I'm just about to leave for work. There's a protest at Heathrow today by environmentalists and a lot of the perimeter roads are shut, so I'll have to get the tube.
It's hot outside, so the walk to the station is going to make me hot and sweaty and smelly before I even start the journey. Not good.
Two more shifts and then I'm free for three days.
I had an idea yesterday that I could double my shifts up (so I'd work two shifts a day); and I would finish my week's work in three days, leaving me with 6 days off. Obviously the three days of work would be bloody hard, but then I'd have nearly a week off to make up for it.
We'll see.
-J
Saturday 31 May 2008
Friday 30 May 2008
Good darts night
I ended up not backing Phil Taylor the other night, oh well. I'm not too disappointed, as it's probably a good idea to refrain from backing too many 1.4 shots in general.
On the work front... I face a dilemma of whether to work early or late shifts. Early shifts: Have to get up at 3am. Yes I'd get out of work before 1 o'clock, but by 6pm I'm normally absolutely zonked. Late shifts: I don't have to get up early and I have all morning to play with. However, it rules out any going out in the evening.
At the moment I'm doing lates, and it's ruling me out of a lot of banter with the boys. I have lates booked up until the end of June, then I think I'm going to do a mixture and see how it works out.
Last night I managed to go out and witness some of the action in our unofficial darts Premier League. It was a good laugh, and I'm probably going to have to catch up on some of my matches soon.
So what's on the horizon? I'm working lates until Sunday, so I won't be doing anything fun until Sunday evening. In the long-term, I'm trying to save up 50k somehow (God knows how) to achieve a goal I set myself last week. More on that in another post.
Until then, ciao.
-J
On the work front... I face a dilemma of whether to work early or late shifts. Early shifts: Have to get up at 3am. Yes I'd get out of work before 1 o'clock, but by 6pm I'm normally absolutely zonked. Late shifts: I don't have to get up early and I have all morning to play with. However, it rules out any going out in the evening.
At the moment I'm doing lates, and it's ruling me out of a lot of banter with the boys. I have lates booked up until the end of June, then I think I'm going to do a mixture and see how it works out.
Last night I managed to go out and witness some of the action in our unofficial darts Premier League. It was a good laugh, and I'm probably going to have to catch up on some of my matches soon.
So what's on the horizon? I'm working lates until Sunday, so I won't be doing anything fun until Sunday evening. In the long-term, I'm trying to save up 50k somehow (God knows how) to achieve a goal I set myself last week. More on that in another post.
Until then, ciao.
-J
Monday 26 May 2008
Bad weather, bad gambling
Dreadful weather here in Northwest London today. It's nearly summer. Why is this happening? I'm not sure if I can stomach another summer like last year's.
Well I cleared out my bankroll on one poker site today. I don't even think I played badly, just ran a bit badly. Had smaller pocket pairs run into larger ones a couple of times, and also had people all-in on the flop with the best hand but they made their draws. Can't complain really, they're kind of standard losses for a poker player.
So I turned my attention to sports betting again. Unfortunately I let my position in the cricket ride a bit too long, and I ended up greening out for only 10% of the figure I was expecting to pick up. A green's a green though, so at least I made a winning return to trading.
Looking on Kickingbets, there are a few suggestions out there that interest me. This afternoon I backed Russia each-way to win Euro 2008.
So my outstanding bets at the moment are:
- Russia to win Euro 2008 (29/1)
- Russia to reach Euro 2008 final (14.5/1)
Sports Personality of the Year:
- Beth Tweddle (66/1)
- Zara Philips (50/1)
- Kelly Sotherton (25/1)
- Jessica Ennis (35/1)
Maybe I'll have a look at the French Open this afternoon, but if I do it will be small stakes as I've never really hit the nail on the head with tennis trading.
I'm also probably going to be betting on Phil Taylor to win the Premier League Darts later. He's currently available at 1.4, and a 40% ROI on backing the best player of all time seems reasonable. He has what should be a straightforward match against Lewis to begin with, and then should put away Barneveld in the final. We'll see.
