Hello darkness, my new friend
No, not politics, not that I would blame anyone for expecting it with that headline at present, lol.
All year long, up to now at least, I’ve been involved in a really good golf competition on Twitter. Somehow, I ended up 4th on the regular season, which qualified me as 1 of the higher seeds in the 16 person field. I crept through the first 2 rounds, not entirely skilfully, but as I was playing lower seeds, I had a points advantage which proved critical. Then came the semi final, against the number 1 seed, which not surprisingly I lost. This put me in the 3rd place playoff, which is pretty good, given my limited sports knowledge nowadays. Thing is, there were only 3 prizes, so now I had to win this, admittedly against a slightly lower seed to get any prize money. £100, so not something to be sneezed at, for just coming 3rd. Lose that match, get nothing. Yes, readers, you guessed it, I lost, today, in the final Euro Tour event.
Except, in the end, for some reason best known to others, and for which I’m very grateful, a 4th prize, matching the 3rd prize suddenly appeared! Put it this way, apart from the remaining £23, I have no plans to spend this on fripperies, or stuff. My plan was, and always has been, to try a couple of different therapies to try and ease my back, for which the extra expense was beyond my normal pocket, so now…
One is acupuncture, which I’ve fancied trying for years, even before my back went, but now I’ve got no excuse not to do so. I know, having needles stuck in you, for pain relief might seem weird to some, but it supposedly works, has been advised for me, so I will give it a try, and see, in near future.
The other is what they call a flotation tank therapy. Seems that floating, with zero pressure on my back might be a very good thing to do. Oh fine, the whole thing of being in a soundproof chamber, in the darkness appeals to me no end, though I doubt anyone is going to play a voice in the chamber, saying I am being brainwashed or the like will be available to me, lol. Maybe I can get that thought into my mind, but besides that…I can help my health, and help to have a fantasy come true!
So, with big thanks to Gareth, and ‘Scoled’ for their generosity in events today which have led to this happening. This old lady, and her back appreciate it far more than you can ever know.
You may have worked out tonight’s song, but you might be expecting, especially from me, Simon & Garfunkel, but you’d be wrong. This came out about 2 years ago, a stunning cover of said song, and we have a live version here.
Not bothered if I win
Well, finally, as we get close to the end of the year, Christmas and all that, things start happening for the last time in 2017.
I’m due to take the final one of those 3 exams I needed to take tomorrow, and having passed the first two comfortably enough (in my opinion, only get told passed, or presumably failed, no actual score), I’m definitely hoping that will be it for the year. In theory I’ve got a couple of practice tests I need to do by mid January, but with luck I can leave them for now. We will see how busy Saturday is, I guess, though as of yesterday, I couldnt sign in to said website, so definitely cant do them at present. No, I’m not missing them in the slightest lol!
I am guilty of doing far too many sports related competitions for my own good. Horse Racing, Golf, and American Football are the main ones, though I do (shock horror) do a soccer one, but primarily because its very stats based, and seemingly, given I’m currently 55th out of about 460,000, a knowledge, or care for the sport clearly isnt needed! Number crunching, yes, caring about anything else, no! But do I care if I’m 55th, or 55,000th, beyond pride, no, I’m not.
Given the Golf is the only calendar based one, this is the last week of the competition. No, there arent thousands in this, more like 50! But yes, somehow or other, I’m 2nd! Yes, stats are a wonderful weapon, seemingly. Mind, I need a winner this week to have any chance of success, but beyond the thrill of beating all those men, not going to cry either way. Well, there is 1 prize, which might be nice, but otherwise…
Oh, and getting back to work matters. Some people take competition way too seriously for me! As in the judging of the work team Christmas displays. No, I’m not going to mention names, though some might guess, but someone takes defeat way too seriously for little old non competitive me! In related matters, given the ‘lovely’ weather we’re having over here at present, today’s required shopping ended up being done online, instead of in town! Still, Secret Santa gift is sorted out, and on its way now. The elf costume is no longer on its way, its arrived! Put it this way, unless they move me, and the office to somewhere very warm (or tropically hot), I will only be wearing it in the office! Not that I think First Buses, Huddersfield, and Bradford would be ready for me in an elf outfit, but anyway…lol!
OK, video time. Something apt for this blog, though with me, just the opposite is the truth. Main reason for this song, and the blog title, is to pay respect to Keith Chegwin, who died earlier this week at 60. Yes, I’m 3 months away from 60! Ah well, been nice knowing you…lol?
Tell Me On A Sunday, Please
Despite my complete lack of a competitive nature, mentioned recently, I still enjoy doing sports competitions nowadays, even if my research is a little more limited than it used to be, given I can no longer get hold of sporting newspapers, and the like, to garner information.
But yes, there are some sports I’m betting at, than others! The craziest, is horse racing, I seem to be able to read jump racing decently, but as has been proven this summer, flat racing leaves me blank. Doing so badly this year, that of serious entrants, I’ve currently got 1 behind me. Yes, that bad! Yet I can get close to the Top 10 when it comes to jump racing, ah well…
Football/Soccer (depending on where you’re reading this) is a sport I have zero interest in, but given a stat based formula seems to work for it, I’m never going to set the world alight, but I do OK.
