is quiet and the coffee tastes best first thing in the morning.

How about a hobby?
I got my first bike when I was 10 years old. The drawing above is from memory of that bike, drawn in 2008. My bike was my transportation, my freedom, and my independence. I rode it all over town. I rode every chance I got. I loved my bike more than all my other toys combined. Once I started working, I bought a car and sadly, my bike was forgotten and eventually given away. Now that I have no job and lots of free time, guess what? I bought a new bike! :)

I have re-discovered my love of bicycling. I am not a pro-bicycler. I don’t wear the Spandex bike clothing and I don’t push myself to the point of exhaustion. I wear comfortable clothes and I ride at my own pace. I usually take a snack and a bottle of water with me. I stop and take frequent breaks in beautiful city parks. It is the most fun I’ve had in years!

Bottom line:
At this point in my life, my time is my own and I’m enjoying every minute.

Now go take on the day.

Peace, out.


Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel

GO WITH THE FLOW

This is not my pic, I borrowed it from Google Images :)

When I was in my late 20’s I really wanted a kayak. I don’t remember exactly when or how I got the idea, but I thought about it constantly, especially when I saw a river or a lake. I visualized myself paddling around in the water, exploring and enjoying the exercise. The Internet hadn’t been invented yet, so I looked through magazines, catalogs and newspaper ads every chance I got to see what was available. I decided on an inflatable kayak, reasoning that it wouldn’t take up much space when it wasn’t in use.

I also bought the necessary accessories to go with it: the double-ended paddle, life jacket, some rope, a repair kit for leaks, and an air pump to inflate it.

I ordered it through a catalog and then waited. When it arrived, I was so happy and excited. I practiced inflating it and sitting in it in my living room for a few days before I was able to take it down to the river. Finally, the day arrived. I made sure it was firm and full of air, and then I put the kayak and all my gear in the back of my van and headed for the river.

I put the kayak in the water and tied it off so it didn’t get away from me before I could get in. This day was the culmination of months of dreaming and planning. I had thought of everything and planned every last detail. I put on my life jacket, grabbed my paddle, and carefully climbed in. I sat down, untied the rope and let the current take me away from the riverbank. YES, I was finally in my kayak, in the water! “WOO-HOO!”

My plan was to paddle upstream and then let the current carry me back downstream to my van. I reasoned that if I went downstream first, I would quickly be miles from my van. So I pointed my trusty kayak into the oncoming current and started paddling. “Hmm, this is not as easy as I thought.” I was actually getting carried downstream. No matter how hard or how fast I paddled, I was losing the fight. I was being swept farther and farther downstream. “Dammit!” I had no intention of carrying my kayak a mile or more back to the van, so I started paddling back to shore.

My first time out with my kayak was short, frustrating, and much less enjoyable that I had imagined. I felt angry, confused, exhausted, and discouraged. I honestly didn’t know where I had gone wrong.

Fast-forward about 10 years--
I was having trouble in my relationships and I was in a very stressful job. I often felt angry, frustrated, and confused about life in general. I fantasized about quitting, walking away. Instead, I spent more and more hours at work, trying to get caught up. That actually helped the job situation, but it had the opposite affect on my home life. I didn’t know how I had gotten to this point. Why was life so hard? I was exhausted and discouraged. What was I doing wrong?

One day it hit me. I was at work, thinking about the flow of the work I was doing, when a little voice in my head said to me, “You have to go with the flow, don’t paddle against the current!”

I hadn’t thought about my first adventure with my inflatable kayak in a long time, but that day it all came back to me and I finally realized what I did wrong that day and what I had been doing wrong in other areas of my life. I wasn’t going with the flow, I was fighting the current and the current always wins. You will never out-paddle the current. It will only lead to anger, frustration, and confusion. But if you can get yourself into the flow, the current will carry you along with it, effortlessly. Think about that.

Now go take on the day!

Peace, out.
　
Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel

MINIMALIST ART by Duane :)

I like to draw. I don’t draw very often, but when the mood strikes me I can spend a few hours drawing. I always have an image in my head of what I want my art to look like. Sometimes it’s close and sometimes it's miles from what I envisioned. Not sure why. Anyways, today I want to share with you my latest collection of very quick sketches I call “Minimalist Art”. Enjoy.
　

Sports Car

SUV

　

Cat

Coffee

Shapes

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day.

Peace, out.

　
Check out Duane’s YouTube Channel