Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Forget all this, tell the kids how the £5-£5 ROE went the other night....

All in good time, all in good time. Lots & lots of stuff to get of my chest first. Then, when I can bear to think about it, DTD on Saturday night will be told.

[tikay]

Some 42 years ago, I was sent away on my first ever work assignment, lodging away from home. In Dunstable, for God's sake.

I was an apprentice Builders Merchant (Heavy Side), & I had to learn "Light Side" with a company in Dunstable called Buxton & Dawson.

I hade a great time up there, they sort of adopted me as their special little boy. I was just coming out of my stuttering (speech) stage, & I think they took sympathy on me. Met a girl, too, & had my first grope - in the back aisle of the Paint Store (Undercoat, Emulsion & Distemper), & generally discovered how good life away from home was.

My wages were £5 a week. I kept my money - all of it - in my wallet.

I went down Dunstable Market one hot day, slung my jacket carelssly over my shoulder, & someone "lifted" my wallet out of my jacket pocket.

Bugger, I was  penniless.

My employers found out & the Staff had a whip-round for me. I was given £17 - I'd only lost £5! And I told them it was only a fiver, but they insisted - "take the £17, you got lucky, enjoy it".

Lovely. I was so grateful to them all.

The next day, I put my jacket on. And in the sleeve of the jacket was my wallet. With the original fiver in it.

I could not bring myself to fess up that I'd never lost, or had stolen, the wallet in the first place. And that memory of shame has been with me ever since.

But I learned my lesson.

Bear with me please, I'm heading somewhere.....

[tikay]

As you know, I lost my car & house keys a few weeks ago. A bloody nightmare.

Regards sorted my car keys out, big thanks to him, but what a pain.

I was stranded in a Luton Hotel for 2 days, (call that £160), jumped a train to Leicester to collect the key Regards had "fiddled" for me (Train fare £70, Car-Key £50), & then I had to get a locksmith out to break into my house so I could get my spare house keys. (£90). And two whole days wasted.

I never really worked out where the keys went, but I told a few close friends what I believed to be the case - that they'd been stolen from my Hotel Room. There was no other explanation - I KNOW I had them in the room when I first arrived, & I searched the Room thoroughly, turned it upside down, & my lappie-bag, & suitcase. They were stolen, I know they were, but I kept that pretty quiet, just told Tom & a few others I think. No point hooting & hollering, but I'm not daft, or senile, I know they were stolen.

Today, rummaging through my lappie-bag, I discovered them.......OMG.

Now, I know what you are thinking. I've gone doo-lally.

Wrong!

I know exactly what happened. The Hotel caught the thief red-handed, were to embarrassed to tell me, so slipped the keys into my lappie-bag this morning, on the quiet.

Another "who'd have thunk?".

[tikay]

TheTimes, Saturday July 19, 2008.

"Lap-dance arsonist.

An arsonist with a grudge against lap-dancing is being hunted after Club Redd, in Burges Hill, West Sussex, was gutted by fire 4 weeks after opening. The Club prompted an internet protest because customers could be tied to a chair while a dance was perfomed on them. Lorna Gatson, a mother of two, said "People can go to Brighton for that sort of thing".

[tikay]

Luton Plasma, Sunday.

Birthday-Boy - born June 20th, 1947 - amassed 39,000 chips (began with 7,500) within the first two Level. Nearly Finalled, too.

Happy Birthday, Compo. Top Bloke, you.

[snoopy1239]

Some 42 years ago, I was sent away on my first ever work assignment, lodging away from home. In Dunstable, for God's sake.

I was an apprentice Builders Merchant (Heavy Side), & I had to learn "Light Side" with a company in Dunstable called Buxton & Dawson.

I hade a great time up there, they sort of adopted me as their special little boy. I was just coming out of my stuttering (speech) stage, & I think they took sympathy on me. Met a girl, too, & had my first grope - in the back aisle of the Paint Store (Undercoat, Emulsion & Distemper), & generally discovered how good life away from home was.

My wages were £5 a week. I kept my money - all of it - in my wallet.

I went down Dunstable Market one hot day, slung my jacket carelssly over my shoulder, & someone "lifted" my wallet out of my jacket pocket.

Bugger, I was  penniless.

My employers found out & the Staff had a whip-round for me. I was given £17 - I'd only lost £5! And I told them it was only a fiver, but they insisted - "take the £17, you got lucky, enjoy it".

Lovely. I was so grateful to them all.

The next day, I put my jacket on. And in the sleeve of the jacket was my wallet. With the original fiver in it.

