Race Track Diary, Entry Number Seventeen Billy Budd’s (Dec 13, 2025)

 

Race Track Diary, Entry Number

 Seventeen

Billy Budd’s (Dec 13, 2025)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

======================================================================

• 17 – Billy Budd’s (Dec 13, 2025)

  • With mid-winter upon us, Billy Budd’s on the south-side is becoming our favorite haunt. This was an extremely wintry day. There had been some snow on the previous day and the temperature was a cool -24 C overnight (thats -11 F). It warmed up somewhat over the day, though, to about -11 C (that’s about +12 F).

  • The racetrack section of the place was rather crowded, moreso than usual, though it was a Saturday, so maybe normal for that day of the week. In fact, to begin with we had to take the final booth at the back of the section. That was rather far from the dozen or so TV screens and the lighting wasn’t great. So, at the first chance we got, we migrated a ways closer to the screen, in the arc-shaped section with undermount lighting.

  • The early crowd was quite enthusiastic, for an off-track betting site:

    • One guy shouting at the top of his voice "Come on Noro, come on Noro!" (or something like that). His race ended in a photo finish, nearly a dead heat. My brother said "I hope he loses, I don’t care for shouters." But he won, and I think it was at a rather nice price.

    • Another guy shouting, shouting, shouting: "Fuck off, fuck off! Shit horse!" I’m guessing his horse didn’t win.

    • Then there was another guy was just below us, dropping a lot of F-bombs, in a gravelly voice. Swearing isn’t so bad, but it is a good idea to use some discretion while doing so, unless you know a lot of colourful and unique cusses (my dad was an expert, probably because of his time in the Canadian army, Royal Canadian Engineers). Otherwise it is just boring.

  • Though it was still fairly early in the afternoon (about 1:45), most tracks in the east were well into their cards. Woodbine was pretty far gone, as were Gulfstream and Auqaduct. I chose to bet on a place in New Mexico, Zia Park.

    • This track has a mixed quarterhorse and thoroughbred racing schedule. Whether it qualifies as Class A or Class B is open to debate, which makes a difference for takeouts. It seems to have a takeout of 19% on WPS and 21% on exotic bets. That’s rather on the high side, but not as high as some.

    • It was rather different, as the races were all short sprints, often involving no turns. 870 yards was common (just under half a mile or four furlongs). Some races were as short as 300 to 400 yards (under a quarter-mile).

    • That would negate any advantage based on pole position (e.g. a track bias for horses running from an inside pole, if the ground is unusually firm along the rail). Furthermore, early speed seems to be almost meaningless, if a race is only a quarter-mile.

  • Zia Park was also fairly far into its card, with the 6^th race being the first I could bet. I tried an exactor, no luck. One of my picks was in the money, but the other was far down the track.

  • The seventh didn’t seem bettable, 2 year-old maidens (i.e. never won a race), most of whom had never even been in the money (a couple had placed third in a previous race). My system only includes "in-the-money" races, so I skipped this race. (I had written in my notebook ‘Maidens, no form to speak of. Only in the money occasionally)

  • The eighth race had a couple of horses with decent speed, handily better than the rest. I bet the 9 to win, which had good odds, but it came in third.

  • At that point I was honestly feeling pretty tired and a little depressed, wondering if I was coming down with something. Here is an amusing anecdote about that:

    • The night before, I had dreamt that I was back at some university sociology seminar course and the instructor served something she called "sallow beef soup", which was supposed to be a delicacy, some place or another. I had a few spoonfulls, which were alright at first, but then started to make me feel sick. The instructor said "does anyone know what sallow refers to in this context?". I said "salty". Upon awakening, I did feel kind of sick.

    • A few days later I looked it up on google and its AI said:

      • "Sallow beef soup" appears to refer to salted beef soup, a traditional Caribbean dish often served with ground provisions and various vegetables. The term "sallow" is likely a transcription error for "salted" or might be a regional variation of "swallow," a starchy side dish like fufu or pounded yam that is often served alongside the soup "

  • On top of the weirdly accurate dream, the unsuccessful betting wasn’t helping matters, in terms of my perceived health and energy levels. Nonetheless, I worked out my numbers for the 9^th race, and determined that the 7 horse should be a decent bet at 3-1 odds. With some trepidation, I went and placed a larger than usual bet on it.

