New Puppy Naming Fun

Blackadder: Right Baldrick, let's try again shall we? This is called adding. If I have two beans, and then I add two more beans, what do I have?
Baldrick: Some beans.
Blackadder: Yes... and no. Let's try again shall we? I have two beans, then I add two more beans. What does that make?
Baldrick: A very small casserole.
Blackadder: Baldrick, the ape creatures of the Indus have mastered this. Now try again. One, two, three, four. So how many are there?
Baldrick: Three.
Blackadder: What?
Baldrick: ...and that one.
Blackadder: Three and that one. So if I add that one to the three what will I have?
Baldrick: Oh. Some beans.

"Blackadder II"

You know, I've watched that series of Blackadder many times over, but only this past weekend did I see for the first time the actual ending of the series where Blackadder dies. Unusual that.

This past weekend my brother's, our respective wives and girlfriends gave my mother her 50th birthday present – a puppy!

Funny story – I had arranged the puppy through a breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels months before hand, to make sure we could get what we wanted young enough at the time of her birthday. All was good, except when the puppy was to be registered just after birth, about 2 months before Mum's birthday, you have to give it a name.

Naming a new pet should be a very personal thing, something special when receiving the new little furry creature. But I guess I had to make the decision 2 months before Mum would even see the four legged friend.

So I chose the name "Archie", after a little deliberation and consideration for Mum's preferences. Her favourite football player's surname is Archer (and football is big in our family), and she was asked the living members of the band "The Sweet" why they didn't sing "Sugar Sugar" at their concert a couple of years ago. The member simply replied – "Because The Archies sing that song" – and it's become a bit of a running joke in our family. So, the puppy was named Archie. Well, it's pedigree name is actually Trissis Sir Archibald, but Archie for short.

Come the morning of Mum's birthday, we gave mum a stuffed toy of the same breed, saying we had to go pick up her actual gift later that day (which we did), and she was led to believe it was something we bought off ebay. When she was placing the new toy on the cupboard, The Distraction asked what she was going to name it. "Um…Archer. No, Archie. I'll name it Archie."

The Distraction started laughing, and thought that Mum must have already known.

So we went out to pick up the puppy and get the details on what needs to be done with regards to vet visits, rego and so on. And of course, we got to meet Archie for the first time. Might sound like something stupid, but I committed to nearly $750 of dog over the phone without once inspecting the puppy. Sure, I had pictures emailed to me and I had only paid a $100 deposit, but the risk of it didn't register with me. We paid the balance when we picked him up, and you wouldn't believe how well behaved he was for a dog so young. It was well worth the extra money going through a proper breeder when you get such a great result.

Anyway, we brought him home and Mum was of course instantly in love with him. When I showed his rego papers and his pedigree name as Trissis Sir Archibald, she thought it was an amazing co-incidence that we decided to name him Archie. Then I explained that the reason the pedigree name was such was because we named him Archie, not the other way around.

I guess I can put myself in other people's mind set sometimes. I'll claim that a victory for poker right there.

With my grandfather in attendance, it would mean a lot of card playing was going on. We must have played hours of 500 over the course of the weekend, but no poker to speak of. I have been playing 500 for years, but only just this past weekend realised the importance of position in the game much like poker – same goes for 6-handed Euchre (another family favourite).

I was quietly proud how the poker skills garnered in the past few years can translate into other areas of life.

That and I am 4 from 4 ITM since the weekend for SNG's. Go me.