Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Nakor]

Mr K as ever your reply conveys emotion so well. I understand from your response that the letter evokes very real memories and these in turn help form you views. As Claw points out the KS2 is all about grading school performance which makes the pain the children face different(?) from that felt by yourself? and the letter a little disingenuous at best.
However I do applaud the sentiment and I am sure as Anya races towards the educational lottery I will come to appreciate it more and more.

And Yes Anya will be joined by Nak junior 2.0 in January. Another stat for the geriatric fathers. Stupidly excited again and looking forward to seeing Anya's journey with her new sibling.

Took a trip back to the edge of the Fens this week, saw this in a pub car park. Only in Norfolk.

[The Wycher]

Hi Tikay,

I think you always have issues with any schools but we know it is a good school and it cares about the kids and their future (the kids are known to stay together as friends through high school which is not always the case), and it is quite nice when you have an argument with your daughter and threaten not to take her to school and she gets upset, that could have gone so wrong!!!. Pretty sure I would have just gone fine and gone back to my room at her age.

I have two kids girl and a boy ages 9 & 8 at moment.

Now I best do some more work 

[Junior Senior]

Will the King of Concrete XI be entering the fantasy football this year?
There is an interest list on the sports board. Be great to have as many teams as possible on board

Thanks Greg.

If I can find someone who will Manage my Team & do all the stuff, I will. I simply don't know enough about Football in truth.

Think I have 10 or 11 invites to various Fantasy Football Teams, they are amazingly & surprisingly popular. I have 4 from work alone.

Remember Johnny Gould, used to do the Ch 5 Baseball &, I think, NFL, & spent a while at Sky Poker as a Presenter, & on the Wm Hill TV Channel with Rhowena, Compo, Edy G & me?

He was a complete Fantasy League nutcase, it dominated his entire life.

I rather liked Johnny, mainly for his sheer enthusiasm.

After TV ended for him, he became an Auctioneer at Charity Functions, he could raise fortunes with his cajoling style, & was getting paid a stunning £2,000 per gig to do it.

The different ways people earn a living, or spend their recreational time is such a fascination to me.

What did you think of The Open, from Hoylake?

The open was great. I do like Rory. I do watch him though with a real dark feeling of envy. WAL that boy has and in truth one I expected for myself as a young boy.

Hoylake is a great course and have had the pleasure of playing it. Ain't that a thing! Not like I could go and have a kick about at old trafford or play a set at Wimbledon. Golf is so unique like that

I am sure you could get Jeeves to manage your team for you.

[DesD]

The day I died on TV.......

I have to preserve this, for posterity, or whatever "posterity" means in blonde terms.

After my admittedly cringeworthy little joke, the Show got an e-Mail from a Pro Golf Blogger suggesting I should know that the Nike logo was a SWOOSH......

Yesterday, this appeared on You Tube, under....

"Betting Guy Hasn't a Clue About Nike"


My colleagues in the Studio did the deadpan thing, not, it seems, without much difficulty.

On You Tube, Stan James Boomakers commented "this presenter must be the most uninformed man in the WORLD!!!"


Oh dear. Oh deary deary dear......

Brilliant, love it!

[JaffaCake]

Newcastle. All about loathing the Manager & the bloke that makes everything possible, the Owner. Those who loathe them have never managed a Premiership Football Team, or made x Billion, as the Owner has. And yet they don't get a shred of respect. Clowns.

Happy anniversary!

[tikay]

Newcastle. All about loathing the Manager & the bloke that makes everything possible, the Owner. Those who loathe them have never managed a Premiership Football Team, or made x Billion, as the Owner has. And yet they don't get a shred of respect. Clowns.

Happy anniversary!

Welcome back Mr K. Knew you'd have to yield eventually.

[Tal]

Thought you might enjoy this story:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/21/make-a-wish-kid-xander-bailey-given-professional-debut-for-seattle-sounders-against-spurs-4805067/

Football gets plenty of bad press, but this is a fantastic gesture from both clubs, particularly Seattle.

[tikay]

The day I died on TV.......

I have to preserve this, for posterity, or whatever "posterity" means in blonde terms.

After my admittedly cringeworthy little joke, the Show got an e-Mail from a Pro Golf Blogger suggesting I should know that the Nike logo was a SWOOSH......

Yesterday, this appeared on You Tube, under....

"Betting Guy Hasn't a Clue About Nike"


My colleagues in the Studio did the deadpan thing, not, it seems, without much difficulty.

On You Tube, Stan James Boomakers commented "this presenter must be the most uninformed man in the WORLD!!!"


Oh dear. Oh deary deary dear......

Brilliant, love it!

Thanks Mr D.

You can't make this stuff up. If I write a Blog & sweat it really hard on Social Media & whatnot, I'm very happy if I can get 2,000 views. And yet that accidental out-take by someone else now has 6,500 views, lol.

The nice chaps at Stan James missed the pun/joke & had a bit of a pop, but I guess they eventually worked it out & have now deleted their snipey comments.