  • And indeed, that horse did come in, paying $5.40 to win (on a 2 dollar bet). So, that erased my losses for the other two races and put me well over the top (I had upped my usual bet for this race, since it looked so good).

  • Suddenly I felt great! The incipient sickness went away almost immediately. A nice craft IPA beer followed, which only made my mood even better.

  • I skipped the 10^th race (my notebook said "Not enough time to work out numbers").

  • By now the crowd had dwindled down to a hearty few souls. With the racing at Zia Park done, my serious betting was over.

  • We then settled in for an hour or so of betting on the bucket-pullers (harness races). I don’t handicap those, so I don’t count that in my serious horseracing endeavours, but I do shoot my brother Craig a few bucks, to go in on one of his bets, just for the action.

  • Craig won a nice exotic bet, but the machine didn’t cut the voucher properly. So, I went to the bar and the bartender used her handy pair if scissors to snip it cleanly. She was was very helpful and used to the problem, since that particular machine tended to be a bit wonky.

  • With a big win, Craig bought me a beer. He abstained from anymore himself, having had a couple already, since he had to drive home within the hour.

  • The waitress could have easily scored a job at Hooters (does that even exist anymore?). I couldn’t help noticing – that’s what winning bets and having a beer can do to you. The wife of a friend of mine waitressed for some years and said ‘you can’t be too shy about this if you want to make decent tips’. In general, the waitresses and other staff at this place are quite good; efficient, friendly and usually in a good mood. Tips must be good.

  • Woodbine/Mohawk had a match race between Santa and the Grinch. Santa won, but it was obvious to me that the race was fixed. There was not betting on the race, so no bother about that.

  • About that time, a big snowstorm was hitting eastern North America:

    • Races at Turfway Park in Kentucky were cancelled due to weather.

    • Sleet was coming down hard at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, but the bucket-pullers kept going anway.

    • At Laurel Park in Maryland, great clouds of water were thrown up as the thoroughbreds came out of the turn.

    • Woodbine/Mohawk in Toronto was snowy and very wintery looking, very appropriate for the Santa/Grinch race.

    • Evangeline Racetrack in Louisiana had rain and sleet.

    • Northfield Park, in Cleveland Ohio, had a monster snowstorm, with snow and sleet just hammering down. I suppose that was the famous ‘lake effect’ from Lake Erie. But the bucket-pullers there would not stop. We watched as one race paid $115 to win, a 60 to 1 long shot. Had it not won, Craig and I would have won a sizable bet ourselves. So it goes, with the vaguaries of the weather usurping the Sport of Kings.

  • Craig started looking through his tickets to see if he had missed any winners. Lo and behold, it turned out that he had bet his $140 winner twice, so he had another ticket worth the same amount. Earlier in the day, he had picked up a $110 win. It was like that old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon: "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out if my hat."

  • On hockey night in Canada, the Oilers whipped the Leafs 6-3. I watched that from the racing section, as it was on some of the televisions over the bar. They had their new goalie, after trading Skinner for Jarry. He did ok, at least so far.

  • I had mentioned to my wife that complaining about Skinner had become a sort of bonding ritual between me and my brother, so now we won’t have that. She said: "I guess you’ll just have to take more interest in the bucket-pullers now." Very astute and very amusing.

  • And that was a day that ended very well indeed.

     ======================================================================= 

Here's a short story that involves horseracing: 

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here is an account of a summer job on the railroad, during my undergraduate years.

One Summer Working on the Railroad

What follows is anaccount of a few weeks one long-ago summer, when I was 19 and was working for the Canadian National Railway (CNR) on a railroad construction gang, in the wilds of north-central British Columbia, Canada.

