Absolutely Anything Else

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Off soon to check out a music event in the 7th district.
Some singing etc. people who were on one of those Talent shows here locally.
Our district is throwing this "shindig" to get people out and tell them about the vote on the 8th we believe.
Might rain but no problems, starts at 2 till whenever.
Ok, report on how it went later...

Hope the weather is better there.  It's relatively cold here just a few km from Budapest and we had drizzle but it's been brightening up but now it's almost 16h and the sun is nowhere to be seen.  I didn't order this weather and I want to know who did!

As it was looking dull and rainy, I was rewiring my kitchen (again, yes 3P electriciity) and now I'm going to rewire my car headlights (had to replace them as they were full of condensation) and next week I'm rationalising and rewiring my shed for the 2nd time (and yes, 3P again).

I suppose I could just nod off for a bit instead of working on the car....ZZzzzzz....

fluffy2560 wrote:

rewiring my shed for the 2nd time (and yes, 3P again).

The "shed" eh?    The one "out back"? 

"Rewiring", eh? Well, I know what the 1st and 2nd "P" stands for. But not sure what the 3rd "P" can be. Maybe "paper"?  Or....



Side note: I can make this joke, because, alas, our property actually came with a "pool"..... And nothing else till I installed more. Had to supply my own paper. And the other two "P"s.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

rewiring my shed for the 2nd time (and yes, 3P again).

The "shed" eh?    The one "out back"? 

"Rewiring", eh? Well, I know what the 1st and 2nd "P" stands for. But not sure what the 3rd "P" can be. Maybe "paper"?  Or....

....

That was way too much information.

Yes, it's the one out back. It's really not so much a shed as an 30-35m2 outbuilding as it's bricks and mortar with a proper roof.  It's not wood with a felt roof.

3P: Three phase
1P: Single phase

I managed to rewire the kitchen and the car but I don't think I can face more rewiring tomorrow and scrabbling about in the filthy shed roof space. I am going to go for some plumbing inside.  I should really get a life, ditch the DIY and go cycling as Sunday is expected to be nice and warm.

fluffy2560 wrote:

That was way too much information.

Ah. Okay. Got it. Good thing then I decided to not include the photos..... 

fluffy2560 wrote:

I should really get a life, ditch the DIY and go cycling as Sunday is expected to be nice and warm.

Especially this Sunday. Suppose to be a rather nice warmish Spring day.

So the music thing yesterday was OK.
We only stayed about 2 hours, pop music isn't our fave thing.
They had old X Factor singers , some were good and others were probably more suited to singing in a piano bar, their voices didn't fill the venue enough, sounded strained.
The lights on the stage were done nicely. Everyone did 2 to 4 songs and got off the stage. That was good.
It was some promo for one of the political parties for today's vote.
As we sat listening we noticed people forming a line to get a free meal.
A "homeless" but clean man sat on our bench and told my husband that the meal was suppose to be served at 2 pm.
They didn't start serving people until 3:30.
Let all these people stand in line for 90 mins or more for a meal.
It just seemed like they allowed them to wait so that they could take a photo of how many people they feed.
Cameras everywhere, one young women came over to us and wanted a interview, we declined.
We got hungry and came home to eat.
Got bored with the event.
We felt sort of bad for all those people who might of needed that free meal and not just stood in line for the heck of it.
Husband going out today to vote, no idea yet who he has in his mind to vote for.
He dislikes career politicians so maybe that will be a factor in his vote, maybe someone new out of nowhere?
'

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

...
Husband going out today to vote, no idea yet who he has in his mind to vote for.
He dislikes career politicians so maybe that will be a factor in his vote, maybe someone new out of nowhere?
'

Mrs Fluffy told me that Bernadette Szel (LMP candidate for PM) lives in our village. 

Never seen her although we see the OV friendly Mayor walking around (she's in bother too for having an affair). 

I was rather surprised about those snippets but since the campaign has been going on, I've found it to be throughly nasty. 

Not that those small bits of information will make any difference to what goes on around here.  It's pretty much hard core OV-land. 

Maybe your fella should have a look at Euronews before deciding.  Lots of small articles and video news clips about today on there.

klsallee wrote:

....Especially this Sunday. Suppose to be a rather nice warmish Spring day.

Looking out the window, yes it is indeed.  But now it's really windy.   I think I'll get the bike out and look at it and maybe do some maintenance.  I might even ride it around a bit as a test drive and do the proper ride of say 20km tomorrow!  Been a while so I should ease into it.

People are coming and going on the sidewalk in front of our place.
We live close to the school where the voting is taking place.
Husband going over ASAP.
He has been reading news about HU for ever, he wasn't even going to vote but thinks this time everyone is going to cast their vote and things may get shook up.
I am neutral , don't know what is going on really...
It was bread and circus yesterday though with that music event.
For a moment I thought they were giving away free beer, no way, I would of stood in line for that!
Today is national beer day in the USA!

Having a affair and being in politics seems to be a requirement these days... sad.

Just back from voting.
They couldn't find my husband name on their lists but it got done.
We found out a few months back while picking up a order that their is another person in our district with my husbands name.
We think it is one of his cousins, we plan on knocking on the guys door one day, we got the address from the shop when we fixed the mix up. Funny sort of.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
They couldn't find my husband name on their lists but it got done.
We found out a few months back while picking up a order that their is another person in our district with my husbands name.
We think it is one of his cousins, we plan on knocking on the guys door one day, we got the address from the shop when we fixed the mix up. Funny sort of.

A distant relative has my name as well and while we're never confused with each other as there's an age difference, Google doesn't know the difference sometimes when doing an image search.  Might be a good thing or a bad thing.  Probably good.

I was told some years ago by a colleague called say Albert X (who was say, small and white) who was in the military for a long time that there was also a huge black guy with his name Albert X too and they sometimes almost collided at various postings but never actually met. 

