Monday, March 30, 2020

I only played them cos they were suited






Those were the words that my opponent uttered when he flipped over a turned flush, beating my flopped set of Kings. Idiot. I'd raised to 5x preflop from UTG and he'd called from the button with 8-2 suited, flopped middle pair with a flush draw and we'd got it all in on the flop. What a fucking clown. I guess that's just poker but I still want to berate him for being so daft.

But I can't bring myself to do it - I just shake my head, reach into my pocket to rebuy and casually ask him if he's old enough to be playing as he looks like he should still be in school. "You know how old I am Dad" is his reply. He's just won about 85 pence ($1) from me and he's not even going to give me the chance to win it back as he announces that he's leaving with a profit and wants to watch a movie. 

It's the 1st weekend of lockdown and we are having a home poker session just for something different to do - I've only just recently taught Mrs AC to play whilst the boys have been learning for a couple of years so every once in a while we have a game. I never seem to win though - as bad as I think I run in casino games I can probably double that at our home games but at least my losses are only small plus I'm closer to the beer in the fridge. 

So rewind to the previous weekend and when I picked up the boys they couldn't have been in more differing moods - my eldest opened the door looking morose and declared sadly that his school would be shut for the foreseeable future. My younger son was virtually skipping through the house and told me the same news but with a level of glee in his voice that only an 11 year old can have - he was so excited that I thought he was going to explode. I don't have the heart to tell him that the majority of the next few weeks is going to be spent cooped up inside with his brother and mother. 

There's no official lockdown announced at this point in time but social distancing has been recommended. But given most people have read this as "cram yourself into the busiest train possible and go to the pub as usual in the evening" a full lockdown was announced on Monday after I'd taken the boys home on Sunday evening.

The 1st week of lockdown hasn't been too bad as I've actually been quite busy but the next couple of weeks will be much quieter work-wise so I'm not sure how they will go. Mrs AC had run out of meaningful work to do by Thursday so has binge watched an 80s British comedy called Only Fools and Horses - luckily there's another 5 series left to watch so that should fill some time. If you've never seen it I highly recommend it - it's one of the best loved British comedy series and here are a couple of classic scenes https://youtu.be/ZZj3BY3186I and https://youtu.be/63rcdLeXiU8. She's also tried to tempt me with daytime drinking but given I've had work to do I've resisted so far - next week will probably see my resolve tested. 

There's a park near my house so we've at least had a touch of exercise most days but I really can't see this subsiding for a couple of months at the minimum - even when this is over I think it will take the rest of the year for the world to feel anywhere close to normal again. 

If we get to the end of April it will be the longest that I've not travelled on a long haul flight in about 6 years but there's a good chance that a large portion of the world's airlines will have gone bust by then so maybe my next trip to the US will be by ship - a couple of days spent crossing the Atlantic seems quite relaxing but I'm not sure how practical it will be for getting back home for the weekend. 

How is everyone else coping with lockdown? 





5 comments:

  1. Transitioning to working from home for the first time was challenging at first. However, I now see some of the benefits. Breakfast today was a bagel with cream cheese and a bloody mary. Hard to beat that breakfast of champions!

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    1. Haha. A Bloody Mary first thing is what every growing boy needs! We’ve lined up a daytime drinking session on Thursday as neither of us have much to do

      I’ve always found sticking to a routine helps when working from home - being busy definitely helps though

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  2. I was focused and ready to dissect the hand you posted. I read up to -you know how old I am dad. I was thinking wtf haha and then it all made sense.

    How am I doing, you ask...no golf, no fun.

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    1. Haha. I actually make them go through their thought processes when we go through hand histories (my eldest is used to this as he’s a very good chess player and we can analyse his games - but he’s been far better than me for 3 or 4 years now so his chess thinking is beyond my level).

      Have they shut your courses down? They have in the U.K. and that was the only sport that actually made sense given you can play solo or with minimal contact

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    2. Yeap, they closed the golf courses. Surprisingly, my brother has been playing in Tennessee.

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