Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Tal]

When a guy announces himself as table captain, you either have to accept it and not let it affect you or take him down a peg or two.

The second is invariably waaaaaaaaaaay more fun.

You chose option two, but only after you'd failed in option one quite badly. That's too late. You have to spot when you won't be able to - or don't want to try to - put up with their nonsense before it affects you.

What you did is exactly why he's doing what he's doing. It's Being a Donut At the Table 101. You got absolutely hook, line and sinkered. You mustn't break the rules, but there's lots of ways of chopping him down.

Group A: Sarcastic belittling. The childish way, but immasculating him will hit him at his core "identity" level in NLP terms. Call him Spiderman all day. Or Comic Book Guy. Or say "nice hat". Or ask him if he had matching pyjamas. British sense of humour gets you a long way in these parts. Usually free before he notices.

Group B: calming chat. Some folk are just doing it for attention, so give him attention in a better way. Ask him where he's from and ask lots of open questions. He either wants to talk about himself or about the character he portrays at the table. This will tell you which. If it works, he'll have a hard time going from nice guy, chatting about Idaho to officer angry again.

Group C: Intelligence fail. Get him talking and, when he says somethin factually incorrect, don't just put him right, laugh at his awful answer. Say he misreads the score of the baseball on the telly. "Three two Tigers". Easy response "Ha!! How bad's your eyesight, superman? I thought you could see through walls! I'm xxx years old and even I can see it's 5-2!!" Danger there is you're marked and he'll pick on any little slip up you make. It's a high variance play, particularly if you're prepared to double and triple barrel.

Group D: Be British. Take him up on his behaviour. Is it really so hard? "Sir, your behaviour at the table is really quite peturbing. Would you just tone down the coquettishness, please? I doubt I speak just for myself when I say I can't here for a fun game of cards and your constant sniping is running the experience." How often do you think someone says it like that? Usually, it's way past that point and he can return serve with calling the floor for a penalty. Not here. Now, he's the one out of order.

Group E: cocktail. This is the advanced stuff; a mixture of the other categories. "Sir. Would you mind toning it down a little, please? If it were just you and me, I'd probably be ok with it (to be perfectly honest, I find you adorable; you remind me of my nephew who IDOLISES superman; he's got bedsheets, wallpaper, all the figurines; the works. I think I have a photo of him somewhere (pretend look on your phone)...oh maybe not...anyway, he's eight in August - where was I? Oh yes, so I wouldn't mind, but it's supposed to be a friendly game of cards for a few bucks and I can't help feel your efforts to take charge aren't doing anything more than alienating yourself and worsening the experience for everyone. Now, will you stop spouting angry rubbish or should we get you a captain's armband?"

The nut worst thing you can do is let it simmer. You should also be aware of how everyone else is reacting to him. If they're getting frustrated, you should be good enough to exploit that on occasion. But getting this guy off his game is crucial to your experience of the comp, so deal with that. The more people see him as a figure of fun and not a scary dragon, the more fun the day will be.

Nice photos, by the way. Lovely stuff.

[RED-DOG]

Holiday snap time. I have hundreds, & I know how boring other folks holiday snaps are, but that's too bad, so look away now.

I'll try & do a day or two at a time.

The whole trip was based around this holiday, been looking forward to it for exactly a year, & it happened.

My young lady flew in on Sunday 1st, & stayed for 10 days. We had the time of our lives, best holiday ever.

So, I picked her up from McCarron at midday, & we went for a swim as soon as we got to the hotel. I'm not big into swimming, but it was a 3 line whip really. I like to do things which please her, & she likes us to swim, so we did. In fact we swum 4 or 5 times during the 10 days, including once in the Pacific Ocean, which was a sort of secret dream we had.

In the evening, in an exact repeat of last year, we dined at Otto's, in Venetian.

I had spag bol, Gill had some veggie rubbish.

Click to see full-size image.

You didn't tell me Gill was bringing her daughter.

Also, what and whose is the big panckakey thing in the other pic. The one on the plate with the sausage and egg? Are those olives that I can see in it?

