luck

[sagefr0g]

forecasting

here's some interesting stuff on forecasting the future sort of stuff:
http://www.survey-software-solutions.com/walonick/forecasting.htm (Archive copy)

 

[aslan]

Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers. Anon

Nothing is left to chance. Life is a combination of what you make it plus whatever is destined to be. Luck, good and bad, comprises the latter. It is, therefore, immutable. Looking for it is a waste of time. as:dog:lan

 

[sagefr0g]

how complicated the smallest thing is

Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers. Anon

who is Anon? is that Mr. Anonymous?
but i can relate to that quote. take my driveway for instance. lmao
i've owned the same home a little less than twenty years. and all that time it had the same gravel driveway it had when we first moved in. thing is all that time we were either too broke or i was to cheap to have it paved. but of anything to do with the property it was getting that driveway paved that was something i wanted. lol. when ever it rained a lot or snowed a lot the thing was a murkey, sloppy mess for us all to deal with. call it procrastination and overly cheap or what ever, the job just never got done as much as i wanted it to be. finally the other day there was a knock at my door. i answer the door and it's this guy (who was not procrastinating and was not cheap lol). he tells me he's just finished a blacktop job and has enough asphalt left over to do my driveway. so he gives me an estimate on the job. a fair price.
and here is the point. don't you know i waffled on the deal? i was so indecisive (still cheap, still ignorant after all those years lol) that the guy almost walked away. my wife nosey as she can be lmao, over hears all this.
she knows all too well how i've gone on about wanting to get that driveway done. lmao. she whispers through the screen door "tell him you'll take it Turkey it's a good deal". bells went off in my head, suddenly i was as if i was a genius. the deal of a lifetime and cheap too dropped right in my lap and i was to dull to see it. so a long story, short with a little help i took the deal and we now after nearly twenty years have a paved driveway that was both a fair price and was effortless on my part.
the point being, all it took was recognizing a bit of luck for what it was.

Nothing is left to chance.

not as far as God's part in it, maybe you mean?
but maybe for us it's like we haven't a clue and so it might as well be chance or even could be chance.

Life is a combination of what you make it plus whatever is destined to be.

so we are left with a decision of what to buy into, what is the value and will that value be realized?
and whatever is destined to be is really for us in our ignorance just a formidable list of many 'world' possibilities.
should we guess it right or should it just happen to us, the element of our uncertainty and what turns out to be, becomes luck one way or the other.

Luck, good and bad, comprises the latter. It is, therefore, immutable.

it may be immutable. the point is though to realize it's power in our lives.
the idea of realizing the role our uncertainty and the decisions we make in that uncertainty plays in our lives.

Looking for it is a waste of time.

not realizing the extent of our ignorance is perhaps just as bad or worse.
like maybe luck is a sure thing but even though it is, it is unpredictable and can be missed or not recognized for what it is.
our knowledge i suppose can help only to a certain extent up to the point where the knowledge is either faulty or incomplete. and who can know it all anyway?
perhaps what it boils down to is that luck both good and bad is going to happen even though we want the good and don't want the bad.
that being the case what are we to do? for one thing recognize that either is likley to happen and be vigilant on the look out for both. if we can mitigate the extreme of the bad and accept the extreme of the good and the mediocre we can come out ahead.
just the point i was trying to make in this post:
http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showpost.php?p=99464&postcount=57
"ok and like aslan was saying it's just possible that when he cut his bet that he may in that instance have avoided some negative variance. so if that were the case he's 'locked in some loot' (for the time being) and if it's not the case and either he would have hit his mark for further ev or even positive variance then he is till making some loot (albeit less than optimal).
sounds like a win/win situation that is in a non-predictable situation to me for a given moment in time! (given it's short run and even to some extent if it were long run being that ROR is a distinct possibility)"

so but earlier in that thread of posts you'd alluded to the idea of greed. lol.
it seems a reasonable point and not one that stands alone. consider greed and the concept of ignorance or a confidence to accept some degree of risk.
the orthodox counter can become so wealthy if he just accepts some degree of risk. (and remmember that degree of risk could be complete ruin). the question becomes is a lesser degree of profit acceptable in exchange for a greater degree of certainty and at some point virtually no risk?
so yeah "life is a combination of what you make it plus what ever is destined to be." just lets know what we want and lets be humble enough to accept it and be thankful for it when we recieve it.