The journal is in the form of a letter, that was never sent. Decades later, I think it has an interesting historical resonance. At times I come off like a callow youth – I plead guilty as charged. I swore a lot more in those days than I do now, but in places the writing is surprisingly good, at least in my humble opinion. And the story has a compelling narrative arc.

There were a lot of interesting and dramatic events that occurred – a number of industrial accidents being the most serious. There were also some colorful characters on the crew, which resulted in some dramatic and at times amusing conflicts and altercations. I perhaps flatter myself by including myself in that number. Or perhaps I condemn myself – I’m not sure.

So, if you want to be reminded of one of those summer jobs that was kind of life-changing, read on. My story may just kick-start some memories of your own.

The memoir/journal is about 9,000 words, a length that can usually be read in an hour or so. It is priced at 99 cents U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and is free on Kindle Unlimited. Periodically, it will be offered as a free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN661P8Z

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CN661P8Z

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CN661P8Z

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Grok’s mistaken report on X for Oilers-Sens game, March 3, 2026

Grok’s Version

Bouchard's OT Winner Caps Oilers' Wild Comeback Over Senators

Last updated 1 hour ago

Evan Bouchard fired the power-play winner at 1:50 of OT after Brady Tkachuk hooked Connor McDavid, securing Edmonton's 5-4 comeback victory at Rogers Place. Draisaitl scored twice and added three assists in a five-point night, while McDavid notched two helpers to hit 105 points; Zach Hyman tied it with an empty-netter. Bouchard, the first defenseman to 70 points this season, extended his hot streak with seven goals and 15 assists in 11 games, drawing praise from Draisaitl as elite company with Makar and Hughes. The win lifts Edmonton to 30-24-8, two points back in the Pacific with games in hand.

This story is a summary of posts on X and may evolve over time. Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.

 

Official Oiler Website version

Hyman scored with the net empty late in regulation & Bouchard completed the comeback 1:50 into OT for the #Oilers to cap off a 5-4 victory over the Senators.

 

Comparison and Analysis

Grok's report said "Zach Hyman tied it with an empty-netter", which made no sense. I think it took "scored with the net empty late in regulation" and "tied it with an empty netter" to mean the same thing. Shows that there is no real understanding in LLMs, just stringing together likely word correlations, based on input data.

Also, the Oilers do not have "games in hand". In fact, the other teams in the division have played from 1 to 3 fewer games than the Oilers, at the time of this Grok summary (first column below).

I just like to point these things out, occasionally.  It is worth keeping this in mind, when reading LLM summaries of serious news, though.

 

My experiences with Windows 11 vs Linux Mint:

• Printer:

  • Woudn't work under Windows 11 (was discontinued by version 11)

  • Worked immediately on Linux, didn’t even have to install drivers, done automatically by Linux.

• Vintage Radio (radio and bluetooth based mp3 player (audio files).

  • Quit working after a Windows 11 update (killed the bluetooth link).

  • Worked immediately on Linux (no need to manually install drivers).

• Micro-Speak Plus (voice recorder and audio playback):

  • Quit working after a Windows update (would not recognize the device),

  • Worked immediately on Linux (no need to manually install drivers).

• Updating Operating System:

  • Linux Mint - quick, does it in the background, no "restart the computer and pray that Windows update doesn't delete your Bluetooth or other devices". Also, no half-hour wait for the Windows update to complete. No forced updates.

  • Windows 11 – frequently clobbers bluetooth and other drivers. Often takes a long time to update. Sometimes causes major errors/failures (not to me, yet, but there are many reports of this). Many forced updates.

• LibreOffice Calc:

  • Often has some cursor lag, when switching to the program on Windows.

  • Haven’t noticed this on Linux.

• Intrusive Behaviour:

  • Windows - pop-ups and side-screen messages, usually some sort of sales pitch. Co-pilot and other AI pushes (this has been reduced lately).

  • Linux - No sneaky messages popping up, reminding you that Microsoft, HP, Dell etc are out there, watching you. No constant sales pitches.