[RED-DOG]

I'll explain the tilted pylons to you when I have time.

Village fete for me now. I'm doing the maggot racing and I have to give them a quick rub down before we start.

[Kev B]

What an absolute horrible tool that Superman guy is. How do you stay so calm-ish. I wish you hadn't mentioned the underwear bit. Enjoying the daily reports. Willing you on to big binkage soon. GL GL.

[Marky147]

Loving the trip report & pics, and hope that you crush today.

GOGOGO!

[engy]

Great trip report and pics tony good luck today bud

[booder]

Yeah  standard of photographs has improved massively.

As always your reports are excellent , so engaging.


Have a blast today.

[Karabiner]

When a guy announces himself as table captain, you either have to accept it and not let it affect you or take him down a peg or two.

The second is invariably waaaaaaaaaaay more fun.

You chose option two, but only after you'd failed in option one quite badly. That's too late. You have to spot when you won't be able to - or don't want to try to - put up with their nonsense before it affects you.

What you did is exactly why he's doing what he's doing. It's Being a Donut At the Table 101. You got absolutely hook, line and sinkered. You mustn't break the rules, but there's lots of ways of chopping him down.

Group A: Sarcastic belittling. The childish way, but immasculating him will hit him at his core "identity" level in NLP terms. Call him Spiderman all day. Or Comic Book Guy. Or say "nice hat". Or ask him if he had matching pyjamas. British sense of humour gets you a long way in these parts. Usually free before he notices.

Group B: calming chat. Some folk are just doing it for attention, so give him attention in a better way. Ask him where he's from and ask lots of open questions. He either wants to talk about himself or about the character he portrays at the table. This will tell you which. If it works, he'll have a hard time going from nice guy, chatting about Idaho to officer angry again.

Group C: Intelligence fail. Get him talking and, when he says somethin factually incorrect, don't just put him right, laugh at his awful answer. Say he misreads the score of the baseball on the telly. "Three two Tigers". Easy response "Ha!! How bad's your eyesight, superman? I thought you could see through walls! I'm xxx years old and even I can see it's 5-2!!" Danger there is you're marked and he'll pick on any little slip up you make. It's a high variance play, particularly if you're prepared to double and triple barrel.

Group D: Be British. Take him up on his behaviour. Is it really so hard? "Sir, your behaviour at the table is really quite peturbing. Would you just tone down the coquettishness, please? I doubt I speak just for myself when I say I can't here for a fun game of cards and your constant sniping is running the experience." How often do you think someone says it like that? Usually, it's way past that point and he can return serve with calling the floor for a penalty. Not here. Now, he's the one out of order.

Group E: cocktail. This is the advanced stuff; a mixture of the other categories. "Sir. Would you mind toning it down a little, please? If it were just you and me, I'd probably be ok with it (to be perfectly honest, I find you adorable; you remind me of my nephew who IDOLISES superman; he's got bedsheets, wallpaper, all the figurines; the works. I think I have a photo of him somewhere (pretend look on your phone)...oh maybe not...anyway, he's eight in August - where was I? Oh yes, so I wouldn't mind, but it's supposed to be a friendly game of cards for a few bucks and I can't help feel your efforts to take charge aren't doing anything more than alienating yourself and worsening the experience for everyone. Now, will you stop spouting angry rubbish or should we get you a captain's armband?"

The nut worst thing you can do is let it simmer. You should also be aware of how everyone else is reacting to him. If they're getting frustrated, you should be good enough to exploit that on occasion. But getting this guy off his game is crucial to your experience of the comp, so deal with that. The more people see him as a figure of fun and not a scary dragon, the more fun the day will be.

Nice photos, by the way. Lovely stuff.

I hesitate to critique such an excellent post but wouldn't calling the toolbox Captain America have been better than Spiderman.

At least we all know how to get Tikay's goat next time we are drawn on his table, imagine if he turned up to find eight Supermans waiting for him.

[Tal]

Great call, Mr Karabiner.

