Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[redsimon]

You're 18 just finished school, good at poker, good student. It's 2015, do you go to university, get a job, play poker, get an apprenticeship or travel?

1) Go to Uni.

When I was young, I never knerw ONE person who got to Uni. These days so many more get the chance. They should take it.

Top notch question Pads.


Problem with Uni now is that everyone goes, and what's more, all the information they consume when they are there is readily available online. If I ever have kids, I'll be talking them out of going to Uni and instead spending a year or so working for free in an industry they want to work in. They'll learn more, progress faster and it will cost them much much less.

Remarkable how many young uns detest the idea of working for free, but happily pay for three years at Uni which guarantees very little in the workforce.

I think I was probably one of the first generations of people to go to Uni when degrees started getting worthless. I learned nothing there. I managed to learn to be self reliant and to budget, but that was in my student house, not the lecture hall. It's horribly cynical but the whole Uni thing today is a lie we are selling our young people.

I partly agree with this, I think to many kids just go to Uni because everyone else does and they really don't know what they want to do in some cases. I work in accountancy and the worst trainees for us would be those with accountancy degrees as they believe they know everything whereas a 18 year old who has spent the last 3 years working in accountancy is a million miles ahead.

Having said all that if I didn't need to work and could afford uni I would go and do an ancient history degree at the drop of a hat, and I think there are some careers that need the Uni knowledge.

I only post on here to interesting posts & I suppose this is one.

I don't think a graduate is behind someone who has working experience. There was an article not so long ago, from a tabloid like The Guardian in which it showed that people who graduate from Uni are in front of the individual who starts from the bottom upwards. I think this might be in financial terms, but it I think it would be correct. You walk out of Uni with a degree in a subject these days and you aren't starting from the bottom, you are likely to be starting from some sort of position in the company, where as it would take the guy with no qualification a good few years to get there, if at all.

But you are right, the numbers for University are a lot greater, but they are a lot better getting a degree for the money, rather than signing on.

I started Uni some years ago and I can walk into a decent job these days, but it's rather tedious as within the time of study, I have been able to start something of my own, in which in terms of finance is more than I would get by some margin by a graduate job, maybe the degree was a complete waste of time?

As for the situation at 18, who is good at poker then? They can't just walk into jobs at 18 either, unless they have previous & Uni can sometimes be the best option.

Good question though - I would never advise poker though (and who is good at poker at 18?), I've never really understood the whole fascination in wanting it as a job, those late nights and you miss the next day. You miss half you life, imo. Everyone to their own though.

so much nonsense in this, starting with calling the Guardian a tabloid!

[AlunB]

Pretty sure we've had exactly this conversation before on blonde, in fact it might even have been on this thread.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/10246785/Graduate-premium-no-matter-what-you-study.html

The headline is that, taking into account the tuition fees, student loans and taxation on earnings over a lifetime, as a man you'll have earned an additional 28% more (£168k over a working lifetime) on average compared with someone with a similar background who didn't go to university.


I don't think anyone is capable of making a sensible decision about what they want to do for the rest of their lives at 18. I'm not even sure anyone is at 38. And everyone rationalises their own choices and those of the people they meet but in poker terms lol sample size, variance and result oriented thinking ftw

I would be amazed if there were a "right" answer to this, but I would have thought that something that limits your future options (not going to university) was sub-optimal to the alternative (going to university). This assumes that going to uni doesn't ruin you financially.

I'm struggling to think of what you could start at 18 that you couldn't start at 21 in terms of a career or business etc. But I went to university and so did pretty much everyone I know so I very much doubt my view is unbiased.

[AlunB]

Pretty sure we've had exactly this conversation before on blonde, in fact it might even have been on this thread.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/10246785/Graduate-premium-no-matter-what-you-study.html

The headline is that, taking into account the tuition fees, student loans and taxation on earnings over a lifetime, as a man you'll have earned an additional 28% more (£168k over a working lifetime) on average compared with someone with a similar background who didn't go to university.


I don't think anyone is capable of making a sensible decision about what they want to do for the rest of their lives at 18. I'm not even sure anyone is at 38. And everyone rationalises their own choices and those of the people they meet. In poker terms: lol sample size, variance and results oriented thinking ftw

I would be amazed if there were a "right" answer to this, but I would have thought that something that limits your future options (not going to university) was sub-optimal to the alternative (going to university). This assumes that going to uni doesn't ruin you financially.