Huge Albert's wife was always suspecting Huge Albert was having an affair since their post sometimes got mixed up.  Who is is this woman who is writing to you (huge) Albert?  Small Albert regularly got calls from Huge Albert suggesting he changed his name.  "No, you change, no you, no you!".

Maybe less easy to mix it up these days what with e-mail and FB.

Alternative contest/entertainment to this year's election:

Wife Carrying

Funny, you "Brits" are wacky!
Not so "stuffy" after all it seems.
They have a rep of being so stiff upper lipped but this proves that theory wrong.
Maybe the Brits have  a good way of keeping business and pleasure in different mental compartments?
I know my HU husband  is that way, Mr. Serious most times but when he finally cuts loose, watch out world.
They used to  say in Hungary that a good wife could carry their husband home on her back, after a long night of drinking that is.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Funny, you "Brits" are wacky!
Not so "stuffy" after all it seems.
They have a rep of being so stiff upper lipped but this proves that theory wrong.
Maybe the Brits have  a good way of keeping business and pleasure in different mental compartments?
I know my HU husband  is that way, Mr. Serious most times but when he finally cuts loose, watch out world.
They used to  say in Hungary that a good wife could carry their husband home on her back, after a long night of drinking that is.

We're not really Vikings but sort of and certainly Vikings including  carrying off people in their job descriptions/skill sets.   I think this "sport" originated in Iceland. 

The British have a particular sense of humour which tends to be be somewhat sarcastic, often subtle, definitely self-deprecating topped off with a large dollop of absurdity without being too silly.  I am not sure I see that elsewhere.  You couldn't say compare say Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) with Jim Carrey* even though they both do silly things.   

But as far as the Hungarians go,  we can only be all in favour of equality.   

In my own case Brienne of Tarth** would be needed to carry me.   


* Jim Carrey I've lost any respect for since his GF did herself in. 

** if you don't know who that is, you are not watching enough Game of Thrones (GoT). In fact, no-one is watching enough GoT at the moment.

I also have a sarcastic/dry sense of humor.
Not everyone "gets it".. They laugh later when they realize what happened.
My husband says the funniest things but not often, he seems to save up his humor for one big blow out at once.
I had to be the clown in the family growing up. My older sisters were so bossy. It was like having 3 mothers at once sometimes.Without humor it would of been very hard.
My BFF and I have known each other since we were 15 or 16, never yet have we actually had a serious  conversation about anything. We are too busy laughing our heads off about some stupid thing or the other.
Think that's why I love her to death, she is funnier then me and smart as a whip, rare to find that in one person.
She scored Stones tickets back when we were 16 and all we did throughout the entire concert was laugh. Not even sure why, we just couldn't believe we got tickets and were actually there.
Don't ask what was so funny, no clue it just was.
2 summers in a row  my older male cousin and his Thai wife came to Budapest.
He was 68, a PHD in Education, all serious like, hadn't seen him since I was 4 years old.
I mentioned something about my older sister, she was 2 yeas older then he.
He looked straight faced at me and asked,"Is she still bossy" one of the funniest things anyone ever said to me, so true, but the way he said it was so dry and serious.. Really boned us after so many years to have a good laugh together.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
He looked straight faced at me and asked,"Is she still bossy" one of the funniest things anyone ever said to me, so true, but the way he said it was so dry and serious.. Really boned us after so many years to have a good laugh together.

My own sister is rather bossy as well.   

Is it something about being an older sister that makes them bossy?

In my case, she's always volunteering her siblings to do stuff for others that she can do herself.

I don't know why she does it!

As we all know what she's up to and we just keep calm and carry on (as before).

Must be the older sister thing.
Growing up in Conn. with all of our cousins, my sister was the oldest by a year or so.
We had a huge yard with swings and ice skating in our back yard and my dad loved showing off seems to run in the family, (showing off) so he would have big dinners and BBQ's at our house.
Noticed my cousin on FB with his new bright red Lotus car, he is like 70 now. My dad was the same way, dad had have the first tv set on the block, new cars all the time etc.
Very mush into flashy behavior, mom wasn't like that and I think I have taken after her, thankfully.
Sort of can understand why my dad was that way, born in a wood house in Poland with dirt floors but my cousins always had it good.

Since it was our home my sister took charge and bossed everyone around.
Guess she did a number on them since he still remembers that.
She demands respect or else.
I just thought it was so funny that he should bring that up after us not seeing each other for over 58 years!!
It was strange to meet a close first cousin, can see some traits in him that i also have.
Show off is a trait, being bold is a trait, open minded but having standards is a trait.
Just odd to see yourself in a stranger, basically he is a stranger after so many years of no contact.
His mom was a hoot too.  She took me and her daughter to a bowling alley in Conn.  to drink Miller beers when I was 19. Last time I saw his mom.
Down to earth but brassy people, very interesting as a study in behavior.
Also so odd to see how much we resemble each other here and there, more so then my brother and I even.
I have 2 more male cousins I have just come into contact with again, they also look more like me then my brother does. Just odd.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

..... She took me and her daughter to a bowling alley in Conn.  to drink Miller beers when I was 19. ....

Miller is beer?   

Never understood the 21 years old age thing in the USA.  18 is the age of majority except for  drinking.  At 18, you're an adult, can fight in wars but.....

When I was there in the USA once - obviously well past 21 - being asked for ID.  That was just laughable.

I said, "come on, that's a bit silly" but apologetically (and possibly irritated?) the guy behind the counter said, "we have to ask" but of course I showed him my EU driving license which just baffled and surprised him. 

Waste of time!

