Life, death, and blackberries.

Today was one of those days where I'm forced into taking a day off work. The school that Helen works at returned after the summer holidays, whilst the kids' don't go back to their school until tomorrow. So unless the two are to be left to fend for themselves for the day, which would be a bit harsh bearing in mind their ages, Muggins here had to stay at home.

To be honest, whenever I take these days off, I can't help but think about what I'm doing with my life. And I'm writing this because I'm sure there are an awful lot in the same boat, who harbour the same thoughts.

I'm very fortunate to live just outside a town that is large enough to carry two supermarkets, but small enough to be surrounded by countryside, even if Manchester is only ten miles or so north. Less than a mile away are fields, copses, streams, etc. There's hardly anyone about and it's peaceful. It's also a great place for the kids to play, let their imagination run free, build dens, dams and generally act like kids did in the old Enid Blyton storybooks. It all seems incredibly old fashioned, but they come home tired and filthy. More to the point, so do I.

Anyway, there we were this afternoon, the three of us enjoying the warm, early autumn sunshine, picking blackberries. I looked at my watch, saw it was 3.30, and realised that were I at work, I'd be making myself my mid-afternoon cup of coffee, stuck in a small office, doing what needed to be done, waiting for home time. My view would be that of a grey, functional but featureless car park. My only stimulant, caffeine.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that you can't help but wonder at times, if there shouldn't be more to life. We're not on this planet for very long. If you have kids, they're children for only a short period of time. And ultimately, whether you have children or not, isn't life too short to be spending major parts of it doing something that you would rather not be doing?

People say that when someone close to you dies, especially if prematurely, that it makes you think that you really do need to be making the most of every day. Death makes the living put things into a starker contrast and examine themselves and their lifestyles a little more than perhaps they are used to. Fingers crossed and wood touched, that hasn't yet happened to me. But I can so see the sense behind the sentiment. Is the trick not to wait for someone close to you to die before realising this?

What am I going on about? That's a fine question. I think what I'm getting at (and let's not forget that this is supposed to be a gambling blog) is that if I ever went to gambling/trading full time, ie. if I ever used it as my primary source of income, then I wouldn't be doing it for the money. I'd be doing it for the the time. Time for the family. Time to read. Time to learn new things. Time to appreciate what you have and to be thankful for it. And yes, I realise that if done properly, trading particularly can be very time consuming, and darned hard work. Nobody is saying that an "alternative" lifestyle is any less demanding. But the hours aren't as regimented. To a large extent they can be made flexible, supplicant to the individual's needs. I tell you something. That doesn't half sound appealing.

Monday's Betting

Yes, yes, yes, I can hear you all saying. That's all very well and good but how did the betting go?

Not too bad, really, although there was very little action involved.

Northern Monkey
Just the one bet on the nags today, and that drifted out from 9/2 to 7/1 on course before running well to finish second, thus providing a small return.
Staked 0.75pts, +0.15pts

Form Lab Lite
The only other bet today was a winning one in Sweden at odds of 6/4.
Staked 1pt, +1.5pts


Month to date figures...

Racing
Northern Monkey: Staked 2pts, -1.1pts, roi -55%
The Sportsman Racing: Staked 0.5pts, +0.416pts, roi 83.34%
Total roi 21.85%

Sports
Football Elite: Staked 1pt, +/- (+/-£), roi 0%, ROC 0%
Summer Of Football: Staked 6pts, +0.695pts, roi 11.58%, ROC 2.78%
Skeeve (Asians): Staked 6pts, +1.554pts, roi 25.91%
Skeeve (Doubles): Staked 5pts, +8.785pts, roi 175.71%
Skeeve (Shortlist): Staked 2pts, -2pts, roi -100%
Skeeve Total: Staked 13pts, +8.34pts, roi 64.15%, ROC 10.42%
The Sportsman: Staked 0.35pts, +0.213pts, roi 60.85%, ROC 3.55%
Form Lab Lite: Staked 4pts, +2.678pts, roi 66.96%, ROC 5.35%
Sportyy: Staked 5pts, -0.732pts, roi -14.64%, ROC -0.91%
Service X: Staked 32pts, -2.733pts, roi -8.54%, ROC -2.73%
Total roi 27.91%

Grand Total roi 27.61%