Generally speaking, Microsoft seems to be in the process of sacrificing (via neglect and/or abuse of its customers) its dominance in the Operating System space, in favour of focussing money and intellectual capital (i.e. the best programmers and data scientists) on its AI initiatives. The high-handed comtempt that it showed (and continues to show) for its customer base is an extreme example of this (you must throw away your 4 year-old computer for Microsoft’s convenience and related induced-profits).

Many computer manufacturers are now shipping with Linux and charging extra for Windows, according to multiple Youtube channels. And once Microsoft loses dominance in the OS space, they risk the same happening in the productivity space (i.e. Microsoft Office) and in the data space (Azure, SQL Server). It seems like a classic case of a business neglecting its foundations in a gamble on an uncertain future.

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Sixteen Billy Budd’s (Dec 6, 2025)

 

Race Track Diary, Entry Number

 Sixteen

Billy Budd’s (Dec 6, 2025)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

======================================================================

• 16 – Billy Budd’s (Dec 6, 2025)

  • It was time for another trip to Billy Budd’s on the south-side. It was a much more wintry day than it had been for some time. That included some snowfall and considerably colder temperatures. But nonetheless, we soldiered on.

  • Christmas was not far now. That included an Ugly Christmas Sweater Night. Sadly, we missed that interesting experience.

  • The horse-racing section of the pub was fairly full, as it was Saturday afternoon. However, we managed to take some seats at a table on the lower level, near the screens, rather than at the long arc-shaped counter section a few steps above. Craig’s son Tyler was accompanying us once again, so we needed a bit more space, given that there were three people. Besides, Tyler wanted to eat, so we needed table space.

  • The light levels there were not as good as they were in the section above, as that long bench type arrangement has undermount lighting, which lights up the working area. That is very handy for doing calculations (the numbers on the program are rather small and the printing is not always crisp, so decent light levels are needed).

  • My calculations previously had been "by inspection", as they say in higher math. Basically that means eyeballing and estimating the average of a series of numbers. If there aren’t too many numbers, you can usually find the mid-point of the min and max, then the midpoint of that number with an intermediate number, and so forth until you converge on an estimate for the mean. I have tested it – it works surprisingly well for this purpose.

  • Nevertheless, I wanted to try using an actual calculator for this trip. I had purchased a programmable calculator recently, but that seemed like overkill for this job. I also had an intermediate calculator (Casio) from some previous lifetime requirment, which has a statistics mode, so I brought that instead, thinking to use that.

  • In addition, I had also downloaded a backup calculator onto my iPhone– it is a nifty little free calculator app which was specifically designed to take a list of numbers and output univariate statistics (count, sum, mean, median, mode, max, min, variance, standard deviations and sum of squares). That’s all it does, but that’s all I need.

  • It is called StatCalcLite. There is a free version (which I have) and a paid version (which I don’t have). I don’t know how much more functionality the paid version has compared to the freebie, other than that the free version expects whole numbers (no decimals) for the input. I imagine it was limited in this fashion to get people to cough up some money for the paid version. But most handicapping stats start off with whole numbers anyway, so that’s not a problem for me.

     

    
    
    

  • As it turned out, the light was a bit dim for the Casio, so I used the iPhone app, since it had a lighted screen. Data entry was fast, with a big virtual number keyboard. Output was also very quick and the screen was easy to read. So, score one for the iPhone app.

  • On the subject of numbers, so far my luck/handicapping has been scarily good, with 10 out of 15 trips yielding a profit. But even if my handicapping was responsible for that, I was fairly certain that the "regression to the mean" phenomenon lay in store for me on this day.

  • I’ve programmed a simulation in R to analyze this situation; this is a highly unlikely result if you assume random chance betting (i.e. just a lucky streak). I’ll give some further details about the simulations in some later blog, or maybe put it in a book.

  • We got to Budd’s in time for the sixth race at Woodbine, which I keyed on. Craig and Tyler bet on a number of tracks, including Woodbine. Craig hit on some low-paying exotic bets (mostly favourites coming in the money), but no real scores. Tyler didn’t hit on any races but got lucky anyway (more on that later).