It was really odd back in 1975 , the east coast of the US would allow drinking at 18 but the west coast where I grew up was 21.
We moved to NJ for a short while and i got a job near the college at night serving beers from the tap. I was 19 and it just felt odd.
We moved to NYC and I worked nights in a dinner house/bar.
I still remember the name, Glancey Maldoones Irish Pub, ran by a group of Italian guys who wore overcoats never ordered drinks but went into the back room for hours... Hmmm.
Allot of crazy stuff for a 19 year old at the time.
Moved back to Ca, and couldn't go into a bar again.
I am not sure if having to be 21 is national in the US now or not, I don't go to bars so never bothered asking or finding out.
I was carded up until my 40's now they don't bother to ask me... My ego is insulted, wish someone would ask. Sometimes I joke and ask them if they want my ID, no one thinks that's so funny, sad.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Supposedly a thread for blabbing about anything you want and hopefully nothing will be off topic.

So what would be on-topic in a thread of things that are by definition off-topic? (Singing, "Happy Oxymorons are Here again").

I shall start then. Has anyone ever tried to explain how to play cribbage to a Hungarian? One thing that is certainly inaccessible in Hungary is a cribbage board.

Things Hungarians do not understand
---
Concept of buying a round of drinks.
Shop doors should shut behind me.
It is not imperative that I get a basket in the shop when I am only buying one thing.
You are not in a hurry, the doors on the lift will close in about two seconds. It takes you that long to reach for the "close door" button.
You bought one ticket for the bus or train. Not for the whole carriage, but one seat. Your bag did not buy a ticket. I should like to sit down on that seat, please.
One 25-watt lightbulb in a room is not nearly enough.
Concept of making change. If I give you five forint, I get two hundred back. I guarantee I will get 195 forint back and then two five-forint pieces back.
Imperial systems of measurement.
That they used to drive on the left like normal people until Hitler barged in.
That the Treaty of Trianon was a long, long time ago. ("Trianon" is a very bad swear word in Hungarian. Try it.)
Glottal stops and dropped aitches.

Most songs of the seventies played on their wireless: "Down in the dungeons with Peters and Lee". "Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard". "They called me melon pillow". etc. ad nauseaum

Is that enough to be getting started?

(deleted, hiccup with all the moving ads)

I managed to rewire the kitchen and the car but I don't think I can face more rewiring tomorrow and scrabbling about in the filthy shed roof space. I am going to go for some plumbing inside.  I should really get a life, ditch the DIY and go cycling as Sunday is expected to be nice and warm.

Can you bike round to my place on Sunday as I am fed up with DIY too. But I was hoping we could get felt laid down in the loft.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

As it was looking dull and rainy, I was rewiring my kitchen (again, yes 3P electriciity) and now I'm going to rewire my car headlights (had to replace them as they were full of condensation) and next week I'm rationalising and rewiring my shed for the 2nd time (and yes, 3P again).

I suppose I could just nod off for a bit instead of working on the car....ZZzzzzz....

That's just a woman in one of her phases. Unfortunately whenever I get hold of a girl like that, they all run to earth... or at best are extremely neutral.

Marilyn, you are one sassy lady. I tip me titfer and that is not male patronising, just due respect. As a male, of course, I would get it right the first time and not have to do it again... (ducks incoming brickbat)

SimonTrew wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

As it was looking dull and rainy, I was rewiring my kitchen (again, yes 3P electriciity) and now I'm going to rewire my car headlights (had to replace them as they were full of condensation) and next week I'm rationalising and rewiring my shed for the 2nd time (and yes, 3P again).

I suppose I could just nod off for a bit instead of working on the car....ZZzzzzz....

That's just a woman in one of her phases. Unfortunately whenever I get hold of a girl like that, they all run to earth... or at best are extremely neutral.

Marilyn, you are one sassy lady. I tip me titfer and that is not male patronising, just due respect. As a male, of course, I would get it right the first time and not have to do it again... (ducks incoming brickbat)

I am now laughing... When I worked in the casino industry in Vegas,our bosses gave us all "nicknames". Mine was of course, Sassy Tassy. i was always waiting and secretly hoping they would just fire me, no luck they liked having me around so much they would ask me to work extra days...Bummer.
Would push the limits on what I could get away with and darn, they never fired me.

I am sure any Hungarian lady married to a Brit has to be extra smart and sassy themselves.

I think in general Hungary has gone far as with attitudes.
I love HUngarians but they don't always love us "foreigners" back.
In 1978 on our first trip to Hungary it was not exactly a young women's' dream holiday.
You may think people on the public transportation are rude now, they are great compared to the old times.
My beautiful little red headed boy of 2 1/2 years old would hold my hand on a bus or tram in the city and I literally had to pull his arm to make way to leave the vehicle. People were so rude and stubborn they almost allowed him to break free of my grip and let the doors close on him. The amount of swearing, shouting and yelling I had to do to have people act "human" back then was something I hardly want to think about, my BP would go up if I remembered all the details.
I learned my fair share of cuss words at that time in Hungarian.


Take that back, any mixed cultural marriage has to be something else!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

It was really odd back in 1975 , the east coast of the US would allow drinking at 18 but the west coast where I grew up was 21.
....We moved to NYC and I worked nights in a dinner house/bar.
I still remember the name, Glancey Maldoones Irish Pub, ran by a group of Italian guys who wore overcoats never ordered drinks but went into the back room for hours... Hmmm.
.... Sometimes I joke and ask them if they want my ID, no one thinks that's so funny, sad.

USA isn't one country really.  But neither are we. We also have some funny laws back in the UK. Drinking is banned on Sundays in some religiously oriented communities.  Seems ludicrous but some people think that's what they need to do.

Quite clearly the Good Fellas out the back were either studying the bible or discussing their plan for charitable works in the area.  Oh, and the violin cases were for music practice and to accompany folk dancing.

Made it ma, top of the world!