I could not bring myself to fess up that I'd never lost, or had stolen, the wallet in the first place. And that memory of shame has been with me ever since.

But I learned my lesson.

Bear with me please, I'm heading somewhere.....

Maybe you can still give it back? Inflation's made it cheaper too.

[tikay]

Moorhen, pictured today.

I'm taking some time out to smell the roses these days, & I spent a lovely hour with Mallards & Moorhen, & their chicks, today.

[tikay]

Mallard chicks, about 10 weeks old.

I don't know how to tell the difference between Males & Females (Ducks & Drakes?) at this age. Does anyone know?

I was also asked how Mallards deal with inbreeding -  does natural selection sort the wheat from the chaff, or does it not happen?

I researched it, & could not find the answer, but I did discover on wikipidea these Mallard factoids....

It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks, which are known as a sord

Mallards also have rates of male-male sexual activity that are unusually high for birds. In some cases, as many as 19% of pairs in a Mallard population are male-male homosexual.

When they pair off with mating partners, often one or several drakes will end up "left out". This group will sometimes target an isolated female duck — chasing, pestering and pecking at her until she weakens (a phenomenon referred to by researchers as rape flight), at which point each male will take turns copulating with the female.

Male Mallards will also occasionally chase other males in the same way. (In one documented case, a male Mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after it had been killed when it flew into a glass window.)

Flew into a plate-glass window? Just how stupid are Malllards?

[tikay]

I was also asked how Mallards deal with inbreeding -  does natural selection sort the wheat from the chaff, or does it not happen?

In researching that, I discovered this......

The mallard duck can cross breed with 45 other species

[boldie]

Love it when men behave like men...........good news both

+1

[Dingdell]

I was also asked how Mallards deal with inbreeding -  does natural selection sort the wheat from the chaff, or does it not happen?

In researching that, I discovered this......

The mallard duck can cross breed with 45 other species

Thinly veiled 'I don'tk now the answer and can't find out' post?

[kinboshi]

I was also asked how Mallards deal with inbreeding -  does natural selection sort the wheat from the chaff, or does it not happen?

In researching that, I discovered this......

The mallard duck can cross breed with 45 other species

You need to read some Richard Dawkins.

The Selfish Gene and the Blind Watchmaker for starters...

[Doctor Who]

HWCBN - aka Mick McBag - aka Mick Mccool - & blonde

Many of you will know that some "bad blood" arose between Mick McCool & blonde, & indeed, myself, some time ago.

He fell out with blonde, & we with him. Tractors on the M25, Chili & stuff. And with me, & I got a bit of a hard time on his otherwise splendidly written Blog. I never responded, or "bit", there's no point, there's much to be said for turning the other cheek, & keeping barneys private. Other than his rather aggressive table demeanour, I never really had any issues that affected me personally, though of course he was not, at the time, behaving in a manner on blonde which we could accept. I'm not even sure now if he left us, or we Banned him - it matters not, really.

I also, for reasons I don't understand, became the recipitent of many tales as to Mick's financial dealings.

Fast-forward a few months.

One of Mick's pet greyhounds died recently - Suzy - & I was very moved by Mick's Blog tales about Suzy's death. It was incredibly sad. I went so far, some thought bizarrely, to Post on his Blog - the one that was crucifying me - that I was very sorry to hear of his loss. Which I was. Mick was clearly distraught about the loss of Suzy.

Fast-Forward a few more months.


He played the DTD £750-er last weekend, rebuilt his stack after being felted, & Finalled, but got extremely unlucky several times. No table-banging, no hooting & hollering, just took it on the chin, according to many who witnessed it.

As you know, blonde, in the terrific Live Update of the Event, showed some hilariously comical pics of Mick, with a brown paper bag photoshopped on his head. (Well, I assume it was photo-shopped). And he was described in the Update,  generally, as HWCBN, & Mick McBag. All in good fun. Thankfully, snoops had the good sense to ask Mick first, & Mick said "yeah, go-ahead, I don't mind".

I bumped into Mick tonight, & he asked to have a private word with me. (Private is always good in such situations, please note). He specifically asked me to post this message. These are my words, but they sum up what he said to me. Bear in mind we've barely spoken in months, & it's been a bit "awkward", shall we say.


"tikay, please go on the Forum & give my apologies for the way I behaved on blonde, & towards you personally. I'm sorry. I was out of order, & my head was in a mess. When Suzy died, it made me realise a lot of things. Poker is just a game, why fall out with people? The loss of Suzy was real, was so devestating, it's puts things in perspective.