Would also ensure I used the expression "superherocall"

If I were feeling extravagant, I might try using the WiFi to download a song...



I think this is the point you remember it's Nevada and everyone is carrying a gun.

[slowmo]

Tony - TMI mate. Been feeling poorly since your underwear revelation.  And since when did you start eating FOREIGN food ? Spag Bol
, Pancakes for brekkie  -- WTF ??/
I will be at  Brasilia Blue table 12 in the 12 noon start jobbie  if you have a chance to pop by .

[tikay]

The major fascination for me, though, was the profusion of inclined electricity towers.

Try as I might, I've been racking my brains to understand why they are inclined - I can't grasp it at all. The cables you see are not support cables, they are power cables.

Anyone know?

Have to say, I thought they were jolly exciting to see, like an 8th miracle of the world. I don't believe we have any inclined electricity pylons in Europe.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

It looks as though they are set into the side of a valley/ravine.  Perhaps they are at an angle so as not to be visible on the skyline?  It's a pretty clever way of hiding them, if so.

Good shout, but no, I don't think that has anything to do with it, & I'll explain why.

Hoover Dam generates electricity for 3 States - Nevada (23.4%), Arizona (19%), & California, the last named being split 15.42% to Los Angeles, & the balance to Southern California generally, so about 43% to SoCal.

SoCal & LA are a long way from Hoover Dam, some 300 miles at a guess, and all that electricity is carried on pylons rather than underground. The ground conditions are not amenable to burying power cables. 

So the whole countryside is covered in 'leccy pylons, as far as the eye can see. To my mind, therefore, "hiding" them for scenic purposes is unlikely.

They can be seen everywhere, including local to Hoover Dam. To be fair, they have a lovely range of designs, & they are a pleasure to observe.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Wiiiiii I knew it was foul language.

But wtf Mr Mean..."I'm thinking about raising, but I'm fearful of him thinking I'm being arsey, so just call". Mr Mean would raise, shoot him a stare like he hasn't had a latte all day and whisper "I'm gonna fuck you like Lois Lane".

With re-buy we are now 1/1/0 so let's smash it up today.

It did occur to me to spite play v him, but I don't think my Stakers would approve if I said I tilted the lot off.

Having said that, an equal argument might be better to at least go down fighting.

Anyway, I'm just not confrontational by nature these days, give me the easy path every day. If revenge is our goal, there are more subtle means available. Getting quartered was not one of them, of course, but if I hit my diamond, I quarter HIM. Now that would have been the nut result.

I'm all revved up for today, thank you, my loins, unencumbered by underwear, are fully girded. 

[tikay]

When a guy announces himself as table captain, you either have to accept it and not let it affect you or take him down a peg or two.

The second is invariably waaaaaaaaaaay more fun.

You chose option two, but only after you'd failed in option one quite badly. That's too late. You have to spot when you won't be able to - or don't want to try to - put up with their nonsense before it affects you.

What you did is exactly why he's doing what he's doing. It's Being a Donut At the Table 101. You got absolutely hook, line and sinkered. You mustn't break the rules, but there's lots of ways of chopping him down.

Group A: Sarcastic belittling. The childish way, but immasculating him will hit him at his core "identity" level in NLP terms. Call him Spiderman all day. Or Comic Book Guy. Or say "nice hat". Or ask him if he had matching pyjamas. British sense of humour gets you a long way in these parts. Usually free before he notices.

Group B: calming chat. Some folk are just doing it for attention, so give him attention in a better way. Ask him where he's from and ask lots of open questions. He either wants to talk about himself or about the character he portrays at the table. This will tell you which. If it works, he'll have a hard time going from nice guy, chatting about Idaho to officer angry again.

Group C: Intelligence fail. Get him talking and, when he says somethin factually incorrect, don't just put him right, laugh at his awful answer. Say he misreads the score of the baseball on the telly. "Three two Tigers". Easy response "Ha!! How bad's your eyesight, superman? I thought you could see through walls! I'm xxx years old and even I can see it's 5-2!!" Danger there is you're marked and he'll pick on any little slip up you make. It's a high variance play, particularly if you're prepared to double and triple barrel.