My sis moved to Utah for a very short time.
They don't even sell alcohol on Sundays there.
They would stock up and have dinner at a place that allowed you to bring your own in , they were not allowed to serve on Sundays.
It was a very interesting education living in NYC for the 4 or 5 months that I was there.
Wow, it was both exciting and scary at the same time.
We all knew something was up with so many men coming in and just going into the back room of the bar we worked in.
Sometimes they would just come up to us and hand us a tenner but that was it, all business and no "funny business" guess we were sort of a cover  for whatever was going on between 8 pm and 4 am...
There was one real barman who knew the business and about 5 of us "young ladies" working there, maybe we would get 10 customers coming in a night... Not normal at all. At least we got paid by the hour.

My friend who worked with me was a traveler from the UK, she would work here and there to pay for her trip.
She quit and had me follow her to her new job at another bar.
We were real waitresses there, no one even looked at us twice, too busy watching the under aged strippers on the stage.
2 weeks of that I and I was done with bars or waitress work for life.
Wow NYC was a real eye opener compared to my sheltered life in a small S. Ca. town.
It was really a bit "sleazy" but when you're young it seems fun.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

As it was looking dull and rainy, I was rewiring my kitchen (again, yes 3P electriciity) and now I'm going to rewire my car headlights (had to replace them as they were full of condensation) and next week I'm rationalising and rewiring my shed for the 2nd time (and yes, 3P again).

I suppose I could just nod off for a bit instead of working on the car....ZZzzzzz....

That's just a woman in one of her phases. Unfortunately whenever I get hold of a girl like that, they all run to earth... or at best are extremely neutral.

Marilyn, you are one sassy lady. I tip me titfer and that is not male patronising, just due respect. As a male, of course, I would get it right the first time and not have to do it again... (ducks incoming brickbat)

I am now laughing... When I worked in the casino industry in Vegas,our bosses gave us all "nicknames". Mine was of course, Sassy Tassy. i was always waiting and secretly hoping they would just fire me, no luck they liked having me around so much they would ask me to work extra days...Bummer.
Would push the limits on what I could get away with and darn, they never fired me.

(dot dot dot)

Take that back, any mixed cultural marriage has to be something else!

My grandfather was a bookmaker before it was legal, and used to do tic-tac on the racecourses. In the UK, betting shops and betting are a rather agreeable sin, thanks to the Horcerace Totalisator Board and various Gambling Acts. It is the one sin I don't have, that and fornication. Although at my wedding (in England) I did start my groom's speech with "FORNICATION! FORNIcation. FOR an occasion such as this I should like to say a few words..."

My missus and I had the perfect wedding. We lived on a small street near a big river, the River Great Ouse. The church was at one end of the street, the river and pub at the other. Hungarians don't know that an English wedding takes about half an hour, cos in Hungary please give up our whole day before it gets enjoyable. We had our vows blessed and everything and I got the service books done with Hungarian on the left side (left-hand drive obviously) and English on the right side (right-hand drive)  in parallel texts, same words (translated) to same music, usual biblical hmns, what could possibly go wrong now. I got my mate Richard to come 40 miles to drive my to-be-missus to the church in his old 1948 Riley, the full distance of 200 yards from the house to the church, while the rest of us waited for her to be late. Then the vicar knocked over all the vases on his entrance to the pulpit, flourishing his gowns, at the important bit the missus said Ï don't, and my best man was late because he had a dental appointment. Never mind we managed to get married anyway and walked to the pub to have the reception, which is what we all meant to do anyway. The bellringers were all deaf from, er, bellringing so bob triples came out more like bobcats singing, and the organist couldn't get his organ up.

It takes an Englishman to make his wedding that memorable.

Church, Pub, House, all done in 400 yards. Best day of my life. All downhill from there.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I am now laughing... When I worked in the casino industry in Vegas,our bosses gave us all "nicknames". Mine was of course, Sassy Tassy.

That never occurred to me actually. We don't tend to use sassy very much in British English.

We are just so used to gambling in the UK that it comes as a bit of a surprise to find you can't very much in the US and have to go to Atlantic City or Noi Joisey or whatever. It is so habitual in the UK to have a little flutter that it is not regarded really as that sinful. (Also of course, you can gamble on the National Lottery i.e. the government's pot when you are sixteen, but the same government of any colour will not let you gamble elsewhere until the age of majority i,e. eighteen. So the government is willing to take money from minors but will not  let anyone else. Hmmm.)

In UK we still do fracs to the old pound shillings and pence. Makes it simpler, 240 pennies in a pound. So 6/4 you have four crowns to the pound, modern money that is #1.50 to the pound.  (Plus your stake back, i.e. a quid). 7/1 or 8/1 obviously longer, top of the head nine to two, 2.25 to the pound, see it is easy. Up the shoulder rouf is four to one, on your wrist five to one, elbows to half, neves a vier roll your arms, burlington bertie 100/30 divides nicely into 240 but not into decimal.. and never take 100/30 take 3/1 and get your little frac extra. You can quote your price and the bookie will either lay it or not. I got a quid on Theresa May in a cross double for her to win the election and be out by christmas.

The bookmaking articles on Wikipedia are awful and I have been meaning to sort them out for years.

On the nose means for first horse to win, each-way is a very bad bet but a place bet is sometimes worth it. I always make a fiver bet(before christmas) to give the missus in a present for  the King George VI on boxing day, Dec 26, as that is her birthday. She hasn't come in once yet, nobody ever seems to tell the horses.

But you should onl gamble with money you can afford to lose, for the fun of it. If you can't afford it, don't gamble. It does worry me the amount of ads, most specifically aimed at housewives, for gambling on bingo websites. That is too easy. I know a bookmaker's is a man's world always has been, with the obvious exceptions of lesbians and friends of mine, but it gives you pause for thought to walk to the shop to put the bet on. Not rack it up on a kinda instant bet on your mobile phone. That crosses the line from playful to harmful, for me.