  • My premonition about regression to the mean was correct – I didn’t win even one race. My numbers said 7-3-6 on race seven, it came in 6-3-7. I had a contender in the ninth, but it died in the stretch. Those two are about as close as I got on this day.

  • One interesting thing did occur, while watching the ninth race at Gulfstream. It looked like the 4 horse had won, because the 6 horse went way wide on the final turn. But then, when the winners were shown on the TV screen, the 4 was showing up as coming in fourth with the six finishing behind at fifth. What had happened? Was there an inquiry, with these horses being dropped down, for the purpose of betting shenanigans? Or had we watched a replay of a different race? We kept watching the screen for clarity, but it never did come. Weird.

  • Watching the replay a couple of days later on Youtube didn’t solve the mystery either. We were either in the Twilight Zone or we just misidentified the race. It would be interesting if it was the former but dreary old reality says it was the latter.

  • Outside of horseracing, we discussed a variety of things.

    • Lots of rumours about the Oilers trading one of their two inconsistent goalies. Craig is definitely of the opinion that they have to do so. So am I, but I haven’t lost as many bets on the Oilers as Craig has, so I’m a bit more chill about it. However I did have a C-note on a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup last year, so I guess the Oilers goalie problems did cost me then.

    • Related to that (i.e. performance), Tyler and I discussed the problems of supervising people at work and judging their performance. We agreed that it is difficult, as you tend to judge people by how well you would do the job that you assigned to them. But that’s a problem, since you wouldn’t be in a supervisory role if you weren’t very good at your job (well, hopefully that’s true), so you have to bear that in mind when judging others. Obviously, that doesn’t apply when a regular person is judging professional athletes, though.

    • I mentioned to Tyler that his brother Corrie had reminisced to me about going to the track with his dad (my brother) on a recent email. To quote Corrie:

      • "I have very interesting and quite fond memories of visiting different horse-racing tracks with my dad as a kid. I used to find myself almost in a daze, standing in the middle of a floor riddled with ripped up race programs, the smell of cigar smoke, staring up at endless white semi transparent plastic cups filled with draft foamed up beer...shouting and endless chants with colorful obscenities at old TV monitors anchored from the walls. As a young kid, I used to think...when will I get to do this...lol."

      • Tyler then added (loosely quoting): "Yeah, we loved visiting Northlands while we were kids. Teddy (a friend of Craig’s and a racing enthusiast) would have a big win and come and toss a 20 dollar bill at Corrie and me saying ‘I had a big win, have some fun kids’. Cliff (another friend and racetrack enthusiast), would sometimes do the same. We would play the arcade games and eat potato chips, we loved the experience."

  • Shortly thereafter, Tyler started looking at his cell phone every now and then. Finally he told us that a woman he knows was messaging, wanting to come over to his place for a visit. Apparently it was someone he knew from elementary school. He told her he was at the track with his dad and uncle, so he was busy right now and he and she could watch the hockey game together later. Shortly thereafter, she messaged him again, saying that she would pick him up once the races were done. Then, she messaged again saying that she was on her way, and finally she messaged that was waiting in the parking lot. It wasn’t even supper time yet, the races weren’t over, but he reluctantly had to leave us early (well not very reluctantly, he had an impish grin).

  • He did mention that her dad owned a couple of racehorses, so I guess there was still a connection to the races. Now, if he would just marry her, we might get some inside dope on the horses...

  • Craig and I bet a few more races and checked out the odds on some hockey games. Before leaving, Craig made a few bets on the upcoming harness races. We also checked out the futures on the Stanley Cup. Denver was at about 3.5 to 1, the Oilers and Panthers were both at about 8.5 to 1. Avalanche seems way overbet, Oilers are a good bet if they get a new goalie, Panthers are a good bet at those odds, though at threepeat seems like a tough row to hoe.

  • Then it was time to go. No profit on the day, but a few laughs, which is just as good.

  • P.S. It turned out that one of Craig’s Superfecta bets on the harness races came in later that night (he found out the next day on the internet) and paid a nice price that made up for all his losses of the day, and then some.

