My favorite way to spend a few minutes on a mental health break is to play online backgammon. I love to get online, jump into a backgammon game and focus on throwing dice and moving my markers around the board to clear my mind of all the day’s garbage.

Back in the 80’s when backgammon was a new fad, we used to play on boards built in to the tops of cafe tables on the streets of DC. All the favorite lunchtime and after work cafes and watering holes had patios with backgammon tables. Now I play backgammon online and have just as much fun!

One of my favorite websites has added online blackjack to their games. These games can be played for real money, and you can enter tournaments for cash winnings. These games are just as easy to join as the backgammon games, and the fun can last as long as you want to spend online.

Some of us are wanting to send assistance to the China earthquake survivors and don’t know the best way to go about sending donations. The backgammon and blackjack game hosts have just announced that they will match donations at the rate of $5 for every $1 in a month’s worth of blackjack buy-ins, and that all the money will be sent to the UNICEF organization for the benefit of the children affected by the earthquakes in China.

That makes it even easier to justify playing online – when you are helping people in addition to having fun. Read the press release for yourself if this is something you want to do:

Press Release:

BackgammonMasters Online BlackJack, Poker and Backgammon Operator is generously aiding survivors of the earthquake in China.
http://www.BackgammonMasters.com has offered to match $5 for every $1 donated from a months worth of tournament buy-ins ranging from $4.50 to $200. Players will participate in backgammon and blackjack tournaments where all of the prize money will go directly to the UNICEF organization whose main focus of attention and assistance is on child victims of the quake.

BackgammonMasters raised the ante by offering to match $5 on every $1 in the spirit of good will efforts made by companies such as PokerStars who offered to match dollar for dollar. “It doesn’t really matter how much is invested in the donation, as long as companies are doing what they can to help, and to raise awareness. We feel that it is important to encourage charitable gaming and to make this type of community outreach in the online casino world a common occurrence. Some people may be surprised that we are doing this but we’ve always known that casino owners and players have huge hearts and pockets”, said BackgammonMasters CEO.”

Perhaps the real reason that BackgammonMasters is so quick to help in China is also due in part to the Chinese dice game offered on the site also known as Perudo in Latin Markets, in addition to the fact that the Asian Market makes up a substantial percentage of their traffic.

Backgammon and blackjack tournaments will be offered all month long, around the clock so that anytime a member logs in from anywhere in the world, they be able to register and start playing immediately for this great cause. Players can also add additional winnings from other games to a special donation account that has been setup for each player by Backgammon Masters in the cashier.

Read more about BagammonMasters blackjack and poker games by visiting:
http://www.backgammonmasters.com/blackjack.html
http://www.backgammonmasters.com/poker.html

Released by http://www.gammonish.com – backgammon online source for news and information. More about online blackjack and poker can be found at:
http://www.gammonish.com/blackjack.html
http://www.gammonish.com/poker.html

Well, usually where I live I can monitor the price of gas between two interstate exits and choose to fill up at the exit with the better price. But this morning all the stations at both exits were showing $3.77 per gallon for regular unleaded. This daily climb upward is killing our budget. We have just paid off our car note and now it looks like the money that used to go to the finance company is going to be redirected to the gas companies.

Went to the Honeybaked Ham store yesterday and it was a madhouse. The line was horrendous – it snaked around the aisle guards inside the store and overflowed out to the sidewalk. These are great hams, but OMG – are they worth standing in line for an hour? No.

On the way home I passed a second Honeybaked Ham store. On a lark, I pulled up to see how long the line might be here. What a surprise – there was no discernable line at all. Then I got suspicious – maybe they had sold out and were going to have to close early? No – thank goodness.

Parked and went into the store – only had 3 people in front of me and I was out of the door with my ham in less than 10 minutes. There will be a feast tomorrow, guaranteed.

The first day of spring is my favorite first day of the year. Spring and Easter mean new babies, fresh flowers, buds on the trees and bushes, and warmer days ahead.

The old saying turns out to be true this year – March came in like a lion but it is going out like a lamb.

We are having warm, sunny days and enough rain to give everything a fresh start.

One of my brothers was born on this day, 45 years ago. It was a great day for our family – he added a whole new dimension to our childhood.

As a kid, he had an insatiable curiosity of how things work. He would take anything and pull apart to understand how it was put together and then he would put it back together again. He’s a genius at fixing things.

So today I hope he and his lovely wife find a way to celebrate his birthday and that he continues to have the strength to blow out all those candles as they are really starting to accumulate! I think they melted the frosting!