On My Way

Leaving my preparation for my radio show till the day I left for Withernsea was probably not a good idea. When I got home from my day job, last night, I was tired and yet I had, seemingly, a million things to do. Originally, I had planned on taking a nap after work. That plan fell by the wayside. Instead, I was scrambling to email some songs I wanted to play, to the station. I was also listening to the station over the internet. It was the big re-launch and the first time I had he chance to hear it. The station manager was on the air.
For some reason, the audio files were extremely slow to load, when I was emailing them. It was taking too long! I still wanted to shower and have dinner, before catching my train, at 8:20PM. I also needed to place all my bets for the weekend, which involved getting the picks from Nando. After emailing two songs, I gave up. It was just taking too long. Having showered, I went downstairs to take my laundry off the line. Then Nando asked me to put a bet on, for him, on football. I didn't have time for it, if I was going to catch the bus to the train station. Thinking on my feet, I offered to do it, if Nando drove me to the train station, in his car. He agreed. That gave me enough extra time to have a quick meal.
I just managed to get Nando's bet placed and leave the house, with less than ten minutes till my train. Nando drives much slower than I do and as I sat in the passenger seat of his car, I found myself willing him to go faster. I literally just made it to the station platform as my train arrived. Once on board, I felt relaxed. All of a sudden, it hit me. In all the rushing, I had left some discs home I wanted for my show. Too late. It would have to wait for next time. Thus began a 12 hour journey, consisting of five trains and a bus, to get to Seaside Radio. I didn't mind. I was just excited to be back on radio, after 27 years and 9 months.

Big Brother 8: the Result

Somehow, at the last minute, last night, things turned around and Brian ended up winning "Big Brother," series 8, in the UK. The lovely twins came in second. This result ended up saving the bookies millions. This leaves me wondering if the bookies could have voted enough to change the outcome? At least my bet on Italian football club, A. C. Milan, was successful, so I ended up even for the night. At the end of "Big Brother," it was announced that auditions for series 9 would be held a couple of months early. It will be my third time auditioning. Will the producers do the right thing this time and put me on the show?

Big Brother 8 Final Tonight

It's all come down to this. Tonight is the final of "Big Brother" series 8, here in the UK. This has been the longest running series so far, with the most housemates. However, I think producers picked a bad crop of contestants, this year. The last few weeks, ratings have reportedly been down and even I have not been watching as much as I usually do. Let's face it, any series without me in it is an example of the production company not putting their best foot forward. My favorites to win are the twins, Sam and Amanda, who count as one contestant. Typically referred to as "Samanda," they are also the favorites with the betting public. They have set a new record for receiving the most amount of money wagered on them to win. At least report, £5,000,000 has been bet on them to win the competition, tonight. Even I have gotten in on the action. I bet on the twins a couple of weeks ago.

I Won Some Money!

Today, I won a bet on the Manchester City versus Manchester United football match. My racist, Italian housemate, Nando, is quite a football enthusiast. So, I asked him to review the week's games and recommend a good bet. Nando's first choice was Manchester City versus Manchester United. United won the Premiership last season and was favored to beat Manchester City. The odds I received from the bookie were 3 to 1. For every Pound I bet on City, I would get three back, if Man City won. Nando reasoned that with two of Man U's star players unavailable for today's game, and given that City have a new coach, plus the match was at home for City, that, "if they are ever going to beat Man U, this would be the time."
Nando had to work today, so I watched the match alone. It is much more exciting to watch sports when you have money riding on the outcome. At first, Man U was dominating the game. The commentators all seemed to assume that City had little chance and I began to worry. Suddenly, towards the latter part of the first half, City scored. They went on to hold onto their slim lead, winning 1-0. As I bet £5, I ended up winning £15, as well as getting my original £5 back. This is one of the few things that is done better in the UK, than in the US. Gambling is legal and winnings are tax free, here. Okay, it's not a lot of money, but it represents a 300% return on investment, tax free. Nando got another pick, yesterday, right, but as the odds were more favorable on the Man City match and I didn't have much money I could afford to lose, he recommended that I concentrate on this one bet. Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.

Big Brother Eviction 5

Tonight is the fifth eviction to take place in this year's "Big Brother" program. This week, the nominees are Gerry and Nicky. Although I would prefer to see Gerry go, I predict that Nicky will be the one cast out. I tried to bet on Nicky to go, the other day, but the odds were so bad, I didn't bother. I would win less than £1 and it's not worth the risk of my stake. Don't forget to look for me in the audience of "The Friday Night Project," tonight, after the"Big Brother" eviction interview.

I Won!

I have finally won some money betting on "Big Brother!" My prediction that Laura would be the fourth person evicted came true. Having placed a bet on that outcome, I have won! Sadly, the odds on her being evicted were so bad that I haven't won much money. Still, it feels great to win! I usually am pretty good about correctly predicting who will be evicted each week and who will win, but this is the first year I have put money on my predictions. So far, I have only gotten one prediction wrong out of four. Sadly, I bet against my own prediction last week, as the odds on it were so poor. I should have stuck by my initial assessment. I correctly predicted the first eviction, but by the time I went to bet on it, the bookies had stopped taking bets on the person I had predicted would be evicted. That was because so many people were betting on her to go. It was fairly obvious. As Paul Newman said in, "The Color of Money," "money won is twice as sweet as money earned."