Mathew 18.9
"And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire"

may we just have the capability to measure the extent to which something is offensive and the courage to cast off that which is. lol

 

[aslan]

who is Anon? is that Mr. Anonymous?
but i can relate to that quote. take my driveway for instance. lmao
i've owned the same home a little less than twenty years. and all that time it had the same gravel driveway it had when we first moved in. thing is all that time we were either too broke or i was to cheap to have it paved. but of anything to do with the property it was getting that driveway paved that was something i wanted. lol. when ever it rained a lot or snowed a lot the thing was a murkey, sloppy mess for us all to deal with. call it procrastination and overly cheap or what ever, the job just never got done as much as i wanted it to be. finally the other day there was a knock at my door. i answer the door and it's this guy (who was not procrastinating and was not cheap lol). he tells me he's just finished a blacktop job and has enough asphalt left over to do my driveway. so he gives me an estimate on the job. a fair price.
and here is the point. don't you know i waffled on the deal? i was so indecisive (still cheap, still ignorant after all those years lol) that the guy almost walked away. my wife nosey as she can be lmao, over hears all this.
she knows all too well how i've gone on about wanting to get that driveway done. lmao. she whispers through the screen door "tell him you'll take it Turkey it's a good deal". bells went off in my head, suddenly i was as if i was a genius. the deal of a lifetime and cheap too dropped right in my lap and i was to dull to see it. so a long story, short with a little help i took the deal and we now after nearly twenty years have a paved driveway that was both a fair price and was effortless on my part.
the point being, all it took was recognizing a bit of luck for what it was.

Lucky your wife was there!

not as far as God's part in it, maybe you mean?
but maybe for us it's like we haven't a clue and so it might as well be chance or even could be chance.

Doesn't matter whether we have a clue or not, what we do to help or hurt ourselves is what we make of life, bungling and all, rolled up into one big ball of wax.

so we are left with a decision of what to buy into, what is the value and will that value be realized?
and whatever is destined to be is really for us in our ignorance just a formidable list of many 'world' possibilities.
should we guess it right or should it just happen to us, the element of our uncertainty and what turns out to be, becomes luck one way or the other.

Right. Everything except what we make happen by our actions or inactions is luck, good or bad.

it may be immutable. the point is though to realize it's power in our lives.
the idea of realizing the role our uncertainty and the decisions we make in that uncertainty plays in our lives.

Good luck is probably in diferent degrees for each and every person. On the other hand, from God's point of view, luck is perfectly distributed. You may think it lucky that you won the lottery, when in actuality, it may be the worst thing that ever happened to you. Only someone who can see the future can rightly judge such things.

not realizing the extent of our ignorance is perhaps just as bad or worse.
like maybe luck is a sure thing but even though it is, it is unpredictable and can be missed or not recognized for what it is.

Anything you did not cause by your actions or inactions is luck. You can miss opportunities, but luck just is, whether you recognize it or not.

our knowledge i suppose can help only to a certain extent up to the point where the knowledge is either faulty or incomplete. and who can know it all anyway?
perhaps what it boils down to is that luck both good and bad is going to happen even though we want the good and don't want the bad.
that being the case what are we to do? for one thing recognize that either is likley to happen and be vigilant on the look out for both. if we can mitigate the extreme of the bad and accept the extreme of the good and the mediocre we can come out ahead.

Hope for the best. Be prepared for the worst.

just the point i was trying to make in this post:
http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showpost.php?p=99464&postcount=57
"ok and like aslan was saying it's just possible that when he cut his bet that he may in that instance have avoided some negative variance. so if that were the case he's 'locked in some loot' (for the time being) and if it's not the case and either he would have hit his mark for further ev or even positive variance then he is till making some loot (albeit less than optimal).

