I am both idealist and realist. For there is no point in ideals if they cannot be realised.
Jacob (Jake) Barrie Gordon

Jake Gordon

The Con-Job

3rd March 2001

Got back from swimming [read last update] and met some Norweigen guy called Glenn who we'd talked to the night before - he's quite cool and used to work training the SAS and Navy Seals to ski. Well, he said he'd been robbed, and this is how the story goes (the brief version)...

He was walking down the street and some guy came up to him and asked him where he was from. Amazingly, the man's brother was about to start up a business in Norway, so the bloke offered him a meal in a cafe. Glenn was suspicious, but had nothing else to do that day so said 'okay'... free food after all. Well, after the cafe they went off in a car to the person's house, where he ate a good lunch. During lunch they were being all friendly (more of them by now) but the conversation was going on to gambling, and in particular blackjack. They started to teach him how to cheat at blackjack, and then said some rich guy was coming over and they ended up in the casino area upstairs in their house. Well, after a few games, with Glenn using their signs to cheat, the pot was up to around $50,000, with Glenn using credit which he was given. On this pot, Glenn had a 21-hand, and by the signs he was being given, he knew his opponent had a 20-hand - which meant Glenn would take the $50,000 pot. At this point, they said how he had to have some money to substantiate his credit, and so they said they'd take him to a jewellery shop where he could buy some jewellery to use to bet with. Well, Glenn was having none of it, and for a while now was just thinking about how he was going to get away. They took him downstairs and to a car, but he said he would just walk to the jewellers. Eventually, he managed to get away, and tell the tale.

The thing is - this happens to soooo many people here, and just in the hostel there are two police statements of it happening to others in the hostel, and they were stupid enough to loose around $12,000 each! Luckily, Glenn wasn't so greedy/stupid. When the hostel bloke heard about it all, Glenn and I went in the car with him to the house where it had all happened, and then last night he called his special 'crack squad' who are/were meant to bust the house. I was going to go along with them to this, but instead decided to go to some caves and lakes today instead - which was fun, and I'm about to go back now to find out if the bust actually happened. It sounded really cool, and was quite exciting to pin down the house yesterday!

Other stuff...

