Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

All getting a bit morbid here, so on a lighter note.....

Gill informed me this morning that a good friend has invited her to a baby shower.

She seemed a little taken aback when I asked WTF a baby shower was. Sounded a bit like some form of water sports to me.

Am I the only one who has never heard of such a thing?

[RED-DOG]

All getting a bit morbid here, so on a lighter note.....

Gill informed me this morning that a good friend has invited her to a baby shower.

She seemed a little taken aback when I asked WTF a baby shower was. Sounded a bit like some form of water sports to me.

Am I the only one who has never heard of such a thing?

You mean a GF's BS obv.

[tikay]

How did the NDPT go?

Did you win?

Give me a day to suss out what NDPT means please. I'#, guessing the PT stands for Poker Tour?

Urban Dictionary was no use;

NDPT National Democratic Party of Tibet (est. 1994)
NDPT National Deaf Poker Tour
NDPT National Danish Performance Team (gymnastics)
NDPT Next Day Printed Tees, Inc. (San Diego, CA)
NDPT New Deal for Public Transit (Canada)
NDPT Normal Deformable Plate Theory (engineering)


PS - Is there really such a thing as "National Deaf Poker Tour"?

PPS - Safe to say, whatever I was, nope, I never won. I'm so bad.

Next Door Poker Tour

(Sorry!)

Jeepers, how thick am I?

Well no, I never won, but I had an absolute ball. I just about made Day 2, but it took me 2 bullets to get there.  

Got real coolered when going along nicely in the first, one of those odd situations that are unavoidable I think. Raised with 9-10 of diamonds, it comes 10-3-4, 2 diamonds. Seems OK so far, but at this point I never knew he'd flopped a set of fours. Easy enough to get away from, but another 10 turned, which LOOKED a cracking card, then a diamond rivered......

I had quite forgotten how much I love playing live poker though. So much fun.

I also met a chap who has just finished 6 years in prison - really fun guy actually - a chap with Tourettes who appeared in NEDS (whatever that is), and best of all, the winner, who was a 6'-2" tall fella with a bad back who was unable to sit down so stood up for the entire Tournament - 11 hours on Day 1 & 13 hours on Day 2.  Pretty sure I've never seen a poker player in a "live" environment who stood up the entire time.  

Here he is;

 

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

All getting a bit morbid here, so on a lighter note.....

Gill informed me this morning that a good friend has invited her to a baby shower.

She seemed a little taken aback when I asked WTF a baby shower was. Sounded a bit like some form of water sports to me.

Am I the only one who has never heard of such a thing?

You mean a GF's BS obv.

Her wording was as per my post, so that added to the confusion, but even if she had said that, I'd still not have known what a baby shower was.  Are you telling me you knew? If so, I'm impressed.

[horseplayer]

Not sure we want to hear about the water sports tales...!

[RED-DOG]

Up until recently I had never heard of a baby shower. The women in my orbit carried on with life until the baby was due, went into hospital, stayed there only until the moment they were allowed to leave, then went back to life as usual.

There was no baby showers, maternity leave, moving to a bigger house, special diets or anything else. It was a palaver free process.

Now the media has convinced women everywhere that they need all that stuff.

Stand on me girls, there's nothing like a good day's hard work followed by a stint in the kitchen to help get your figure back and combat post-natal depression

[tikay]

Not sure we want to hear about the water sports tales...!

Well yes, it did cross my mind for one fleeting moment.

[tikay]

Up until recently I had never heard of a baby shower. The women in my orbit carried on with life until the baby was due, went into hospital, stayed there only until the moment they were allowed to leave, then went back to life as usual.

There was no baby showers, maternity leave, moving to a bigger house, special diets or anything else. It was a palaver free process.

Now the media has convinced women everywhere that they need all that stuff.

Stand on me girls, there's nothing like a good day's hard work followed by a stint in the kitchen to help get your figure back and combat post-natal depression

With heavily pregnant ladies as my cue, a deft change of topic now.

I was reading some Bryson this morning, & his inventive use of adjectives fill me with awe, jealousy & admiration. Generally, he writes pretty well too. How could this not bring a smile?

Iowa women are always sensationally overweight.

He then goes on to explain how, in their shorts & halter top, they remind him of an elephant dressed in children's clothes.   

Too good Mr Bryson, too good.

[Tal]

Up until recently I had never heard of a baby shower. The women in my orbit carried on with life until the baby was due, went into hospital, stayed there only until the moment they were allowed to leave, then went back to life as usual.

