Not A Stepping Stone

So, the depression has passed. I was thinking about this this morning. I'm clearly not a manic-depressive (insert modern hip term "bi-polar" here if you wish), because I don't have periods of mania. However, it struck me that there can be "up" manic-depressives, who have greater periods and/or degrees of mania (Carrie Fisher springs to mind), and "down" ones, who have greater periods and/or degrees of depression (of whom most we have not heard, because they have committed suicide).

So, I concluded, perhaps I am mildly manic-depressive, with a "starting point" below par. That would explain a lot.

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I'm now really looking forward to Vietnam. Partly this is because I have got things organized. I've e-mailed the relevant panel participants (although only the Chartered Institute of Insurers have got back to me - plus one for the CII there) and I've asked for a taxi to pick me up at the airport. I've read up a bit on Hanoi itself, and I've tentatively booked a three-day two-night trip/cruise on Ha Long Bay. 

This will mean that my time in Hanoi is cut down significantly, but that's not too bad. It will force me to get things done as soon as I arrive, rather than just crashing out in my hotel room.

I don't know why I have to organize things before I feel comfortable with anything, but it's an unbreakable trait. The "let's see what happens" crowd are fine, so long as they don't expect me to enjoy such unpredictability. They can do their thing and enjoy it their way, and I'll do it mine.

Just looked at the brief pronunciation guide for Vietnamese. Doesn't look to me as if there will be much of a problem. Here's a taster:

g = g as in goat
gh = g as in goat
k = g as in goat
q = g as in goat

Where's the problem with that? Simple.

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Cutting down on the number of hands played during the week is definitely a good idea. The one big flaw in the theory that "to win money at limit, you have to play more hands" is that the quality of my play deteriorates (a) after only a short period of time when I have come home from work and (b) when I have been playing for more than half an hour, because my play gets looser and more aggressive. I attribute this to the rapid onset of boredom.

Once I accepted the fact that I'm not a machine, not a computer, and that I was playing worse because of boredom and tiredness, it made a lot more sense to leave games in a fashion which looked like "protecting a win". In reality, this "protecting a win" (during the week) is simple common sense. I will only have played while I was at my most alert and least bored.  At weekends, when stamina is stronger, I can set more sensible "play for two hours, rest, rinse and repeat" strategies. But a "play for 200 hands" strategy midweek is just too long.





Just tried to post a pic. Rich Text Editor messes this up. Looked at code in HTML. UGH! I'm going back to HTML coding.


( Dawn Over Waterloo Bridge )