I was going to write about another goal that I've set myself, though I'm in a gambling mood now so I will save it for another time.
Thanks for reading
-J
Well I cleared out my bankroll on one poker site today. I don't even think I played badly, just ran a bit badly. Had smaller pocket pairs run into larger ones a couple of times, and also had people all-in on the flop with the best hand but they made their draws. Can't complain really, they're kind of standard losses for a poker player.
So I turned my attention to sports betting again. Unfortunately I let my position in the cricket ride a bit too long, and I ended up greening out for only 10% of the figure I was expecting to pick up. A green's a green though, so at least I made a winning return to trading.
Looking on Kickingbets, there are a few suggestions out there that interest me. This afternoon I backed Russia each-way to win Euro 2008.
So my outstanding bets at the moment are:
- Russia to win Euro 2008 (29/1)
- Russia to reach Euro 2008 final (14.5/1)
Sports Personality of the Year:
- Beth Tweddle (66/1)
- Zara Philips (50/1)
- Kelly Sotherton (25/1)
- Jessica Ennis (35/1)
Maybe I'll have a look at the French Open this afternoon, but if I do it will be small stakes as I've never really hit the nail on the head with tennis trading.
I'm also probably going to be betting on Phil Taylor to win the Premier League Darts later. He's currently available at 1.4, and a 40% ROI on backing the best player of all time seems reasonable. He has what should be a straightforward match against Lewis to begin with, and then should put away Barneveld in the final. We'll see.
I was going to write about another goal that I've set myself, though I'm in a gambling mood now so I will save it for another time.
Thanks for reading
-J
Saturday 24 May 2008
Hang on - I made a good trade?!
As I wrote a short while ago, I'm in the process of getting my feet wet again in the trading game. This was inspired by a very good article on Punt.com, which discussed basically the merits of betting against the tide, and getting yourself into positions where you can make big profits if the market takes an 'unexpected' turn (ie the team who look like winning don't) and make only a small loss otherwise.
Yesterday I had a look at the Second Test between England and New Zealand, and the Kiwis were something like 140-4, with Flynn also having just retired after being hit in the mouth. So I thought this might be a good time to bet against the tide, and layed England. Well so far NZ haven't dropped another wicket, plus play finished early yesterday due to bad light, and England are now over a point higher than when I layed them, woo!
Unfortunately I'm only involved with very minor stakes, given my dreadful form with trading before I had a break. Anyhow, it's good to have made a decent trade for once.
I still haven't greened up though; I think I'll wait and see what happens in the rest of NZ's innings.
Expect to read later on how I made a stupid big bet and lost everything.
-J
Yesterday I had a look at the Second Test between England and New Zealand, and the Kiwis were something like 140-4, with Flynn also having just retired after being hit in the mouth. So I thought this might be a good time to bet against the tide, and layed England. Well so far NZ haven't dropped another wicket, plus play finished early yesterday due to bad light, and England are now over a point higher than when I layed them, woo!
Unfortunately I'm only involved with very minor stakes, given my dreadful form with trading before I had a break. Anyhow, it's good to have made a decent trade for once.
I still haven't greened up though; I think I'll wait and see what happens in the rest of NZ's innings.
Expect to read later on how I made a stupid big bet and lost everything.
-J
Friday 23 May 2008
Conservatives win at Crewe
I just read an interesting post on another blog, that of John the Gambler, regarding politics. A few points he raised made me inclined to respond, so here you go - a slightly different post today, with nothing to do with BA or gambling!
Just a quick word to John before I start; please don't take any of this the wrong way or anything, this is purely intellectual discourse!
I'll just take a couple of snippets from John's blog (JB) and post them here, then respond:
JB: The Conservative Party will never defend the rights of working class people. No doubt Cameron and his fellow Etonians will win the next General Election. After a few months the working class will wake up and say "This Labour Party were pretty bad, but these Tories are even worse".