Betting wins in the UK have always been regarded as tax free, so sometimes it does make sense to use it as an investment, but not very often. A tax syndicate once bet on there being a hole-in-one during the British Open golf championship. They got I think about half a million quid for making very small bets at many bookmakers (couldn't do that now). Someone smelt a rat and stopped paying out, it went to the Gambling Commision who quite agreed that it is the bookmaker's fault, they are the ones making the book, and if they can't work out that if 72 professional golfers are going round 36 holes the real odds are about 3/1 of any one of them getting a hole in one, they shouldn't be offering 100/1 and 50/1 and odds like that. The punters won, for once.

Pretty much all you can't gamble on is misfortune. You can't gamble on your mother-in-law dying, for example. This is pretty much obvious that the misfortune or good fortune happens the very next day. It's not illegal to place any kind of bet like that, but any honorable bookmaker will refuse it and tell you to go to a less honorouble professional, such as an insurance broker.

Needless to say I don't gamble much. Because my grandfather was a bookmaker. I knew who was winning in the long term. Although he looked most miserable when he had had a good day.

SimonTrew wrote:

....
On the nose means for first horse to win, each-way is a very bad bet but a place bet is sometimes worth it. I always make a fiver bet(before christmas) to give the missus in a present for  the King George VI on boxing day, Dec 26, as that is her birthday. She hasn't come in once yet, nobody ever seems to tell the horses.
...

About 30 years ago I put a quid on each way for the Grand National - forget which horse, maybe Red Rum and I won!  So wasn't that bad a bet.

I also won £112 on the National Lottery about 25 years ago.

And I lost $5 in a machine in the MGM Grand in LV about 20 years ago.

I was shocked I lost my money and realised it's a mugs game.

I haven't gambled like that since then.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....
On the nose means for first horse to win, each-way is a very bad bet but a place bet is sometimes worth it. I always make a fiver bet(before christmas) to give the missus in a present for  the King George VI on boxing day, Dec 26, as that is her birthday. She hasn't come in once yet, nobody ever seems to tell the horses.
...

About 30 years ago I put a quid on each way for the Grand National - forget which horse, maybe Red Rum and I won!  So wasn't that bad a bet.

I also won £112 on the National Lottery about 25 years ago.

And I lost $5 in a machine in the MGM Grand in LV about 20 years ago.

I was shocked I lost my money and realised it's a mugs game.

I haven't gambled like that since then.

There is a reason that in pubs used to be displayed the sign, BETTING AND GAMING ACT 1968, Cribbage, Darts, Bar Billiards, Dominoes, Pool and Shove-Halfpenny may be played on those parts of the premises open to the public for small stakes during permitted hours. Playing any other game is strictly prohibited.

BETTING AND THE PASSING OF BETTING SLIPS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

i.e. you can have a pub game but not a private one in the back room (you can set up a snooker table in the back room, or a billards hall orplay scrabble or  how's your granny off for spots, as long as it is in a public room, rather defeating the purpose of the Act) and win or lose a few pennies but you cannot gamble on pub premises. I actually asked the Gambling Commission once whether betting on a mobile phone in piub premises constitutes betting (because it is the licencee who gets fined). Their answer was if it is your own bet, it''s fine, but if you bet on someone else's behalf it's not. It is a good job I was on the phone cos I changed into my Queen of Sheba costume with that one. Mobile phone betting in pubs is illegal, under the gaming acts, yet these game things and whatever play-to-win or whatever on mobile phones is ridiculous.

Gamble for fun, not for profit. With money you can afford to lose. Then it is not a mug's game, then it is a bit of fun, a drug if you like. You did wise not to chase your losses. I hope this doesn't come out too preaching from the pulpit. Red Rum won in 1974, 1975 and 1978, I think (I haven't checked) but in that era, so you have about 100/30 chance you had the right horse.

If you have time to spare and too much spare change, make up dog racing. Get a long bit of felt or curtain, mark it into six lanes along the piece. The piece should be about three foot, a metre, wide. So you now have your dog track. Mark the lanes 1 to 6. Mark out then down the piece into about thirty squares (it doesn't matter quite how many) and put Start at one end and Finish at the other.

Now you have a dog track, all we need now is some money, some children and some.. er.. dogs

At your local everthingshop, kinai bolt or whatever, they are bound to have nodding dogs of exactly the size to run along them. So now we have dogs. Then we need dice. Get two great big stupid dice while you are at the kinaibolt or vegyesbolt.

Now all we need is money and children. Since we can't buy children, keep the money and provide your own.

he first of your two dice says which dog moves forward. The second of your two dice says how many squares. The children will fight to move the dogs forward while the adults bet their pennies or forints or cents which dog will win. (And you can't back after the dogs start moving, MESSIEURS ETS DAMES, FAITES VOS JEUX). AND THEY'RE OFF.

SimonTrew wrote:

....Gamble for fun, not for profit. With money you can afford to lose. Then it is not a mug's game, then it is a bit of fun, a drug if you like. You did wise not to chase your losses. I hope this doesn't come out too preaching from the pulpit. Red Rum won in 1974, 1975 and 1978, I think (I haven't checked) but in that era, so you have about 100/30 chance you had the right horse. ...

I dunno, could be another horse, Red Rum, Seabiscuit, Nijinsky,  take your pick.

Gamble for fun?   What fun? What's the attraction? Dopamine reward?   

We all like to win but where's the skill? Seems too risky to calculate the odds yourself and there's not a lot of meaning in doing research on some random race horses. 

Maybe a better place to "gamble" is on the stockmarket where at least you can see if your "nag" has got form over years and years.   

Or maybe by and sell houses in the UK where there's a more certain yield.

I've seen allot of addicted people playing in Vegas.
Was a games dealer for about 5 years.
You'd be surprised how many people sit for hours on end spending money that God only knows where it came from.

