Day 7. Does varience have a sense of humor?

It is funny how things work in poker. Yesterday I won $280, today I lost $220 =) Leaves me with +$60 profit and about $120 sklansky bucks that I hope to get soon. I also received my weekly rakeback - another $30.
I've doubled up my bankroll in a week, so can't complain about the overall result.

Bankroll: $555

Its funny to play NL 25 again. My last playing experience on this limit was about 3 years ago. I had grinded it through and never came back. However, back in the past it was a huge deal for me. As the most of beginners, I started at NL 10 and moved to NL 25 with 20 buy-ins - $500 (20 buy-ins was considered a standard BRM). Moving up in stakes for the first time feels really great, I can still remember it. Its a first achievement, first taste of success. And even though, in terms of $ its not a big deal, still feels like a huge step. Probably comparable with the first promotion of a corporate employee. I remember the night before my first NL 25 session. I was so excited that couldn't fell asleep for couple of hours and the first session was a huge stress. Every $ put in pot means world to you and PT stats are checked every 5 hands =)

I haven't played much poker in the past year, especially cash games. It was interesting to me in what shape my skills are, as I used to be a long term winning regular in 200/400 NL SH/HU games. To my surprise, I found my skill in a pretty good shape. Its a bit too early to make conclusions, because NL 25 is obviously not a challenge for a former mid stakes regular. However, my thinking still seems pretty descent.

I caught myself doing a lot of unnecessary brain work, though. For example, when I am in the hand, I always think about how my overall range plays out in this particular spot (in terms of bet sizing, etc) Its a waste of time (on NL 25), by the most part, but I can't help myself. I've simply trained my brain to work this way.

I am also auto balancing my ranges. For example, I cbet on a low rainbow board as a preflop aggressor (with a made hand), opponent calls, turn brings an overcard and I automatically fire again. Even though, I do realize that in this particular hand most of opponent's range won't stand a second barrel, I still bet it, just because I will do so without a made hand. Balancing is one of the most important things postflop, however, it isn't much of a concern when you are up against 34/10 guy. Against the majority of the players I am dealing with, each hand should be approached from the value maximization point.
To help myself, I sticked a note on the corner of my screen with 2 words on it: Maximize value. Hopefully it will help =)