I'm struggling to think of what you could start at 18 that you couldn't start at 21 in terms of a career or business etc. But I went to university and so did pretty much everyone I know so I very much doubt my view is unbiased.
[/quote]

[vegaslover]

I hope that I will give my boys enough opportunities, experiences, encouragement, and guidance to have as good an idea as possible art age 18 to have a decently strong sense of direction - work, uni, year out, whatever.

Do we, as parents,  incest enough in our kids, or do we let them coast through and absolve ourselves of the responsibility in the hope school will care enough to guide them? My parents did next to fuck all to show any genuine interest in what I was doing or where I was headed other than to try and bully me into staying on to do A levels because my Mum wanted the kudos and the same with Uni.  Then blamed me when I moved solely to get away from home and did nowt academically the whole year I was there.

There has to be a genuine investment in ours kids and their futures and unselfish reasons tohelp them get there.

Another point to consider is that whilst we can give our 18yr old child as much advice as we can, at that age they probably won't heed it, just like most of us.

Easy for us to think what the positive calls are when we have lived through this experience and can thus reflect as such.

Would I do a lot things different if I was 18 again? hell yes. But do I regret the choices I made back then? not particularly.

[DaveShoelace]

I hope that I will give my boys enough opportunities, experiences, encouragement, and guidance to have as good an idea as possible art age 18 to have a decently strong sense of direction - work, uni, year out, whatever.

Do we, as parents,  incest enough in our kids, or do we let them coast through and absolve ourselves of the responsibility in the hope school will care enough to guide them? My parents did next to fuck all to show any genuine interest in what I was doing or where I was headed other than to try and bully me into staying on to do A levels because my Mum wanted the kudos and the same with Uni.  Then blamed me when I moved solely to get away from home and did nowt academically the whole year I was there.

There has to be a genuine investment in ours kids and their futures and unselfish reasons tohelp them get there.

Another point to consider is that whilst we can give our 18yr old child as much advice as we can, at that age they probably won't heed it, just like most of us.

Easy for us to think what the positive calls are when we have lived through this experience and can thus reflect as such.

Would I do a lot things different if I was 18 again? hell yes. But do I regret the choices I made back then? not particularly.

Yeah very good point. I hated Uni and felt it was a waste of my time, however it made me who I am and some of the negatives of Uni made other positives more satisfying later on.

Plus, a lot of the hindsight advice I would give myself now, I'm pretty certain my parents actually did give me that advice when I was 18, but I dismissed it.

[maccol]

I hope that I will give my boys enough opportunities, experiences, encouragement, and guidance to have as good an idea as possible art age 18 to have a decently strong sense of direction - work, uni, year out, whatever.

Do we, as parents,  incest enough in our kids, or do we let them coast through and absolve ourselves of the responsibility in the hope school will care enough to guide them? My parents did next to fuck all to show any genuine interest in what I was doing or where I was headed other than to try and bully me into staying on to do A levels because my Mum wanted the kudos and the same with Uni.  Then blamed me when I moved solely to get away from home and did nowt academically the whole year I was there.

There has to be a genuine investment in ours kids and their futures and unselfish reasons tohelp them get there.

Another point to consider is that whilst we can give our 18yr old child as much advice as we can, at that age they probably won't heed it, just like most of us.

Easy for us to think what the positive calls are when we have lived through this experience and can thus reflect as such.

Would I do a lot things different if I was 18 again? hell yes. But do I regret the choices I made back then? not particularly.

Plus, a lot of the hindsight advice I would give myself now, I'm pretty certain my parents actually did give me that advice when I was 18, but I dismissed it.

Im sure this would be a big factor in most 18 year-olds thinking.

[Tal]

As I sit on a cold metal bench in a cold corridor of the completed half of the new New Street Station, I wonder whether you might be able to answer a question for me.

I like Moor Street Station, largely because it looks like a train station* - red brick, wooden archways and a rustic feel to it, even with the modern arrival and departure display boards and the coffee shop.

If the powers that be had decided, instead of going for a modern station, with sheet metal and painted white MDF, they would turn the New Street into a traditional but spectacular centrepiece for the Midlands (say, something like St Pancras), how much more would it have cost?