My response: As far as I'm aware, the working class have never really had any issues with aristocracy / Etonians and all that. This is demonstrated by the fact that Labour's campaign in Crewe failed (Labour supporters were dressing up in top hats and all that BS, as a way of trying to make people not vote Conservative). The people the working class do hate are big business owners etc, which is nothing to do with class / going to Eton.
JB: Back in the 1980's Norman Tebbitt was a Conservative Cabinet Minister. There were 3 million unemployed in the UK. His advice to the unemployed was to "Get on your bike".
My response: Prior to this, Labour had allowed the Unions to dominate them. People were working three-day weeks because everyone was striking. Thatcher had none of this. Some of the unemployed were saying that they couldn't get to work due to transport problems etc, so Norman Tebbit said that there were other ways of getting to work if you really wanted to (he himself rode a bike). So the 'get on your bike' quote is taken a bit out of context.
JB: You just have to laugh really. Young people seem to have no memory, or knowledge of politics before last week.
My response: It's not just young people voting Conservative. Also, the tendency to refer to days gone-by is a tool consistently used by Labour to try to cover up their failings of today. As David Cameron pointed out a couple of weeks ago, people don't care about the past, they care about the future, and Labour sure as hell don't look like they have one at the moment.
So there you go, a political blog. John I look forward to hearing your thoughts, I quite enjoy writing like this rather than the usual stuff about my gambling woes and boring job!
Just a quick word to John before I start; please don't take any of this the wrong way or anything, this is purely intellectual discourse!
I'll just take a couple of snippets from John's blog (JB) and post them here, then respond:
JB: The Conservative Party will never defend the rights of working class people. No doubt Cameron and his fellow Etonians will win the next General Election. After a few months the working class will wake up and say "This Labour Party were pretty bad, but these Tories are even worse".
My response: As far as I'm aware, the working class have never really had any issues with aristocracy / Etonians and all that. This is demonstrated by the fact that Labour's campaign in Crewe failed (Labour supporters were dressing up in top hats and all that BS, as a way of trying to make people not vote Conservative). The people the working class do hate are big business owners etc, which is nothing to do with class / going to Eton.
JB: Back in the 1980's Norman Tebbitt was a Conservative Cabinet Minister. There were 3 million unemployed in the UK. His advice to the unemployed was to "Get on your bike".
My response: Prior to this, Labour had allowed the Unions to dominate them. People were working three-day weeks because everyone was striking. Thatcher had none of this. Some of the unemployed were saying that they couldn't get to work due to transport problems etc, so Norman Tebbit said that there were other ways of getting to work if you really wanted to (he himself rode a bike). So the 'get on your bike' quote is taken a bit out of context.
JB: You just have to laugh really. Young people seem to have no memory, or knowledge of politics before last week.
My response: It's not just young people voting Conservative. Also, the tendency to refer to days gone-by is a tool consistently used by Labour to try to cover up their failings of today. As David Cameron pointed out a couple of weeks ago, people don't care about the past, they care about the future, and Labour sure as hell don't look like they have one at the moment.
So there you go, a political blog. John I look forward to hearing your thoughts, I quite enjoy writing like this rather than the usual stuff about my gambling woes and boring job!
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Work, that's it
All I've been doing the last few days has been work, and counting down each second until I get my four days off. I just have today and tomorrow to do now, then I've got a nice long weekend. However, it would seem that some of my friends are unavailable for festivities during this time due to exams and what not, which is majorly crap! There's no way I can just sit and waste the time off. Having said that, a funny trend I've noticed lately is that every minute whilst I'm at work I'm wishing that I could get home, but when I'm home I just get bored and think that I might as well be at work.
The last couple of days I've actually had someone else shadowing me at the airport, which is pretty strange seeing as I've only been a non-trainee for two weeks. It would seem that anyone who's been at Terminal 5 longer than a week is now old news. On the 5th of June BA are bringing 8 more busy longhaul flights over to T5, which will definitely be... interesting. BA really, really can't afford another disaster like when T5 opened, though no one in the terminal is convinced that these flights are going to come over smoothly.
