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Away Day |
Away Day at SaenKham Terrace Restaurant
Photos by Colin Nesbitt
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Table Talk |
Some News from Oz
or
“What we have to look forward to as we while away our finite time between now and the grave.”
Michael Macrossan spent some time at a bridge club in Australia recently. While there he picked up the Queensland Bridge Association Newsletter, Dec 2018 edition. It contained this ominous news item:
"A WHILE ago, after much deliberation, the Committee of Management of the Redland Bridge Club approved the purchase of a defibrillator for the clubhouse ... The total cost of the unit and training is expected to be $2545 ... Sometime in the near future, the Committee will arrange a briefing for members on how to use the defibrillator. The Committee is mindful that some members may not wish to be resuscitated if they have a heart attack at the club, and so the Committee will set up a register of such members."
Playing the Robots
Ever wonder what makes the robots play the way they do? This page explains it all.
And if you want to practice playing against those robots from the comfort of your home /condo /apartment /wi-fi enabled yurtbefore meeting them head-on at the bridge game, visit BridgeBase Online. Click on the "Just Play Bridge" box to play the solitaire game against the robots. No fees, no login. Just play.
Due to reports that the robots were not set to confirm bids or play, the robots were checked 2 Jan. 2019 and are both set to confirm. They both should require you to select, then tap a 2nd time to actually submit the bid or play the card. Also sound is off, both robots.
Wishing all of you happy holidays.
I am in Arizona and have played bridge at four different venues over the past one month.
Strictly VERY Senior Citizen stuff. At the game Wednesday mornings in Tempe, AZ one of the tables is devoted to the canes of the players, some of whom are in wheelchairs. Bridgemates are not used; paper scoring sheets are filled in at each table for each round, and the director enters them manually into a computer. Printouts showing team standings are available within 4 minutes of the end of the day. About 5 minutes are allowed for play of each board; the movement to the next table are enforced verbally.
At the Sun Lakes club (forty tables) I was admonished by the director-harridan for slow play, unjustly, and I was inspired to demand the immediate refund of the ten dollar fee that I had paid to join that club. So I really am down to three different sites per week.
Overall, the quality of bridge by the mostly octo and nonagenarians is quite good, but the absurd pace of play enforced does not enable much enjoyment or socializing.
My general observation of society in U.S.--based on the above, and what I see on CNN and in person, is most unfavorable. These are the dark ages.
I look forward to returning to Chiangmai. mid-March.
- Ken Seidel
From the History Files
From:
Minutes of Club Member Meeting & Committee Meeting
Held at 1) The Pub, 11:45 a.m. Monday 5th December [2010]
General
…
3. Slow play: It was decided...North should solicit the help of his partner to assist in this., e.g., North keeps score and South be in charge of making sure the cards are placed back in the board in correct positions.
4. Penalties for board mix-ups: Leave status as is for time being but it is hoped that with the changes as per Item 3 above, the number of board mix-ups will decline or be eliminated.
back to 2019! In other words, nothing ever changes.
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Thai Immigration News |
UK, US & Austrailia will no longer be issuing Cerficates, Affidavits or Statutory Declarations regarding monthly income.
Read more on this topic at the Chiang Mai Expats website.
- submitted by Steve Ault
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Playing Card Trivia |
Did you know...
The Chinese created the earliest known set of playing cards around AD 1000.
Some interesting facts and observations about "Playing cards":
Did you know that the Traditional Deck of the Playing Cards are a strikingly coherent form of a Calendar?
There are 52 weeks in the year and there are 52 Playing Cards in a Deck.
There are 13 weeks in each Season and there are 13 cards in each suit.
There are 4 Seasons in a Year and 4 Suits in the Deck.
There are 12 Months in a Year so there are 12 Court Cards (Those with faces namely Jack, Queen, King in each suit)
The Red Cards represent Day, while Black Cards represent the Night.