There was no baby showers, maternity leave, moving to a bigger house, special diets or anything else. It was a palaver free process.

Now the media has convinced women everywhere that they need all that stuff.

Stand on me girls, there's nothing like a good day's hard work followed by a stint in the kitchen to help get your figure back and combat post-natal depression

With heavily pregnant ladies as my cue, a deft change of topic now.

I was reading some Bryson this morning, & his inventive use of adjectives fill me with awe, jealousy & admiration. Generally, he writes pretty well too. How could this not bring a smile?

Iowa women are always sensationally overweight.

He then goes on to explain how, in their shorts & halter top, they remind him of an elephant dressed in children's clothes.  

Too good Mr Bryson, too good.

Adverb. Words ending -ly tend to be; they describe the verb (so how overweight ARE they?). Flipping good adverb, mind.

PG Wodehouse wrote, "The Rt Hon. was a tubby little chap, who looked like he'd been poured into his clothes, but had forgotten to say 'when'"

That takes some bosting for my money.

[RED-DOG]

Up until recently I had never heard of a baby shower. The women in my orbit carried on with life until the baby was due, went into hospital, stayed there only until the moment they were allowed to leave, then went back to life as usual.

There was no baby showers, maternity leave, moving to a bigger house, special diets or anything else. It was a palaver free process.

Now the media has convinced women everywhere that they need all that stuff.

Stand on me girls, there's nothing like a good day's hard work followed by a stint in the kitchen to help get your figure back and combat post-natal depression

With heavily pregnant ladies as my cue, a deft change of topic now.

I was reading some Bryson this morning, & his inventive use of adjectives fill me with awe, jealousy & admiration. Generally, he writes pretty well too. How could this not bring a smile?

Iowa women are always sensationally overweight.

He then goes on to explain how, in their shorts & halter top, they remind him of an elephant dressed in children's clothes.   

Too good Mr Bryson, too good.

As you know I haven't read any fiction for years but the other day I was early for a meeting and had an hour to kill.

It was in a building where you have to clear security and collect a visitors tag so going out for a stroll wasn't really worth it; of course I could have strolled before I entered the building but then if there had been any probs with security (as there often is with me) I might have been late .

So I waited in a hospitality suite. It had nice comfy chairs, wifi, and  free tea, coffee and biscuits so waiting wasn't a hardship.

There was a little bookcase, one of those efforts where people leave and take used books, I picked one up and thumbed it idly. 10 minutes later I was firmly hooked.

The thing I had forgotten about good fiction is, 95% of it is fact. Like when the author talks about special forces combat procedures, the workings of a nuclear reactor or explains what happens when a soft-nose bullet enters a human skull, all that stuff is fact, and it's fascinating.

The book is Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.

No spoilers please, I haven't finished it yet.

[RED-DOG]

Up until recently I had never heard of a baby shower. The women in my orbit carried on with life until the baby was due, went into hospital, stayed there only until the moment they were allowed to leave, then went back to life as usual.

There was no baby showers, maternity leave, moving to a bigger house, special diets or anything else. It was a palaver free process.

Now the media has convinced women everywhere that they need all that stuff.

Stand on me girls, there's nothing like a good day's hard work followed by a stint in the kitchen to help get your figure back and combat post-natal depression

With heavily pregnant ladies as my cue, a deft change of topic now.

I was reading some Bryson this morning, & his inventive use of adjectives fill me with awe, jealousy & admiration. Generally, he writes pretty well too. How could this not bring a smile?

Iowa women are always sensationally overweight.

He then goes on to explain how, in their shorts & halter top, they remind him of an elephant dressed in children's clothes.  

Too good Mr Bryson, too good.

Adverb. Words ending -ly tend to be; they describe the verb (so how overweight ARE they?). Flipping good adverb, mind.

PG Wodehouse wrote, "The Rt Hon. was a tubby little chap, who looked like he'd been poured into his clothes, but had forgotten to say 'when'"

That takes some bosting for my money.

Fabulous!

[RED-DOG]

Raymond Chandler.

"She had the kind of figure that makes a priest want to kick a hole in a stained-glass window"

[tikay]

Up until recently I had never heard of a baby shower. The women in my orbit carried on with life until the baby was due, went into hospital, stayed there only until the moment they were allowed to leave, then went back to life as usual.