When you quit ahead of your advantage, you have locked in a degree of luck. You may also have foregone a degree of luck that would have followed, or you may have avoided a run of bad luck. In Aslan's case, he went against the long run odds, knowing that he had already completed his current long run successfully. The cumulative effect of these short run decisions should add up to a less than expected long run gain on average, but not necessarily so.

sounds like a win/win situation that is in a non-predictable situation to me for a given moment in time! (given it's short run and even to some extent if it were long run being that ROR is a distinct possibility)"

so but earlier in that thread of posts you'd alluded to the idea of greed. lol.
it seems a reasonable point and not one that stands alone. consider greed and the concept of ignorance or a confidence to accept some degree of risk.
the orthodox counter can become so wealthy if he just accepts some degree of risk. (and remmember that degree of risk could be complete ruin). the question becomes is a lesser degree of profit acceptable in exchange for a greater degree of certainty and at some point virtually no risk?
so yeah "life is a combination of what you make it plus what ever is destined to be." just lets know what we want and lets be humble enough to accept it and be thankful for it when we recieve it.

If you are an atheist you might attribute the amount and timing of your luck to chance. If you believe in God, you might attribute the amount and timing of your luck to 20/20 foresight! Sometimes it may teach a lesson, such as, to avoid greed. Other times it might reflect an aid to character formation, which you may well perceive as bad luck. Other times it may create a powerful force in the battle of good and evil by humble acceptance of one's fate in life (the Cross). And still other times, it may simply reflect the generosity of a loving God. Whatever the reason, those who believe in God enjoy the comfort of knowing that, good or bad, it comes with the permission of a loving God. *

Mathew 18.9
"And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire"

may we just have the capability to measure the extent to which something is offensive and the courage to cast off that which is. lol

And not only the courage, but the strength. A good prayer sure to receive a positive response.

* I think I just discovered a new corollary. Properly understood, all luck is good!

 

[sagefr0g]

.....Doesn't matter whether we have a clue or not, what we do to help or hurt ourselves is what we make of life, bungling and all, rolled up into one big ball of wax......

lol i rescued this for you.
but anyway i guess it sounds like you maybe don't think chance is a really phenomenon for people? i think i understand that you think everything is a pre-ordained sort of thing and that God has it set to benifit us whether we like it or not, lol. i can accept that, like it or not lol.
but it's the sort of thing that say jj if he for real got hit by a bus say, perhaps he would have a clue since he jumped out in front of it, lmao. but still maybe someone (wwII warriours excluded :laugh::joker would find it difficult to find the incident beneficial even if he had intentionaly been the generator of the event. maybe even he would decide to be unhappy about it.lol
just the thing is though even if events are pre-ordained and for our own good, i'd have to agree to disagree regarding on whether it might matter or not regarding our state of cognizance. it matters to me, lol. not sure what God might think about that.
like maybe if i'd of had a clue, i coulda stopped jj from stepping in front of the bus and save you some loot.

 

[aslan]

lol i rescued this for you.
but anyway i guess it sounds like you maybe don't think chance is a really phenomenon for people? i think i understand that you think everything is a pre-ordained sort of thing and that God has it set to benifit us whether we like it or not, lol. i can accept that, like it or not lol.
but it's the sort of thing that say jj if he for real got hit by a bus say, perhaps he would have a clue since he jumped out in front of it, lmao. but still maybe someone (wwII warriours excluded :laugh::joker would find it difficult to find the incident beneficial even if he had intentionaly been the generator of the event. maybe even he would decide to be unhappy about it.lol
just the thing is though even if events are pre-ordained and for our own good, i'd have to agree to disagree regarding on whether it might matter or not regarding our state of cognizance. it matters to me, lol. not sure what God might think about that.
like maybe if i'd of had a clue, i coulda stopped jj from stepping in front of the bus and save you some loot.