  • P.P.S. It turned out that the Oilers did trade for a new goalie a few days later. We’ll see how that goes. Maybe we will make that futures bet on the Oilers now.

  • P.P.P.S. Here’s a link to a blog that I did much later on the goalie trade results.

  • https://dodecahedronbooks.blogspot.com/2026/02/updated-goaltending-since-oilers.html

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

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And here is an account of backpacking in Northern Ontario, that a friend and I did some years back. It also has a bit of canoing and some day hikes with my wife.

A Summer Working on the Railroad

What follows is an account of a few weeks one long-ago summer, when I was 19 and was working for the Canadian National Railway (CNR) on a railroad construction gang, in the wilds of north-central British Columbia, Canada.

The journal is in the form of a letter, that was never sent. Decades later, I think it has an interesting historical resonance. At times I come off like a callow youth – I plead guilty as charged. I swore a lot more in those days than I do now, but in places the writing is surprisingly good, at least in my humble opinion. And the story has a compelling narrative arc.

There were a lot of interesting and dramatic events that occurred – a number of industrial accidents being the most serious. There were also some colorful characters on the crew, which resulted in some dramatic and at times amusing conflicts and altercations. I perhaps flatter myself by including myself in that number. Or perhaps I condemn myself – I’m not sure.

So, if you want to be reminded of one of those summer jobs that was kind of life-changing, read on. My story may just kick-start some memories of your own.

The memoir/journal is about 9,000 words, a length that can usually be read in an hour or so. It is priced at 99 cents U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and is free on Kindle Unlimited. Periodically, it will be offered as a free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN661P8Z

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CN661P8Z

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CN661P8Z

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Updated: Goaltending Since the Oilers-Penguins Trade

Now that the Olympics are done, it is a good time to review how the Oilers-Penguins trade worked out, using a longer time-line than the previous blog.

Tristan Jarry Update

For reference, the last blog was when Jarry was at Game 20. At that time, things were looking pretty good for him. Since then, the graph has turned way down, including a couple of .750 games, though it has not all been bad (one .900 game). This up-and-down performance was also seen during his time with Pittsburgh, though his record was somewhat better there, to this point in time. That may be due to the Penguins playing a better defensive game than the Oilers, or it may just be the random variation that is not unusual in such data. Consistency, in any high level activity, is a lot harder than the average person thinks.

 

Overall, since the trade, Tristan has had 1 excellent game (a shutout), 4 very good games (around .900), 4 so-so games (around .850) and 2 stinkers (around .750).

Jarry is still above water since the trade, in terms of (actual points/possible points) = 64%. However, that’s a drop from 75%, which was his record since the trade in the original post. Interestingly, the 64% is exactly the same as his record with the Penguins, earlier in the season.

Stuart Skinner Update

Next, we will look at Stuart Skinner’s updated performance since the trade, since the trade was Jarry for Skinner. For reference, Stu’s last game before this graph was updated was game 32).

 The 4 games since the original graph are similar to Jarry’s, in terms of the up-and-down nature of the data. He had two excellent games (around .950) and two howlers (both under .800). So, it could be argued that the teams traded one inconsistent goalie for a different inconsistent goalie.

Overall, since the trade, Stu has had 5 really good games (around .950), 2 pretty good games (around .900), 3 so-so games (around .850) and 3 howlers (below .800).

Skinner’s (actual points/possible points) = 66% since the trade, whereas it had been 57% in the original post. So, a decent improvement. For comparison, his record with the Oilers was 52%.

Conner Ingram Update

Next, we will look at Conner Ingram. Though he wasn’t part of the trade, the trade certainly affected his career path. For reference, his last game before the update of the graph was game 9, the shutout.

 

Since that time, Ingram has not done very well, either. Two games were semi-respectable and 2 were bad, below .800.

 

Calvin Pickard Update

Pickard has not played any Oilers games since the trade, though he was with the team for some of that time. However he was ultimately put on waivers, passed waivers, then sent down to the Oilers AHL team in Bakersfield, California. He hasn’t played since being sent down, as far as I know. It turns out the the farm team has a couple of very good goalie prospects, so it may be difficult to slot him in.

