Just in Case

I ordered the third round of free COVID tests today - and used one of the ones we have for the first time since the pandemic.  

I had a horrible night last night with a super glitchy sore throat that had me awake for hours.  Finally got up and found Mentholatum, used it on my nose and lips and that calmed down the constant 'choking' feeling I had from 10PM to 1:30AM.  Woke up exhausted and considered cancelling our appointment at the bank to finalize one more trust document that required a notary.  I trudged through - got showered and dressed and we made it to the bank.  While we were that far south, we also went to Costco to gas up my car.  

I felt pretty rotten most of the day and as I walked to the kitchen in late afternoon to get some water, my legs felt like 2000 pounds of weight to carry around.  

I decided I'd rather know now vs. not knowing.  I didn't have a fever and I read that is one of the earliest symptoms - but I feel pretty rotten.  Thankfully, the COVID test was a very clear negative.  Must be just a nasty summer cold.  

Our neighbors are moving in today - they arrived in two SUVs and a UHaul truck.  So excited to have them here and I'm sure they are ecstatic.  They sold their California home over a year ago and traveled to Minnesota and stayed with family there for a few months - then stayed with their daughter.  They will finally be back in their own home and I remember how happy we felt to be finally in the house! 

Now that I know I'm not going to risk infecting anyone with COVID, we will proceed with our trek to Reno tomorrow for swipe and win free play.  

J. has golf Monday and Tuesday this week and I have a mammogram on Wednesday.  Thursday will be Atlantis for weekly free play.  

We have a lot of plants to put in the ground and will get more tomorrow.  J. found some Guara's - we love them and they are hard to find.  We'll go back to the nursery not too far from Atlantis to get a few more and then spend the rest of the weekend getting things planted.  

B. is getting settled in his new neighborhood.  He is having some issues with the moving company providing the weight ticket he needs to file for reimbursement from the Army for his move.  I tried to remind him that it's been only a few business days from when his stuff was delivered - and weight tickets from a trip that very likely included more than just his stuff can take awhile.  It might take awhile but they are a reputable company and I feel confident he will get what he needs. Patience, son.  Patience.

What a Weekend!

J. and I trekked to Atlantis on Saturday - picking up a cruise certificate.  Our plan was to arrive around 11, head to brunch and then a little play.  Pick up the certificate upstairs and then head home.  

Plans changed.  I got on a Dragonlink machine and was 'feeling it'....machine was keeping me playing and I was enjoying the play a lot.  Oddly not too crowded for a Saturday.  Plenty of machines available.  

Our casino host came by to say hello - I asked her about the previous weekend and found out that it wasn't the shooting at the casino that was crazy for her - it was her cat!  Jax had gotten into her sewing stuff and eaten a bunch of thread.  He was pretty sick and she had to take him to multiple vets - all who said they couldn't help her because of lack of staff.  She ended up walking into a vet 'cold' and they agreed to check the cat out - and then called the emergency vet surgical center so she could take him there.  He is doing better and she is so relieved he is going to be OK.  I apologized profusely - for my assumption her comment in a text had been about the shooting.  

She hung out for a bit - and I often have pretty good luck when she's nearby.  J. had gone to the buffet for brunch but I skipped it because I was doing OK on the slot I was on and I sure didn't want to do a meal hold and let it go cold.  You can hold a slot machine for two hours for a meal break - but my experience is the machine cools off when you let it sit for a bit unplayed.  

J. came over - he enjoyed brunch - and he said 'I guess I'll go upstairs and pick up the certificate - I think they will let me'.  Our host said 'come on J. - we'll go up together and I know they will give it to you with me there.  (The certificate had my name on it).  

A very few minutes after they left, this happened:  

I was chasing the topped out $1000 Major and hit the Grand instead!!  It was so amazing!  I texted J. and M. (our host) and they both came down quickly to see it!  

Yesterday morning, I spent time with neighbor G. and we headed to the local Carson casino Gold Dust West.  Both of us had some pretty generous free play.  It's rare that the stars and planets align and she's up here with free time to play together.  We played a lot - and while I had some good hits that kept me going, there was nothing really spectacular.  I moved machines a couple times - and then headed back to the machine I started on.  I put in some money and decided to bet big - $10 on $1 denom.  It dropped six orbs - including a $150 and a $250 mini - and I was THRILLED to have those orbs - anything to keep me playing.  

