Starting Another Work Week

Well while most of you were sleeping and still enjoying what was left of your weekend I was busy at work keeping my company safe. It started out as a wild shift with strange phone calls from far away lands, hookers walking up and down the street on a muggy late August evening and street bums looking for coffee and quarters. However I came through it without putting myself in harms way and ended one day closer to a long weekend!

This morning I have to stay up and take the wife to the hospital so that they can jam a needle in her spine to relief pain coming from a nerve caused by an accident some 30 years ago. She has been in a lot of pain the past few weeks so this procedure should help her and numb the pain a little. Sure I could be in bed with the A/C cranked up sleeping and dreaming about LV trips but hey I need to be there for her as she has been for me at times. Plus nobody likes to go to the doctor or hospital by themselves at least I don't. Just hope that I can get some by this afternoon for some type of nap before having to go back in again tonight.

Looking at the LV news for this past weekend I saw that Paris Hilton got arrested again this time in front of the WYNN Hotel for having a little bag with some white stuff inside. It seems that her boyfriend was driving and the street police smelled some weed coming from the car as they drove out of the WYNN's parking lot. After pulling him over they noticed that she reached into her purse for a hankie or something and the bag fell out so they arrested her too. You would think with the way I feel about so called movie stars and the way people flaunt all over them that I would be happy about what happened to Paris but really I'm not. In fact to the shock of many I actually like her. You see she is a rich party girl who does not have to work and can do what she pleases and this really piss off a lot of people just because they wish they could live life like this. But unlike most Hollywood types she is what she is and makes no bones about it. She does not try to be something that she is not and makes no excuses about having a good time. I can handle that a lot better than most of those clowns out there whom try to make us all believe that they are so smart and above all of us and lecture us about "going green" and giving money to far away lands and adopt kids from other countries etc. In other words they are phonies and full of shit and that is why I can't stand most of them. But with Paris she just is what she is and does not try to pretend to be anything else and I can really deal with that so much better. Plus I saw her once in LV and boy she is quite pretty too... hey she really is up close. I hope she gets it together and does not have to go back to jail. Hey she was not even driving so maybe she should and will get a pass.

Well it is off to the doctor. Hope everyone has a good Monday and enjoy your work day!

Where Have I Been? Lazy.

Its been awhile... and I'm not happy about it. When I started this thing I told myself I would keep it up to date and write almost everyday. Will make a effort to do just that in the future as things are starting to heat up around here. The long hot boring summer will soon give way to the start of fall and then football, gambling trips, cooler weather and a extra bonuce in ones step.

Today lets start off by talking about something that has really turned into a problem for all of us and our lives. I like to call it "Mob Rules". This is when the media or certain "beautiful people" like movie stars and rock stars etc., throw out an idea or belief and the "Mob" of the American people take it and run with it. One example is Starbucks. Think about it they are selling beans for 10 bucks a cup and people are lined up in droves to buy this crap! It's coffee for crying out loud that really taste like any other coffee but because it is Starbucks and Mob Rules, people just have to have it. Give me a break. Most of it taste like bitter shit anyway but because everyone else does it well you have to do it too.

Another example is bottle water. Oh my people it is water for crying out loud. Studies have shown that it is no better than the water you get out of your pipes but because Mob Rules we just have to have it. They are selling this shit for 3 dollars and sometimes more for a bottle of this stuff that you can get for free. I see all of these people walking around with these bottles looking cool because they see these no talents on their favorite t.v. shows drinking it. I just want to reach out and say Enough People... Grow up it is Water!

Still another is Tiger Woods. Who the hell cares about this guy and the "not important so called sport" that he plays. I'm so sick of him and his now exwife and his sport that it makes me sick. Golf is a total waste of time and space. There I said it and lighting didn't strike me down. Think about it... these courses take up huge amounts of space and land that could be put to better use. Think about the water it takes to keep these things "green" all the time. Hell it takes a lot of "bottle water" to keep these things up. Then the equipment and fees cost a huge amount and people go out there and do it because " mob rules" and hey all of these movie stars do it. Tiger Woods and golf could go away forever tomorrow and we would all be the better for it!

Still another example. Shows like American Idol suck! Sorry but the truth hurts sometimes. In fact every so called reality show sucks big time but hey people watch it because ( all together now) Mob Rules. Next time you sit down to watch one of these waste of time shows, think about what else you could have done with that hour of your life and you will probably think what a total waste of time the whole process is. But why do the networks put these things on all the time you ask? Answer they are cheap to put on and produce because there is little or no actors fees to pay. Just a bunch of morons getting on and acting like total fools and we just seem to lap this shit up like dogs because well everyone else does. Nobody it seems think for themselves anymore they instead want to be hip and cool.