Gambling, I haven't done much this week. However, I have read some very interesting articles on trading and I might be getting more involved in the sports betting side of things again soon.
As for the 'special' post that I've been promising, I think it will be along the lines of running your own business and being your own boss etc. So check back for that.
Ok, duty calls. Thanks for reading
-J
The last couple of days I've actually had someone else shadowing me at the airport, which is pretty strange seeing as I've only been a non-trainee for two weeks. It would seem that anyone who's been at Terminal 5 longer than a week is now old news. On the 5th of June BA are bringing 8 more busy longhaul flights over to T5, which will definitely be... interesting. BA really, really can't afford another disaster like when T5 opened, though no one in the terminal is convinced that these flights are going to come over smoothly.
Gambling, I haven't done much this week. However, I have read some very interesting articles on trading and I might be getting more involved in the sports betting side of things again soon.
As for the 'special' post that I've been promising, I think it will be along the lines of running your own business and being your own boss etc. So check back for that.
Ok, duty calls. Thanks for reading
-J
Sunday 18 May 2008
Lots of darts, not so much poker
After a good streak in poker during the week, I've hit a little low the last few days so I'll be taking a small break from cards (not too long though). In the meantime, I've layed the draw in the First England v NZ Test in a bet inspired by John the Gambler (link to the right). Come on England.
Last night there was action in our Premier League Darts contest with two matches being played. It was pretty tense and Daz got a bit of a beating, but I know there's a lot better to come from him. I'm quite nervous about the rest of the competition, though at the moment I'm on the top of the table so long may that continue :-)
Apart from these things, I haven't been up to many blogworthy things this week. As I said a few days ago, there will definitely be one of those long 'special' posts coming up soon, probably as a result of having a bad few days at work or something (today is the first of five days on for me).
Ok, thanks for reading
-J
Last night there was action in our Premier League Darts contest with two matches being played. It was pretty tense and Daz got a bit of a beating, but I know there's a lot better to come from him. I'm quite nervous about the rest of the competition, though at the moment I'm on the top of the table so long may that continue :-)
Apart from these things, I haven't been up to many blogworthy things this week. As I said a few days ago, there will definitely be one of those long 'special' posts coming up soon, probably as a result of having a bad few days at work or something (today is the first of five days on for me).
Ok, thanks for reading
-J
Thursday 15 May 2008
Lots of poker
The last two days I've managed to fit in a lot of poker. Yesterday was good, and today has been bad so far. I'm still a bit ahead of where I was on Tuesday, but not much.
Last night was good fun, and it looks like Saturday is going to see some drinking of biblical proportions after Daz has finished his exams. Tomorrow I'm working until late, so there won't be any festivities for me and I'll be fresh for an all-dayer the next day.
Tonight I'm playing Lawrence at darts in our Premier League game. The boys and I have started up our own league like the one on TV, and we'll play each other twice each at first-to-eight legs. Then the top four will qualify into the play-offs, yadda yadda, until we find the true champion. I've already won something this week; our football predictions league, so maybe I can become the undisputed king of something else in the near future too.
I'm about to go back to poker, so this short post will have to do for now.
More soon.
-J
Last night was good fun, and it looks like Saturday is going to see some drinking of biblical proportions after Daz has finished his exams. Tomorrow I'm working until late, so there won't be any festivities for me and I'll be fresh for an all-dayer the next day.
Tonight I'm playing Lawrence at darts in our Premier League game. The boys and I have started up our own league like the one on TV, and we'll play each other twice each at first-to-eight legs. Then the top four will qualify into the play-offs, yadda yadda, until we find the true champion. I've already won something this week; our football predictions league, so maybe I can become the undisputed king of something else in the near future too.
I'm about to go back to poker, so this short post will have to do for now.
More soon.