Life is a total mystery. That being said, it could be forseen millenia in advance that jj would step out in front of that bus on that fateful day. Now as Master of the Universe one might tweak things a little by having jj born a second earlier and see how that affects things down the road, lol, but apparently the All Knowing God decided this was the best scenario for reasons not divulged until after death I suppose. He could have also had you in position to push jj out of the way, but he didn't. I guess he ran a zillion quadilopiumtillion simulations and none of them were as beneficial to the two of you as the one He finally settled on. The first thing I'm going to ask when I get to heaven, pardon the presumption, is why the heck He let jj drop into my game and a $1,000 just plop out of his pocket onto the betting square in front of mine? I mean, in all the simulations in the world, I can't for the life of me figure out how that can be the best one! :laugh:

 

[sagefr0g]

guess the other half

Life is a total mystery. ...

uh huh and that's half my point.

 

[aslan]

uh huh and that's half my point.

Agreed.

The mystery is in the what and the why. No matter, the general principle that everything He does is done with our best interest in mind applies.

 

[sagefr0g]

Agreed.

The mystery is in the what and the why. No matter, the general principle that everything He does is done with our best interest in mind applies.

i think we are agreed.
the second half of my point rests not only upon the fact of that mystery, not the what and why or even how, which is the mystery but the matter of the benifit that is sure to come by the pre-ordained events. those points are a matter of faith the substance of things unseen and hoped for.
but the second half of my point has to do with ownership of those things hoped for and retention of them rather than never owning them and losing even what one never owned which is a matter of faith and the grace to accept those things.
"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Matthew 25:29, King James Version
so it's in modern vernacular a matter of appreciating value which is a sense of certainty and keeping it (ie. owning which entails responsibility to not lose it). the only way to get (realize) the value is fundamentally faith which is the true measure of certainty.

 

[aslan]

i think we are agreed.
the second half of my point rests not only upon the fact of that mystery, not the what and why or even how, which is the mystery but the matter of the benifit that is sure to come by the pre-ordained events. those points are a matter of faith the substance of things unseen and hoped for.
but the second half of my point has to do with ownership of those things hoped for and retention of them rather than never owning them and losing even what one never owned which is a matter of faith and the grace to accept those things.
"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Matthew 25:29, King James Version
so it's in modern vernacular a matter of appreciating value which is a sense of certainty and keeping it (ie. owning which entails responsibility to not lose it). the only way to get (realize) the value is fundamentally faith which is the true measure of certainty.

Agree.

We may own them by faith, but I don't think title passes until death, although some modicum of death can be achieved in this world. My kingdom is not of this world. Part of my pessimism about the world is the fact that my faith teaches me that someday it will just get so bad that He will return and wrap things up once and for all. But I wouldn't mind seeing a hundred or more years of perfect peace before those dire days arrive. lol Maybe I'm hoping for a black swan. lol I don't know.

 

[jack.jackson]

Life is a total mystery. That being said, it could be forseen millenia in advance that jj would step out in front of that bus on that fateful day. Now as Master of the Universe one might tweak things a little by having jj born a second earlier and see how that affects things down the road, lol, but apparently the All Knowing God decided this was the best scenario for reasons not divulged until after death I suppose. He could have also had you in position to push jj out of the way, but he didn't. I guess he ran a zillion quadilopiumtillion simulations and none of them were as beneficial to the two of you as the one He finally settled on. The first thing I'm going to ask when I get to heaven, pardon the presumption, is why the heck He let jj drop into my game and a $1,000 just plop out of his pocket onto the betting square in front of mine? I mean, in all the simulations in the world, I can't for the life of me figure out how that can be the best one! :laugh:

Life is funny in this aspect. Sometimes I wonder if a person would of done the things they done, under different circumstances?

Parallel Univers'es would be the only way to determine a persons true colors. This way a person has more than just one hand to play with to determine what type of player he is.

Seeing if I was listening, huh?:grin:

 

[sagefr0g]

Life is funny in this aspect. Sometimes I wonder if a person would of done the things they done, under different circumstances?

Parallel Univers'es would be the only way to determine a persons true colors. This way a person has more than just one hand to play with to determine what type of player he is.

