Where to start. Well, I will spend a short time complaining about work. Why? Well its quite simple you see, work sucks. As of April 2nd night racing started in the UK and because of that Bookies are know open till 9:30 pm. This means that I have to work from 10:00 to 21:45, about 11 hours and 45 minutes. These are very long days, but our shop is very slow so they are not very busy days either. On the up side I get plenty of time to read now. Another problem is that working in gambling is beginning to wear on me. It's not exactly the best way for me to make the world a better place. In fact its quite clear to me that it does the exact opposite. I use to tell my self that the people that come in to my shop and gamble are doing it by there own choice. That they need to be responsible for themselves. For most of my customers that is true. However there are a few who don't fit into that argument. Some people are addicted to gambling just the same as someone is addicted to Booze or drugs. At the end of the day I may have given some people lots of money in winnings, but generally I've taken more from other people. In some cases one person will blow £600 or even £900 pounds in one day!! I don't care what kinda of position they are in financially, you just shouldn't gamble that much money.
Worse is when something goes wrong with a bet. Its taken late, or the price (i.e. the odds, 1/2, 5/1, 15/2 ect.) is wrong or late. Then when the customer comes back they are all upset with me for not giving them the amount of money they want. They are often not that polite and see me as the whipping post for their frustration. Arg! I know I can't do this much longer. Its time I found some other way to make a living. Okay enough of that.
On the 25th of March I took a much needed holiday.
My friend Hamza and I went to Amsterdam. I spent four days wondering the streets of Amsterdam. It was Amazing! The firstly the weather was great. I had just spent all winter in Edinburgh and the sun was not a frequent visitor. Rain, wind, and grey clouds often overstayed their welcome. From the moment I landed in Amsterdam the weather was sunny and beautiful. It only got warmer every day until Thursday morning when Hamza and I just got breakfast and then went to the airport. It felt so nice to be outside and not have to wear a coat.
Hamza is the kind of guy that likes to plan out the activities of a holiday to great detail. I am more of a random encounter kind of person. So to resolve this ideological difference I just followed Hamza around, let him be my guide, and then we had a great holiday. We walked all over that city, miles and miles of streets passed by.
There were all kinds of people staying at our hostel. Austrians, French Canadians, Americans from S.Carolina, Italians, Spanish. This made the lobby of the hostel very active and dynamic place. Lots of fun for all.
Among the many places I saw in Amsterdam was the Heineken Experience. It was basically a over-extended commercial for the Heineken Corp. that I payed 10 euro to see. But in the other hand I did get three glasses of beer.
(Other people in the tour gave me some their unwanted beer tokens) So all in all it was worth it, for the beer I mean.Another noteworthy place I visited was the Ann Frank House. It was a bit of a let down. There was a distinct lack of artifacts and even furniture. Some rooms only had one thing to look at, a quote from someone painted on the wall. And often the quotes were not exactly that interesting or relevant. At one point a quote from Nelson Mandela is written on the wall, nice to here from a world leader like Mandela, but not exactly that enlightening of Ann's experience.
At the end of the museum is a video presentation about tension between free and hate speech. That was interesting but the presentation was a bit childish. At the end of each segment, there were several different free speech segments, the audience was polled,then the results of the poll are shown and compared to the results of all visitors of the museum ever. I don't regret going to the museum but I would just warn future visitors not to expect too much. Alletta and I had another exciting experience recently in April. Amy Sample and Max Ward, our good friends from High School, came to visit us at the end of their European holiday. I have been missing all of my friends back in Oregon, and those that have left Oregon as well, very much. So needless to say it was very nice to see someone from my home.
Another crazy experience just as Amy and Max arrived here in Edinburgh is a dinner that happened. Those that were at this strange dinner were Eden Graisbe(not sure if she changed her name, and if so what it is), Mike and Mary Fitzgibbons, Amy Sample, Max Ward, and Alletta and I. Wow! seeing them was a flash from the past. Craziness, Eden is living in Edinburgh, she has married a Scot and is now starting a family. Mike and Mary (even though they are still Mr. and Mrs. Fitz in my head) have family living in Germany and have been coming across the water several times. The dinner was good. Manly the company, the restaurant was too small for a party our size, and the food was nice but not everybody could really enjoy it. We did talk and swap stories about teachers and students. It was all very strange. None of us had changed that much, but we did get to see a side of each other that was very different. We were meeting as equals, not as teachers and students.
After that we had the pleasurable company of Amy and Max for another couple of days. Much fun was had by all.
Well thats me. Other than that not too much different. I am looking forward to summer and fairer weather. Further, I am excited about trips that are coming up. Alletta and I are planing to start traveling all over the UK via Train and Cycle. I also want to try and get out doors and do some rock climbing. Alletta and I are still working out and training for the marathons. Although I should note that we are only going to do half marathons and relays. I am not really that upset at the fact that we aren't gonna do a full one, that was kind of a scary idea that I had not really wrapped my head around. Ok, so I am gonna leave you at that. I hope that I can amend my bad posting ways and give a update sooner.
Take care all you.
Ryan
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