Another example. Remember the show Friends? What a total suck job that was with a bunch of no talent actors and horrible writing. I tried to watch it once and got ill really I did. Why was it popular... Mob Rules. People went on and on about it and how pretty Jennifer A. was and hey it "caught on". Hey next time you see Jennifer really look at her and tell me she does not have a face or a horse! She is so overrated and such a no talent that most all of her so called movies end up going straight to video after a few weeks. I swear I could get in my car and drive to the local market and wait for about one hour and see 10 or 12 ladies who are sooo much better looking! Really think about and see if I'm not right. But hey if Oprah and The View says that she is great then hell it has to be true... right?!

Ok, rant over but take a few minutes this weekend and think about this whole thing of Mob Rules and how it affects your views and life and you will really start to open your eyes to all of this crap. They always try to slant your views to what is hip and in and no that if they can get the right people to endorse such nonsense they can control you.

Well my weekend is almost over. Not looking forward to going in and starting my work week tonight but at least most of us have a long weekend coming up to look forward to. Plus every week gets me closer to my own upcoming trips. I think I will make some homemade tacos with salsa and then maybe watch some old movies and take a nap. Everyone enjoy your Sunday and do something fun.

Trips Finally Planned

Well I finally have my trips planned for the rest of the year. I have only been able to go out to LV once this year in April. The problem was not lack of vacation time as i have 10 weeks this year. No the problem has been having to use my gambling bankroll for bills and other "problems" that have come up the past few months. Now that school has started and I have been able to get caught up on things, the bankroll will start to grow again and trips can now be booked.

My next upcoming trip will be the first week of October (birthday) to Reno/Tahoe of all places. Harrahs sent me a 4 free night stay along with 250 dollar roundtrip air offer that I booked upon getting it in the mail. The reason this trip is so important is that my dad lives only about 1 hour away in California and can meet up with me there. It has been almost 10 years since I have seen him and now that he is in ill health it makes this birthday trip that much more special. I will also be driving over to look at the lake and maybe side trips to Carson City, Virgina City and maybe Sparks. I have been looking at the videopoker offered in the local casinos there and it looks pretty good so this trip has turned into a win win situation.

My second trip will be the first week of November to the greatest city in the world of course...Las Vegas. Now this trip is a little tricky. I know I will be going but don't know how I will get there or where I will be staying as of yet. Let me explain. My father-in-law is driving out there for a auto-parts convention. He is renting a van and does not want to go alone. I have never drove to LV before but maybe now would be a good time to do so. However I really don't look forward to a 18 hour driving trip back and forth. We will see but driving would save a little money on airfare too so who knows what I will do just yet. Now he has also booked his rooms in a suite at Palace Station and has offered me a chance to stay there. Now I have stayed at PS before and even though it is not plush like say something on the strip it is a basic clean cheap nice play to stay and play. So as you can see even though i know I will be going then I just need to make up my mind as to the "other" things that need to be done before that trip.

I also have been working on that "new" VP strategy from my VP Pro in Arizona. It has worked pretty well on the IGT Videopoker.com site ( where you are playing the real games they have in casinos) and I'm now starting to add some special plays to the strategy and hope this will push me up over the top. If I do hit a nice Royal on either of these trips then I will probably be making more LV trips before the end of the year since I have to use at least 3 more weeks of vacation time at work or risk losing it.

Otherwise things here have been going along pretty much like it has all summer long... boring and hot! The kids are now back in school which helps with my sleeping during the day. The nights are starting to get just a bit cooler at night with a small "cool front" coming in this week which should cool things down to the 90's during the day. Also football season is only a couple of weeks away... so things are indeed looking up for the rest of 2010.

Today I will spend it cooking some nice steaks out on the grill, taking a nap before work and looking forward to seeing the new Mad Men episode tonight. Trips, family, cooler weather, steaks, football, and fall colors coming all add up to a future of some pretty interesting things coming my way.