Really ironic they described me as "uninformed", & yet closed my Stan James account because I made too much money betting with them. They had 3 markets on Televised football matches which all had the wrong line, & it was an "over/under" thing. They repeated the error on every single game, all season. I had the same bet on every single game, always bet "over", & bet on all three markets. I always bet the same amount, £40 on each market, so 3 x £40, & even though the bets were very profitable in % terms, I never upped the stakes. 

The prices were always 9/10 & 9/10, so it had a nice margin built in, & so were bad odds for a punter, or should have been if they had the lines right. Even so, I made a healthy profit betting all 3 markets, game after game, "blind".   

Then they wrote to me to inform me that they were closing my Account. All they had to do was correct their lines.....

Anyway, how are things at BetClic/Everest? I saw a good bit of Sam in Vegas, proudly wearing the patch. Give my regards to Blandy, please.

The online poker landscape is changing rapidly, & experiencing negative growth, but Next Door are experiencing something of a mini-boom, even during the World Cup surprisingly, much aided by the Apps & Mobile. Mobile is going to be HUGE. Might just be good for Online Poker, too, as it is largely a tool for recreationals.

Have you seen the new Party Poker "Fast Forward" (as in "Fastfold") swipe technology? Wow, really like that, that's going to shake the mobile market up I fancy. So good, but so obvious, really.

I was about to retire after the February UKPC, it was so stressful in so many ways, but such a success, it seemed a good time to hang up my boots, but then I ended up helping to broker the 6-Max UKPC renewal, & off I went again on the old whirlygig. I'll never learn.

Hope all is well with you & yours. I'll get to an APAT event one of these days, I promise.

[tikay]

Thought you might enjoy this story:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/21/make-a-wish-kid-xander-bailey-given-professional-debut-for-seattle-sounders-against-spurs-4805067/

Football gets plenty of bad press, but this is a fantastic gesture from both clubs, particularly Seattle.

Love it, & so easy to do. If only more Clubs did that sort of thing. Win-win. Which is unusual for Spurs.

[Tal]

Thought you might enjoy this story:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/21/make-a-wish-kid-xander-bailey-given-professional-debut-for-seattle-sounders-against-spurs-4805067/

Football gets plenty of bad press, but this is a fantastic gesture from both clubs, particularly Seattle.

Love it, & so easy to do. If only more Clubs did that sort of thing. Win-win. Which is unusual for Spurs.

Baddum tsh

[tikay]

Mr K as ever your reply conveys emotion so well. I understand from your response that the letter evokes very real memories and these in turn help form you views. As Claw points out the KS2 is all about grading school performance which makes the pain the children face different(?) from that felt by yourself? and the letter a little disingenuous at best.
However I do applaud the sentiment and I am sure as Anya races towards the educational lottery I will come to appreciate it more and more.

And Yes Anya will be joined by Nak junior 2.0 in January. Another stat for the geriatric fathers. Stupidly excited again and looking forward to seeing Anya's journey with her new sibling.

Took a trip back to the edge of the Fens this week, saw this in a pub car park. Only in Norfolk.

"conveys emotion so well". Maybe, that's one of my big problems, I do get a bit too emotional about some things, & it affects my judgement.

However, I did not realise that "KS2" was not a real exam, so yes, the letter was disingenuous, & well over the top. So I was wrong all along, lol.

Anya & thoughts of her schooling? Good Lord, I'd be stressed to death, I really would. It is SO important to find a good school. All the grounding you give her at home can be destroyed in the hands of a poor teacher, or School.

Nak 2.0? I can only imagine what an exciting Christmas & New Year you have in prospect.

Parenting must be so difficult. I watched a Fishing Competion recently, "Fish-O-Mania Junior" or somesuch.

The chap that won it was well pleased, clearly, but then the TV did the human interest bit, & showed the Mum congratulating him on his win. She was moved to tears, fair enough, but then she started stroking his head, & touching him, "ahh, look at my baby" style. He was about 15, with the first inkling of a beard, & a Yorkshire lad.....

I can understand the beaming with pride thing, but stroking kids like they were a dog is a touch too far for me. Having said that, I'd be the same, I'm sure.

[tikay]

Sad news was released today, the death of someone who, unknowingly & indirectly, had quite an effect on my life, or certainly my working life.

He actually died a week ago, but news of his death was withheld until yesterday. The family are - were - obsessively reclusive, following the kidnap of one of their children back in the day.

His name was Kark Albrecht, who, with his brother Theo (who died 3 years ago), began with this little shop.....

Click to see full-size image.

And by the time they passed away, he & his brother owned some 10,000 of these, right across the globe.....

 

Click to see full-size image.

Karl was the richest man in Germany, with brother Theo in 2nd place. Interestingly (?...) the third richest German is the founder of arch-competitors Lidl.

Karl once said of Lidl.....

"They were good for us, they stopped up falling aleep at the helm".

[tikay]

The name "Aldi" arose from merging the brother's surname "Albrecht" & "Discount". Al-Di became Aldi.

They have 4,000 stores in Germany alone. 

The brothers had a bit of a tiff back in the sixties, over selling - or not - cigarettes. So they parted, but on typically efficient German terms.

