A Friend's 40th Birthday - Zoom and Poker Stars

Last night I took part in a virtual birthday gathering for one of my home town friend's 40th.

As we are now almost 3 weeks locked down, with no end in sight, the only option to 'meet' at present is somewhere online.

The original plan for the birthday was a weekend in Marbella, Spain, but that had to be cancelled and is now booked for April 2021 - my mate says he's not turning 40 until that holiday arrives.

As you can see, I didn't get the memo for the dodgy shirts, or maybe I did and don't own one :) Most of the guys featured below went to Las Vegas last year for 40th celebrations and many of the shirts on show were bought specifically for the event.

Unfortunately, Poker Stars wouldn't let me play after accepting my deposit. I vaguely remember signing up many years ago and probably took advantage of their generous deposit bonus offers only to end up being banned from the site :)

The guy in the green shirt, is vastly more experienced as a poker player and unsurprisingly took the tournament, beating his brother (guess who!) in the head to head.

Zoom actually worked really well and only kicked us out after 3 hours where it took 2 minutes to create another meeting. This is when the birthday boy got rapidly drunk due to his wife bringing shots on the demands of the other guys :)

Not the same but better than nothing at all, and for me, being the only one without others in the house, a good chance to feel social while keeping safe distance.

Today, as has been the case for the majority of the week, the weather here is pretty decent for the time of year. I have promised myself I will venture out (not just to the store and back) for a run/jog/walk to collect some sunshine and test my knee out.

Three weeks of daily exercise has made my left knee sore and is likely due to the fact much of the routines involve a fair amount of jumping. I've spent much of the past 4/5 years on the bike, and I think this new regime has come as a bit of a shock to my legs.

It's the inside of the knee that is sore to tap, and I think it is the medial collateral ligament causing the pain. 6/7 years ago I took a knee to the outside of the knee and this put me out of footballing action for months. Back then I rehabilitated using the elliptical trainer, but sadly do not have access to one of those at present.

I'm hoping that a jog wont cause further damage, and switching up the routines to remove impact will help. I hate having the motivation to exercise, but not being able to do what I want.

Anyway, time to venture outside. Enjoy your weekends,

Asher