Was a hairdresser forever and we moved to New Mexico where they had just started up allot of Indian casinos.
I had a Japanese neighbor friend from Hawaii who started dealing blackjack and was making serious "bank".
I decided to go to gaming school in NM.
My instructor was a "trip" a older women who had been married in the states to a man but had now discovered she was gay. Lived with her GF who was about 30 years her jr.
This UK women, my instructor had been a games dealer in London in the 1960's, Saw all the big players there and often told us tall tales of odd experiences she had.She was a super sweet little thing with allot of style and class.
She taught us the "proper" way of standing, talking to clients etc. Just like she had done in those private casinos in London in her hey day.
Told us what sort of earrings to wear, never be more flashy then a player and always keep yourself emotionally  detached from the action.
Never give away any facial expressions of either hay or nay.
Things we were never taught in the Vegas gaming schools.
We decided to move to Vegas so I could try out my new skills.
NM had changed a few gaming laws and the money had gone down for dealers.
My husband also disliked the NM lifestyle allot, way to ,"cowboy" for him.
I do not really gamble, only witnessed a couple of people who actually walked away with any real amount of winnings.
Most people don't know when to walk away.
Our big mistake was to get married in 78 in Vegas on New Years Eve.
That was a day when as a dealer we always had to work.
Never thought in 78 that I would ever deal cards or live in Vegas.
It was one very interesting job.

I personally can't get behind any gaming that involves animals.
I get overly upset thinking about any abuse that my befall them, either by injury or on purpose.

Sort of cool to have a "bookie" in the family. Some interesting stories there.
My mom's older half brother was 19 years her senior.
He was 3/4th Mohawk and in those times it was hard for a native American to make serious money or even have a job.
He had a natural talent in boxing. He became Jack Dempsey's sparring partner.
In his day he was a well known in the boxing world.,
He loved the high life my mom said. Clubbing, girl's , drinking after a fight, nice suits etc.
Well the story goes he got too full of himself and started to slack on his training.
Got the cr** beat out of him and never really boxed pro again.
My cousin saw a photo in the 1980's inside the Smithsonian where a photo of my uncle was hanging, with the title underneath," Charlie Rice, famous Native American Boxer".
Not sure if that's still hanging there or not, interesting.
After he got his stuffing taken out of him, he got involved in petty crime. He and a couple other "mugs" robbed a potato chip factory!
Mom said that was the best Xmas she ever had in her life. New clothing, shoes, dolls toys, candy, the works.
While she was enjoying her gifts from her bro the cops came in and took him away.
At least they didn't take away her new gifts.
He is the uncle who married a Hungarian women.
Last time I saw him alive was when I was 12 years old in Conn. on holiday there from Ca.
He had the "shakes" like most boxer get from too many head punches.
Crazy  family history. Wish I had been a bit older and asked more questions when these people were still alive.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
My husband also disliked the NM lifestyle allot, way to ,"cowboy" for him.
I do not really gamble, only witnessed a couple of people who actually walked away with any real amount of winnings.
Most people don't know when to walk away.
Our big mistake was to get married in 78 in Vegas on New Years Eve.
That was a day when as a dealer we always had to work.
Never thought in 78 that I would ever deal cards or live in Vegas.
It was one very interesting job.

I personally can't get behind any gaming that involves animals.
I get overly upset thinking about any abuse that my befall them, either by injury or on purpose.
....
After he got his stuffing taken out of him, he got involved in petty crime. He and a couple other "mugs" robbed a potato chip factory!
Mom said that was the best Xmas she ever had in her life. New clothing, shoes, dolls toys, candy, the works.
While she was enjoying her gifts from her bro the cops came in and took him away.
At least they didn't take away her new gifts.
He is the uncle who married a Hungarian women.
Last time I saw him alive was when I was 12 years old in Conn. on holiday there from Ca.
He had the "shakes" like most boxer get from too many head punches.
Crazy  family history. Wish I had been a bit older and asked more questions when these people were still alive.

Jeez Marilyn, with these stories....and you know what I am going to say....you've got to get these things down on paper for your book.  People who wished they'd asked you questions will know.......

Being hit on the head for a job has to be one of the stupidiest things to do. And to have lessons for it - well, that's just nuts (see here at 4 minutes)  I say that but actually I sort of like watching it on the TV, especially if it's a big match. All of the boxers I've seen talking on TV slur their words and all are it seems punchdrunk especially if "retired".

As for the potato factory thieves.........I suppose given the theme currently here....one could say "he cashed in his chips".  They "sliced" up their ill gotten gains. "Spuddenly" the cops were there.  He made a right "hash" of it.  And his punishment would be an "eye for an eye".  There's police video at "You Tuber".

Too funny!
We are waiting for the cable guy to show up.
They raised our bill a couple thousand forints since we do not have a contract, go month to month.
Went in and told them we could cancel the tv because we have a older set and don't get but a few channels as it is.
We have let it slide for a couple of years, since neither of us watch much tv and we were too lazy to cancel before.
Now they tell us they might be able to get our set to pick up all the stations we have been paying for.
See what happens, might have to buy some sort of box to get the signal.
We should of signed a contract but we hate to tie ourselves down to any contracts even a little thing like cable for a year.
Should of bought a newer smart tv set a long time ago but we always say we are leaving and don't want to buy anything new.
Years later, here we are.

Lately I even find Netflix to be on the dull side.
Way too many action/fantasy shows and not much in the way of good documentaries or true life movies.
Seems like a agenda to really dummy down everyone with mindless shows.
Still upset that The House of Cards has run it's course due to all the news about Kevin Spacey.
That was a pretty smart show that kept you on your toes.

