World championships

Most bridge games are played with four people at each table, where the players sitting across from one another are referred to as pairs. Sometimes people want to play at a game, but cannot register since they have no other player in mind to get paired up with. We have something called a partnership desk where people can add their name and hopefully find someone to play with. When people place themselves on the partnership desk, they can specify whether they will pay for themselves or the person asking them has to pay for them too. Some of our players believe their skills at the table are so immense that they continually ask the other player to pay for them too. Do these players believe they are world class and deserve the lesser skilled players to for out their registration fee? I have told some people that insist on doing this that nobody at our club will ask them to play and foot the bill for them too.

Dominique and Patsy are playing this morning, something they do not often do when Patsy is in Mexico. We have had some unusually big games all week since the games award an elevated amount of master points, given out to the pairs that score the highest percentages in the game.

Our last player is out of the Aussie Open having lost in straight sets to Medvdev. Not a surprise unfortunately. There are some very strong opponents in these tourneys, especially when a grand slam, of which there are four each year ... Aussie Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and US Open. No news yet on Milos Raonic's possible retirement.

We thought of going to Soris to get some batteries. Remembering how busy it was a while back when we went there on a Sunday, Dominique thought it might not be so bad today. We ended up not going. I worked on a new song and two numbers by Harmonium, a well known group from Québec. I have been listening to them for 50+ years and when I mention to Québecois they all know them well. With two long time friends of Dominique's coming next Thursday, I brushed up on two of Harmonium's songs ... Harmonium and Si Doucement. I hope Marc André and Laurent are pleased with my renditions.

Patsy and Bernie will be up here about two and we will go down to the pool. The water will be much colder than it was when we used it many times a week. I am not sure how my Dominique will do and it might take her a while to get in. There are three main things she does not like ... cold, cold, and cold. I am glad one of my jobs is keeping her warm, something I do with pleasure.

Dominique sent me a copy of a piece on CBC news done by a woman named Aryn who is living with her nephew Adam Robillard. She was demonstrating mixing cocktails using non-alcoholic versions of some familiar intoxicants. The explanation was very clear and the whole piece was well done. I betya when the liquor lobbies get a hold of the conglomerates that may mass produce alcohol free versions of their products and, in conjunction with governments, do all they can to quash their initiatives. The taxes that are paid on alcohol are way too high to allow a new upstart industry steal precious tax money (wasted by the politicians). 

For example, I'd like to be privy to the trail of the 911 surcharge on all flights in North America (and maybe further) as I bet some (if not all) of the money gets spent NOWHERE CLOSE TO WHAT IT IS INTENDED to do. I have said it a lot, and continue to repeat ... leaving decisions that have a dramatic impact on life in general in the hands of elected people is ludicrous. The oil lobby groups will probably have a field day as the elected bodies try to get society switched to electric vehicles. It is reminiscent of a song written by Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn called Dream a Little Dream. Those idiots in power are dangerous ... all over the world not just in what we refer to as third world countries.