Since Vegas, I've behaved muich better, & differently, especially at the Table. No more bad-mouthing, arsey stuff, I've sat there quiet & friendly. I got three sick beats in the DTD £750 Final, & took it like a man, no complaints. I loved the paper-bag pics of me on blonde, & snoopy had the decency to seek my permission first, which I gave.

I'm not asking to return to blonde, that's not my point, I just wanted to put the record straight. I'm sorry for the way I behaved."

He also told me some ins & outs of his financial situation with others, (some of them blondes), which I can't repeat, but, if Mick is to be believed, he'd had a few issues himself, but he's spoken with everybody, today, honestly & openly, he tells me, & it's cool now.

We shook hands, kissed, (well no, not exactly kissed, but you get my drift) & that's that.

I don't have, or want, many friends in life, 2 or 3 max, & I've got them already. But I sure as hell would rather not be making enemies at my time of life. I have a strange compulsion, a box on my tick-list or Bucket List, to make my peace with those who I've crossed, or have crossed me, in life. I don't really mind how you read Mick's comments, but I think I've just ticked another box. (Shame I've added a few more boxes this weekend!).

I hope I've repeated Mick's comments accurately, but I can assure you, it's pretty close.

Who'd have thunk?

Oh, no more HWCBN, it's Mick McCool now. And no more paper bags. Actually, I rather liked that paper-bag. On second thoughts, the bag can stay.

Fair one!

[Doctor Who]

HWCBN - aka Mick McBag - aka Mick Mccool - & blonde

Many of you will know that some "bad blood" arose between Mick McCool & blonde, & indeed, myself, some time ago.

He fell out with blonde, & we with him. Tractors on the M25, Chili & stuff. And with me, & I got a bit of a hard time on his otherwise splendidly written Blog. I never responded, or "bit", there's no point, there's much to be said for turning the other cheek, & keeping barneys private. Other than his rather aggressive table demeanour, I never really had any issues that affected me personally, though of course he was not, at the time, behaving in a manner on blonde which we could accept. I'm not even sure now if he left us, or we Banned him - it matters not, really.

I also, for reasons I don't understand, became the recipitent of many tales as to Mick's financial dealings.

Fast-forward a few months.

One of Mick's pet greyhounds died recently - Suzy - & I was very moved by Mick's Blog tales about Suzy's death. It was incredibly sad. I went so far, some thought bizarrely, to Post on his Blog - the one that was crucifying me - that I was very sorry to hear of his loss. Which I was. Mick was clearly distraught about the loss of Suzy.

Fast-Forward a few more months.


He played the DTD £750-er last weekend, rebuilt his stack after being felted, & Finalled, but got extremely unlucky several times. No table-banging, no hooting & hollering, just took it on the chin, according to many who witnessed it.

As you know, blonde, in the terrific Live Update of the Event, showed some hilariously comical pics of Mick, with a brown paper bag photoshopped on his head. (Well, I assume it was photo-shopped). And he was described in the Update,  generally, as HWCBN, & Mick McBag. All in good fun. Thankfully, snoops had the good sense to ask Mick first, & Mick said "yeah, go-ahead, I don't mind".

I bumped into Mick tonight, & he asked to have a private word with me. (Private is always good in such situations, please note). He specifically asked me to post this message. These are my words, but they sum up what he said to me. Bear in mind we've barely spoken in months, & it's been a bit "awkward", shall we say.


"tikay, please go on the Forum & give my apologies for the way I behaved on blonde, & towards you personally. I'm sorry. I was out of order, & my head was in a mess. When Suzy died, it made me realise a lot of things. Poker is just a game, why fall out with people? The loss of Suzy was real, was so devestating, it's puts things in perspective.

Since Vegas, I've behaved muich better, & differently, especially at the Table. No more bad-mouthing, arsey stuff, I've sat there quiet & friendly. I got three sick beats in the DTD £750 Final, & took it like a man, no complaints. I loved the paper-bag pics of me on blonde, & snoopy had the decency to seek my permission first, which I gave.

I'm not asking to return to blonde, that's not my point, I just wanted to put the record straight. I'm sorry for the way I behaved."

He also told me some ins & outs of his financial situation with others, (some of them blondes), which I can't repeat, but, if Mick is to be believed, he'd had a few issues himself, but he's spoken with everybody, today, honestly & openly, he tells me, & it's cool now.

We shook hands, kissed, (well no, not exactly kissed, but you get my drift) & that's that.