Fourteen orbs dropped and only the top right space wasn't filled.  When I started the 3 spins, there were LOTS of yellow orbs showing up - my friend G. said 'it's GOING TO HIT!'.  I said 'no way.  No way two days in a row!'.  

First spin finished - lots of orbs showing up but didn't hit.  Second spin started - lots of orbs and BOOM! This happened:  

Holy Cow!  G. was so, so happy for me and so excited!  She said 'I will NEVER FORGET THIS' - she was so happy to be there to witness it.  G. has won Grands before with the 15th orb dropping - so she knew what she was seeing were truly very 'frequent' orbs trying to land - she knew it would!  I've only had one other time (and it was actually my birthday weekend) where the 15th orb was showing orbs as the three spins were played - but it didn't land.  I was so sure - even with seeing so many orbs - that it wouldn't land - but wow!  It did! 

The local casino offers 'Jackpot Witness' t-shirts - anytime someone wins a hand pay, anyone playing on the same bank of machines as the winner gets a t-shirt. 

G. was also super excited about the souvenir of the epic day.   

I'm still a bit in shock - joy-filled shock for sure!  Back to back Grand jackpots. 

In other news - the movers FINALLY arrived in New Jersey with B.'s stuff so he's getting settled.  

J. headed to California this morning with a group of friends for a three day golf binge.  Weather is good and I know they will have a great time.  

I'm home alone until late Wednesday and while I have a huge list of things I should be doing, I'm sort of taking it low key and easy today - at least so far.

Suite Birthday

Having decided to spend three nights at Atlantis for my birthday, I asked our host to please reserve a suite for us if at all possible.  She delivered.  Called the Paradise Suite, it was two bedrooms with a living room/dining room/small kitchen in between.  And three full bathrooms including impressive showers with all sorts of water sprays.  Newly remodeled and it was really spectacular.  

Except a host of things.  Three rooms means three rooms of 'where did I leave my phone?'.  It actually felt disorienting at times.  

Friday night we ate dinner at Napa Bistro.  "Small plates" (hors d'oeuvres) and cocktails which are 1/2 off from 4-6.  The BEST fried calamari and lavender lemon drop martinis.  Two!  It was delicious and fun - played slots a bit after and was in bed by 8.  Full disclosure:  I had beers that day, too....and perhaps too many?  'cuz I woke up at 1AM 'not well'.  It was a long few hours but I made it to my slot tournament at 10AM and while I didn't feel 'great', I was OK.  

Sidenote:  When I shared the above with B. - describing how I was feeling - he said 'Mom, you got drunk!'.  Yes, I guess I have to admit that I apparently did.  62 years old and can still enjoy over-indulging now and then - well, didn't enjoy the being sick in the middle of the night - but it was a fun-filled day with a delicious dinner.  

Sidenote 2:  I was pretty sure that I heard gunshots between when I went to bed (8PM) and when I was up not feeling great (1AM).  I sort of brushed it off because it was Sweet Vibrations (motorcycle event) so it could have been a motorcycle backfiring.  But it turned out there was a shooting in the parking lot at 11PM or so that night - and the victim died.  I had no idea - never heard a word from anyone on Saturday - not from guests, waitresses, staff.  My host called me today and left a voicemail apologizing for not checking in with the 2nd half of our stay - but she said 'things got really crazy'.  I bet.  I can't imagine how hard the event was for all the people who work there. 

Thursday and Friday were not great days on the play front.  Fun-filled for sure but not 'winning' in any way. Thankfully, that all changed on my birthday.  I headed upstairs to two Dragonlink machines I had epic luck on last year on my birthday - and they didn't disappoint.  In between slot tournament time slots, these two hand pays happened - 3 spins apart.  In fact, the slot attendant came back up after resetting my machine after the first hand pay and I'd hit the second one before they came back with the cash from the first win.  It was EPIC.  

