Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Oh wait, Terms & Conditions apply......

[RED-DOG]

I live the life of Riley (who was he?) & I have a grand job which I love to death.

Some days good, some not so, now & then a nut bad day comes along, but that's when the character is tested, & yesterday was one of those days.

Yesterday was about as tough as it gets for me, I'm a little fatigued maybe, but the workload, stress & sense of occasional injustice tested me to the hilt.

Had no less than 3 Telecons, being the upcoming SPT in Blackpool, a series of poker shows we are planning to get on Sky Sports in the Autumn, & final preps for the players we are taking to Vegas (10 of them) spread thoughtout the day. Vegas worries a little, wiring the cash for the 10 x Main Event entrants, paying for the hotels, da de da, the devil is in the detail.

Add in a sort of "social" lunch engagement - & I don't do "lunch", ever - plus more texts, e-Mails, PM's & phone calls than I can ever recall in a single day, the regular "haters" stuff (goes with the job), 6 hours in the Studio last night (5 of them "Live", where the wits need to be kept close to hand), & I missed my afternoon meditation due to workload.

The "injustice" is the flak that anyone asociated with an Online Cardroom has to endure. It's a very odd thing, blame culture means peeps get upset when they lose, or can't get what they want, & I'm the focal point of that. It's what I do, it's who I am. I'm a cheat, liar, retard, moron, my company is run by idiots, we are all dishonest, & the RNG is rigged. Oh, & that pause berfore the river card, online? Ahh, well that is "so the software can find the card to beat me, it always does, fucking Sky Poker shafted me up the arse again". Holy moly.

It's balanced, of course, by lovely feedback, especially from newbies & smaller players, for whom we devote much time & care, & I receive more lovely "thank you" notes than you could ever imagine. I probably get 10 or 15 every single day, & I never tire of them, they are the pineapple & beetroot on the plate.

Funny old world, 'innit?   

So I was close to my limit, & the mettle was certainly under the microscope, but I just about contained my angst & when it was all done, @ 1am this morning, I was quite pleased with myself, in a non-smug way.  And I KNEW that after a good kip & I'd awake today full of the joys of spring, & I did.

And recognizing the balance is part of that. On Sunday I head out to Vegas for a month, part financed by next door, to play poker non-stop for 2 weeks, then "work" for 2 weeks, looking after my players, blogging every day (which I love), & generally doing things most would give their right arm to do.

A great day, in it's own way, & a great life. It was always so.

Forgive me for preaching to the converted Tone. I decided a while ago that I would try accept every new day, and the challenges therein with enthusiasm and good grace.

To squeeze every ounce of pleasure I can out of life.  It's the only sensible thing to do.

Oh I know it's not all good, but most so-called problems, (illness and death aside) are merely opportunities for enjoyment if you choose to make them so.

Last week, my van developed a leak which soaked the drivers side floor pan. I'd had a windscreen fitted recently so I suspected the bonding agent had been incorrectly applied.

Autoglass were as good as gold, they came straight out and re-fitted the screen, no charge. It didn't fix the leak though.

I consulted the interweb. Apparently, this is a common fault on my type of van. It happens when the sealing compound between the servo and the bulkhead becomes dry and brittle.

The solution is to replace the sealing compound, the problem is you have to almost completely dismantle the vehicle to do it.

I was dreading the job, and feeling a bit sorry for myself because I now had this on top of everything else. (Busy, and expensive week).

Then I remembered my vow of smilence and I decided that if I had to do it, I was going to enjoy doing it.

Guess what? I did enjoy doing it, rust in my eyes, skinned knuckles and all. (Most of all I enjoyed saving the £450 that the Vauxhall dealer wanted to do the job).

Joseph Stalin (May his soul rot in Hell)  once said,  "Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem". Which is a very poignant quote for someone who caused more misery than most of us could ever imagine.


It's all about attitude. Look for the good side, your life will be so much better for it.

Take a vow of smilence.  

[Laxie]

Oh wait, Terms & Conditions apply......

I've a feeling there's plenty on here who wouldn't mind paying the extra for 'those' terms and conditions. 

[tikay]

You are indeed preaching to the converted Tom, I fail sometimes, too often perhaps, but I'm almost there, & I enjoy every day, no matter how bad, I can still find the good.

I struggle to comprehend the amount of hate out there though, it keeps me awake at night sometimes, why why why?

I seem to have moved into a strange mental state as I approach that dreaded "big" birthday. I see so many things from further away, but in much sharper focus now. I understand more than I ever did, & less than I ever did. 40 years ago I knew everything, I really did, so I've found tolerance to those lads who are of that age now. I was them once. I'm pretty sure though that the levels of toxicity & hate were not so intense back then. The internet has made life so much better, & so much worse.

I am mostly at peace with the world now, every day is glorious, & wrote about yesterday because I got through, never wilted, held the line, & I knew I'd awake today full of beans., And I did. Balance, always. I still struggle with intolerance, some of the barbs aimed my way because I happen to do a certain job are out of line, & I want to stab them in the eye, and I am ashamed of that, but that's a whole different story, best not go there right now.