If you let Jacks = 11, Queens = 12, and the Kings = 13, then add up all the sums of 1 + 2 + 3 + …to 13 = 91. Multiply this by 4, for the 4 Suits, therefore 91 x 4 = 364, Add 1 that is the Joker and you will arrive at the number 365 being the Days in a Year?
Also, in some card games 2 Jokers are used, indicating the Leap year.
Is that a mere coincidence or a greater intelligence?
Of interest is the sum of the letters in all the names of the cards, e.g., add up the letters in "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, Jack, Queen, King" = 52!
The ♠ indicates ploughing or working.
The ♥ indicates Love thy crops.
The ♣ indicates flourishing and growth.
The ♦ indicates reaping the wealth.
There is a deeper Philosophy than just merely Playing Cards. The Mathematical perfection is mind blowing.
- contributed by Carmina Meier
[ed: from the internet, original source unknown ]
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Playing Partners |
Finding a Playing Partner
Just before the end of October, the BCCM rolled out the Find a Partner feature, to help the membership connect for bridge game partnerships.
We’re excited about this new approach to partnership pairings, and anticipate quick adoption by the members of the BCCM.
In this article, I wish to share the several ways now available for connecting with partners via the BCCM website. The Find a Partner feature is just one of those ways.
1. Membership Lists
The first way may seem a bit old fashion. I remember my bridge-playing parents making phone calls (land lines, with rotary dial) to their list of friends. They generally made play dates at a prior bridge game, but when partners called to cancel, mom or dad had to work the phone to find a last-minute replacement. That’s still an option here at the BCCM.
Making your way to the website’s Member Area, members can access the clubs membership list. You’ll find the email addresses and phone numbers for most players here. You may get lucky with a few phone calls, or with more time, a number of emails to your usual partners and known “always looking” suspects.
2. Messages
Another way is by posting a message to the public-viewable Member Message Board on the Home page (scroll to bottom of page).
To post to this list, again go to the Member Area and select the Messages tab. On the Messages page that comes up, you’ll be able to edit or delete previously posted messages (press Amend button on the message line). To add a new message, press the New Message button.
An editor window comes up. Using the editor is beyond the scope of this document, but there’s a whole set of pre-made messages, mostly related to upcoming game dates. Select from the Choose quick message drop down box (this scrolls to show more prepared messages). Or, if you have your own message you wish to express - maybe you want to sell your Mercedes convertible to a caring bridge club member, or have puppies to give away (good luck with that!) or perhaps your gazillion inch flat panel led TV (now we’re talking), - you can add that in the large text box. You may want to choose an option for the message to automatically disappear after “X” days.
You’re message will show up in your personal message viewing area after you press the Save button. Go to the Home page and scroll to the bottom and you should see your message in the Member Message Board.
3. Find a Partner
This is the third, and perhaps best way for members to hook up with partners. The details of using this feature were sent out in an email, but the Find a Partner Instruction Guide (pdf) is online. You need to pre-plan here. Find a Partner is not going to work if you try to post your Partner Request the night before a game. Give it a few days lead time; the more the better.
I hope you’ll think of using these suggestions for finding your next playing partner, instead of firing off an email to Dot. The Find a Partner feature is especially promising.
If you have difficulty using any of these tools, please don’t hesitate to contact your BCCM Website Manager.
Good luck with finding partners!
Charles Quast
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Bridge Lessons |
Intermediate Bridge Lessons
Now entering a 2nd month, these well-attended lessons are proving a hit with many long-time members.
Any member can come and attend; room for all. Non-members are welcome too, but please contact Jim Peukert before hand.
These 1 hour sessions all start at 11:30 sharp. Friday bridge begins 13:15.