There was no baby showers, maternity leave, moving to a bigger house, special diets or anything else. It was a palaver free process.

Now the media has convinced women everywhere that they need all that stuff.

Stand on me girls, there's nothing like a good day's hard work followed by a stint in the kitchen to help get your figure back and combat post-natal depression

With heavily pregnant ladies as my cue, a deft change of topic now.

I was reading some Bryson this morning, & his inventive use of adjectives fill me with awe, jealousy & admiration. Generally, he writes pretty well too. How could this not bring a smile?

Iowa women are always sensationally overweight.

He then goes on to explain how, in their shorts & halter top, they remind him of an elephant dressed in children's clothes.  

Too good Mr Bryson, too good.

Adverb. Words ending -ly tend to be; they describe the verb (so how overweight ARE they?). Flipping good adverb, mind.

PG Wodehouse wrote, "The Rt Hon. was a tubby little chap, who looked like he'd been poured into his clothes, but had forgotten to say 'when'"

That takes some bosting for my money.

FML, I no longer know the difference between an adjective and an adverb. But thank you.

[hhyftrftdr]

On the subject of tragic deaths, a remarkable story emerged today about a 60 year old lady who died in horrible circumstances.  It's not in the least bit funny, but it is a real eye-opener as to the different ways we can meet our end. 

The woman owned, with her family, a timeshare home at a holiday resort in Wales.

On the day she arrived, she was in a broom cupboard annexe off the toilet, but when she tried to get out, the doorknob broke off in her hand, & she was trapped. No 'phone with her of course, so she tried to find a way out, but failed. A week later, her body was discovered, so her family are suing the Holiday Resort for negligence. We don't know the full story, but my first thought was how did the family allow it to go for a week before visiting the house, surely they'd be worried if their Mum had disappeared for 7 days? Anyway, that's beside the point.

It's the manner of death that so surprised.

She tried everything to get out, & eventually had the foresight to break off a piece of lead piping from the toilet plumbing system, & use that to batter a hole in the wall. And she succeeded, but there was a large picture affixed to the other side of the wall & she never realised she was that close to escape, all she had to do was push the picture hard & she'd be free.

Instead....after breaking off the length of plumbing, cold water at high pressure immediately started spraying everywhere inside the little broom cupboard, including all over her, & she eventually died of hypothermia. If it were not so tragic, it'd be a black comedy.

There are some really unusual - & horrible - ways to die, but that must be right up there with them.


 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45882998

This is a really unusual case.

Airing cupboard doors generally aren't very robust, so of all the lingering questions the one that sticks in my mind is why didn't she kick open the door?

Of course she might well have tried and perhaps it was more robust than normal, but something just doesn't seem to add up.

Sorry to bump the morbidness!

[RED-DOG]

On the subject of tragic deaths, a remarkable story emerged today about a 60 year old lady who died in horrible circumstances.  It's not in the least bit funny, but it is a real eye-opener as to the different ways we can meet our end. 

The woman owned, with her family, a timeshare home at a holiday resort in Wales.

On the day she arrived, she was in a broom cupboard annexe off the toilet, but when she tried to get out, the doorknob broke off in her hand, & she was trapped. No 'phone with her of course, so she tried to find a way out, but failed. A week later, her body was discovered, so her family are suing the Holiday Resort for negligence. We don't know the full story, but my first thought was how did the family allow it to go for a week before visiting the house, surely they'd be worried if their Mum had disappeared for 7 days? Anyway, that's beside the point.

It's the manner of death that so surprised.

She tried everything to get out, & eventually had the foresight to break off a piece of lead piping from the toilet plumbing system, & use that to batter a hole in the wall. And she succeeded, but there was a large picture affixed to the other side of the wall & she never realised she was that close to escape, all she had to do was push the picture hard & she'd be free.

Instead....after breaking off the length of plumbing, cold water at high pressure immediately started spraying everywhere inside the little broom cupboard, including all over her, & she eventually died of hypothermia. If it were not so tragic, it'd be a black comedy.

There are some really unusual - & horrible - ways to die, but that must be right up there with them.


 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45882998

This is a really unusual case.

Airing cupboard doors generally aren't very robust, so of all the lingering questions the one that sticks in my mind is why didn't she kick open the door?

Of course she might well have tried and perhaps it was more robust than normal, but something just doesn't seem to add up.

Sorry to bump the morbidness!

And there is no way you can smash a hole in a wall without damaging a picture that's hanging on the outside.