The second hand pay is a video - I asked the slot attendant to replay it for me so I could record it.  It was 6 free games and I don't record the bonus round 'cuz who knows if it will be epic or not.  This one definitely was - wait for spins 4 and 5.  Only 5 lines ($2 denomination) but when things line up, the wins can be epic.  And they certainly were.  (Unfortunately, the video is too large a file to send to myself via email and while it's offering options to use 'the cloud', I don't know how to do that so...I am posting two still photos of the winning spins).  

Handpay #1:  

Handpay # 2 - 4th spin of 6.  This screen was a $2900 win! The group of monks is the highest paying symbol for this game.  In the free games, it the wild symbol (the single monk) lands, it fills the entire column - which can really lead to some huge wins!

Handpay #2 - 5th spin of 6.  This screen was a $1200 win! 

Grand total was $4180!  EPIC!!  

More full disclosure:  I had those two great wins and was very grateful for them - 'cuz it had been a long weekend of play and I was way WAY down.  The hand-pays helped the bottom line significantly so that was a great thing! 

In other news - B. is enroute to his new post in New Jersey.  He had an epic week - finished his private pilot's license with his FAA check flight on my birthday.  There was a moment during the flight where he thought he'd blown it - but when the FAA person debriefed with B. after the flight, he told him that his irritation towards B. was staged - designed to see how B. would handle being somewhat chewed out for something the FAA pilot didn't approve of.  B. passed with flying colors by maintaining his composure - and the FAA pilot acknowledged he'd been as steady as a rock which is what they look for.  Being under pressure happens a lot when flying - so it's critically important to just stay in the zone.  

B.'s week had been pretty stress-filled.  Somehow, the Army messed up and cancelled his movers - having said it was a 'local' move - which B. was told would be corrected.  It wasn't - and then the people setting up the move didn't re-do it in time.  So B. had to hire movers on very short notice - and had to pay for the expense himself.  I will be completely reimbursed by the Army - but it was a lot of last minute stress in a week that was already pretty full.  

This morning, he said goodbye to his girlfriend - the longest relationship he's been in - and headed east.  He's in Arlington, VA tonight - and I wish we'd known because my nephew and his new wife live in Arlington - and maybe B. could have had dinner with them.  But it's OK.  He's about 4 hours away and will finish the rest of the drive tomorrow and arrive in New Jersey in plenty of time to go to the apartment management and pick up keys.  He may be 'camping' in his place for a couple days - his furniture won't arrive until the weekend (or later) - or he may find an inexpensive hotel for a couple nights.  He reports to the base on Friday and possibly again on Monday (to confirm he has shown up by the date his orders state - June 10th) - and then will have 10 days of leave to give him time to get settled.  He's exhausted and ready for some down time.  

It's hard to believe it's approaching end of day on Wednesday and we're halfway through the week already!  Being at the casino for the long weekend stay had me returning home ready to conquer the world - or at least conquer stuff at home - so I've made a long list and tackle something everyday.  Yesterday, J. and I replanted about 13 plants in the backyard and did some tidying up of the location of the drip emitters.  We lost a lot of plants again this year - I researched some this morning and found out that many perennials do die after a year or two - since it's been two years, maybe we were due for a dying out.  Many of the plants we removed (that were clearly dead) had zero roots - they just lifted easily from the ground with zero effort required.  

Tomorrow is blood work for me first thing in the morning, a notary appointment at 11AM to finalize our revised trust documents and Atlantis for free play and free vodka.  Friday is a catch up call with a friend of 30+ years.  Saturday will be back at Atlantis to pick up a cruise certificate - and Sunday will be free play at our local Carson casino with our neighbor G. .  We both had our freeplay upped extraordinarily this month so we're going to go play together - time with her is so fun and I'm always feeling lucky to spend time with her!  

Monday will have J. heading to California for three non-stop days of golf.  I will piddle around the homestead and work on wiping out drawers, tidying up the pantry, tidying up the garage and an assortment of projects I've got on the list.

Nutty Banana Bread

It was around this time last year when things with H. started unraveling a bit.  I re-read the blog and read the things I wrote - the things he was talking about and the weird things he would tell me - things that now read as some sort of epic fiction novel.  When things started not making sense - well, that's not an accurate statement - things often didn't make sense but this time last year, things were becoming unfathomable.  The simplest requests could not be carried out.  