It is too bad, because he did make some really stand-out performances in the playoffs, during the previous couple of years, bailing out the team when Skinnter faltered. He is also known for being a good team player (‘good in the room’) and an overall nice guy. However, he is well into his 30s and has had a long and interesting career (it would make a good hockey book). Plus, even with relatively low pay for a hockey player, he had make a lot more money than 99% of the population did over that time. So there’s that.

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Original Post

The Edmonton Oilers hockey club has long been seen as having inconsistent goaltending – sometimes their goalies have been stellar, other times seemingly hopeless. The latest tandem to exhibit that tendency was Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard. Many observers felt that more reliable goaltending would have led to at least one Stanley Cup victory, rather than a 7 and 6 game losses, as was the case in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Thus, in mid-December 2025 they made a key goalie trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, swapping Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry. As a side-effect of that trade, they also called up Conner Ingram from their AHL affiliate, since Jarry had experienced an injury shortly after the trade. The net effect (pun intended) was that they transitioned from Skinner-Pickard to Jarry-Ingram, with Calvin Pickard in a third goalie role, at least for a while, as insurance should one of the other two become injured again.

At the time of this blog, it has been a little over a month since the trade. So, how has it gone? Read below for some statistical evidence.

NOTE, next day: Hilariously enough, Oilers and Penguins played a game the very night that I published this blog and Jarry absolutely bombed (0.727 in that game), sending his save pct to 0.881 (from 0.904) in saves/shots and 0.878 (from 0.903) in average of game save percentages. His win pct dropped to 57% (from 67%), and his point pct went down to 64% (from 75%).

As I pointed out in the blog: his trend with the Oilers has only a limited number of games, so it should be taken with a large measure of caution.

Statisticians say this all the time, because it’s true.

 

Tristan Jarry

Jarry has played 6 games, as of Dec 21, 2026 for the Oilers. Previous to that, he had played 14 games with the Penguins. His Oilers save percentage since the trade has been over 0.900 , customarily thought of as an important benchmark. In terms of overall saves/shots, it is 0.904, while in terms of averaging the save percentage in each game, it is at 0.903. Note that the two methods can yield slightly different results, depending on how many outlier games the goalie has had (i.e. very much better or worse than usual).

His record with the Penguins this year, was not all that different from that with the Oilers, in terms of save percentage, at 0.909 for saves/shots and 0.895 when averaging the save percentages in each game. This result shows how the two methods can give different answers. That is further demonstrated by the high ups and downs of his Penguins games, as shown in the graph.

The graph shows that Jarry’s linear trend with the Penguins was slightly downward, while the trend with the Oilers it has been upward. That said, his trend with the Oilers has only a limited number of games, so it should be taken with a large measure of caution.

Jarry won 4 out of these 6 Oiler games, for a win percentage of 67%. In terms of points, he has played net for 9 of 12 potential points, for a points average of 75%.

For the Penguins earlier in the year, his win percentage in 14 games was 64%, with his points percentage coming in at 68%.

So, as far as Jarry’s play goes, the trade has worked out well so far for him and for the Oilers.

Stuart Skinner

Stuart Skinner has played 9 games with the Penguins, after having played 23 games with the Oilers previous to that. His Penguins save percentage since the trade has been a bit under 0.900. In terms of overall saves/shots, it is 0.891, while in terms of averaging the save percentage in each game, it is at 0.895. Note again that the two methods can yield different results, depending on how many outlier games the goalie has had (i.e. very much better or worse than usual).

The graph shows that Skinner’s linear trend with the Oilers was downward, while with the Penguins it has been upward. That said, his trend with the Penguins has only a limited number of games, so it should also be taken with a large measure of caution.

His record with the Oilers this year, was not as good as it has been with the Penguins. His Oilers save percentage was 0.891 for saves/shots and 0.872 when averaging the save percentages in each game. Again, this result shows how the two methods can give quite different answers. That is further demonstrated by the high ups and downs of his Oilers games, as shown in the graph. It is also the case that his games with the Penguins have had a fair bit of variance.

