Daily Archives: January 20, 2005

Apprentice Insta-Entry

I’m watching The Apprentice right now, and I have a comment:

HELLO! Danny, this is the year 2005! Forget your retro-lingo.

He really bugs me. I hope he gets fired.

EDIT: 9:14 PM

I’ll tell you what’s “unbelievable”… how unbelievably annoying and corny that is!

9:24 PM

Carolyn: “This is sad.”

I agree. A cardboard box hole is your promotional material? C’mon. But really, I’m happy. This means Danny is prime material to be fired, and it will make the show that much less painful to watch.

9:33 PM

Trump’s purple tie was better than the one he was wearing in the boardroom. And, I have to admit, I did not like his pink ties last season.

9:47 PM

Ooh, power tie — red. Note to self.

On The Apprentice, you’re more likely to get fired if you bring in the wrong people. As much as I’d like to see Danny fired, there is a good possibility that what’s-his-name will get fired for bringing in Todd. He probably should’ve brought in the other marketing lady.

9:59 PM

Oops, sorry, I meant Todd would get fired for bringing in Alex. Whatever. In any case, I was completely right. And things were going to go exactly as I had predicted until we learned that new piece of evidence and Trump changed his mind.

Danny is just plain uncool. That’s all I have to say.

I was also thinking about the whole “high school” vs. “college” distinction. You know what? Most of the “street smarts” team did go to college! (At least, that’s the impression I received.) They just didn’t graduate. I also remember reading or hearing somewhere that most of the richest people had some college, not a degree. Moral of the story: go to college, but you don’t have to graduate.

[EDIT: I hope you know I’m joking. Really, it’s not street smarts versus book smarts… whoever has the best of both will win. Street savvy and a degree… that’s my plan. I’m not seriously going to use a TV show as the actual basis for my life plan or create my basic business philosophies. That would be ridiculous. It’s assisted reality. Still, it’s fun to watch.]

Shawn Learns the Value of Patience

So, yesterday, I learned the value of patience. From poker… Texas Hold’em. I really figured out one of my basic character flaws. I get impatient, and then I start acting against my instincts. You see, because I’m not getting the results I want, I lose confidence in my methods. So, I try to do something different. Because of that, I played two hands horribly, and I knew I was playing them horribly. Yet, I did it anyway because of my impatience. So, I thought about life in general, and realized that probably applies to other areas. When things often come easily for you, and you’re used to winning, you become easily disenchanted when you’re deprived of instant gratification. I’m too good for my own good, so to speak.

Today, I put my lesson into practice. There were some hands that were like those two hands I played horribly, only this time I resisted, and forced myself to fold. I got a lot of bad hands and my chips were being whittled away by the blinds, but it finally paid off when I doubled my chips. Then, I did it again and I had the chip lead. Later, I went all in (pre-flop) with a pair of sevens and lost to A-K, but I didn’t feel as if that was the wrong move to make. I was at least following my instincts. I didn’t win that game, but I’m learning patience, which is an even greater prize.

I figure if it’s already helping in poker, it should help in life. I’ll apply this lesson of patience to other areas in my life.