When I pull into the Atlantis parking lot, I always remember how so many conversations with H. would happen as I was driving to/from Reno.  All the stories of the latest glitch he was experiencing.  A year later in the post-actually-true-reality, I think a lot of the stories were told to me in hopes I would react with a 'that's it!  We'll get you a plane ticket 'home' and you can come to Nevada'.  I never reacted that way.  When he shared challenges he was experiencing living with a house with young children and complained about the lack of privacy, I suggested he talk to the homeowner to see if she would be OK with him putting a lock on the door.  So he could create some personal space that couldn't be invaded by anyone else.  

Only he wasn't living there and never had a door to put a lock on because we now know he was homeless this time last year.  

Yesterday was his birthday and it felt harder than I thought it would.  It didn't help that J. played golf yesterday - the third day in a row this week he wasn't home.  I'm usually really totally super OK with alone time - but not on the birthday of the son I haven't seen for close to three years; haven't spoken to in close to four months and have absolutely know idea when/if I will ever see or speak to him again.  That's the cold hard reality.  

I went to Atlantis alone for my weekly free play but it wasn't a good, fun day by any sense of the word fun.  I brought dinner home for both of us.  And couldn't wait to head to bed to escape the constant 'noise' in my head about H. .  

We miss him.  

I made banana bread this morning and added a ton of chopped walnuts and told J. 'the only time I don't miss H. is when I make banana bread'.  He gave me a cryptic 'huh!?'  I said 'we never added nuts to any quick breads we made because H. doesn't like nuts!  And we LOVE LOTS of walnuts in banana nut bread so yay!  We made it the way we like it.'  I know it's silly but for a moment, I missed him just a scintilla less than I did the moment before.  

And started missing him all over again as I put the bread in the oven.    

I turn 62 next Saturday!  Woot woot!  I applied for Social Security in April and it will officially start in August!  Another woot woot!!  I am heading to Atlantis next Thursday for a night or two (or three).  J. will join me for dinner on Thursday and brunch on Saturday morning and I will decide how many nights to actually stay in the hotel based on the luck I have on the slots.  I'm sort of looking at it as a last hurrah for this six month point reporting period - low and slow for the rest of June - and then back to normal in July.  Though we do have quite a few 'events' in June that will get us to the casino on a couple of Saturdays....but most months have that.  

B. is heading to Ft. Dix, New Jersey in a week or so.  J. told me that B.'s official report date is June 10th but his soon-to-be boss sent him a message that they don't have him on the official 'duty roster' until July 1st - to give him some time to get settled in his apartment, familiar with the area and a little down time post-move.  B. is juggling a gazillion things - in addition to moving to a new state, he's also trying hard to get his private pilot license before he moves.  He hopes to have his official check flight on my birthday next Saturday - and getting all the flying stuff done before he heads further east is important because he doesn't want to have to start over with a new flight school.  Yes, most of his lessons are done but if he doesn't complete his license requirements before he moves, it is very likely he will incur additional expenses to finish up with a new flight school in another state.  So fingers crossed.  He's got a lot of moving parts right now.  

Great News

I arrived at the doctor's 15 minutes ahead of my appointment time ready to check in.  No one at the front desk and I noticed a sign saying they were in a quick meeting.  I was the first patient of the day.  

The nurse did an A1C test right there in the office.  When the doctor came in, I told her I was worried about what the result would be.  The nurse came in and said '6.[something]'.  I heard 6.9 and so did the doctor - and she said 'that's the same as last year so that's not bad - staying level is OK'.  She said 'let me check again' and leaned her head out the door and said 'did you say 6.1 or 6.9?'.  '6.5'!  Woot woot.  

So down .4 on my blood sugar and I've lost 10 pounds since last year.  Also a woot woot!  I've noticed the weight change a bit. Clothes fit a lot more loosely and I bought new pants recently because the jeans I wear all the time started feeling like they were falling off.  

I've got some blood work to do next week and a mammogram to get on the schedule in mid-June.  