I don't have, or want, many friends in life, 2 or 3 max, & I've got them already. But I sure as hell would rather not be making enemies at my time of life. I have a strange compulsion, a box on my tick-list or Bucket List, to make my peace with those who I've crossed, or have crossed me, in life. I don't really mind how you read Mick's comments, but I think I've just ticked another box. (Shame I've added a few more boxes this weekend!).

I hope I've repeated Mick's comments accurately, but I can assure you, it's pretty close.

Who'd have thunk?

Oh, no more HWCBN, it's Mick McCool now. And no more paper bags. Actually, I rather liked that paper-bag. On second thoughts, the bag can stay.

Sorted like adults, makes a change!

[Rookie (Rodney)]

HWCBN - aka Mick McBag - aka Mick Mccool - & blonde

Many of you will know that some "bad blood" arose between Mick McCool & blonde, & indeed, myself, some time ago.

He fell out with blonde, & we with him. Tractors on the M25, Chili & stuff. And with me, & I got a bit of a hard time on his otherwise splendidly written Blog. I never responded, or "bit", there's no point, there's much to be said for turning the other cheek, & keeping barneys private. Other than his rather aggressive table demeanour, I never really had any issues that affected me personally, though of course he was not, at the time, behaving in a manner on blonde which we could accept. I'm not even sure now if he left us, or we Banned him - it matters not, really.

I also, for reasons I don't understand, became the recipitent of many tales as to Mick's financial dealings.

Fast-forward a few months.

One of Mick's pet greyhounds died recently - Suzy - & I was very moved by Mick's Blog tales about Suzy's death. It was incredibly sad. I went so far, some thought bizarrely, to Post on his Blog - the one that was crucifying me - that I was very sorry to hear of his loss. Which I was. Mick was clearly distraught about the loss of Suzy.

Fast-Forward a few more months.


He played the DTD £750-er last weekend, rebuilt his stack after being felted, & Finalled, but got extremely unlucky several times. No table-banging, no hooting & hollering, just took it on the chin, according to many who witnessed it.

As you know, blonde, in the terrific Live Update of the Event, showed some hilariously comical pics of Mick, with a brown paper bag photoshopped on his head. (Well, I assume it was photo-shopped). And he was described in the Update,  generally, as HWCBN, & Mick McBag. All in good fun. Thankfully, snoops had the good sense to ask Mick first, & Mick said "yeah, go-ahead, I don't mind".

I bumped into Mick tonight, & he asked to have a private word with me. (Private is always good in such situations, please note). He specifically asked me to post this message. These are my words, but they sum up what he said to me. Bear in mind we've barely spoken in months, & it's been a bit "awkward", shall we say.


"tikay, please go on the Forum & give my apologies for the way I behaved on blonde, & towards you personally. I'm sorry. I was out of order, & my head was in a mess. When Suzy died, it made me realise a lot of things. Poker is just a game, why fall out with people? The loss of Suzy was real, was so devestating, it's puts things in perspective.

Since Vegas, I've behaved muich better, & differently, especially at the Table. No more bad-mouthing, arsey stuff, I've sat there quiet & friendly. I got three sick beats in the DTD £750 Final, & took it like a man, no complaints. I loved the paper-bag pics of me on blonde, & snoopy had the decency to seek my permission first, which I gave.

I'm not asking to return to blonde, that's not my point, I just wanted to put the record straight. I'm sorry for the way I behaved."

He also told me some ins & outs of his financial situation with others, (some of them blondes), which I can't repeat, but, if Mick is to be believed, he'd had a few issues himself, but he's spoken with everybody, today, honestly & openly, he tells me, & it's cool now.

We shook hands, kissed, (well no, not exactly kissed, but you get my drift) & that's that.

I don't have, or want, many friends in life, 2 or 3 max, & I've got them already. But I sure as hell would rather not be making enemies at my time of life. I have a strange compulsion, a box on my tick-list or Bucket List, to make my peace with those who I've crossed, or have crossed me, in life. I don't really mind how you read Mick's comments, but I think I've just ticked another box. (Shame I've added a few more boxes this weekend!).

I hope I've repeated Mick's comments accurately, but I can assure you, it's pretty close.

Who'd have thunk?

Oh, no more HWCBN, it's Mick McCool now. And no more paper bags. Actually, I rather liked that paper-bag. On second thoughts, the bag can stay.

Sorted like adults, makes a change!

Yes, very pleased to hear.

Mick is a good friend, and Tikay also, am pleased to see it's been resolved this way -finally!