NFL is something I can do OK on, though given that with a few exceptions, any team can win, any week, I suspect a fair amount of luck is involved in that?
However, there is one sport where this number crunching machine seems to do well, golf. Yes, the Betfair competition, where you pick 5 players for each tournament, and get points for your best player, I made the play offs, which started this week, just like the PGA, though only 12 of us play on, for 8 more rounds, to declare a winner. Regular season, I came 4th, out of about 30 regular players. Yes, 3 prizes, so no working out where I’m not going to finish lol!
More incredibly, is the one on CBS Sportsline, where you pick 1 player from each of 4 tiers for 20 odd weeks, and score whatever your players score. So yes, being the US, there are about 35,000 players in there. Me, as I type this, 26th! Yes, wow! I might fall, or rise a few places yet, but done OK, sure have.
Why am I good at golf? I think its because if there was ever a stats related sport, its this one. Players like certain courses, and if they’ve done well there in the past, they’ll probably do it again! So yes, number crunching past results in tournament, course, and current form (all easily available in these internet days) seem to bear fruit.
So some think I know my golf, but me, I know its just my number crunching skills, really. Just like a computer, or a robot, or… 😉
The video. Usually when golf results are declared, though of course, next week, in the US, it will be Monday, because the bank holiday is a week behind ours! But generally…
I (Don’t) Want To Be A Winner
Yes, fine, I’ve never been the most competitive person in the whole wide world, but even by normal standards, I’ve been amazed at just how competitive some folk are! I know that sports people have to be, and I guess some of the fans get dedicated, but even so… As for workmates, and quizzes, well…rolls eyes…
So fine, lets start with work. The training group I’m currently with, are halfway through our 2 week training period, for technical services, as mentioned last weekend. Its certainly been interesting, even if I might be grateful that I wont be putting theory into practice. But a lot of it is just doing what the system tells you to do (something I would enjoy), so I’m sure I could cope with that. But seriously, if anyone asked me anything ‘outside the box’, I wouldnt be a lot of use. But fine, this isnt about that, its about the daily quizzes we get to do, a combination of work related questions, and general knowledge stuff, where people get way too competitive. Fine, I know some of the stuff, probably more than I wish to comment here, but all the same, I treat it as fun, and a challenge, but nothing more. But, some of the others, seriously…No, I’m too laid back, clearly!
But OK, a group of people managed to top that today, at least in an online, sporting sense. Yes, baseball! Now this morning, when I got up, I saw a group of Dodgers fans commenting that they were writing off this season as a disaster, and criticizing the front office for decisions made by them.
Which might be fine, if they were actually having a bad season, but they’re not! Before today’s games started, an hour or so ago, they were 2 games off the divisional lead, with about 50 games to go. And as for the 2 extra wild card teams that will get in, they are top of that table, 3 games clear of anyone else! Well, sorry, but if thats a bad season, I really am Jean Harlow! I might wish I was, but seriously…are people really that competitive? I guess some are, clearly?
No, I have no desire to be like that!
3 other pieces of sporting information relating to today.
First, in Baseball, its possible that today, Ichiro Suzuki will join the 3,000 hits club, for Miami, the 30th player to do so. Thing is, when you add in his Japanese hits earlier in his career, he’s approaching 5,000, and he’s probably top of the table. If it doesnt happen today, it will very soon, he only needs 1 more! Secondly, in the same sport, Alex Rodriguez announced his retirement today, he retires on Friday. I suspect it was fait accompli, given his less than stellar season, but all the same, he’s been quite a player, but…for the fact his career is seemingly tainted by Performance Enhancing Drugs. How well he would have done without them, we will now never know. Given that he played for the Yankees, my sympathy would be limited anyway.
The last one is a golf one. Earlier today, a thoroughly nice guy (as much as I know) called Jim Furyk shot the first 58 on the PGA tour. So OK, its only a Par 70 course, but its still amazing, and a first, and so…The funny point? He was so far back before this round that he wont win the tournament anyway!
So fine, to the video. Something I’ve no real inclination to be, unless it happens to just come along my way. But being intensely competitive about it, no thanks!
Nothing more than a dream
Yes, I’m a bit of a sucker for contests, principally free ones, that might at least give me a bit of joy, if I ever won one. I know, stop laughing, with my record, I’m about as likely to win one, as swimming the Atlantic, but anyway, I give it a go.
So, I admit it, each time there is one, I give the Pick 6 on Channel 4 a go, even though my horse tipping skills were never great, and even less so nowadays. But someone might be going to win £10,000, and if I enter it, well, yes, fine, I enter it, and make a losing entry, for sure! Something went wrong last Saturday, I actually picked the first 2 winners, but it went rapidly downhill from there!
The one sport I do decently on contests on, is Golf. I assume its because there is a major stats element to selections for that sport, aided by the fact there is a major ‘horses for courses’ feel to the game. Hey, there is one running on CBS at present, where I am 52nd overall, out of over 15,000 entries! I know, cant last, but the prizes are only open to US residents, so its just practically for fun. But yes, loving doing it.