2009-09-29: Emerald Acupuncture, Cambridge
2008-12-16: My yearbook company
2008-10-24: Benjamin Luke Flash Gordon
2006-06-07: Mr & Mrs Jake Gordon
2006-05-08: AllYearbooks.co.uk Relaunches!
2006-04-11: Building Collapse!
2006-04-03: Getting Married
2006-01-19: Estate Angels & Drupal
2005-09-10: Hard Drive Fried
2004-12-23: US Election Ohio Recount
2004-11-19: GlobalPublicMedia.com
2004-11-03: Peak Oil Dissertation
2004-07-15: Internet Explorer vs. Mozilla Firefox: Google Zeitgeist
2004-07-13: Fahrenheit 9/11 - good, but nothing new
2004-07-10: Fahrenheight 9/11
2004-07-03: Using the Disability Discriminatin Act (UK) to force companies to provide e-books
2004-06-20: Slashdotted
2004-06-08: Mr Jake BA
2004-06-05: JakeG Limited & Degree Results
2004-05-13: Yearbook Production
2004-04-25: No Jobs & No Oil: the unsustainability of full employment and cheap energy
2004-03-14: My Own Radio Station - For Free
2004-02-24: More on Peak Oil
2004-02-24: BBC License Fee Debate on Century FM
2004-02-24: New Blog!
2004-02-23: P2P Internet TV
2004-02-18: More Bleak Predictions
2004-02-11: Jobless Figures
2004-02-05: Ski Photos Online
2004-01-27: Ski Champ!!!
2004-01-18: Interesting copyright law with tape recordings
2004-01-12: Twisted economic values
2004-01-11: As I suspected - never trust unemployment figures
2004-01-08: Sociology essay: Internet and freedom
2003-12-19: Dissertation Plan
2003-12-07: Trampolining
2003-10-16: Sociology Essays
2003-10-12: Exploring Snowdonia
2003-10-10: Wireless Networking
2003-10-07: Disabling Education System
2003-09-19: Wealth Concentration & Technological Freedom
2003-08-31: Travel Photos
2003-08-27: Boy I'm glad to be back home
2003-08-24: The Real Mexico
2003-08-24: Argh... Airport, Travel Agency... Argh!!!
2003-08-24: Cigar Smuggling
2003-08-24: Marcela in Monterrey
2003-08-24: Cuban Brawl
2003-08-24: Socialism, The Cuban Way
2003-08-22: Cuban Prostitutes
2003-08-17: I do like to change my mind...
2003-08-16: Hammock Havan
2003-08-15: Capital Village and Belizean Quirkiness
2003-08-13: Robinson Crusoe
2003-08-11: Coke snorting policeman
2003-08-10: Dreams
2003-08-08: Are you okay? My name's Jake, I'm a rescue diver, may I help you?
2003-08-01: Industrial Action
2003-07-29: Honduras
2003-07-28: Almost Dead
2003-07-25: School's out for summer!!!
2003-07-21: Yo Hablo Espanol
2003-07-20: Twin Peaks
2003-07-16: 'First Class' Chickens
2003-07-16: Opa
2003-07-16: Waterfalls And Even More Ruins
2003-07-12: Jungle Ruins
2003-07-11: Pain In The Arse
2003-07-09: Guatemala and a Cunning Plan
2003-07-08: Hammock Haven
2003-07-04: Travelling Budderinos
2003-07-03: Cuban Cigars and Beached Turtles
2003-07-01: Rambo
2003-06-29: Go West!
2003-06-27: Pyramid Funkiness
2003-06-26: Hola! Je suis en Mexico!!!
2003-06-24: Photos for all!
2003-06-24: MexiGo
2003-05-14: musicdonor.org
2003-04-01: Mr Bump
2003-03-12: So maybe I will update
2003-03-11: Should I bother updating?
2002-01-24: Derby Hall President Elections
2001-11-26: Travels 2001 Photo Album - Online!
2001-10-24: I'm still alive... and having fun!
2001-09-28: Uni Life
2001-07-15: Home Life
2001-07-15: Hi Guys, I'm Home!
2001-07-07: I Can Fly!
2001-06-24: Brisbane Photos... And I'm Back Home (kinda)
2001-06-22: The Reunion
2001-06-21: Aussie Photos Up
2001-06-20: Bungyyyyyyyyy...
2001-06-18: Mindless Stagger
2001-06-17: Freezing My Nuts Off
2001-06-12: A Browne Moon Rise on Fraser Island
2001-06-07: Learn To Fly
2001-06-03: Gagaju - Backpackers Retreat
2001-05-31: Another Change Of Plans!
2001-05-30: Back To South East Asia?!
2001-05-16: A Memento of Brisbane
2001-04-30: We All Live In A Yellow Submarine
2001-04-24: Perhenthian Islands Photos Up
2001-04-20: Aussie Life
2001-04-08: Mumma In Thailand
2001-04-06: Thai Boxing and Lady Boys
2001-04-05: Go Go Bars
2001-04-04: More India Photos Up - I'm In Bangkok
2001-04-02: Back In The Womb
2001-03-29: India Photos Up
2001-03-28: Noname
2001-03-27: Scuba Diving and Motorcycling on Koh Pha-Ngan
2001-03-25: Lady Bars
2001-03-24: Koh Samui
2001-03-24: All Washed Out
2001-03-22: Krabi
2001-03-22: Happy 5th Birthday To Me!
2001-03-20: The Island
2001-03-20: Under The Sea
2001-03-20: Such A Fantastic Time
2001-03-20: The Wedding Invitation
2001-03-12: Camping, Jungle Style
2001-03-12: Alone Again
2001-03-12: A Cave, a Snake and a Leprechaun
2001-03-12: Theme Park & KL Stuff
2001-03-12: Taman Negara National Park - arrival
2001-03-03: The Con-Job
2001-03-03: Kuala Lumpur
2001-02-26: Malaysia
2001-02-23: Night Safari, The Beach & Underwater World
2001-02-22: Time Travel
2001-02-22: Planes, Trains & Automobiles
2001-02-19: Indian Work: Child labour, wage and baksheesh
2001-02-15: Books and Weird Shit
2001-02-14: To Spew Or Not To Spew
2001-02-12: Imprisoned for 42 hours!
2001-02-09: Museums, forts, palaces and temples
2001-02-05: Horn Please
2001-02-03: A Week In... Kashmir!
2001-01-28: I'm In India!
2001-01-27: Plane in just over 4 hours!
2001-01-23: Only a few days to go
2001-01-06: Posse Page
2001-01-05: Travel Plans
by Jake Gordon, some rights reserved
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