Group D: Be British. Take him up on his behaviour. Is it really so hard? "Sir, your behaviour at the table is really quite peturbing. Would you just tone down the coquettishness, please? I doubt I speak just for myself when I say I can't here for a fun game of cards and your constant sniping is running the experience." How often do you think someone says it like that? Usually, it's way past that point and he can return serve with calling the floor for a penalty. Not here. Now, he's the one out of order.

Group E: cocktail. This is the advanced stuff; a mixture of the other categories. "Sir. Would you mind toning it down a little, please? If it were just you and me, I'd probably be ok with it (to be perfectly honest, I find you adorable; you remind me of my nephew who IDOLISES superman; he's got bedsheets, wallpaper, all the figurines; the works. I think I have a photo of him somewhere (pretend look on your phone)...oh maybe not...anyway, he's eight in August - where was I? Oh yes, so I wouldn't mind, but it's supposed to be a friendly game of cards for a few bucks and I can't help feel your efforts to take charge aren't doing anything more than alienating yourself and worsening the experience for everyone. Now, will you stop spouting angry rubbish or should we get you a captain's armband?"

The nut worst thing you can do is let it simmer. You should also be aware of how everyone else is reacting to him. If they're getting frustrated, you should be good enough to exploit that on occasion. But getting this guy off his game is crucial to your experience of the comp, so deal with that. The more people see him as a figure of fun and not a scary dragon, the more fun the day will be.

Nice photos, by the way. Lovely stuff.

All good stuff, but I don't think fast enough in these spots. The next morning I always think of some wonderful rejoinders.

He is in my little black book though, & I'll never see a Superman image again without being reminded of Mr Mean.

[tikay]

Holiday snap time. I have hundreds, & I know how boring other folks holiday snaps are, but that's too bad, so look away now.

I'll try & do a day or two at a time.

The whole trip was based around this holiday, been looking forward to it for exactly a year, & it happened.

My young lady flew in on Sunday 1st, & stayed for 10 days. We had the time of our lives, best holiday ever.

So, I picked her up from McCarron at midday, & we went for a swim as soon as we got to the hotel. I'm not big into swimming, but it was a 3 line whip really. I like to do things which please her, & she likes us to swim, so we did. In fact we swum 4 or 5 times during the 10 days, including once in the Pacific Ocean, which was a sort of secret dream we had.

In the evening, in an exact repeat of last year, we dined at Otto's, in Venetian.

I had spag bol, Gill had some veggie rubbish.

Click to see full-size image.

You didn't tell me Gill was bringing her daughter.

Also, what and whose is the big panckakey thing in the other pic. The one on the plate with the sausage and egg? Are those olives that I can see in it?

I had a lovely long chat with Alex last night, rumours of my young lady seem to have swept Clark County like wildfire, everyone seemed to be in on the story.

Alex said "how old is she?"

I am not exactly sure, I had to think about it, but I know the answer roughly, so the word "forty......." formed in my mouth whilst I tried to figure her exact age & complete the word.

Before I could do so, Alex shot back "so she is less than half your age?"

Chuffing kids eh? Never did like Alex much, I'm a Plinop Fanboy, he's the Squeeze King.

The pancake thing - this?

Click to see full-size image.

It was my breakfast.

Olives? Are you serious? Of course not. I would rather die than eat an olive.

They were blueberries tom, blueberries. It was a blueberry pancake. I'm on a health kick, blueberries are fruit. If I ate 5 of them in a day, that would be my 5 a day.

The little silver bowl on the pancake is maple syrup, & the white stuff is cream.

Proper brekkie that.

Very nice it was too, though I did feel a tad bloated afterwards.

Cracking brekkie that, eh?

 

[tikay]

I'll explain the tilted pylons to you when I have time.

Village fete for me now. I'm doing the maggot racing and I have to give them a quick rub down before we start.

Please, let's keep this serious Tom. They are not tilted pylons, the trade term is inclined.

Inclined pylons, understand?