On the ride up to the casino last night, as a few of my cousins and I were chatting about this-n-that, one of the comments my cousin Lisette made really caught my attention. She said "Just think, tomorrow it's gonna be 2011 yet by the year 2000 we all were suppose to be in flying cars like the Jetsons, not freezing our asses off in some Chrysler mini-van!!" We all laughed and it's true, because sometimes those future predictions we were spoon-fed by the media while growing up didnt always come true. Regardless, there's certainly nothing wrong with the world striving to improve itself, as long as it doesnt harm our planet in the long run and is for the good of all people.
Needless to say, I am extremely exhausted this New Year's Day due to last nights activities, as I'm certain a good many others are too! For starters I hadda blast playing the slots and I even tried out a new machine which I simply adore! It's called "Rome & Egypt" and you guessed it, it has the historical themes regarding Cleopatra & Marc Antony! It was not only one of the funnest machines I've played on in a long time, but it was also the one I won the most on last night. Pure beginner's luck since it was the first time I ever played it - turned $4.10 into $56.00!! That isnt the largest amount I've ever won but damn, you wont catch me complaining about it. Yep, at 4:23 a.m. in the morning. Yeah, wait till you hear about that. I do love to play the slots but I guess I'm just not as much of a diehard as the majority of the people who I go gambling with are, both my relatives here and my friends back home in Boston.
By the way, I hope everybody out there hadda FANTASTIC New Year's Eve!! Whether you went to a giant party with friends and/or family, or you went out on the town with your significant other, or you simply stayed home and took it easy and took some you-time for yourself, I hope everyone hadda pleasent evening and really enjoyed themselves.
My New Year's Eve evening started out with what I had for dinner - a good ole' fashioned Italian Steak sandwich, made the only way it is best - the Midwestern way! I know, I know, my reputation for being critical of any place west of Boston precedes me but let me tell you Baby, you haven't hadda a real Italian Steak sandwich until you've had 'em the way they're made in the Great Lakes region. Lightly grilled Texas Toast and an oblong 100% pure Beef steak patty smothered in melted Mozarella cheese, mushrooms and a Marinara-like tomato sauce - now THAT'S whatta Italian Steak sandwich is, not that shaved or grinded or strip-crap that they serve in Boston and places like Philly and NYC. As much as I love my East Coast, they couldnt make a decent Italian Steak sandwich to save their lives if they wanted to. I get sucha kick out of it in Boston - you go into any restaurant and say "I'd like an Italian Steak sandwich, please" and guess what ends up on your plate? This shaved, dried, mutilated crap that you would swear originated on one of the sets of "Gunsmoke" decades ago, that is slapped into what looks like a giant submarine sandwich roll and is called a "grinder." A grinder? The bottom line is that it's notta real steak sandwich to begin with and the name they give it - makes you think of either someone who works in the Granite industry or a person who has some very intense dental habits during their sleeptime hours!
Even though this piece is not about food while I'm on the subject, not only was that Italian Steak sandwich a culinary religious experience unto itself, it was the naughty sidedishes that really put the entire meal over the top. Freshly deep-fried Onion rings and the creme-de-la-creme of all artery-hardening, high-cholesterol-reeking foods of all times - deep-fried breaded Mushrooms! Oh my gawd, talk about a stomach having orgasms! Very much like a heart-attack-on-a-plate but damn, once a year? I'll take the risk, gladly! Tasty, delicious meals, eating food you truly love or having dishes you rarely have - those kinds of things are the best holiday meals ever. Back to the casino....
So after dinner, we all piled up into my cousin's mini-van and headed up to Soaring Eagle. For a casino, that place is gorgeous, complete with two humongous Bald Eagle statues situated on each side of the main entrance, towering so majestically as if they are saying "Welcome, future winners!" or as has happened in some instances over the years, as you drive away underneath them you can almost hear them say "Go home Losers, go home!!! Now granted, almost any public place or venue, even a casino, is gonna be packed to the rafters with people on any major holiday such as New Year's Eve. I've been used to that for years but I wasnt quite prepared for what happened last night. Here's the skinny....
