Down!

One minute I was leaning into a corner, perhaps going a little too fast and unaware that the surface beneath me was wet and slippery. The next I was crashing down on my left side and sliding. I must have tensed my neck against hitting my head on the ground, as last night and today I have terrible neck-ache. My jeans took the brunt of the fall, and I have no injury on my left side except for some bruising which stopped me from lying on my left side last night. All my joints are aching. To be honest, it shook me up quite a bit.

Must remember that ceramic kitchen tiles are lethal when wet.

And when the Bonkers Dog is whining to come in, it is not a blue-light emergency.

Ahead of the Bookies

I am possibly the only person in the UK who has gambled and has made money on it, to the extent that I am ahead of the bookmakers, and always will be. Here's how I did it:

I was about 13 years old, and hanging about at a friend's house one afternoon, doing nothing in particular. Probably smoking (his parents didn't mind) and eating those chocolate eclair things you got from the sweetshop. Another friend called round, accompanied by his 18-year-old brother. They said they were - gasp - going to the bookies and did we want to put a bet on?. This was such a wonderfully grown-up thing to be doing (it went along with other adult skills like going to the pub or carrying a cigarette in the corner of your mouth while doing something else) that we jumped at the chance, while appearing completely nonchalant.

"Yeah, might do."

Friend's friend's brother got out the newspaper and showed us the list of runners. Towards the bottom was a horse (at least I assume it was a horse, not being very au fait with the details) called Midnight Marauder. The name had a certain ring to it, and I gave him a shilling to put on the beast on my behalf. Odds were 14 to 1, not that I understood what that meant.

The best thing for me would have been for it to have come last, but it didn't. It romped home ahead of the field, and the 'big boy' gave me fourteen shillings and - to my astonishment - my original stake back. It felt like a million dollars.

I went home and told my Dad. This was a mistake, as I should have remembered that he was from the clean-living, temperance end of working-class culture and despised gambling in all its forms. But he didn't tell me off. In what was a remarkably far-sighted response, he merely said "well, that means if you never gamble again, you will always be ahead of the bookies, and there's not many in England can say that".

I didn't, and I am, and I can.

I don't have the moral objection to it that he did, although I haven't seen families ruined and put out on the street as a result of it as he had done, and maybe I would feel differently if I had. No, my objection is purely practical - gambling is pointless, because you will always lose in the long run.

The secret is not doing it in the long run.

(There's a huge fuss going on at the moment about teaching children about gambling. If that teaching involves explaining how it all works, and that it is a zero-sum game, with the money flowing from the punter to those who own the game (bookies or, come to that, city traders) and never the other way round, then I am all for it.)

Good news

I'm just a little bit pleased with myself today. Regular readers will know that I am on reduced hours from my place of work, due to the recession and difficulties in the business, and I have been looking around for other work to make up the shortfall.

The local University (I think it's an ex-Polytechnic, but it calls itself a University, so I'll go with that) has found itself short of a lecturer in an area I happen to know quite a lot about, and at very short notice. An ex-colleague of mine works there and recommended my name. I've had an interview over the phone today, and they want me to start in October. It's only a couple of hours a week, and only for the first half of the academic year, but it's a start.

I was a teacher for 18 years, and a commercial trainer for another nine, so I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom. This time, it will be final-year degree students, which will be a little more demanding than previous positions, but I'm up for it.

I want this small start to lead to more, so I'd better be good ...

Last of the Summer?

Today was dry, sunny and fairly warm, with a lovely blue sky and fluffy white clouds, more like early Spring than late September. Anna and I had a walk on the beach this morning - the first time we had done this since her poor health started back in February. We were only out of the car for half an hour, but we had a walk on the sands and then bought some fish and chips and ate them sitting on the rocks, overlooking the sea.

After we got home, Anna needed a rest, and I looked outside and realised that this was probably going to be the last decent Sunday this year - the forecast says the weather is due to break soon. So I jumped on the trailbike and went for a run. I went right round the Preseli hills, and deliberately chose the smallest, most remote roads I could find. I needed a contrast after the miles of motorway I covered last week. Today, 44 miles, out of habit :)

The Yam is a great little bike for this type of road, and we had a whale of a time. It is amazing how much fun motorcycling can be when you take it easy and just take in the scenery. After an hour, I pulled in at a local beauty spot for a leg-stretch. And I needed it. The Yam's seat is narrow and hard in comparison with the Pan's, and I was starting to get severe arse-ache. At one point a month ago, I was debating with myself whether to go to Denmark on the Yam or the Honda. I think, in retrospect, the Honda was the wise choice. My arse agrees.

Back to work tomorrow, not to work, but to have a meeting with my boss. When I accepted a reduction in hours (and pay) in June, I requested a review meeting after three months. This is now three weeks overdue, and my boss has finally scheduled it for tomorrow. I'm not sure how I am going to approach this. I have enjoyed the extra two days a week off, and it has allowed me to shop and keep up with domestic things while Anna has been on the bench. But the reduction in pay has been disastrous for my finances, and I need to get back to full-time earnings as soon as possible. Work proper starts on Tuesday.

When I was a teacher, I always used to get 'Sunday night blues'. For the first time since I found an alternative career, tonight I feel the same: a mixture of gloom, dread and resignation.

Onwards and upwards, then ...