*On the whole, I like things to look like the thing they are. It can be stylish without needing to be bizarre. I don't mind the odd oddity but big, everyday stuff should be obvious: cars look like cars, houses houses, suits suits and so on. I don't want to be unsure as to whether something is a banana or a three piece suite.

[RED-DOG]

I don't want to be unsure as to whether something is a banana or a three piece suite.

I hear you bro.

[Tal]

I don't want to be unsure as to whether something is a banana or a three piece suite.

I hear you bro.

You have quite a hard drive, sir.

[Tal]

Of course, you reserve your seat in advance, only to find someone in it: a gentleman with a demeanour far grander than his suit. It's always a difficult one to judge as an Englishman. We don't like moving people if we can help it. Him giving me a look like I'd befouled his loafers certainly helped my decision-making process.

"Excuse me, please. I think you'll find that's my seat, sir"

"Oh, " he mustered, halfway between offence and surprise, "but the one next to it must be free then?"

Like that, eh? As you wish.

"According to the display, intermittently, yes". The implication that he might be asked to move by some other filthy scroat in jeans and trainers at a later stop has not proved to be an overwhelming deterrent and he's now confined to the window seat, wondering how society came not to respect men of his position in suits and Windows phones.

Mr and Mrs Quette must be ever so disappointed at how their daughter Hettie turned out.

[tikay]

As I sit on a cold metal bench in a cold corridor of the completed half of the new New Street Station, I wonder whether you might be able to answer a question for me.

I like Moor Street Station, largely because it looks like a train station* - red brick, wooden archways and a rustic feel to it, even with the modern arrival and departure display boards and the coffee shop.

If the powers that be had decided, instead of going for a modern station, with sheet metal and painted white MDF, they would turn the New Street into a traditional but spectacular centrepiece for the Midlands (say, something like St Pancras), how much more would it have cost?



*On the whole, I like things to look like the thing they are. It can be stylish without needing to be bizarre. I don't mind the odd oddity but big, everyday stuff should be obvious: cars look like cars, houses houses, suits suits and so on. I don't want to be unsure as to whether something is a banana or a three piece suite.

By chance, a close friend of mine was due to travel to Birmingham New St Station on Saturday via Virgin Cross Country, with a view to perusing what she told me was "The Birmingham German Sausage Christmas Market" or somesuch. No no, I kid you not.  

Anyway, I warned her in advance (we share a passion for Railway Stations, Airports & the like), that New St Station was totally an abomination, it is everything an important Railway Station should NOT be. Concrete is fine & dandy, it has it's attractions to us both, too, but not as the fabric of a railway station & platforms. It is thoroughly horrible, in every way, & barely gets a man's juices flowing as such a Station should.

Moor Street, on the other hand, is an example to all, especially with those lovely, traditional, platform canopy's.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

In contrast, I give you New St Station.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Lest you think I make this stuff up, here you go.....



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-30006242

Actual title is "Birmingham Christmas Frankfurt Market".

In 2013, allegedly, it attracted 5 million visitors.

By way of making convo in a subject which holds less interest to me than a 'Stars Hand History, I gently enquired if she purchased anything. I did not really wish an answer, but I got one.

"Yes, I got a German Smoker".

Well I had to follow that up.

A WHAT?

And she sent me a photograph. Here you go.



"But why is that called a German Smoker?", I proceeded, rather unwisely.

"Well you stick incense inside him, & smoke emits from the hole in his pipe".

So there you are.

Can't believe what treasures of life have passed me by all these years.

[Tal]

What amazes me most about it is how many people are sampling the Bavarian beverages at lunchtimes. Birmingham's offices must have some erratic decisions being made in afternoons in December.

[tikay]

What amazes me most about it is how many people are sampling the Bavarian beverages at lunchtimes. Birmingham's offices must have some erratic decisions being made in afternoons in December.

Folks who buy German Smokers amaze me.

[Karabiner]

What amazes me most about it is how many people are sampling the Bavarian beverages at lunchtimes. Birmingham's offices must have some erratic decisions being made in afternoons in December.

Folks who buy German Smokers amaze me.

Perhaps she'll be buying you a pipe for Xmas?