Lesson Plan
Friday |
Presenter |
Topic |
October 5 |
Steve Ault |
Reverses |
October 12 |
Leslie Varghese |
Tricks of the Trade |
October 19 |
John Bucher |
Jacoby 2NT and Splinters |
October 26 |
Ron Spiers |
Puppet Stayman |
November 2 |
John Bucher |
Competitive Bidding |
November 9 |
Neil Robinson |
Opening Leads |
November 16 |
Luc Berte |
Hand Evaluation |
November 23 |
Loi Krathong |
no lesson |
November 30 |
Tim Dickey |
Doubles |
December 7 |
Jazi |
Becoming an Oracle |
December 14 |
Jim Peukert |
Roman Key Card |
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Eat, Drink and be Merry |
The Bridge Club of Chiang Mai
EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
Friday 14 December 2018
Dear Members,
As a runup to the Festive Season, we invite you all to this special event.
Charles’ wife, Karn will bake a selection of cakes for members, courtesy of the Club.
As usual, drinks will be available after the bridge session. We ask members to provide a plate of finger food, should you wish to do so.
Hope to see you all on that day.
The Committee,
BCCM
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Birthday Celebration |
90 Years Young
On Friday, November 16, the BCCM celebrated one of its original members. Norman Moreau was in Canada during the summer celebrating with his large family when he turned 90 years old. But this day, his Chiang Mai family was able to celebrate Norman's milestone with a bit of cake.
Best wishes to Norman for many more years.
From Cinda:
Interestingly, enough Norman is in his 90’s and his partner today at bridge, David Blum, is 89. Therefore, there was a bridge partnership today with a combined age of 179. I’m betting that is a record for our club.
- photos by Cinda Rankin
- photo bomb by Kob
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Book Exchange Update |
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BCCM Book Exchange News
Here’s an update to our Bookshelves from Cinda Rankin:
Today, I shelved and reorganized all of the club books and DVD’s. It is nice to see that the library is being used and approximately 20% of our original books are gone. Therefore, if anyone has books they would like to donate, please bring them in and place them in the cardboard box under the bookshelves.
We have hundreds of DVD ready for club members use. I do not know if each DVD is in good condition, so if someone finds one that is not in good condition, please throw it out.
The club also has many bridge books for your use and if the bridge books don’t improve your game, there are lots of travel books, so that you can leave the country. Or if that does not suit, then you can resort to the “Self Help” books that will help you to accept what may be. Good Luck!!
Cinda
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Sunday Events - Winter 2018-19 |
Sunday Bridge Begins
on Sunday 4 November 2018 with an
Opening Day Pizza Lunch at the Oak Tree clubhouse.
Come and enjoy a pizza and salad lunch before bridge. Players of all levels welcome. Lunch at 12:00 - Price for lunch and bridge ฿200. Please email Jim Peukert if you will be attending.
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Website Changes |
BCCM Website
Summary of Website Changes
made between April and September, 2018
This is not an all-inclusive list of changes. Nearly all pages and documents on the BCCM website were inspected; dozens of files received minor tweaks, too numerous to list here. Dozens of files were deleted - older versions of updated .pdf and Word .docs for example - or combined and consolidated into new versions.
Below is a list of the major additions and updates. Links to pages appear in Green.
- Cleaned up look
- Larger fonts for older eyes
- Timely, relevant news articles on home page
- Links to Results of three(3) most recent games
- Improved Schedule information
- Reorganized to group related items in sub-menus
- Reduced main menu options
- Changed font and look of buttons
- Policies - BCCM Player Policy - Allowable Bids, Alerts, Etiquette, etc. grouped together and easy to locate for new and long-time members.
- Contact Numbers - list of Essential Contact Numbers from the Newsletter.
- Membership Database is up to date ( as of 1 October 2018) with all members. New information to send out soon regarding opt-in/opt-out instructions for new G.D.P.R. requirements. This will allow the inclusion of all members into ad-hoc competitions, for use in calculating playing averages for assigning into flights on “club day” events, for the Attendance counts.
New Features
These are in “Menu” order:
News & Features
- News & Features is a Newsletter version of articles and news for 2018 Summer session, soon to be archived and replaced with a page for 2018-19 Winter Session.