Yesterday, the cleaning ladies boss texted they would arrive around 12:45PM today - they showed up at 11AM.  Not really an issue - we're home and the house is pretty tidy most of the time.  But we did have to rush a bit to get the fresh linens out for the beds that needed changing  and a little picking up in the kitchen.  They were done by 12:30.  We spent some time outside working on tending the rocks while they finished the floors.  

I told J. that I feel more apprehensive about my time at the casino this weekend vs. excited.  If I had to guess, I think I'll be there tomorrow night and maybe Friday but head home after the drawing Saturday night.  It's just too many nights away.  I'm afraid I'll lose too much - that's a lot of time to fill at a casino and when you're at a casino, you know what you do....you play.  

UPDATE:  today is one week from the origination of the above draft and the weekend was expensive, as expected.  A part of me wishes I had headed home on Saturday and just skipped the drawing that night 'cuz my 'big win' was $300 in Macy's gift cards - very not epic.  Being there was as I expected - you play and play and then the 'invitation only not publicized to anyone super elite high level player' drawing results in nothing special.  I have a ton of things I could say about it but I'll stop.  I will never attend another one - ever.  I did have a lot of fun playing and made some new friends so that was fun!  

Today is H.'s 29th birthday.  I sent a text to the last number we had contact from him on and heard nothing back - which I wasn't surprised about because I had zero expectations that I would hear back from him.  Still, my heart is heavy a bit - and bless his heart B. called!  We had a nice chat.  He asked if I'd heard from H. and I said 'no, not expecting to'.   Which is true.  Not expecting to.  But hope maybe.  

But not likely.  

J. is playing golf again today and I'm heading to Atlantis solo for weekly free play.  I have a weekend stay planned for my birthday weekend and while I should cancel it (based on the previous three night weekend's losses), I am really looking forward to time there so...for now, I'm going.  Three nights reserved and while I may stay three nights, I don't have to.  We'll see how it goes.  

We have no plans for Memorial Day weekend - just chillaxing at home.  The cats are really good at that.  

I know.  They are not 'allowed' on the table.  Really, they're not.  But...there they are, hanging out like they own the place.  LOL.

Pre-Cleaning for a Cleaning

It's Tuesday and the cleaning ladies come tomorrow so I will be spending a good chunk of the day pre-cleaning for their arrival.  

I scheduled a doctor appointment for mid-June but they just called and have openings in the morning tomorrow so yay!  It's time for my annual check up and all the things that go with it - mammogram, blood work, etc. .  I'm also hoping she will agree that three plus months with this crazy super sore spot on my throat is long enough - it may be related to the ton of gunk in my sinuses but I've had enough.  I'm doing the things the ENT doctor suggested and the gunky part is improving - but that sore spot isn't healing on it's own well so I'm hoping an antibiotic will help.  

I'm nervous about the appointment because I know I'm not doing the things I should be doing to take better care of myself.  I need to work on that big time.  

I head to Reno on Thursday for a three night stay - which may only be a one or two night stay depending.  Oddly, I'm not really looking forward to the stay.  Three nights is a long time.  So we'll see.  I'm definitely going on Thursday for the night and then I'll just see how it goes.  I'm thinking of packing my bathing suit and pool coverup 'cuz spending some time in the sun sounds lovely.  Mother's Day (9 days ago) we had snow and now, it's in the high 70's to low 80's and warming up pretty quickly.  I ran the AC on my bedroom side of the house last night because it was too stuffy to sleep well.  Looks like it's time to remove some more winter bedding from the bed and pack it away until next Winter. 

J. is playing golf again today - after all of last week's golf was cancelled, he's happy to be out on the course again.  He played yesterday here at Silver Oak for the Atlantis Tournament and I took drinks out to his foursome when they were on the 12th hole.  It's always so nice to meet really nice people and when they thank me for bringing them cold drinks, I always say 'my pleasure!  It's the best part of living on a golf course!'.  

I made no-bake Special K cookies for a treat.  Dinner is going to be Chicken Pasta Salad - using up the leftover roasted chicken we have from Costco.  