Skinner won 5 out of the 9 Penguin games, for a win percentage of 56%. In terms of points, he has played net for 10 of 18, also for a points average of 56%.

For the Oilers earlier in the year, his win percentage in 23 games was 48%, with his points percentage coming in at 57%.

So, as far as Skinner’s play goes, the trade has worked out well so far for him (higher save percentage), and it has probably been a slight loss for the Penguins. However, it is a small sample size, so that may change as the season progresses.

Conner Ingram

Conner Ingram was not directly involved in the trade, though it is probable that the trade did make his call-up from the AHL affiliate necessary. Since then, he has answered the bell quite decisively, with a 0.917 save percentage for the total saves/shots measure, and 0.920 for the average of averages measure.

The graph shows that Ingram’s linear trend with the Oilers has been upward. That said, it is a limited number of games (9 in all), so it should also be taken with a measure of caution.

Ingram has won 5 out of 9 starts, for a win percentage of 56%. In terms of points, he has played for 11 points out of a possible 18, for a points percentage of 61%.

So, as far as Ingram’s play goes, the trade has worked out well so far for him. It has resulted in him being called up to the NHL team, where he has posted an impressive save percentage as well as a very good win and points percentage. However, it is a small sample size, so that may change as the season progresses.

Calvin Pickard

Calvin Pickard was not part of the trade, but it has also had an impact on him. He had several starts while Jarry was injured, more than he otherwise would have had. Previous to the trade his save percentage was mediocre at best, with 0.851 in total saves/shots and 0.848 in average of game save percentages. Since the trade those figures have improved considerably, to 0.901 for the former measure and 0.896 for the latter.

The graph shows that Pickard’s linear trend with the Oilers has been upward, largely due to the good play since the trade. That said, his post-trade sample of games (6 in all) is relatively small, so it should be taken with a measure of caution.

 

Pickard won 3 out of the 6 post-trade games, for a win percentage of 50%. In terms of points, he has played net for 6 of 12, also for a points average of 50%.

For the Oilers earlier in the year, his win percentage in 10 games was 30%, with his points percentage coming in at 40%.

So, as far as Pickard’s play goes, the trade has worked out fairly well so far for him. His save percentages, win percentages and points percentages have improved. However, it is a small sample size, so that may change as the season progresses.

It is not clear how long the Oilers can afford to carry three goalies. Pickard’s improved performances have made that a tougher call. He could be picked up by some other team, should they choose to send him to the AHL affilate. Arguably, his post-trade play has made that a greater possibility than it had been earlier in the year.

Overall Result

The data support the idea that the Oilers have indeed improved their goaltending situation by the trade.

As for the Penguins, they may have taken a slight hit from the trade.

However, it is still early days, so those results could change.

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A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

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The Magnetic Anomaly – A Science Fiction Novel

The novel version of The Magnetic Anomaly is now available on Amazon (ebook, print version, also audible version soon to come). 

Summary

Two young Earth scientists, Alex and Mary, get caught up in a vast conflict, based on an accidental finding that they make at a diamond exploration camp in the far north. Eventually, this discovery leads them on a perilous quest and involvement in an interstellar war, a conflict of literally cosmic proportions with a rogue AI, which considers itself duty-bound to destroy sentient life (or, from its point of view, liberate sentient life).

During this time, they encounter a variety of enigmatic persons, as well as other entities, all of whom are also engaged in this struggle. With some of them they end up allying; with others, they contend in deadlyconflict. The struggle takes them around the world, and eventually into the far reaches of the solar system.

During this time their relationship continues to evolve and deepen. Circumstances demand that they grow in courage and confidence, though within the scope of (mostly) normal people, as has been the case for countless people throughout history.

The story also showcases some historical events, relating to different versions of what went on in Antarctica, shortly after World War 2. Several versions of these events, official and unofficial UFO lore are given. This becomes a springboard to much of the action. Some philosophical and scientific concepts are also explored, though not in such a way as to get in the way of the plot.

Amazon:

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

India:  https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

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