Team Sucks Again

It's hard being a fan of just one team. Most people are what I call "bandwagon" fans who seem to follow only those teams that are on top at the present time. I guess I'm just not wired that way and this leads to a lot of heartache it seems.
Tonight was the start of the NFL preseason. I have been a Rams fan for 38 years and was excited about seeing the "new" team. First went over to family and friends to watch the game. We had hamburgers, drinks, watermelon, and popcorn. Then for 3 hours watched a display of horrible football play. Our 78 million dollar QB was sacked 3 times. The Rams offense had 8 yards rushing and ran the same old 3 and 4 yard pass patterns. On defense it was a little better against the run but deep TD passes were given up right and left. Just horrible. Team sucks fans suck and the town itself sucks. Didn't even sellout and was blacked out in the St.Louis area. While watching it I was struck by the fact that I could have and probably should have spent the 3 hours doing something else. I could have read some books, listen to the radio, played around on the computer or maybe watched old movies or old t.v. shows. Anything would have been better than what I watched and spent wasting my time with.
Oh well live and learn. Maybe I should become one of those "bandwagon" people and wait and pick a team in first place in mid-season like everyone else seems to do!

Let's Play Catch Up.

Sorry for missing the week but I was busy with sleep habits and new things to do at work. First of all I had to take my "punishment" classes at work due to the bad attitude review I got last year. After working 15 years on the graveyard shift it was quite hard to just turn around and go in during the day for 9 hours. The classes was not as bad as I feared and not as great as I hoped but I made the best of it. What made the class much better is that there were a lot of interesting and very good looking young ladies in the class. However I hate breaking into "groups" and we did that every hour it seems. Oh well it is over with and done for. Feel like what Martin Luther King said " free at last"...

I took a day of vacation on Friday so it turned out to be a nice 3 day weekend for me. My nephew started to school again on Thursday and it was also his first day of High School. My how the time has flown as I remember holding him hours after he was born as it was just last yesterday. He said that he hated it but I think he really had a pretty good time it is just that he is low in the pecking order this year and the Sr.s are probably putting him and all Fr. in their place as happens in high school everywhere.

Early in the week I had breakfast with another good friend who just got married last month. She came back from her time off to learn that her new husband was laid off at his job! Not good. So things are starting off hard for them but they seem to be pulling through. He already has a new job and they are making it. Hope things turn around for them as she is such a nice person and this should be the best time of her life.

I plan to relax the rest of the weekend and just enjoy myself. My uncle called at 5am to see if I wanted breakfast. Of course I was up as I always am on the weekends and we meet and had a nice talk and meal. It has been so very hot here that I really don't feel like going out at all during the day or even at night if I don't have too. Later I will be having my usual Saturday Lunch with family and friends and then the rest of the weekend is free.

The Rams first preseason game is tonight and is going to be on tv here in my area. That is very rare and I usually end up listening to their games on the radio. Plus Sam Bradford of Oklahoma will be playing in his first game and it will be fun to watch him perform and see what he can do and see what the Rams as a team can do too. After only winning 6 games in the past 3 years they can't do much worse can they? It is sometimes hard to be a fan of one team when they are so bad but hey going on 38 years with them so why quit now. Will have more to write about later this weekend and tell everyone about a future gambling trip or two.

Is Fall Here Yet?

Hot! Yes it has been very hot in this part of the country. So much so that for a couple of days last week it was hotter here than in my favorite city Las Vegas. Now that is pretty bad because it is also usually very humid here too. Much looking forward to fall myself. It seems when the weather cools a little and the kids are back in school and the football season is starting up... well it is like a whole new New Years all over again.

It is very rare that I ever get sick very much. It has been almost 15 years since I even had the flu and I never take that stupid, "don't know what exactly is in it" flu shot that they offer every year. Thus when I woke up on Monday morning with a headache, nose and eyes running and feeling just plain horrible, it was a very rare thing for me. To top it off feeling horrible in this heat just makes the whole "summer thing" a pain in the ass.

Finally I had to take some kind of sinus pills and Advil just to live. I got up Monday at around noon and started to make a pot of coffee. You see I have trouble taking pills and the heat of the coffee seems to make the pills go down better and faster. So here I was my tired ass still very sleepy and I bumped the coffee pot against the sink and Wham... the thing broke into a million little glass flecks. After cleaning that mess up I went out to buy a coffee pot since at this point I need and want this coffee and also I need to take these pills. I didn't fell like getting cleaned up so I just put on a baseball cap and a t-shirt with some shorts and crocs. I was just going 3 miles to the neighborhood WalMart store. Well I learned that this store does not carry coffee makers anymore. Oh crap so now I have to drive another 6 miles to a Target. This place is packed as people are buying back to school things and it is the lunch hour for many people too. I find the coffee maker but the lines are huge. While standing in line my nose and eyes start up again and stuff is pouring out onto my face oh boy it is horrible. Plus I already look like crap since I didn't bother to get cleaned up. Just a horrible crazy summer day! I feel better now but boy early in the week I doubt that I would have felt up to even a trip to Las Vegas if I had a vacation planned.

