This is my last day in Atlanta; tomorrow I have a 10 a.m. flight to Portland, Maine, so I'm not sure when I'll be reporting again.

If anyone wants to see my itinerary for the week ahead, it's at http://nocloset.net/vacation2005.html. If you have a map of Maine and the Maritime provinces, you can follow my travels with little pushpins if you want!

Yesterday was a good bridge day. We played in a knockout and after two rounds we are still going. In fact, we had very easy wins.

Asa asked for a sample hand, so I'll give an example of one where aggressive bidding got me in trouble but how I brilliantly acquitted myself, thanks also to bad defense. (Non bridge players, skip down a ways.)

I was dealer, all vulnerable, with:

S: K 10 x
H: Q x x x x x
D: x x
C: Q x

I normally wouldn't do this vulnerable, but feeling a little cheeky, I opened 2H. (Opponents passed throughout.) Dallas bid 2NT, asking for a feature, so I should bid 2S, showing the King of Spades, but since my heart suit was so ratty, I decided not to show it, since the likelihood was that he'd never be able to set up my hearts in a No-Trump contract. So I bid 3H, denying a feature, and Dallas bid 4H.

I get a high club lead, and Dallas lays down this dummy:

S: A Q x x
H: J x
D: A K J x x x
C: J

LHO wins the first trick and switches to a spade, since he "knows" I don't have the King, having denied a feature. I play low from the board, RHO plays low, and my 10 wins the trick.
I lead a small heart. Small from LHO, I put up the Jack, and RHO wins with the Ace and returns a club, which I ruff on the board and play a small spade back to my hand. My only hope now is to drop the King of Hearts, so I play a small heart from my hand, covered by LHO, diamond off the board, and sure enough, RHO has to play the King. She returns another club, which I ruff in my hand, play the Q of H, dropping the 10, and claiming my contract.

Here's the bad defense part: LHO was void in diamonds! RHO keeps getting in the lead and keeps playing clubs; if she switches to a diamond after she wins either of her trump tricks, I'm down to defeat!

The other good part was that at the other table, our teammates played in 5 clubs and made it, so we got a huge swing on that board!

OK, for you non-bridge players, continue reading here.

Not much else to talk about. Last night we went to dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. (That's Ted as in Ted Turner.) Their specialty is bison. I had a bison burger. Yummy. Drank wine, managed to relax. Actually, playing bridge was very relaxing yesterday, with the stress of the GNTs behind us. The team that beat us on Thursday got eliminated yesterday, but the Minnesotans who we played against in the first round (and almost beat!) barely squeaked past the team from southern California in the semis and are in the finals against the team from Chicago. All the other Seattle-area teams have been eliminated.

Sorry, non-bridge-players, for the more bridge news.

It's still humid here, but not so hot as in some parts of the country.

Okay, well, that's all from Atlanta. I'll probably post my "real" vacation stuff on WorldIsRound.com, so stay tuned...