-J
Wednesday 14 May 2008
Couple of days off
Ok, so I now have a few days of experience at the job. A couple of dodgy moments, but nothing too bad. The shift I did yesterday which started at 4.45am was actually the best of the lot. A lot of people missed their flights, simply because they got to the airport too late. I can't understand why some people cut it so fine. Just get there early, and you won't miss your flight. Then there are the people who get put on standby, which is kind of unlucky, but still mostly their fault. You are allowed to check in 24 hours before your flight online - so why not just check in then, instead of leaving it until when you get to the airport? Old people are the only ones who have an excuse as they might not be computer savvy, but the others have only themselves to blame. 'I PAID FOR THIS TICKET, HOW CAN YOU TELL ME THAT I HAVE NO SEAT????!!!!!!' Well sir, you obviously didn't read the terms and conditions. You pay the airline to get you from A to B, however you do not pay them to do so at any specific time. No sir, that's not just us, that's every airline in the world.
Anyway, was nice getting out of there at lunchtime and then being able to play tennis with Gareth in the afternoon sun. Couple of beers afterwards, very nice.
Went for some drinks in the evening, but I really started to die a death once I'd been awake for 18-19 hours. Tonight a few of us are going out, including my sister and some of her friends. Should be good.
There should be another 'proper' blog entry coming up in the near future, one of those philosophical ones or something like that.
Ok folks, thanks for reading
-J
Anyway, was nice getting out of there at lunchtime and then being able to play tennis with Gareth in the afternoon sun. Couple of beers afterwards, very nice.
Went for some drinks in the evening, but I really started to die a death once I'd been awake for 18-19 hours. Tonight a few of us are going out, including my sister and some of her friends. Should be good.
There should be another 'proper' blog entry coming up in the near future, one of those philosophical ones or something like that.
Ok folks, thanks for reading
-J
Monday 12 May 2008
Very tired
Had to get up at 4.15 today, and tomorrow will have to be up at 3.
Will update tomorrow pm when I'll have finished the shift and will have a couple of days off
-J
Will update tomorrow pm when I'll have finished the shift and will have a couple of days off
-J
Saturday 10 May 2008
A bit nervous
I've woken up this morning feeling a tad apprehensive about work tomorrow, being my first day without anyone to correct my mistakes/supervise me and all that. I know for a fact that I'll be asking colleagues left right and centre about all kinds of stuff, so hopefully they'll all be in nice patient moods. Otherwise it could be a long day. Oh well. You live and learn.
Fantastic weather again today. Hopefully I can think of something to do outside so I can get my pre-summer tan going.
Yesterday was good fun; spent all day drinking in town. Started off at some nice Samuel Smiths pub near Tottenham Court Road with Gareth and his legal buddy, then Chrissy B came along. Ended up in Russell Square enjoying the rays and sipping some Strongbow. A pretty comical moment came up when I decided to take my shirt off, and literally seconds later a group of about 200 girls walked past. One pointed and laughed apparently, but looked a bit sheepish when Gareth pointed and laughed back. Thanks mate.
Later on we ended up in the RE and in the Manor, which was good actually. We had a 100% turnout from all the boys, which is a rarity and a pleasure. For the first time since I was 18 we actually danced in there, and that is normally a major no-no.
Alas, today I have a hangover. I will battle on.
Ugh, work tomorrow.
Ciao for now.
-J
Fantastic weather again today. Hopefully I can think of something to do outside so I can get my pre-summer tan going.
Yesterday was good fun; spent all day drinking in town. Started off at some nice Samuel Smiths pub near Tottenham Court Road with Gareth and his legal buddy, then Chrissy B came along. Ended up in Russell Square enjoying the rays and sipping some Strongbow. A pretty comical moment came up when I decided to take my shirt off, and literally seconds later a group of about 200 girls walked past. One pointed and laughed apparently, but looked a bit sheepish when Gareth pointed and laughed back. Thanks mate.
Later on we ended up in the RE and in the Manor, which was good actually. We had a 100% turnout from all the boys, which is a rarity and a pleasure. For the first time since I was 18 we actually danced in there, and that is normally a major no-no.
Alas, today I have a hangover. I will battle on.
Ugh, work tomorrow.
Ciao for now.
