I warn most of you in advance that this one is way too much of an "in" reference for any but two viewers of my galleries. You may find things of greater interest on the [Next] link.

We do not make a fuss of certain people's birthdays, since certain people do not like such a fuss to be made. But nonetheless, it's possible to at least acknowledge the event with the hope of what may be in the coming year... and more especially on the next jackpot draw on March 27, the Saturday after next.

And isn't hope itself a great present? (Well, not quite as good as a 1/3rd share of the prize itself, but you don't get the latter without the former, whatever Peter might have said on the matter.) And of course if we do... then next year's birthday (or in the case of Bat Lady, the one coming up in a couple of months) will look rather different.

(A fountain pen would probably have made a better "colourised film noir" prop, but I don't have one of those. And I really do need to play around with the subtlety of the "fade out" effect (not to mention faking Rick's handwriting), but if I did that we'd be here until next birthday and I have tickets to buy.)

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Edit January 2024: Enough time has passed to be less cryptic. Three of us were in a Lotto syndicate. Me, the "Bat Lady" (my then closest friend who would be taken way too young by cancer only 3 years later (my PAD of Sat 04 May 13)), and one of our colleagues who I've unfortunately fallen out of contact with but who will be entering her mid 80s if she is still with us, and whose birthday this was.

"Peter" was the birthday girl's former boss; a statistician (and a pretty good one, it must be said) who often used to say to us that "gambling is a tax on people who don't understand probability". To which I (having studied economics) would reply "That statement is from a statistician who doesn't understand opportunity cost." Which is to say this; the cost of a Lotto ticket is about the cost of a ham sandwich. Assuming that you have enough to afford such a sandwich easily, you can either (a) Use that money to have a very remote (but non-zero) chance of changing your life forever or (b) Invest those few bucks instead, and have an absolute zero chance of a life changing win. Between the miracle effects of compound interest, bank fees and charges, and inflation, after a few years you may end up with enough to buy... a ham and tomato sandwich. Maybe.

I wrote an allegory of our syndicate's journey using a film noir motif, with us being cast in the roles of 1930s style gumshoes. "Rick" was roughly me, and the other characters mentioned were some of the fictional characters who made up the syndicate universe.

And the big (well, little) red ball with "1" on it? That's the symbol used at the time by the Lotteries Office to represent the Lotto game.