The rest of the week went well as work was not too bad and after my bout with sickness was over the week started going back to normal except for the heat of course. Friday was spent shopping with nephew for school clothes and books etc. He starts school on Thursday of next week his first year of high school (9th grade). Boy oh boy where does the time go?

On the Las Vegas front I have been looking a lot at the old Tropicana Hotel and what is taking place there. First they have a new owner and now they are in the process of building new towers, rooms, casino, pool and entrance way. This is a old hotel and was once called " The Tiffany's Of The Strip". The James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever was filmed there back in the 70's. From all accounts the place is starting to look great with a real southseas style and look to it. It helps that it is in a great location and they have a lot of land to build on. I do hope they make it and don't have to blow the old lady up. We have lost too many of the great old hotels in LV and need to keep some of them for history sake if nothing else. Looking forward to checking it out during my next trip out whenever that may be.

On the job front well "its a job". Next week I have to take more "punishment classes" due to the "bad attitude" review that I got last year. It seems going to work and doing your job and never calling in for 15 years is not enough anymore. Not looking forward to these classes at all. Sitting in a circle with a bunch of people you don't even know or care to know and having everyone talk about their feelings and themselves is not my idea of fun. Oh well.

For the rest of the day I have big plans in my head but the heat outside my make me decide to sleep my weekend away again and stay inside. However right now I plan on getting my haircut, having lunch at Jimmys Egg ( pork chops I think) and then reading some books and taking a nap. Later I think I will grill hamburgers outside and maybe watch some old movies. This is the life I tell you!

Been awhile. Summer Time Blues.

When I started this thing I told myself that I was going to keep up with it and write almost everyday. However when I get home in the mornings the heat added with the stress at work just makes me so tired I end up going to bed. Need to make a effort to keep this thing up to date and also add to it and get it the way I want it to be and can be proud of.

Last week at work was not too bad for the most part. It is just the summer heat that sort of wears me down this time of year and leads to me feeling the blues. When I think back upon it the past work week was one of the best I have had in awhile.

Friend got to go to LV last week and just got back late last night. He only plays BJ with a little craps thrown in from time to time. This is like his 5th or 6th trip this year already and I have only been able to make 1 so far this year which sucks big time. He had a winning trip and won a few hundred to go along with free rooms and food and 1 free airline ticket. Boy LV is a cheap good vacation when everything works out. Due to money matters I'm having right now and having to use my gambling bankroll on some bills, it looks more and more like I won't be able to make it out again until my birthday week in October. I just need to buckle down and quit spending so much and try to save a little but it is hard. Prices of everything cost some much right now it is crazy and hard to save anything! Hell I may have to get a second job just to pay the bills.

On the home front things are going pretty well. My nephew went with a church group to Texas and 6 Flags and had a great time. He starts school now in about 10 days. I remember years ago when I was in school we didn't start back until the Thursday before Labor Day. Of course we didn't have A/C in the classrooms either like they do now. Still it will be good when school starts back up and these kids will be off the streets at night which is good for my job and will be in school during day which is good for my sleeping habits...Laugh.

Food wise I have really gotten into a rut. Some old stuff every week it seems. Case in point last night I didn't feel like cooking but didn't want to get cleaned up and go anywhere either. So I ended up getting a hamburger at Sonic. What a waste! Oh it was alright but not great. To make up for it I'm going to have home made tacos today with a new salsa that I'm going to try and make here at home. Store bought salsa sucks big time and I have tried just about all of them I think.

This weekend I have not done anything at all except read and sleep. I'm almost done with 2 of my books and need to finish them since there is a new book out that I want to buy and read called "under the neon sky" wrote by a guy who use to be a doorman at the MGM for about 10 years or so. Sounds interesting and I want to be done with these other books and just read this one book by itself this time.

On the VP front I have not practiced at all this weekend or much last week at all. When you don't have a trip coming up and can't make it out there for a few months you start thinking "Why bother"? However I need to get back on it and start getting pumped up about my future trips that I'm sure to be taking this fall.

Tonight it is back to the grind...yuck. My next vacation break is not until Labor Day week. Can't wait for that.