-J
Thursday 8 May 2008
Not a trainee any more
So that's the training finished at BA, I'm now a proper member of Customer Services. I have three days off now before I start on Sunday, which will be out there on the front line, staff versus passengers. The beginning of a long war, which will soon become bloody in summer. I feel nowhere near ready to be thrown in the deep end, but apparently this feeling is natural. C'est la vie I guess.
On the bright side (literally) the weather is brilliant. I hope I haven't just given it the kiss of death. By this time last year the rain had already started, and it didn't stop. So hopefully this sunshine is a good omen.
Today I might venture out and actually get some jeans and trainers, which will be my first clothes purchases in years and years, which is ridiculous.
I weighed myself today, and since I started at BA (six weeks ago) I've lost over a stone. That's good, because I was pretty chubby when I started. All those months of unemployment had led to an abundance of drinking, eating crap and not doing much else. Now I hardly eat at all because I've already lost my staff discount card, which is probably a good thing because there's a lot of cake etc about at the aiport and I can never be bothered to sit in the canteen and have a proper meal.
So, in my days off I would quite like to indulge in as much outdoor chilling out/drinking as possible, but my mates all have stuff on like exams and other BS which is a shame. What am I going to do? We'll find out soon.
That's all for now
-J
On the bright side (literally) the weather is brilliant. I hope I haven't just given it the kiss of death. By this time last year the rain had already started, and it didn't stop. So hopefully this sunshine is a good omen.
Today I might venture out and actually get some jeans and trainers, which will be my first clothes purchases in years and years, which is ridiculous.
I weighed myself today, and since I started at BA (six weeks ago) I've lost over a stone. That's good, because I was pretty chubby when I started. All those months of unemployment had led to an abundance of drinking, eating crap and not doing much else. Now I hardly eat at all because I've already lost my staff discount card, which is probably a good thing because there's a lot of cake etc about at the aiport and I can never be bothered to sit in the canteen and have a proper meal.
So, in my days off I would quite like to indulge in as much outdoor chilling out/drinking as possible, but my mates all have stuff on like exams and other BS which is a shame. What am I going to do? We'll find out soon.
That's all for now
-J
Tuesday 6 May 2008
Day shift beckons
I'm working 11-7.30 today. I woke up pretty tired this morning, so I put my head under the shower with the taps on cold, and I'm quite awake now with a coffee at my side. Tomorrow I'm doing the early shift so I'll have to get up at 4.30, which I can see is going to be carnage.
My hayfever is also worse today. My nose is itchy as well as my eyes and I've already sneezed a few times.
Thanks for the advice from whoever commented yesterday. I didn't see the Irish girl so I'm still safe from temptation!
That's all for now
-J
PS. I slipped a bit on the junk food front yesterday; I had two teacakes that someone offered me. I'm still doing well though.
My hayfever is also worse today. My nose is itchy as well as my eyes and I've already sneezed a few times.
Thanks for the advice from whoever commented yesterday. I didn't see the Irish girl so I'm still safe from temptation!
That's all for now
-J
PS. I slipped a bit on the junk food front yesterday; I had two teacakes that someone offered me. I'm still doing well though.
Monday 5 May 2008
Late shift beckons
It's Bank Holiday Monday but I'm still working today. I don't mind at all, in fact it's good because I'll get more money. It is a late shift though, 2-10, so I won't be back in the house until pretty late. I can't remember what time I'm working tomorrow, so I should probably check that.
So I'm on my final three days of shadowing, then I'm officially no longer a trainee. A fully-fledged member of BA Customer Services. Whoopeee. My roster immediately starts with three days off, so I'll be free for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I feel Wednesday night drinks might be on the cards, I'll try to get that organised.
I bet there'll be a final sting in the tale though - maybe I'll hit one more low in the next three days and think properly about quitting (again). At the moment however, I am in good spirits.
Betfair settled my lay of Arsenal to win the Premiership yesterday, which was nice. I think I might engage more in these long-term bets.
My hayfever is starting up early this year. The weather looks good for the next few days; who knows, we might even get a summer this year. Last year all the rain meant that there was no pollen in the air and I had no problems, but my eyes are already itchy this morning. I just have to remember DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!!!!!