My sister does light housekeeping part-time for elderly people these days.
Yesterday she wrote me about one of her clients.
A lady who lives alone, not sure her age but seems she was funny and well read and a nice lady to work for.
She didn't answer her door when my sister arrived, she called the co. she works with, they couldn't ring the lady up. Went to the manger to have him open her door to see what was up.
Poor women had a mini-stroke alone and was on the floor.
Seems she will recover but that's something to think about as far as being alone in your old age or at any age really.
Our old friend here in HU was only about 58 when he died alone at home.
He had some issues with his circulation in his legs.
We told him so many times to walk to work and not take the bus.
He stroked out at home, they found him in bed with his phone on the floor.
Guess he dropped it while trying to call for help.
Guess that's a good

thing about being married or in a relationship, someone there to pick up the pieces if you fall.
I fell down our stairs here on the one time I was alone at home.This was before my shoulder surgery.
I misstepped on the last stair and just went over the side of the ramp.
I usually have great balance, guess it was the wine that threw me off plus not turning on a light.
Most injuries do happen at home they say.

The saddest thing about our old friend passing away like that was he and his ex wife were thinking of getting back together. Just in the middle of working out the details.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Too funny!
We are waiting for the cable guy to show up.
They raised our bill a couple thousand forints since we do not have a contract, go month to month.
Went in and told them we could cancel the tv because we have a older set and don't get but a few channels as it is.
We have let it slide for a couple of years, since neither of us watch much tv and we were too lazy to cancel before.
Now they tell us they might be able to get our set to pick up all the stations we have been paying for.
See what happens, might have to buy some sort of box to get the signal.
We should of signed a contract but we hate to tie ourselves down to any contracts even a little thing like cable for a year.
Should of bought a newer smart tv set a long time ago but we always say we are leaving and don't want to buy anything new.
Years later, here we are.

Lately I even find Netflix to be on the dull side.
Way too many action/fantasy shows and not much in the way of good documentaries or true life movies.
Seems like a agenda to really dummy down everyone with mindless shows.
Still upset that The House of Cards has run it's course due to all the news about Kevin Spacey.
That was a pretty smart show that kept you on your toes.
...

They will come and give you a cable TV box and then connect it using a SCART cable or a HDMI cable (maybe your TV is too old).  We have cable TV here as we're in one of the few streets with no Telekom service (yes, we do not have "normal" phone lines). We get 150+ channels along with the phone and the Internet - TV is just bundled in. We never actually watch the TV as we're always doing other stuff and now the weather is better and days longer, who wants to be watching TV when there's so many other things to do.  The kids look at Sponge Bob but they've almost stopped doing that now as they are always on the Internet to my annoyance. I am trying to get them to ride their bikes up and down but even that's a struggle.  I feel like I haven't seen my youngest for months as he's playing Minecraft.   I hope his interest will burn out.

I'm follower of quite a few TV shows but I pick my stuff carefully as I never seem to have enough time.   I tend to watch them on a plane or in hotels as that's "downtime".

But more importantly, if you liked House of Cards, I can recommend three shows you might enjoy (I get these tips from my American friend from San Diego).  I am not sure you'll be able to get these shows but you can try.  These are sci-fi but the sci-  is not overly intrusive.  They have the intrigue  of HoC with the sci- as well.

Counterpart  - J.K. Simmons (who might be one of the greatest actors of this century - he'd be great in HoC  to replace Kevin Spacey).

The Expanse - plenty of sci- in this one but also has considerable political intrigue.  Worth watching.

The City and The City - slow start but keep watching just for the oddity of it and the cast is good.   If Netflix ever wants to take something on, then this is one to turn into a longer series - lots of political intrigue - and just plain weird.  Some real parallels and commentary on the world now.

I know sci-fi turns some people off but really it's worth looking these shows if one can see past the sci- bit.

The "cable guy" is here ATM, hope he doesn't shut me off while in the middle of typing.
See what happens.
Weather is very nice, time for a walk when he is gone.
I'll check out to see if I can pick up any of those shows.
The whole world is turning sci-fi, so I had better get used to it.
Sort of not my business but too many video games is dangerous, my son is hooked on them still at age 42.
His wife has now turned into a gamer also.
Makes us a bit nuts when we visit him, like the games come first sometimes.
I know when we were kids my mom would toss out out the door and force us to play outside or ride a bike etc.
Child abuse maybe but she also forced us to sit down and read books too.
She only had a 8th grade education due to family issues but she loved learning, reading and improving herself.
She always bought us paint sets or books or a game that made you learn something.
She was always reading and going to the library, it bothered her to now have been able to finish school.
She loved using new words and trying out new things she read about.

Holy banana sauce!!
The cable guy was nice, he never saw a tv set like ours before.
We have a dual system Sony.
My husband brought up the "blue screen" yesterday and told the guy.
The guy asked my husband to bring up the blue screen and all he had to do was call his UPC co. and have them turn it on!
WTF!!!
Why didn't they tell us this 2 years ago?
All good to go.

What cracked me up was when we were out taking a stroll I asked what he was saying to the cable guy.
In  Hungarian he told the young man that he needed a "miracle " performed to get all the channels we have been paying for like idiots for over 2 years.
When he told me in English he said, "I told him I need some magic fingers" and then he said the guy had a strange look on his face!
Not sure what the heck was lost in translation but they guy looked relieved when I entered the room!!
Just too silly really.
Ok so we have paid for 2 years of service without getting anything in return because every time we either called up on the phone or went in they told us we needed a new tv set.
BS! Our tv was just fine.
Makes one wonder what sort of training some people get before doing their so called "jobs"?
Won't worry about money down the drain...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Holy banana sauce!!
The cable guy was nice, he never saw a tv set like ours before.
We have a dual system Sony.
My husband brought up the "blue screen" yesterday and told the guy.
The guy asked my husband to bring up the blue screen and all he had to do was call his UPC co. and have them turn it on!
WTF!!!
Why didn't they tell us this 2 years ago?
All good to go.

.....
Ok so we have paid for 2 years of service without getting anything in return because every time we either called up on the phone or went in they told us we needed a new tv set.
BS! Our tv was just fine.
Makes one wonder what sort of training some people get before doing their so called "jobs"?
Won't worry about money down the drain...

