The Stakes Are High, The Players Are Higher

27 and 28 April – Steely skies and a morning chill did not bode well for today but the rain never really started and the coolness of the day made for very comfortable riding – no amazing routing and not a huge number of trips but some very good quality and quite a bit of indy stuff to make it interesting.  Any fears that the constant rejecting of jobs has put me in the bad books were quelled very nicely.  Best laid evening plans were for a poker night – most of the usual suspects were present – none were wearing dinner jackets so any hopes of re-enacting a James Bond-esque high stakes feel were out of the question and we were also missing the always entertaining Scottish friend but James did bring an Irish replacement whose hyperactivity was a very interesting replacement.  My performance was disappointingly shocking and was the first to bow out of what turned out to be a rather epically long game – initially Dave the housemate pulled ahead and seemed certain to take the event but a steadily smoking and drinking and ever so confident James whittled him away until he found himself chipless but not chipper-less.  However, it was the dour and determined Adrian who really seems to take this game far too seriously for his own good who took out the prize – main benefit is that his victory will ensure that he gets the wife’s permission to play another night.  Far too late to have a second game by the time it finished and the drunk and the stoned slowly made their way out – the next day after a hearty breakfast of pancakes (standard yoghurt and wholemeal recipe but eaten with yoghurt, maple syrup and frozen blueberries for a delicious change of pace – the frozen blueberries almost taste like ice blocks and could even be preferable to having them baked into the cake itself) I was suitably shocked to read a couple of TXTs from James informing me that he was mugged up the road from my house.  After speaking to him it turned out that it was just next door to the police station – its been so long since I’ve had any personal trouble that I’ve kind of forgotten that this area can be a little dangerous – especially for the intoxicated.  However, he did the absolute sensible thing which was to just hand over his cash and he escaped any major hurt and even managed to keep his credit cards and phone (which, while being physically replaceable are always the most bureaucratic thing to sort out).  Took Chevette to the bike shop for a bit of work by the artisans (as per usual, a contingent of couriers were there attending to their own pieces of business) and afterwards may have stolen a coffee and snack from a Newtown café (I don’t think it was intentional but it could have been subliminal).