Yesterday evening I played a bit more poker and won back about half of what I'd lost earlier. Was going to play a bit more now, but I don't feel like it any more.
Right then, must be off. Thanks for reading
-J
PS. I worked with a nice Irish girl at the airport last week, maybe I'll see her again today.
PPS. I haven't had one piece of junk food since my 'setting goals' post the other day
So I'm on my final three days of shadowing, then I'm officially no longer a trainee. A fully-fledged member of BA Customer Services. Whoopeee. My roster immediately starts with three days off, so I'll be free for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I feel Wednesday night drinks might be on the cards, I'll try to get that organised.
I bet there'll be a final sting in the tale though - maybe I'll hit one more low in the next three days and think properly about quitting (again). At the moment however, I am in good spirits.
Betfair settled my lay of Arsenal to win the Premiership yesterday, which was nice. I think I might engage more in these long-term bets.
My hayfever is starting up early this year. The weather looks good for the next few days; who knows, we might even get a summer this year. Last year all the rain meant that there was no pollen in the air and I had no problems, but my eyes are already itchy this morning. I just have to remember DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!!!!!
Yesterday evening I played a bit more poker and won back about half of what I'd lost earlier. Was going to play a bit more now, but I don't feel like it any more.
Right then, must be off. Thanks for reading
-J
PS. I worked with a nice Irish girl at the airport last week, maybe I'll see her again today.
PPS. I haven't had one piece of junk food since my 'setting goals' post the other day
Sunday 4 May 2008
Running bad
Just been playing some poker, with poor results. Lost 2 buy-ins on one site, and dropped 25 big bets on another. I was playing alright too. Got outdrawn a few times, people making flushes on the river versus my set on the flop etc. Last hand I played I got it all-in pre-flop with KK against AJ, the river was an A, so I thought I better quit.
End of post
End of post
Saturday 3 May 2008
Setting Goals
Ok, I've been getting the impression for a while that I've just kind of been floating around in life, cruising along without any true idea of what I want to do. This could be traced back to the last year, most of which I was unemployed. However, it could also be traced back to my three years at univeristy. While I was at Durham I had no idea what I wanted to do once I'd graduated, and had absolutely no targets for myself whatsoever. Looking back on those years I can see that I made a huge mistake and totally wasted my time, though I won't dwell on that too much because what is done is done. Going back even further, my floating around could be traced back to my days in sixth form. Those were some of the best days of my life. I always knew that I'd get the grades to get into a good university without putting much effort in, and that allowed me to chill out a lot and do a lot of socialising etc... basically I did nothing productive in those two years, and really if I had done even a bit of thinking about the future, my life could have been totally different today.
Reading some of my favourite blogs out there, I see a lot of goal-setting that takes place. This applies to both gambling and life. Apparently, if you want to achieve something then writing it down makes a big difference. I'll get one down straight away - I want to stop eating so much junk food, so expect updates on that battle for a start.
So, using the example of university again, I had no personal targets whilst I was at Durham. In my Freshman year I did a lot of sport and accelerated on the partying front in the summer, then literally put no work in towards the exams and scored 1% below getting a 2:1. This set a stupid benchmark for me, and for the rest of my uni career I knew I could just wing it and get by. In my second and final years I still had no targets and continued my existence of drinking / video games / playing about five different sports / lifting a lot of weights. At least I was consistent - I graduated having needed only 1% more to have got a 2:1.
In light of all this I think it's high time I set myself a few goals, and put some proper effort into achieving them. All of my life I've had deep aspirations to be rich, even when I was a little boy. That will probably sound pathetic and naive and shallow to a lot of people, but that's simply the way it is. And obviously in the last five or six years, I've done absolutely nothing to give myself a head-start on achieving that goal. So hopefully I can start doing something about it from this moment; even if it's purely a change of attitude for the time being.