- Feature Articles contain an indexed list of the member-written bridge articles from the Newsletters.
- Lessons is a new page for the handouts for the new Intermediate Bridge Classes.
- Bridge in Paradise articles written by Neil for the CMMail, and reprinted in the BCCM Newsletter.
- Newsletter Archive - a page with links to all .pdf versions of the Newsletters from 2016 & 2017.
About
- History of the BCCM- reformatted History of the BCCM.
- Member List - for members only (password protected), quick access to member phone numbers and/or email addresses.
- Bookshelves - new members might be wondering what’s up with the books, all explained here.
- Buddies - a little explanation of the BCCM Buddy System set up by Cinda with help from others, and directions for getting help.
- Meeting Minutes- a massive reworking of 8+ years of available AGM and Committee Meeting Minutes, indexed (links to Minutes) in ascending date order (most recent on top).
Competitions
- Player Attendance - 6 months of “days played” stats on all members for 2018 Summer Session. Similar numbers were published in the first News & Features page (bottom) for 2017-18 Year. There won't be an update for 2018-19 Winter Session until late in season (sort of like watching fruit growing - it only gets interesting when it starts to ripen).
- Competition History - a page of links to all the seasonal competitions from 2009 to present.
Other New Features
Get ready for forms. Signup forms for special events and programs, for partner requests, and other uses. The home page currently has a simple form for signing up for Intermediate Bridge Lessons.
Improved Pages
- Where & When - standard BridgeWebs information page for clubs, updated to use BridgeWebs provided Google Map for navigating to Oak Tree, as well as many little edits of basic information.
- Useful Links - broken links either fixed or removed, some additions. A reorganization from top to bottom:
- international organizations,
- regional organizations,
- local clubs,
- education/general bridge links
What Happened to Photos?
Photos have been removed. No one posted anything new since the move to The Oak Tree in 2015. And photos were taking up a large amount of disk space on our share of the BridgeWebs.com server. After removing them, the response rate for website administration - adding and updating pages - improved dramatically.
The photos exist. BridgeWebs.com created a Dropbox Shared Folder, and I can supply that link to anyone. It contains all the photos that were available on the site. These images are just that - not pages of photos by event as they appeared on the website.
However, I have saved all events as best I could in both Webarchive files and pdf format. By that, I mean .pdf files have page breaks between photos (3 or 4 images per page, not a continuous scrolling page) and webarchive file format is available on macOS and Windows for saving and reviewing complete web pages using the Safari web browser. I can also share these with anyone who wishes.
At some point I will probably place the .pdf versions on the BCCM website, and provide a page of links to each event. One day.
Note: images are .jpeg files that have been reduced - in physical size and pixels - to conform to web page requirements for speedy page loading; images are not suitable for printing. Photos would only be suitable for use - as is - on a website.
For additional information on these changes, or to make comments and suggestions, email Charles Quast, Website Manager.
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Highest Daily |
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Total Month |
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Visitors |
Admin |
All |
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Visitors |
Admin |
All |
November |
75 |
12 |
307 |
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255 |
31 |
1034 |
October |
74 |
245 |
641 |
|
1584 |
597 |
8229 |
September |
76 |
51 |
477 |
|
1409 |
207 |
6511 |
August |
81 |
24 |
357 |
|
1579 |
170 |
6588 |
July |
85 |
22 |
535 |
|
1465 |
168 |
6424 |
June |
80 |
116 |
342 |
|
1424 |
405 |
6432 |
May |
76 |
104 |
459 |
|
1495 |
352 |
7250 |
April |
91 |
446 |
815 |
|
1752 |
862 |
7766 |
March |
107 |
16 |
411 |
|
1987 |
135 |
6608 |
February |
134 |
25 |
620 |
|
1699 |
178 |
8954 |
January |
146 |
208 |
1400 |
|
2126 |
619 |
12451 |
December |
103 |
38 |
593 |
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1874 |
272 |
9990 |
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