We arrived at 7:55 p.m. and from that time until 12:10 a.m., guess how many machines I played? Two. That's it. Just two. The place was a friggin, chaotic madhouse of purely unabashed frenzy!!! Everywhere, thousands of folks like myself trying to find not just their favorite machine to play, but any machine to play! I have never seen that place so damn crowded. Wow! I kid you not, I literally walked around in circles in that giant casino for almost 4 hours, just like everyone else because let's face it, it was so damn busy there werent even any places for you to sit down near or around the gaming areas. Just wall-to-wall people. Everywhere. You only got 2 choices in that scenario - you either deal with it and be extremely patient or you run sceaming from the building. Myself, I'm a very patient person and not just cause I love the slots but because I really do like being around people. Any inexperienced gambler probaly woulda flipped out and left the place last night but any true casino-goer knows the rules of thumb when it comes to New Year's Eve at any casino. First, between 12:01 and 12:15 a.m., at the very latest, I kid you not, more than two-thirds of the 2 to 3 thousand people who you just spent all that time traversing the gaming floor with automatically leave and go home. Seriously. They're there just for the atmosphere and ambience of that one special evening out of the entire year - the bright lights, the dj's and bands who play there, the booze, the party favors, etc. etc. The majority of them could care less about gambling, let alone playing a slot machine.
I suppose the 2nd rule of thumb could also be classified as a theory of chance, yet it's a very obvious theory at that. Guess what's going into those slot machines non-stop for up to 4 hours before the people who are playing them kiss-n-hug at midnight on the dot and then head out the doors to go home? Yep, you guessed it. Money. And a lot of it. No, that doesnt mean that everyone who stays at any casino after 12:15 a.m. onward is gonna automatically win but let me tell you, it sure is a helluva lotta fun trying, that is, if you like to play the slots. So we all hadda great time at the casino last night but we made an agreement with each other. IF we all happen to be together again next year, and for every year from here on out, we all are gonna take extra-long naps after our supper meal, then gorge ourselves on coffee, starting around 11 p.m. or so and arrive up there sometime after 12 midnight. Myself, I love to walk and I love being around people, bright lights, and stuff like that so I really didnt mind it too too much but I must admit, after doing that much walking at that time of night, you do wanna give your tootsies a break now-n-then!
So we literally were there for a good 12 hours and yes, that is simply too extreme even for me but quite frankly it was more a matter of the timing of everything that caused it to be that way. For myself, the longest time-frame I like to be at a casino is 3 to 4 hours but again, when you go with a group of folks, you gotta just grin-n-bear-it sometimes. I played the slots off-n-on till about 3:30 a.m. and won a little from this or that machine but just enough to allow me to try an old favorite or a new favorite. Then from then till about 4:23 a.m. when I won on "Rome & Egypt" I hadda couple cups of coffee at the snack bar area and afterwards I mainly walked around and played a bit more until everyone else was ready to leave. All in all, it was a good night and remember, it's not worth going unless you're doing it for fun and you simply like to play the slots. So no, I did not win big but I hadda blast and whenever you can make your money stretch atta casino, you're doing damn good. I went there with $75, played off-n-on during the 12 hours we were there and came home with $131 so that isnt too too bad at all.
Where was I at 12:00 a.m. when 2011 arrived? I had FINALLY found a machine to sit down in front of, one of my oldtime favorites, Lucky Luigi's Pizzaria, towards the back wall of the casino and a very nice elderly lady who sat to my right playing a Lucky Dragons or Chinese-themed slot machine turned to me two minutes before midnight and said, as I was bonusing on the machine, "Oh my, you know what you're doing, dont you?" and we both laughed. Then when the clock struck 12 midnight and the members of the Chippewa Indian tribe of Saginaw started doing their dance, she turned to me, held out her hand to shake mine and said "Happy New Year, Dear!" She was so sweet and nice, I hope she won big that night. Yes, it was a very pleasent New Year's Eve indeed.
Resolutions for the New Year. For the most part, I do think it's a good idea to make a list of resolutions but only as long as they are realistic goals that you have in mind. So many times over the years I have seen friends and family set themselves up unfairly in the emotional and psychological sense when it comes to those resolutions and please, dont do that to yourselves, okay? Just make them as realistic and simple as you can because remember, the New Year is suppose to be about new positive directions and things like that, not stressing yourselves out to the point of a semi-nervous-breakdown frame of mind. Whatever your resolutions are, all I ask is this - be good to yourselves and be good to those around you. If you can reach those two goals in the process of being successful with your resolutions, then you are already halfway there. Happy New Year everyone and may 2011 be filled with good health, good fortune and much happiness to each and every one of you. And as always, thank you for reading.
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