I'm as happy as larry, I promise, never been happier, never been luckier, never beeen healthier, but I want to try & explain things sometimes, and maybe I don't come across as intended.

I just struggle to understand some stuff, & I endlessly self-examine. Which is good, I think.

[tikay]

Think I've waffled enough, the calls are piling up, the e-mails mounting, things to do, peeps to see. Every day different, too. How good is my life?


 

[tikay]

Ooooh.

Someone - Mr Nice Man - just sent me £1,000, for a staking dividend. £1,000, just like that!

Have a nice day Sir, & thank you.

[tonytats]

My friends flew with virgin on Wednesday on arrival at the check in desk they had a bit of pleasant banter with the check in ladies and were told the flight was very busy ,when they got to depart they discovered they had been upgraded to first class as premium was full at no charge ,they felt it was all down to being pleasant
As a by note one of them was ivor who u took out of an Omaha tourney at the Venetian last year Tony,whilst claiming not to know him !

[Eso Kral]

Ooooh.

Someone - Mr Nice Man - just sent me £1,000, for a staking dividend. £1,000, just like that!

Have a nice day Sir, & thank you.

YW I shall endeavour to send some more monies by the time you return.

[tikay]

My friends flew with virgin on Wednesday on arrival at the check in desk they had a bit of pleasant banter with the check in ladies and were told the flight was very busy ,when they got to depart they discovered they had been upgraded to first class as premium was full at no charge ,they felt it was all down to being pleasant
As a by note one of them was ivor who u took out of an Omaha tourney at the Venetian last year Tony,whilst claiming not to know him !

Thanks Tony, knowing my luck. I'll get that Upgrade, too, I run pretty good. AND I was nice to that lady on the 'phone. Karma rocks.

I know Ivor, presumably? Whoops, sorry. Honestly, that happens a lot, I was sat with a chap at DTD recently who was a bit miffed I did not know who he was, "you've known me 8 years" he said. And I had known him for 8 years Online, but I did not ever recall meeting him.  Ugh.

And I BUSTED him in an Omaha Tourney, you say? Hear that, Kimber? BUSTED the bloke. Omaha. Me.

[MANTIS01]

I dealt with two venomous complaints in my gym yesterday. Firstly a lady was spitting with rage because we had moved the female free weights about 20 feet to a new location. She explained that now when she comes to the gym she has to walk ALL THE WAY to where the weights are and ALL THE WAY back to her usual place in front of the mirror. When I ventured that this was called exercise her anger seemed to increase ten fold. Next, I had a new member slip over in the showers and he was incensed because there aren't signs warning new members that the showers will be wet. He sat there looking at me with a very angry face demanding an explanation. I sympathise with having to deal with internet complaints but face to face is pretty tough too.

[tikay]

I dealt with two venomous complaints in my gym yesterday. Firstly a lady was spitting with rage because we had moved the female free weights about 20 feet to a new location. She explained that now when she comes to the gym she has to walk ALL THE WAY to where the weights are and ALL THE WAY back to her usual place in front of the mirror. When I ventured that this was called exercise her anger seemed to increase ten fold. Next, I had a new member slip over in the showers and he was incensed because there aren't signs warning new members that the showers will be wet. He sat there looking at me with a very angry face demanding an explanation. I sympathise with having to deal with internet complaints but face to face is pretty tough too.

Lol, lovely. Fancy that, a wet shower.

In some ways face to face is better, some ways worse.

For all sorts of reasons, in my job, or role, online, I/we cannot respond, just gotta turn the other cheek. And THEY KNOW THAT, so they know they are having a free shot. Classy. 

In my case, I often meet these people in "real life", & of course they are nice as pie then.

"Online" seems to change all the rules of life, & social interaction, as we know it.

It's fine, I manage, took me a while to come to terms with how illogical it all is. They don't really hate me, (I hope!) but they just have to vent, because they struggle with handling adversity. I'd not mind if it was real adversity, but a hand of poker, jeez.

It really is an interesting thing, it fascinates me, & I think about it endlessly. It's awkward to write about though, as there is a danger that it comes across wrong. I actually admire your thick-skinned nature, we discussed it at Walsall if you recall, but I don't find it quite so easy. I'm getting better though.

I just want to do & think positive things, serial negativity seems such a waste.

I read most of blonde, every day, some threads & Posts blow me away. So much venom over such a trivilaity (in the greater scheme of things) as poker. I made a resolution a while back to refrain from getting involved in the contentious stuff, purely because, in my opinion, people tend to debate or argue so badly online, & a disagreement seems to go from pop to bang so quickly, & soon the personal insults are flying. In real life, not so much...... This is not "holier than thou", I was as guilty as any at one stage I suppose, but I've had my fill, & now I'm on the home stretch, peace & quiet is the deal now. I think it comes to all with age.

[TightEnd]

Click to see full-size image.

Rain cloud, this morning, photographed from central Beijing

[tikay]

What a photo that is!

[tikay]

Knew I should never have written that.

Just has a text from a good mate.

It began "Now then......"

[MrDickie]

Those last 3 pages were my favourite read of the week. Thank you.