They agreed not to compete against each other, & each kept to specified & pre-agreed geographical areas. They still co-operated to achieve greater buying muscle, too.

So they became 2 Companies, Aldi North & Aldi South. Slightly different identities, but most things in common.

The Aldi we see in the UK is Aldi South, or more correctly, Aldi Sud. Their company name is Aldi GmbH.

On rare occasions, Karl would visit the UK to inspect the operation here, & it was like a royal visit. My Company made fortunes on "pre-visit" clean ups of the Stores & Car Parks. I'm sure Karl would not have approved of the waste, but he was a stickler for having everything clean & tidy, & in good order.

At the time, worldwide Aldi policy was to have plain white articulated delivery lorries, always spotlessly clean. GB was the first Aldi operation in the world to employ advertising signs on their vehicles. They never owned the tractor units, just the trailers, & they were operated by C Butt & Sons, who hail from Leicestershire I think. 

It was a really big deal when they made the big step to adverts on the lorries. But they originally & stubbornly stuck to a white background.

 

As the method proved remarkably successful, soon "full-colour" followed.....







The logic was ovewhelming - it's free advertising space.

[AlunB]

The day I died on TV.......

I have to preserve this, for posterity, or whatever "posterity" means in blonde terms.

After my admittedly cringeworthy little joke, the Show got an e-Mail from a Pro Golf Blogger suggesting I should know that the Nike logo was a SWOOSH......

Yesterday, this appeared on You Tube, under....

"Betting Guy Hasn't a Clue About Nike"


My colleagues in the Studio did the deadpan thing, not, it seems, without much difficulty.

On You Tube, Stan James Boomakers commented "this presenter must be the most uninformed man in the WORLD!!!"


Oh dear. Oh deary deary dear......

Brilliant, love it!

Thanks Mr D.

You can't make this stuff up. If I write a Blog & sweat it really hard on Social Media & whatnot, I'm very happy if I can get 2,000 views. And yet that accidental out-take by someone else now has 6,500 views, lol.

The nice chaps at Stan James missed the pun/joke & had a bit of a pop, but I guess they eventually worked it out & have now deleted their snipey comments.

Really ironic they described me as "uninformed", & yet closed my Stan James account because I made too much money betting with them. They had 3 markets on Televised football matches which all had the wrong line, & it was an "over/under" thing. They repeated the error on every single game, all season. I had the same bet on every single game, always bet "over", & bet on all three markets. I always bet the same amount, £40 on each market, so 3 x £40, & even though the bets were very profitable in % terms, I never upped the stakes. 

The prices were always 9/10 & 9/10, so it had a nice margin built in, & so were bad odds for a punter, or should have been if they had the lines right. Even so, I made a healthy profit betting all 3 markets, game after game, "blind".   

Then they wrote to me to inform me that they were closing my Account. All they had to do was correct their lines.....

Anyway, how are things at BetClic/Everest? I saw a good bit of Sam in Vegas, proudly wearing the patch. Give my regards to Blandy, please.

The online poker landscape is changing rapidly, & experiencing negative growth, but Next Door are experiencing something of a mini-boom, even during the World Cup surprisingly, much aided by the Apps & Mobile. Mobile is going to be HUGE. Might just be good for Online Poker, too, as it is largely a tool for recreationals.

Have you seen the new Party Poker "Fast Forward" (as in "Fastfold") swipe technology? Wow, really like that, that's going to shake the mobile market up I fancy. So good, but so obvious, really.

I was about to retire after the February UKPC, it was so stressful in so many ways, but such a success, it seemed a good time to hang up my boots, but then I ended up helping to broker the 6-Max UKPC renewal, & off I went again on the old whirlygig. I'll never learn.

Hope all is well with you & yours. I'll get to an APAT event one of these days, I promise.

Did you pull this face when you used it?

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

I got a call from them to do some Property maintenance work, & sensed this might be a golden opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a potentially huge client.

So I investigated them at length, so I would be properly prepared.

They had just 11 stores in the UK, a a lone "disdo", aka Distribution Depot, which was a "shed" in Magna Park, Leicesteshire.

"Sheds" are structural steel with external cladding, cheap & cheerful, expensive to maintain, with a limited life expectation of maybe 20 to 25 years. All Distribution Depots are glorified sheds.

But I discovered they were building a disdo in Atherstone, Warwickshire, which was brick built. What? A brick built disdo? Never been known, they cost fortunes - the Atherstone one came to £22 million - compared to 5 milly or so for a shed. The external hard-standing utilised brick paviors, not concrete, which was a major error, as brick paviors & heavy lorries always turning are a terrible mix. Good for Property Maintenance companies, though. Happy days.

This had to be a portent for a business here to stay. So I went for them, big time, with a major cooey-wooey exercise.

By the time I retired, they had 200 UK stores, & 7 disdos, & my company maintained all the midland-based & West Country ones, as well as Ireland, & we had shopfitted 87 in total.

Here's the Atherstone disdo. A visit there would full me with excitement, dread, & hope, I never quite knew what to expect, they were VERY strange people indeed.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.