About the only other sport I do much fantasy stuff on, is the NFL. Again, I know a bit, and as they only play once a week (a major reason I do not look at baseball games), I can find the time to do my entries. Skill level? Modest, I do decently, but never threaten to win anything, for sure.
So yeah, now I’m going to do a contest on a sport I know little about, and care for even less, football, or soccer, as they call it, depending which side of the pond you’re reading this. In truth, the last few weeks of the season, I was doing some silly game, attempting to pick 6 correct scores on English football, for £250,000, if you got them all right, but lets just say I never got close!
Next month, something that would have driven me nuts, if I was still in a betting industry call center, will happen. Euro 2016, or something like that? Yes, that big a football fan, arent I? Well, one company that I may not ever work for, but have great social media contact with, is The Hager Group. The reason I probably wont work for them? They’re in Europe, and my foreign language skills nowadays wouldnt pass muster. Shame, because they seem a nice set of people to talk to, but anyway…Fine, they’re running a prediction competition for Euro 2016, and I’m going to give it a go. If you want to, the link is http://www.hagergroup.com/en/media/online-prediction-game/1024-783.htm and I’m sure they’ll appreciate your entries. Some nice prizes, by the look of it, for those who like gaming, and things, by the look of it. Yes, again, I’m not a major gamer in the slightest, so I may not be the expert to say things like that, and I certainly dont need a football, at my age. All irrelevant, the chances of me finishing anywhere close, has to be zero, or less!
OK, if anyone wants to give me any helpful tips for selections, feel free, I havent a clue! But fine, it should be good for a giggle, if nothing else. And hey, someone has to come bottom, it might as well be me!
Right, the video. What I might have for about 5 minutes of the first game, just maybe?
An interesting few days
So fine, lets at least start on a positive note, I could do with one at present. At least I think its positive, until the prize arrives at least!
A couple of weeks ago, I saw notice of a competition being run on Twitter, by a company called Fabulous Times. You had to select your favourite vintage pin up, and I tried a change of fortune, by selecting Jayne Mansfield. Yes, she’s blonde, and has a fine pair of, err, eyes. Well, something else really, but anyway…
Yesterday I had an email telling me that I’d won the competition, an absolute first. Given that the company that the voucher was for, is called Corset Story, it gives away their most popular sales item, I guess? And yes, even with a £50 voucher limit, there were some gorgeous ones there, that would restrict my waist quite tightly, if only I could lace them up behind my back! No, unlike Jean, I dont have a maid to tighten it up for me, I wish! And no, due to the limited flexibility in my wrist joints, there is no way (unlike the lady in the video tonight) that I could lace myself up.
So I resigned myself to buying a very nice dress instead, and leaving it at that. But…I asked if there were any that required very little, or no actual lacing while wearing it, and lo and behold…
http://www.corsets-uk.com/vintage-straight-line-overbust-with-angled-panels-and-piping-detail.html
Yes, I know, 1-2″ is not the same as pulling my waist in about 4″, but its better than nothing! And I should be able to put it on myself. 🙂 I do (somewhere, no idea where it is though) actually own a corset that would reduce me by about 4″ or so that is designed so I can lace it up from the front, but…as I say, its somewhere in my room, with the emphasis on the word somewhere, so this is more likely to get used.
Of course, if someone wants to act as my maid, and lace me up tightly, I could do a major search in my room to find it, but…No, thought not! If you need a clue how its done…
Right, fine, the less cheery news. Today, I can honestly say I did a phone interview, and it wasnt good. Alright, it was worse than that, as I had a total brain freeze when a question I hadnt planned for came up, and that was that! It was going OK until then, but that blew it, and I knew it. Yes, 5 minutes later, unsurprisingly I got the email telling me just that!
Also, someone rang here re an interview yesterday, while I was at the agency in Leeds, and hasnt rang back yet. Plus, I had an email last night from another agency, asking me to ring them re another job I’d made the short list for. I rang this morning, she was busy, no call back. Rang again this afternoon, yes, she had the message that I rang, but she still hasnt called back, aargh! If they try tomorrow, well…
Oh, and the hypnotherapy course that I thought I did so well at, at the weekend, been told they dont want me to continue. Alright, I do wonder if there is an element of ‘politics’ in this decision, given a friend of mine, and her relations with the guy behind the course, but anyway…Yes, very annoyed, though I do have another option if I decide to go forward with it anyway, so…
Tomorrow, I get to actually go to an interview in Wakefield. Yes, there will be competency questions (I know, but at least I have in theory been fed what they will ask), but there will also be a brief display to do, should be fun! After that, to the Job Centre, and sign on, a bit late, but they know I will be, so all fine.
Yes, its getting to me, I need that lucky break. No, I’m not yet planning on standing on the street corner, in a short skirt, but…rolls eyes!
Wish me luck, I need it. Well, other than for winning competitions to give me an hourglass look, at least!
stevielounicks 
Recent Comments