Seeing if I was listening, huh?:grin:

sort of that back to the future, Everett's many worlds hypothesis, or world full of possibilities kind of thing where even the improbable is possible?
or how about the monte carlo method. now thats a weird one. i'm just trying to understand that one. a non-rigourus mathematical modeling approach that uses random events (and even pseudo random will do) to yield information about some unknown. they used the approach in the Manhatten Project while trying to figure some unknown stuff out about a certain ball of fissionable material. so but anyway it's pretty neat, like you can incscribe a circle in a square and fire randomly aimed projectiles at it. count up the projectiles that hit inside the circle only and the projectiles that hit outside the circle but in the square and you can use the ratio of those numbers to figure out pi.
it can even be used to do integral calculus problems. wierd.
so lets like let these random cards dealt from a pack impact our awareness and formulate our advantage for us or luck prospects sort of thing.
are you listening jj?
splain this stuff dude.

 

[aslan]

sort of that back to the future, Everett's many worlds hypothesis, or world full of possibilities kind of thing where even the improbable is possible?
or how about the monte carlo method. now thats a weird one. i'm just trying to understand that one. a non-rigourus mathematical modeling approach that uses random events (and even pseudo random will do) to yield information about some unknown. they used the approach in the Manhatten Project while trying to figure some unknown stuff out about a certain ball of fissionable material. so but anyway it's pretty neat, like you can incscribe a circle in a square and fire randomly aimed projectiles at it. count up the projectiles that hit inside the circle only and the projectiles that hit outside the circle but in the square and you can use the ratio of those numbers to figure out pi.
it can even be used to do integral calculus problems. wierd.
so lets like let these random cards dealt from a pack impact our awareness and formulate our advantage for us or luck prospects sort of thing.
are you listening jj?
splain this stuff dude.

You know, regarding this present financial crisis, I believe that the All Seeing one has the right people in place through His 20/20 foresight to do what needs to be done. However, I am not so sure that He in His justice will give us the miracle we need. The greed and selfishness that precipitated this crisis and all the other crises that are looming over our heads may need to be dealt with in a, say, disciplinary manner, if you get my drift. I think a major correction, as they call it, has been waiting patiently on the side for quite some time now. Our chickens may be cominng home to roost [famous quote]. What do you think?

 

[jack.jackson]

Brilliant minds think alike!

sort of that back to the future, Everett's many worlds hypothesis, or world full of possibilities kind of thing where even the improbable is possible?
or how about the monte carlo method. now thats a weird one. i'm just trying to understand that one. a non-rigourus mathematical modeling approach that uses random events (and even pseudo random will do) to yield information about some unknown. they used the approach in the Manhatten Project while trying to figure some unknown stuff out about a certain ball of fissionable material. so but anyway it's pretty neat, like you can incscribe a circle in a square and fire randomly aimed projectiles at it. count up the projectiles that hit inside the circle only and the projectiles that hit outside the circle but in the square and you can use the ratio of those numbers to figure out pi.
it can even be used to do integral calculus problems. wierd.
so lets like let these random cards dealt from a pack impact our awareness and formulate our advantage for us or luck prospects sort of thing.
are you listening jj?
splain this stuff dude.

Uhhh:confused, I cant, its inexplicable for and to me. You just have to feel it. It doesnt have to make sense to me. Theres laws and boundaries that all things must abide by, in a physic-al aspect. Such as the Earth has to be a certain distance from the Sun in order to Sustain life. Everything I do, everyday is done through sense. I wont respond to this message, if it doesnt feel right to me to do so, for example. Everything has become distorted through the years its hard to tell anymore. Ive heard some people say 13 is a unlucky#, while others say its lucky. So which is it? Answer is, is that its neither or both. Are you born again, or do you live for-ever? The answer is that some will and some wont, while others will do both and some will do neither.

It all expressed in %

Life is infinity, and their are no rules. Just like a box of chocolates, and thats all I got to say about that.

Ps. Sometime I still do things even if it doesnt feel right.

