06.08.2019 It's all dark and gray-no sign of the sun*
Hey Now! Once again, welcome back my friends. Our sojourn this go round is 8 glorious gamboling days in Mecca. Alas, as is all too often the case, I am traveling sans my Sweet Ti. Ever since our Heather and Toby graced this planet with the lovely and talented Pip-
Penelope Iris Pace
Sweet Ti spends as much time as possible loving on her. Them. Which is better now that they moved back to Raleigh from Charlotte. So instead of a really long drive it's a much shorter long drive. Hence, the ensuing solo venture. My plane doesn't depart from RIC till 8 a.m. so I don't have to get up till 3:30 to make the hour drive to RIC. Park'n Go lived up to it's name. The shuttle was actually blocking my parking spot and had to pull up to let me in. So no wait time is a fortuitous start. Yet it is nice to have just a couple of minutes to get all my shit together in Teal, our trusty Scion xB. So the next thing I know, it's only 6:10 and I'm thru security and at my gate. Little did I realize at the time.....
I had eaten a turkey and cheese sammich on the way, so I bought the requisite 5. Hudson News bottle of water and settled into one of the uncomfortable airport chairs. Stretch took a look around.
At least the plane is at the gate and on time.
Sweet Ti gave me The Grumpy Gardener, by Steve Bender. Steve is a writer for Southern Living Magazine. I like his writing style.
GG
I also upgraded to an actual journal from my old flip style note pad. Being left handed is enough of a challenge in life. I love it.
impressive
It's got nice heavy stock paper that you can actually write on. Those notepads were iffy at best. I used to have to scribble all over the edges to get ink to come out. Now if I can just figure out what the hell half of what I write down means. We board right on time. I am using Skyymiles for this trip and upgraded to EconPlus. Window. There's nobody in the middle and a pretty huge guy manning the aisle. The flight is about 3/4 full. But we are going nowhere. The pilot makes an appearance outside the cockpit to give us the sad news. ATL is fucked. Thunderstorms abound, and it may be a while before we get released. So we wait. I have an almost 4 hour layover anyway so it is what it is. We do push back so we aren't "technically" late. I chill to some Stevie Windwood and practice my video poker software.
We sat there for 2 hours
People were getting up to pee, even though the pilot asked people to stay seated with their seat belts fastened. I tried and was told to sit back down. They started re-booking people and handing out new boarding passes. We finally got airborne and the pilot said we were taking the scenic route via the mountains. I check on my incoming flight. It's coming from Ft. Myers later this morning. I can only assume it's gonna run into the same issues. We circle around ATL for a bit and Biggun on the aisle and I start talking. He's going to New Orleans for some kind of charity event. He was a tight end/special teams guy with the Raiders. I asked him how he felt about the team moving to Vegas. He wasn't really enthused. I am the first to admit that I don't keep up very much on NFL players. I really enjoyed talking to him and told him I thought it was really nice of him to devote his time to charity. Didn't get his name. We finally landed at A gate. I see my flight is supposed to arrive at B22 so I take the shuttle. ATL is a madhouse. I mean it's always crazy, but today is even worse. Food.
I'm overhearing all kinds of horror stories about flight delays. A family can't get to Mexico till Monday. A couple can get to Boston- but not Spain. At my gate I see that my plane has finally left Ft. Myers. But it's no longer coming to this gate. Or terminal for that matter. So I make my way back to A terminal. On the way I see a huge line of people waiting at the Delta help desk. And a new route. Jim?????
who knew?
Well that was interesting. Back to reality I made get on the horn. I call my host about the flight delay. She tells me to call their limo driver. I already have his number. Voice mail. Then to Budget to change my car rental to tomorrow. That done I check on my plane.
It's just wandering around.
Gate change. But at least it's still in the same terminal. I settle into yet another gate and am sitting there with a couple of guys on their way back from Florida. One of them says "At this rate- we will be in Vegas by Daylight!". But we are getting closer....
One final emergency backup gate change later our plane has arrived. I'm in the cattle class for this flight. The plane was completely booked this morning, but due to all of the kaos I end up with a row all to myself. I down a couple of Dramamines and a benedryl and snooze the time away.
Boarded at 4:20
The plane ride was fairly smooth and I finally woke up as they were announcing our approach into the Land of Opportunity.
Mikey to the rescue!
Mikey is the Bell limo driver. The Orleans driver is busy. But they were keeping tabs on my flight.
stylin' and profiling
Anyway, today's local, Mikey is actually a transplant from Jersey. Just up the road from AC. He's been driving for Bell the past 7 years. I asked if he would use Russell Rd. He was planning on it. He is another in the ranks of those who think that they couldn't have picked a worse location for the new stadium if they had tried. No on site tailgating. Plus they are planning on using the Orleans for off site parking.
not my best work
I toked Mikey handsomely. May had gone home for the day and I didn't recognize anyone I knew at Invited Guests. But surprisingly the front desk didn't have a line to speak of. I'm booked under 3 separate reservations including a couple of days on Sweet Ti's comp. But our other host Linda has bridged them together. The only thing is that I have to change rooms tomorrow. Not a problem. Aloft!
I'm on the top floor in a junior suite. Which is really just 2 regular rooms with an oversized door in between. I think I'll gambol.
They put up that gated barrier to stop people from cutting thru the Higher Limit area on their way from the front desk to their room. I know, I did it all the time. Orleans has very small Higher Limit area.
my starting point
I always play the Cracked Glass Special when I first get here. It's Triple Double RWB. 5 line and 1. denom. Insert coin.
192.
That was my 7th spin. Notice how the numbers in the credits own screen are hard to read? You guessed it, the screen is cracked. It's been like that for years. But it's not too greedy usually. Next I threw a couple hundy at Lock it Link and Piggy Bankin'. How come it never comes out like those videos you always see? I need to eat. So I order a Sbarro pie and hit the Liquor Store up for a rack of Beck's NA. The pizza is a pretty good deal. 17. for a 16" pie. Toppings aren't extra. I went for pepperoni xtra cheese. I even brought gallon plastic bags for the leftovers. While I waited I played some electronic roulette. Our numbers, 19 and 24. For .10 denom. Hit!
3.60
I went up to stuff my face and bid goodnight to my Sweet Ti. Not bad pizza for a food court. I went back down for one last session. Blazin' 7's progressive and Double Diamond Deluxe. It wasn't happening. I don't feel like dragging my tierd ass back to the room for more bullets so I decide to call it a night.
Coin in-1080. Tears- 202
Bconned points- 3x less than before I got Bconned. 6x less when I play VP.
NEXT:
06.09.2019 They're gettin' ready- Look out! I'm coming in!
* It's a Rainy Day, Keller Williams