We've got 3 TV sets here and whenever we got a new cable box we always got the same question.  How old is your TV set?   What they REALLY want to know is if your TV has an HDMI socket.  So they should ask that first, then ask other questions if unsatisfied.

One of our TVs has a card slot for encrypted programmes.  Again, they insisted on coming around to put the adaptor for the card in the slot.  I said why do they need to come? Just give me the card and the adaptor and I'll put it in.  Nope, they have to do it. 

So the guy came after a week or so, was here about 5 minutes and of course it works easily and first time with no fiddling and just scanning the channels.  No big deal.

Kerrching! that's 2500 Ft for a home visit. What a waste of our time. 

Oh and has anyone watched the encrypted channels since? Nope!  We're all too busy!

Got a ton of channels now but they seem to be in Hungarian except for BBC news.
It's ok with me, got hooked on U tube shows and Netflix after 2 years.
Summer is coming so there won't be time to sit and watch , waste of time really to sit for hours and space out.
Hope to visit Vegas this year for a long trip again.
Never watch tv there at all, busy riding my bike or swimming in the community pool or going to my husband's fave casino, The Palms.
They have a huge movie house inside Palms and I often watch a movie after a buffet meal and a few drinks while my husband gets his video game poker fix.
It's a relaxing casino during the daytime, night they have allot of pop concerts and a wild Vegas younger crowd everywhere.
Just have to know where you're going and when are the best times to go.
I promised myself I wouldn't fly again unless it was one way and for good, so sick of traveling anymore.
Guess I might have to break that promise to myself and get a round trip ticket again...
That's about the only way I can see my family as most are still working and can't find the time to come all the way over here to see me.
Had a family reunion of my siblings in Vegas about 4 years back. Hadn't all been together at once in over 30 years! One was missing so that was the only sad part.
Might try to get everyone together again plus we have newly found cousins who live in Vegas so watch out, here we come.
Just trying to figure out the best time to go over, usually we stay for up to 6 months but this time maybe only 3 or 4.
If one stay too long then Hungary becomes just a long lost memory and I don't want to return. Get too used to being back home and don't want to leave.
Nice day outside, almost time to think about summer trips inside of Hungary.
So many places here we still have not seen.

A Scotswoman went to the local newspaper office to publish the obituary for her recently deceased husband.

The obits editor informed her that there is a charge of 50 cents per word.

She paused, reflected and then said, "Aye, well then, let it read, 'Angus MacPherson died'."

Amused at the woman's thrift, the editor told her that there is a six word minimum for all obituaries.

She thought it over for a while and that said, "Aye, in that case, let it read...'Angus MacPherson died. Bagpipes for sale'.

Kids,yes, not sure how my mom survived having 6 of them.
Her first age age 23 and last at age 46.
Just when she was off the hook she started all over again.
Holding my baby sis in her arms at my eldest sisters wedding and having a bun in the oven with my baby bro.
We joked back then that it was usually the bride that was expecting, not the mother of the bride!

Mom's rule was we were her problem until we were 18 then we were out the door.
Worked for her pretty well except for the last two. She tended to baby them allot but no way did we ever sleep in our parents room bed, no way ever.
She tried hard to make us all independent of her.
She lost her mom when she was 13 and tried to teach us to rely on ourself as she learned to do.
Super strict and super God fearing women. Always some Bible quote if we acted up or got too full of our self. Humble person.
Dad on the other hand... Ego manic, funny charming, super handsome.
Put it this way he charmed himself back into our lives after he got my mom's BFF a married women pregnant. Even my step- dad found him to be a fun guy to have a few brews with.
He was probably the most selfish person born but charming as heck. My sisters had issues finding a nice husband because maybe of our dad's behavior, in my case it was easy.. Just married a person 180 degrees different then my dad. Only thing in common was they both were from eastern Europe.

My MIL was also a twin, born with a brother. Sadly he passed away when they were 2 months old.
She was the youngest of 9 kids, all the rest were boys!
Must of been hard to score a date with her with all of those older brothers keeping an eye on her.

OMG> I just realized in my silly fashion that I might of made my husband sound like a unattractive non charming person. Not at all, I meant he is missing the "selfish" gene.
He is one of the most unselfish people I know, not a door mat at all, no way but he never thinks of himself first.
Loves kids and animals, what else can I say?

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
We joked back then that it was usually the bride that was expecting, not the mother of the bride!

Mom's rule was we were her problem until we were 18 then we were out the door.
.....
She lost her mom when she was 13 and tried to teach us to rely on ourself as she learned to do.
Super strict and super God fearing women. Always some Bible quote if we acted up or got too full of our self. Humble person.
Dad on the other hand... Ego manic, funny charming, super handsome.
Put it this way he charmed himself back into our lives after he got my mom's BFF a married women pregnant. Even my step- dad found him to be a fun guy to have a few brews with.
He was probably the most selfish person born but charming as heck. ....

Ever seen this movie Father of the Bride 2?

Mrs Fluffy and I saw this movie in Ujpest in about 1997.  It's actually the only movie I've actually walked out of.  It's just so inane and badly acted we couldn't stand it and left after about 30 minutes.  Appalling movie.   

Hope I'm not being too un-PC or negative but having bible quotes on hand generally goes with other issues - at least in my experience. 

We've got a relative here who is super religious and the amount of abuse their kids got on the basis of some trivial thing being evil etc is terrible. 

There's another one who is also religious - even trained as a Catholic priest - and  it's utterly messed up his life. 

I've had a really nice colleague who was clearly gay but he came from a Muslim culture and seems to struggle on a daily basis with it.   He couldn't take it any more and left his home country and moved to a liberal one where he can be himself.  Looks the religious thing messed up his head too. 

I also worked in an office once and my co-worker told me his brother used to walk around with a bible and get it out at inappropriate moments.   Like if someone was complaining about his car breaking down, he'd get the bible out and start quoting.  Messed up yet again.

I am sure people have positive experiences but most of what I have seen has been negative.