The cats are getting moist food now so I feel like they are stalking me a lot.  Muf especially follows my every move begging for more.  They do have some dry food in the bowl and are definitely not starving but they sure seem not to know it.  I've started doing one food serving split between the two of them because otherwise, Nala doesn't finish and Muf eats her portion plus Nala's leftovers.  Yesterday that approach didn't work too well when they both demanded (crying, weaving in and out of my legs) more food as I cooked dinner.  So I gave them the second portion split between them as a second feeding.  This is getting complicated. 

I'm binge watching Heartland on Netflix - it's 14 seasons of complete and total schmaltz but it's a good distraction as I piddle the day away. 

So Many Jackpots

My cousin S. mentioned in a message how much she enjoys my casino win posts.  I'm always hesitant to post specifics....recognizing that gambling is something many people strongly disapprove of.  I have moments during play when I think 'why am I doing this'?  And then I'll hit a win and think 'that's why'.  It's fun.  And I'm blessed to be able to play and blessed to be able to fund the play adequately without putting any needed money at risk.  I type that and really want to emphasize it because I've seen and witnessed plenty of people who are playing who maybe shouldn't be.  Like the lady at the small local casino I overheard saying she had just written two checks to the casino for cash and she hoped she'd be able to cover them before they cleared the bank.  Um....not good.  That same lady was also talking about how she'd spent the previous day planning how to end her life.  I was shocked.  Another player (her friend) went over to her and talked to her quietly and said 'I think you need to take a break'.  She didn't.  A bank of 8 machines and we're all listening to someone who is making slot play their life.  She started winning a bit - and was immediately better.  

I've had some incredible luck since the Grand jackpot post back in April.  A total of 17 hand pays since that jackpot - truly an epic run.  I might put together a collage of some of the bigger wins - because I remind myself that this blog is pretty much like my diary and I love revisiting wins.  In March, I changed my approach to playing and so far, I'd say the new approach is working.  A much larger 'stake' to start with which allows for some larger bets - and BOOM!  Things have been happening.  So many things.  It's been wonderful and awesome and I'm grateful beyond words. Keep in mind that most of those wins definitely went back into play - but that's OK.  What's not to love about playing with the casino's money? 

About a week ago, our Atlantis casino host M. called to invite us to a 'very special limited event for high level players'.  Basically a drawing - not advertised to anyone else and only open to 120 players the casino chose.  Sounds epic, right?  Well, sort of.  3 night stay (Th-Fr-Sat) and then Saturday evening, they will host a dinner and drawing.  Your entries for the drawing will be determined based on the tier points you earn during your three day stay.  The 'grand prize' is a trip to New Orleans - everything included.  Plus other prizes like free play, wine, etc. - sounds fun.  But yesterday, they sent out an email that winners could only win one of the 'other prizes' - and everyone has a chance at the Grand prize.  SO....you play your heart out for three days but no matter how many entries you get, you can only win one prize other than the Grand.  Like every single 'drawing' event at a casino, it's designed to get you playing and keep you playing - and possibly losing a ton - just to ramp up the entries. 

We are 'in' on attending - at least so far - but I told our host that I was on the fence about participating given the new parameters - what's the point of making this exclusive event depend on earned tier points but limiting how many things you can win in a drawing where your entries are based on how much you've played.  Seriously.  But the entire invite has allowed for some conversations with our host that needed to be had.  

See, a couple years ago - right when we were officially living here and playing a lot - they changed their player tier levels.  The Black Diamond level that required 30,000 tier points every six months was discontinued.  It became 'invitation only' - and even though we made that tier level's required points easily and repeatedly, we were never invited.  Our host seemed to discourage it - 'you won't like it when you end up getting bumped back if you don't meet the requirement'.  'Um, we have met the requirement and continue to meet the requirement - so you are basically dis-incenting us to continue playing here.  We should hit the amount we need for our current level (15,000 tier points every six months) and do a full stop on playing at Atlantis - ramp up points somewhere else'.  No change. We didn't really feel terribly disappointed about it 'cuz we honestly have no idea what the tier level differences were - but there are coveted Black Diamond parking spaces and we'd sure love those - especially as we've gotten older and our joints malfunction quite a bit.  

