Goodbye Gibraltar

I decided to leave Party Gaming awhile back. I notified the MD and we worked out a succession plan. Last Friday was my last day in the office.

First off, before any 2+2 wild rumors start swirling around . . . it has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that I wanted to pursue a different challenge. Nothing mysterious or scandalous (sorry guys). I simply found I had gotten to a point where it felt like I wanted to do something else.

What that challenge is and where I’m off to next is something I’ll discuss in another post. I’ll still be involved with poker and I’ll let you know when and where at a later point.

Getting to this point in this post has been easy but I must have ten or more drafts of this post’s second half. After a great deal of soul searching I’ve decided not to mention specific people and what they’ve meant to me whether they be mentor, colleague, or friend (or any combination of the above).

Even though regular readers may fault me for my tendency to lean towards the verbose my previous drafts put my other posts to shame as it pertains to length. Yet even then I would finish a draft and remember people who I had forgot to mention or incidents I wanted to share.

Perhaps one day I’ll share those drafts privately with those with those mentioned but I highly doubt it due to my fear that people may begin spreading rumors that I am not the cruel, heartless bastard I try to make people believe that I am. Let’s just say that if we worked closely together, broke bread together, shared a few pints together, traveled (voluntarily) together, or I’ve given you a nick-name (other than jerk) then you were in one of those previous drafts and I will miss you.

Random Parting Shots

I’m taking some time off before the new adventure begins. If you know me that means I’ll be traveling. So far my trip spans 25,000 miles in the next two and a half months without including side trips.

I’m writing this sitting in the upper class lounge for Virgin Atlantic and to quote/paraphrase Ferris Bueller; If you have the means, I highly recommend it. Don’t worry, I haven’t suddenly become wealthy. I bought the economy ticket and used my miles to upgrade.

Because my internet access will be spotty I don’t know when I will be able to post the words I am writing now. As I write this it is April Nov 4th, election day in the US, and every channel in the Heathrow Virgin Atlantic lounge is trained on the election coverage. The Financial Times even has an entire section devoted to how to make an affair out of watching the election.

I’ll land too late to vote (and in the wrong state) but based on polls I’ll pretty much know who the next president of the United States is as soon as I see a television or hear the radio when I land.

Last night I spent the evening in the Gatwick Yo Hotel. If you don’t know about this chain it is modeled on the Japanese pod hotels. It’s nothing more than a room just big enough to fit a bed and a shower. You rent the room by the hour and they are aimed at travelers who simply want a place to stay between flights. Catch some sleep, take a shower, and catch your flight. All without ever leaving the airport.

The room is so small that in normal configuration the bed sits up like an oversized sofa. You press a button and the bed mechanically extends itself to full lay-down position. There’s a 27” television on the wall, no dressers, nor closets. Attached to the bedroom is a no frills shower in which the sink, toilet, and shower are all in the same confined area. At most, it’s one step from the bed to the bathroom.

To be honest, I found it to be quite nice for its intended purpose. I wouldn’t book it for a week long stay but if you find yourself needing a play to stay for 6 – 12 hours and don’t want to fork over the cash, taxi fares, etc that would be involved in booking a regular hotel this is a very nice option. In my case, my cost was about 33% of what I would have paid for one of the other Gatwick hotels since I would have been charged for a full day.

Anyway, like I said, I’ll be traveling so updates should be be a little infrequent for the next week or so.