 

[sagefr0g]

You know, regarding this present financial crisis, I believe that the All Seeing one has the right people in place through His 20/20 foresight to do what needs to be done. However, I am not so sure that He in His justice will give us the miracle we need. The greed and selfishness that precipitated this crisis and all the other crises that are looming over our heads may need to be dealt with in a, say, disciplinary manner, if you get my drift. I think a major correction, as they call it, has been waiting patiently on the side for quite some time now. Our chickens may be cominng home to roost [famous quote]. What do you think?

i've never been able to get away with any shady dealings. maybe it's a reap what you sow sort of thing.

another famous quote 'be careful what you ask for cause you might just get it'. like maybe how you structure your deals you might just be asking for a serpant instead of a fish while all the while wanting a fish?
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

so maybe setting innocent families up for mortgages they can't afford is like this:
proverbs:
[10] My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
[11] If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
[12] Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
[13] We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
[14] Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
[15] My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
[16] For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
[17] Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
[18] And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
[19] So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

 

[sagefr0g]

Uhhh:confused, I cant, its inexplicable for and to me.

that's the best answer i can come up with as well.

You just have to feel it. It doesnt have to make sense to me. Theres laws and boundaries that all things must abide by, in a physic-al aspect. Such as the Earth has to be a certain distance from the Sun in order to Sustain life. Everything I do, everyday is done through sense. I wont respond to this message, if it doesnt feel right to me to do so, for example.

right, especially in the macro state world we experience. plenty of things are well behaved and almost predictable. even in the micro state world, the quantum world a lot of it is well behaved, intuitive and relatively predictable although we have to resort to probability.

Everything has become distorted through the years its hard to tell anymore. Ive heard some people say 13 is a unlucky#, while others say its lucky. So which is it? Answer is, is that its neither or both. Are you born again, or do you live for-ever? The answer is that some will and some wont, while others will do both and some will do neither.

It all expressed in %

Life is infinity, and their are no rules. Just like a box of chocolates, and thats all I got to say about that.

Ps. Sometime I still do things even if it doesnt feel right.

yes, distorted and more complicated and unpredictable than ever and becoming more so virtually each day. just as an example these mortgage instruments created by these financial institutions that have gotten themselves in so much trouble. instruments that no one can understand and they are obviously faulty. it became so complex and now that it's gone bad no one can understand inorder to be able to tell even what's going on.
just information over load is enough of a problem and along with that you've got to separate the wheat from the chafe since so much of the information is bogus. witness the zenzone.
but alas it's a fun game. and we all want to play. i guess just enjoy good luck protect against possible bad luck while doing that which you can control. just a good idea to play in such a way as to not get hurt.

 

[jack.jackson]

that's the best answer i can come up with as well.


right, especially in the macro state world we experience. plenty of things are well behaved and almost predictable. even in the micro state world, the quantum world a lot of it is well behaved, intuitive and relatively predictable although we have to resort to probability.


yes, distorted and more complicated and unpredictable than ever and becoming more so virtually each day. just as an example these mortgage instruments created by these financial institutions that have gotten themselves in so much trouble. instruments that no one can understand and they are obviously faulty. it became so complex and now that it's gone bad no one can understand inorder to be able to tell even what's going on.
just information over load is enough of a problem and along with that you've got to separate the wheat from the chafe since so much of the information is bogus. witness the zenzone.
but alas it's a fun game. and we all want to play. i guess just enjoy good luck protect against possible bad luck while doing that which you can control. just a good idea to play in such a way as to not get hurt.

Politicians look like Game show hosts to me. Ive lost my faith in Religion.

I cant help it but to think the end is near, if not imminent. Theres no Honor or Integrity left in anything. Kids these days are goin nuts, right here in our own Country, and their getting worse. Ive noticed people are so caught up in themselves thet dont even notice what going on around them. Once close friends are screwing each-other over the last $$. Neighbors no longer speak to each other. No one waves, at each other, in fear of the other one not waving back. Companies and individual business'es are in competion with each other to see who can charge the Consumer the most. Along with gaudging prices.
It seems no one has a clue as to whats, really goin on. Its almost like im in some Stephen King movie and everybody but myself has been infected with some kind of plaque. Its almost scary. People walkin around with blank looks on their face. Is it me, or do you feel that way to???