So...when our host stopped by to say Hi a few days ago, I brought up the tier level question again.  I told her 'No offense, M. but it's almost insulting to be invited to this 'super limited high level player event' and yet still not be invited for Black Diamond status.  So your Black Diamond players know that you're inviting non-Black Diamond players to this super exclusive event?  I had a Black Diamond player I know say 'so you must be Black Diamond level now, right?  I've watched you play lately and it's criminal if you aren't Black Diamond'.  She asked for the person's name and I gave it because this person is someone I see all the time and we do know each other.  M. said 'OK.  I'm going to go take care of it right away'.  I said 'but we'll have to wait until July 1 for the level to change, right?' and she said 'no, it will be immediate'.  

I told her my theory about the change to 'invitation only' was that by doing that, the casino management has the right to allow anyone into that tier level - and also to eliminate the point requirement means that players who aren't necessarily hitting that tier level to continue to stay at that level.  Management discretion means just that.  Makes sense, right?  Because if there's a Black Diamond player who hasn't maintained the tier level for a long time but owes the casino money, you can bet they aren't going to kick those players out of the tier level.  And now they don't have to - no published point requirement means complete and total 'it's up to management'.  I told M. I suspected we would likely never be kicked out - and my friend B. confirmed that when I she and I were talking.  She said 'from what we know, it's virtually impossible for the casino to take back that perk once it's granted'.  So yay!  

I logged on to the website when we got home a bit later and there it was - just like that - Black Diamond.  

FINALLY.  

When my friend B. stopped by the machine on Thursday, I stopped my play, pulled out my player's card and said 'THANK YOU!  FINALLY'.  She was super happy - she is such a sweet person.  I told her I had to 'drop your name' when asked who had said that and while I wasn't sure, it sure seemed like our host did a 360 degree about face and made it happen. 

So now, we get increased earned free play, a buffet or $20 meal credit (each) every single day we show up there, parking spaces and a bunch of other 'still to be determined' perks.  It's really wonderful and honestly, we could eat there daily and cut our grocery bill down to breakfast, lunch and snacks and be totally fine.  We mostly get take out and since our player level bump, we go to the deli and get sliced meats and cheeses for sandwiches.  

Our casino play creates all sorts of fun events.  We attended a Reno Wind Symphony concert a couple weeks ago - and the fun paint night I mentioned in April.  The annual chalk art festival is returning in July along with the Reno Air Races.  We receive VIP invites, transportation to/from a variety of events that are truly epic.  Tomorrow is the first Atlantis Open Tournament game here at our home golf course - free golf and transportation (if needed) to/from some really nice courses in Northern Nevada.  All sorts of perks that cost us nothing - well, cost us play but that's happening anyway so why not enjoy the events!

I had a losing day yesterday which was hard because I had two days in a row of three hand pays a day at Atlantis earlier this week - ending up $7,000 for the week  - and I had to remind myself that even with yesterday's epic losses, I'm still up.  So yay.  Losing days are never easy and they certainly have many moments where it doesn't feel fun.  But every play day is a chance to have a win - and when the wins are as epic as they have been lately, it's great.  I make it a point when I'm winning to bless people around me.  On Wednesday, J. was playing Blackjack with a family who brought their 21 year old daughter to the casino on her 21st birthday - so when J. came by for a check-in, I gave him $100 to give to her.  She and her family came by to thank me and she was so grateful for the gift.  We laughed and kibitzed and I said 'now go have a celebratory meal and drink with your family and then walk straight out the door'.  On Thursday, I gave a player sitting near me $100 - she was my 'player of the day' and she was so happy with the extra, unexpected money to play!  And then I tipped my waitress $100 and she was over the moon happy.  I like to spread the luck around and am truly blessed and grateful.  

So in an upcoming post, I will try to put together some of the epic wins I've had - my phone is full of pictures and I really need to start deleting some of the really old ones.  

Thank you, dear readers, for being a part of my life - and for putting up with casino post after casino post.  In retirement, life is very different and sharing what we do to keep busy will always include casino stuff.  It's mostly what we do for entertainment - and hopefully always will.