My group at work was given a talk yesterday from a Chief Staff Manager at Terminal 5 (a very senior position), and I asked him what his career progression had been through BA. He looked very young and I was interested to know. He told me he had been at the company for 12 years and had started in my position, changing position every couple of years, each time moving another rung up the ladder. So, a long-term goal is to gradually scale the heights of BA, knowing that it is possible to reach the upper-echelons in a short space of time if I truly apply myself (something I haven't done since my early days of high school).
To continue plugging away at building my poker bankroll is another, and I honestly believe that over time I can do this successfully. I have been doing it for a while already, though with the limited time I've had recently to dedicate to it, progress has been slow. Profit is profit though, so I just need to be tenacious on this front and keep on learning.
Sports betting. A month or so ago I became pretty disillusioned at my personal ability to be a profitable trader. This is probably an issue for another post, but I know that I'll always bet on sport until my dying breath, but maybe I shouldn't hope for too much from it at the time being.
I know that I haven't actually set any explicit goals here. However, putting my life into some kind of perspective has helped me clear my mind and I feel better just for writing this. This blog is something I can look back on in times ahead (probably with amusement), and hopefully one day I will read this back to myself and recongnise it as some kind of turning point.
Right, this has been long, so good job if you made it this far. I have to go now and buy my mum a birthday present (I can actually afford to get her something now that I've received my first pay packet). I also really need some new shoes and jeans, but that's been the case for years and I doubt I'll get that done today.
Thanks for reading amigos
-J
Reading some of my favourite blogs out there, I see a lot of goal-setting that takes place. This applies to both gambling and life. Apparently, if you want to achieve something then writing it down makes a big difference. I'll get one down straight away - I want to stop eating so much junk food, so expect updates on that battle for a start.
So, using the example of university again, I had no personal targets whilst I was at Durham. In my Freshman year I did a lot of sport and accelerated on the partying front in the summer, then literally put no work in towards the exams and scored 1% below getting a 2:1. This set a stupid benchmark for me, and for the rest of my uni career I knew I could just wing it and get by. In my second and final years I still had no targets and continued my existence of drinking / video games / playing about five different sports / lifting a lot of weights. At least I was consistent - I graduated having needed only 1% more to have got a 2:1.
In light of all this I think it's high time I set myself a few goals, and put some proper effort into achieving them. All of my life I've had deep aspirations to be rich, even when I was a little boy. That will probably sound pathetic and naive and shallow to a lot of people, but that's simply the way it is. And obviously in the last five or six years, I've done absolutely nothing to give myself a head-start on achieving that goal. So hopefully I can start doing something about it from this moment; even if it's purely a change of attitude for the time being.
My group at work was given a talk yesterday from a Chief Staff Manager at Terminal 5 (a very senior position), and I asked him what his career progression had been through BA. He looked very young and I was interested to know. He told me he had been at the company for 12 years and had started in my position, changing position every couple of years, each time moving another rung up the ladder. So, a long-term goal is to gradually scale the heights of BA, knowing that it is possible to reach the upper-echelons in a short space of time if I truly apply myself (something I haven't done since my early days of high school).
To continue plugging away at building my poker bankroll is another, and I honestly believe that over time I can do this successfully. I have been doing it for a while already, though with the limited time I've had recently to dedicate to it, progress has been slow. Profit is profit though, so I just need to be tenacious on this front and keep on learning.
Sports betting. A month or so ago I became pretty disillusioned at my personal ability to be a profitable trader. This is probably an issue for another post, but I know that I'll always bet on sport until my dying breath, but maybe I shouldn't hope for too much from it at the time being.
I know that I haven't actually set any explicit goals here. However, putting my life into some kind of perspective has helped me clear my mind and I feel better just for writing this. This blog is something I can look back on in times ahead (probably with amusement), and hopefully one day I will read this back to myself and recongnise it as some kind of turning point.
Right, this has been long, so good job if you made it this far. I have to go now and buy my mum a birthday present (I can actually afford to get her something now that I've received my first pay packet). I also really need some new shoes and jeans, but that's been the case for years and I doubt I'll get that done today.
Thanks for reading amigos
-J
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