Gamblers Synonymous

Woke feeling pretty lucky! Wasn’t out of bed until almost 8am. Headed downstairs where I started a pot of coffee. I skipped the Starbucks, not wanting to deal with the clogged carafe issue again anytime soon. I checked the weather. It was sunny and just below freezing. Expecting a high in the low 40s later.

Enjoyed two cups of coffee ahead of my run. No one was up when I headed out the door around 920am. Ran three miles, just like I do most Sundays. Easy run. Back at home just before 10am. Still nobody else up. Spent more time on the computer updating my blog. Mindy was finally up around 1030am. Both kids remained sleeping for some time.

I didn’t have anything planned until 1pm when we planned to make our first visit to the new casino. According to Mindy, Lindsey and the boys were coming over near noon to do laundry. I made Mindy & I peanut butter toast for breakfast. I had two slices.

Sometime around 1130am I headed up to our room to fiddle with the new TV, and attempt to fine tune the custom picture controls more to my liking. I prefer warm, vibrant color. It’s the same for both TV and photos. It took some doing, but I eventually figured out the deep menu without referencing the owner’s manual. By the time I finished the picture looked really good to my eye. I went ahead and took a shower.

Before I could head back downstairs, Lindsey and the boys were over. They had Olivia with them too. Both Mindy & I had temporarily forgotten that she was coming over, too. Just as I finished my ready, Mindy was just getting started. I headed downstairs with all the kids. Olivia and Landon reminded me that I promised to push them on the tree swing yesterday. Yikes! We headed outside. I took my camera too.

I pushed them both numerous times. In the past, Landon has always been the sweet quiet one. He’s still really sweet, but man is he ever getting loud. He was even louder than Olivia, who’s never been afraid to be heard.  It was all in good fun, and probably a good thing for Landon. While we played on the tree swing, Jacob & Rocky were tossing football. I eventually begged off from the tree swing to play with those two.

I was all-time quarterback until my arm got sore. My trigger finger is still an issue too, and throwing and catching a football hurts. Yikes! It wasn’t too much longer before dad showed up. We chatted for a few while waiting for Mindy to finish her ready. Lindsey already agreed to keep an eye on all the kids in our absence. We anticipated being gone for about 2 hours. We left for the casino at 110pm. Dad drove.

Dad parked us in the attached parking garage. Shared that he was already at the casino that morning and won a few bucks, too. Lots of people. Most appeared older than I. Beyond being in a gambling boat in St Louis, this was marked my first time ever in a real casino. I was happy just walking around watching, taking in all there was to see. Lots of video. Screens of all shapes and sizes. Dad quickly pointed a couple rendezvous points, which would serve me well later. Not a lot of straight lines, I’m assuming by design.

I didn’t get an uplifting feeling watching the masses gambling, Instead, I felt a little depressed. No one had a look of euphoria on their face. I remember feeling that same way on that gambling boat in St Louis I n the late 90s. Dad pointed out an older woman on a slot machine that had just hit. The money sound it makes when it’s a winner seemed to go on forever. Dad suggested that she won quite a bit. Still, even as she cashed out, she showed next to no emotion. Perhaps because she was still down for the day. Who knows?

Dad & Mindy eventually found a couple slot machines they wanted to play. By then, I didn’t think I was willing to part with even a dime. I told those two that I was going to walk around and catch some of the Vikings game I saw on a giant screen the other side of the casino. In retrospect, I guess I didn’t do that good of a job noting exactly where they were.

I found a clearing next to one of the many casino bars with direct view of a 15’ video wall showing the Viking game. At the time the score was 10-3 Bears but the Vikings were in the middle of an impressive drive. Looked good until they got into the redzone. Driving to the 2 yard line, they had to settle for a field goal attempt. The field goal was blocked. I’d seen enough. I slowly walked back to where I thought I left Dad & Mindy. Found them nowhere. I soon determined that I was not in the right area. I redirected my attention to the rendezvous points and regained my bearings. Found them a few minutes later. Mindy had lost $20. Dad, of course, was up about $10. I kidded him about having the ‘booger touch’.

We walked around a while longer until dad happened upon another machine he said he liked. This one was a $1 machine, meaning the minimum wager with each ‘pull’ is $1. Mindy took a seat at the machine next to Dad. He played for a while until his winnings were up to $60. Meanwhile, Mindy lost another $20.  I kidded them that I was up since I hadn’t spent a dime. I told myself that I had to play some, just to say I did it. Just wasn’t ready right then.

We walked around a while longer until Dad said he was going off to another one of his favorite machines. I found a bathroom then nabbed a complementary soda. I told Mindy I wanted to play the $1 machine where I watched dad play earlier. When we found it, a woman was just getting up. Couldn’t tell if she was up or down. I sat and slipped a $20 bill into the machine then opted for the button press in lieu of the lever. I lost my first ten pulls in a hurry. I began to question the logic of throwing money away. However, that same instant, I remember thinking that I was being negative and forced myself into a positive frame of reference on the spot. No kidding, my very next pull, I won $38. I stopped immediately. Thought for a second about playing more but opted not. Instead, I cashed out. Took the $10 I hadn’t yet pulled as well as the $38 in winnings (received a $48 voucher). I was satisfied and in a good place. Hey, I won on my first try.

We went and found dad who was just finishing giving back the $40 he’d won earlier. Didn’t seem to phase him. Mindy asked if I had a $1, wanted to try one more pull. I didn’t. My dad quickly pulled a $5 from his wallet and told her to spend it all. She put it in the machine next to his. Bang. Gone! She lost $45 in our short time there.

We’d been there for about 90 minutes. It was 3pm. We were ready to go. Dad guided me to the cash out machine where I inserted my voucher and out popped my winnings! Because of that positive experience, I’ll go back. We headed to the parking garage and headed for home.

Mindy planned on taking Bella to the mall but not before reheating all of Saturday’s leftovers. She invited dad to come back for dinner after he dropped us. He respectfully declined for having other priorities. We thanked him for the guided tour. While Mindy got the croc-pots fired up, Lindsey asked if she could go grocery shopping while I kept an eye on the kids. Yes. She left even before Mindy and Bella.

I ate a few snacks and watched some NFL action. I finally saw an update on the Vikings/Bears game. It wasn’t pretty. Vikings were losing 25-3. Oh boy! So much for imposing our will. I eventually took up refuge on the sofa where I took a brief nap. Watched the Browns/Steelers. The Browns were leading for most of the game, but that’s been fairly routine this season. The problem for them has been holding that lead.

Mindy and Bella were gone for the two hours she predicted they would. By their return, I had started on my new Chopra/Tanzi book, Super Brain. They were back around 5pm. Mindy started prepping dinner almost immediately. Lindsey soon begged off for home to put away her laundry. We started eating dinner around 530pm. For my money, the roast and sides were even better than they were on Saturday. Lindsey was gone through most of dinner, not getting back until somewhere near 615pm, or just about the time we all started dessert. Lindsey ended up taking a carryout dinner home. She and the boys left around 7pm.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and readying ourselves for a return to work and school. We tuned into SNF at 830pm at Bella’s prompting. Because of my late afternoon nap, I felt well rested. Bella and I stayed up until almost 11pm. Mindy was off to bed around 10pm.