 

[aslan]

Politicians look like Game show hosts to me. Ive lost my faith in Religion.

I cant help it but to think the end is near, if not imminent. Theres no Honor or Integrity left in anything. Kids these days are goin nuts, right here in our own Country, and their getting worse. Ive noticed people are so caught up in themselves thet dont even notice what going on around them. Once close friends are screwing each-other over the last $$. Neighbors no longer speak to each other. No one waves, at each other, in fear of the other one not waving back. Companies and individual business'es are in competion with each other to see who can charge the Consumer the most. Along with gaudging prices.
It seems no one has a clue as to whats, really goin on. Its almost like im in some Stephen King movie and everybody but myself has been infected with some kind of plaque. Its almost scary. People walkin around with blank looks on their face. Is it me, or do you feel that way to???

Today, this fella in the pool room who pretends to be my friend, secretly goes in with another fellow betting against me in a pool game. I quit almost immediately, which is rare for me, but I realized I had no chance in the game. The fellow I played won a mere $20 bucks from me, but because he was in cahoots with my friend, he had to pay my friend his share before leaving. He could not get near my friend without me seeing. The two of them put on a big act to be talking about something else just waiting for an opportunity to make the exchange. But it ws so transparent that I knew immediately what was going down. lol I did not give them the chance to make the exchange just to make them squirm. hahaha it was hilarious. Finally the guy left without splitting the money. lol

Following that, my friend was criticizing another pool player who he was accusing of being a thief. He tells everyone how this guy is always cheating everyone at the game of pool.

I knew, however, that my pretend friend had years ago worked together with one of the best card mechanics in the country. The mechanic would slip a cooler into the game and break everyone. He was so good he did it three times in an illegal house game that had their own dealers and their own special cards. It was a big game that millionaires played in. My pretend friend was the confederate for the mechanic. He would be the one who got the big hand that would bust everyone else in the game who had terrific hands but not good enough.

Well, to make a long story short, I said to my pretend friend that he had a lot of nerve criticizing this pool player for being a cheat when he was not above cheating himself. He screamed bloody murder. He said he had never cheated anyone in his life. I said I knew he had from his own lips. Everyone was listening to this discussion so I suggested that we talk about it later in private. But he insisted on raving about how he had never cheated in his life. I told him that we both had at one time or another so we had no right spreading tales about this pool player. He was screaming by now. Then he remembered about how he once was an accomplice to the cart mechanic. But he still insisted that that was not cheating. He said that he never put a cold deck into a game in his life. I said I agreed with him as he was only the accomplice--he didn't have the skill to do it himself. He said it is not cheating to use your knowledge to win money gambling. This went back and forth for some time. He said card counting was just as much cheating as what he did. Of course I defended card counting which has been declared by the courts as being honest. The guy continued to insist that he was totally honest and that what he did was not cheating. It was unbelieveable. I told him that I had cheated in my youth but that it did not bother me to say so because I had stopped doing those things years ago. I told him that there is no honor more precious than a thief's, and it was beginning to look like he must still be one. lol Anyway, he wanted to keep it up, but I stopped. Everything was worded in a way that the people around us probably did not catch on to the meaning behind our exchanges unless they listened very carefully, and beside the jike box was blaring and the place was noisier than a casino. When he left a half hour later, he came by me and shook my hand--something he had never done before. What was that all about? Was he appreciative that I hadn't revealed to everyone present that he was a card cheat? Or was he suddenly aware that I might tell everyone about how two-faced he was after he left? I don't know. But there are some real characters around nowadays. Imagine stealing thousands of dollars in card games and still believing that you had never been a thief? How to people get to this point of self-deception?

Wow! Aslan is one wordy poster. Sorry.

 

[jack.jackson]

Today, this fella in the pool room who pretends to be my friend, secretly goes in with another fellow betting against me in a pool game. I quit almost immediately, which is rare for me, but I realized I had no chance in the game. The fellow I played won a mere $20 bucks from me, but because he was in cahoots with my friend, he had to pay my friend his share before leaving. He could not get near my friend without me seeing. The two of them put on a big act to be talking about something else just waiting for an opportunity to make the exchange. But it ws so transparent that I knew immediately what was going down. lol I did not give them the chance to make the exchange just to make them squirm. hahaha it was hilarious. Finally the guy left without splitting the money. lol

Following that, my friend was criticizing another pool player who he was accusing of being a thief. He tells everyone how this guy is always cheating everyone at the game of pool.

