To Fly or not to Fly

While attending the buffet at Atlantis on Thanksgiving Day, I played slots.  No surprise, right?  I saw my friend C.'s mom who was with another daughter visiting from Florida.  I asked K. (C.'s mom) 'is C. here too?'.  She said 'C. has too much to do so'.  

I saw C. today - she hosted Thanksgiving which is why she was too busy to bring her mom to the casino last week.  C. told me that her mom got COVID AND Type A flu - most likely from her daughter visiting from Florida.  9 people at the get together were infected with one illness or both.  C.'s mom ended up spending two days in the hospital - she's 91.  She's doing fine, back at home with 24 hour nursing care.  C. owns a company and many of her employees were among the guests at the dinner and all are so sick, they have been in bed.  Yikes.

She said her sister starting having symptoms on Thanksgiving Day but she truly thought it was the change from humid climate to dry climate.  Never imagined she was sick.  Never imagined that she was infecting a ton of other people with two viruses she very likely got from being on a cross-country trip on multiple airplanes.  

The sister and her hubby were finally able to fly back home today - though C. said 'they shouldn't have but they wanted to get home'.  

This scenario is exactly why I don't want to fly.  Truly.  Don't want to.

Tales of a Gambler

A casino 30 minutes south of us sent me an offer too good to decline.  Claiming the offer involved calling the marketing department rep of the casino.  She asked me 'is there anything wrong? (that is keeping us from visiting - parenthetical thought added by me).  At the time, I replied no.  

Today, we ventured there because in addition to the special offer from the marketing department I had a previous (also pretty good) offer - so I felt like it was a good amount of free play and worth going there.

Within the first hour, I was down [$x].  It wasn't huge but it WAS (felt) huge when you're in the mode of trying (so hard) to stop putting all of the play (including any winnings) back.  

I was discouraged and down.  I took my last $200 and headed to a different bank of Dragonlinks and decided 'what the heck' and bet big.  I recovered all I had lost plus a wee smidge  In the mean time, a machine with a $900 plus major on the other side of the same bank of machines opened up and J. saved it for me.  

Jokingly, as we headed out this afternoon, I told J. 'my goal is to get my first hand pay at CVI today'.  I truly was feeling like it was an impossible challenge when I'd played a fair amount already and had a good list of 'things' to share with the marketing department when I phoned them later this week to share what I remembered upon playing:  we don't win here so why do we play here?  

I decided to go for it.  A Hail Mary that could be epic or could bomb spectacularly.  The 'new month' is a few days away so I knew I had 'new money' available in a few days so I felt the risk was worth it.  

At 1:44 PM, this happened.  Just under a hand pay!  ($1,165 total). 

 

At 1:52 PM, this happened.  $2,190 total.  Handpay # 1.  Angle of picture is due to me taking it standing to the side while the slot attendant cleared the win so I could keep playing.

At 2:47 PM, this happened.  The Major was $1,000 - it had topped out (the limit is $1,000) while I was playing.  Handpay # 2.

Two hand pays an hour apart.  We hightailed it out of there.  I covered all of my losses today and then some so yay for that!!  

Gambling is a head trip, always.  I visited the local casino I mentioned in my last post this morning for my last November free play - and played a 'farewell' amount.  The wins at the other casino more than covered the loss from this morning and I am super grateful for that!  A friend of mine was there and I told her 'this will be my last visit here until maybe January'.  She asked why and I told her - and she very quickly said 'you need to talk to R.. You are right, that decrease makes zero sense'.  I hope it is a fixable thing - but am totally OK if it isn't.  As I mentioned yesterday, I feel a break would be a good thing. 

Our next play date is Atlantis on Wednesday for our weekly free play and then again on Saturday for another free play round.  

The freeway and all major streets in Carson are freshly brined so we know there is weather on the horizon.  J. gently prepared me for 'if we can't get to Reno on Saturday' and it will be totally fine if that's what happens.  Though fingers crossed we can go at a point in the day where weather isn't an issue.

Our post-Thanksgiving feast was great but oh my Lord the process is taxing.  The sink (disposal) clogged badly leaving us no option but for J. to trek to Home Depot in search of a 'proper' sink plunger.  It did the trick (thank goodness).  Note to self:  NO PEELS.  EVER.  Not potato, not cucumber, not carrots.  TRASH ONLY. 

Grocery Store Dilemmas

After we watch our evening shows, we usually take a break from whatever death, mayhem or drama we've been watching and wind down with an episode of West Wing.  After that, J. goes to You Tube.  We watch Jeopardy highlights and lately, he's been watching a guy giving tips for how to do things with your iPhone.  

J. learned we can create shared reminders and/or lists so now we have a Costco list and a grocery list.  We can both add or delete and changes are made on both lists (his and mine).  It's revolutionizing everything.  We started a 'to-do' list to keep track of the many things we know we need to do but often don't get to 'cuz there's not a list.  It's nice being retired and having things be 'get to it when you like' but...a list keeps reminding us and that's a help.  

We spent Thanksgiving at Atlantis in the Grand Ballroom Buffet which was epic as always.  Somehow, I missed all the side dishes - no stuffing, mashed potatoes...I just never made it to the 'side station'.  I got a delicious turkey wing, a crab cake, some cranberry sauce, lobster ravioli.  All delicious.  And berry pie for dessert.

We had already decided we would get the fixings for a small holiday meal to make at home.  I thought of a turkey leg and maybe a turkey roll.  With stuffing, green bean casserole, etc. .  I made a shopping list and prepared to go to Walmart - usually do an online order and pickup but I wanted to choose the best options available for turkey - so thought I would go myself.  Then I remembered it was Black Friday and there was no way I was going to head to Walmart on Black Friday.

J. accompanied me and we went to our (very) nearby Savemart.  Found a turkey leg for $11.  Found a whole turkey for $4.90 - 39 cents a pound.  There was no way I could spend double that on one turkey leg...so we will be cooking an 11 pound turkey on Sunday along with all the trimmings.  It will be delicious!  And we can make all sorts of yummy things - including turkey tetrazzini which is delicious!

The store was also having their $5 each when you purchase 5 in their meat section so we got a bunch of meat.  We have been successfully eating off the freezer for the past month or two so we have plenty of freezer space.  We are well stocked as we head into December.  

In other news, I received my December offers from the local casino here in Carson I frequent - and they dropped my freeplay down a ridiculous amount.  I talked to the marketing department and they will be double checking it because it is a very steep drop.  On a good note, I've been feeling like I'm ready to take a break so....might make it a very easy 'nudge' to do that.  Skip going there twice a week starting in December.  I think that will help my psyche a lot, actually.  

Hope everyone had a great day of giving thanks and eating delicious food.