I knew, however, that my pretend friend had years ago worked together with one of the best card mechanics in the country. The mechanic would slip a cooler into the game and break everyone. He was so good he did it three times in an illegal house game that had their own dealers and their own special cards. It was a big game that millionaires played in. My pretend friend was the confederate for the mechanic. He would be the one who got the big hand that would bust everyone else in the game who had terrific hands but not good enough.

Well, to make a long story short, I said to my pretend friend that he had a lot of nerve criticizing this pool player for being a cheat when he was not above cheating himself. He screamed bloody murder. He said he had never cheated anyone in his life. I said I knew he had from his own lips. Everyone was listening to this discussion so I suggested that we talk about it later in private. But he insisted on raving about how he had never cheated in his life. I told him that we both had at one time or another so we had no right spreading tales about this pool player. He was screaming by now. Then he remembered about how he once was an accomplice to the cart mechanic. But he still insisted that that was not cheating. He said that he never put a cold deck into a game in his life. I said I agreed with him as he was only the accomplice--he didn't have the skill to do it himself. He said it is not cheating to use your knowledge to win money gambling. This went back and forth for some time. He said card counting was just as much cheating as what he did. Of course I defended card counting which has been declared by the courts as being honest. The guy continued to insist that he was totally honest and that what he did was not cheating. It was unbelieveable. I told him that I had cheated in my youth but that it did not bother me to say so because I had stopped doing those things years ago. I told him that there is no honor more precious than a thief's, and it was beginning to look like he must still be one. lol Anyway, he wanted to keep it up, but I stopped. Everything was worded in a way that the people around us probably did not catch on to the meaning behind our exchanges unless they listened very carefully, and beside the jike box was blaring and the place was noisier than a casino. When he left a half hour later, he came by me and shook my hand--something he had never done before. What was that all about? Was he appreciative that I hadn't revealed to everyone present that he was a card cheat? Or was he suddenly aware that I might tell everyone about how two-faced he was after he left? I don't know. But there are some real characters around nowadays. Imagine stealing thousands of dollars in card games and still believing that you had never been a thief? How to people get to this point of self-deception?

Wow! Aslan is one wordy poster. Sorry.

I really dont see him as using the hand shake as a Method to keep you from slandering him after he left. I've known people who go well out of their way, to make sure their the last ones to leave the party, to make sure they're the ones doin the talkin, and not the ones being talked about. Of course I can only speculate from what I've heard, but it sounds like, he at least showed "Good faith" in some kind of attempt of remaining friends. In other words, he at least didnt want to leave on a bad note. More than likely, it was a easy and comfortable way for him to say good-by, followed by him going out to his Vehicle and calling you every name in the Book, while hitting the steering wheel of his car.
Most cheaters are theives. And most theives are cheaters. The two go together like "popcorn and butter". "You cant have one without the other."
There's always different reasons as to why these Weasels are the way that they are. Some do it, because they need to(or think they do) while others do it for egotistical reasons or a little of both.
I believe, he would of acted the same way in private. In that, he acted no differently in fear of what the surronding people may or may not hear. Meaning he was defending his integrity for self conscious and personal reasons. Just like a unfaithful person does upon being discovered. People that think of themselves with High Morale, have a Natural tendency to protect this image of themselves at whatever the cost. Some honestly fool themselves into believing this way, while others are fully aware of their conscious. The possibilties are infinite, in where a % plays a role, in each aspect of our actions, and why we use excuse's, in a attempt to justify, the reasons in why, we say and do the things that we do.

 

[blackjack avenger]

Luck Be a Lady Tonight

I would rather be lucky then good but lady luck is a fickle temptress:joker::whip:

So I strive to be adequate:joker::whip: