leaving Las Vegas

 I am happy to be going home.  Usually at the end of a trip I am not wanting to go, wanting one more day, and although I will be going back to the grind of work, I am not sad to be leaving the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.  Not a fan.

They never resolved the "no internet" thing and while they credited us yesterday- and I will be talking to them about it again today- I really think they don't WANT you to have internet, so you will go gamble.  which we did to little success.

I felt sorry for the newbie at the hotel Help Desk.    He told us they would call us in 24 hours to resolve the problem.  Good for the NEXT guest, but sucks for US.  Thank goodness for mobile hotspots.

The food here is terrible, except for Ri Ra where we had a amazing meal.All the "menus'" are on a QR code on the tables and sometimes the menus don't load.  Did I mention the problems with the internet in this place?  The cook at the Seabreeze Cafe really knows his way around a microwave. I suspect, but cannot confirm that he also nuked the toast.  I am thankful that I did not indulge in Room Service Breakfast, which was 10 bucks more per plate PLUS the delivery fee.  $18 bucks for a Denny's style meal was bad enough, but $28 would have made me really, really angry

We took the tram over to the Excalibur for dinner and had a fun meal at the Vagabond, which is a bar that serves food.  Decent food. Chris loved  nachos and I kind of enjoyed my pulled pork, except I hit a huge bite of pepper at the first try and thought I was going to stop breathing.  Our waitress Renee was quite cheerful and she made it a nice night.

Don't go to Hazel's COFFEE and Cocktails after 6 looking for coffee.  They only have whatever weak coffee they serve everywhere in this hotel AND give you attitude when you ask for it anything else.  It should be advertised somewhere on their menu  WE DON'T SERVE COFFEE AT NIGHT or something

I wanted a decent cuppa.

EVERY FREAKING STARBUCKS IN THE PLACE WAS CLOSED.

The Gelato place makes coffee. HALLA-Freaking-lulah!

We never got to the pool. When we went to the Shark Reef Adventure we could see the pool was PACKED ( my dad had an expression "elbow to asshole" which seems appropriate"  I am NOT into crowds)

It was semi amusing, watching entitled people march up to the entrance of Shark Reef , only to be told it was sold out.  We bought tickets early in the day as I recall this is why we didn't go last time.  It sells out quickly.  One woman INSISTED that the women directing customers CHECK to make SURE there were no tickets and tapped her shoe at them until they did.  There were no tickets to be had.   The exhibit was nice, but crowded and since we are both on scooters navigation around people got tricky- people were nice but it was sometimes a tight squeeze.

The people in the room next to us were partying with the people directly across the hall from them till around 11. The doors banged constantly.  I thought I was stuck in French farce film.  It started up again to a lesser degree around 2 am.

Don't get me wrong, the people who work here ( except for the bartender at Hazels') have been super nice. The place is mismanaged, probably by someone who got their degree from the Former's Guy's  "University".It  seems to be the same business model.  We won't  be back here.

 

Los Wage? Sin City? road trip

 Chris decided I needed a vacation so we made plans to get away.  USUALLY  that means Laughlin, but no rooms were available so we decided to try Vegas.  I must admit, I really don't like Vegas all that much, too noisy, too busy, too Vegas-y  but we had free rooms at Bally's.  HAD Operative word in that sentence.  They screwed up the dates and we couldn't get the freebie.  We play a game called MyVegas that gives you free rooms and shows, even if it is  little restrictive- you have to stay three night to get some of the comps. We opted for Mandalay Bay.

The adventure began when the GPS said there was an accident on the 210 and rerouted us.  Through the Angeles National Forrest. I don't remember ever going that far through the forrest and while it was interesting, it was harder on Chris who was driving the twisty winding roads.

Since we each bought a room, we wanted to make sure that the reservations could be joined and we would have the same room both nights. tired for FOUR DAYS to get someone to answer the phone. Nope.  We got here, having packed super light in case we had to move. The person at the desk corrected the issue and we are in the same room.  Service in this hotel is spotty at best, the people when you can get them are perfectly lovely and it is not their fault their management is crummy. There is NO internet WIFI connection and no way except for Chris' Hotspot connection.  we are paying for it but it's not here.

We did have a lovely meal at RiRa an Irish pub  in the hotel.  Our waitress Sinead was lovely and recommend an excellent moderately priced whiskey. The food was very good!  It made me happy.

We are off today to another adventure. I made the mistake of MOVING a coffee cup and was charged ten bucks for the error.  It was two cups of horrible coffee, to borrow my friend Ruth's phrase you could read through it.  Hot bean juice with powdered creamer and a ton of sugar.  bleh  I hope for better as we venture out for breakfast this morning.

June 23

 I woke up thinking about my mom today , for obvious reasons.  I was thinking about how scared she must have been, on this day in 1958, delivering a six weeks premature infant, alone .  She was in the hospital , but by herself as a neighbor she barely knew drove her in the middle of the night from the Valley to Kaiser Sunset. My Dad was at work and WHY she didn't call him is part of her character, I think she didn't want to disturb him at work. Back then, men didn't go into the delivery room anyway.  The next morning, the doctors came in and demanded to know why she had delivered me so early.  She snapped "you are the doctors!"   Who knows why.  I contend I was hungry.  I never really liked confined spaces, so maybe THAT'S it! She was convinced I would be ( pardon this word) "retarded" and would need to go to an institution for care ( it was common in the 50's to place special needs kids in they system, essentially warehousing them)  While I proved her wrong, the jury is still out on my sanity.

Every year on my birthday, I pause to reflect on the year that was and turn my thoughts to what I hope will happen in the coming year.   2020 was a complete washout, but I did learn something about myself, created a few new "pandemic dishes" that will remain in the recipe file.  I refuse to mourn what did not happen, and plan for it to happen THIS year.  

I count my blessings.  I learn from the good things and the not so good things.  I find my strength and my voice. I work on my craft and my art.  I recently re-read a quote from Kurt Vonnegut, an author I have read but not been wowed by.  He said "I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”   It gave me pause and comfort that while I may not have the skill or talent some of my friends do, I am looking at the experiences as part of my journey.  When I travel, I remember that the trip is part of the experience, not just the destination.  

James Taylor said that best "the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time"  This year, as I begin what will be my 64th trip around the sun ( I am 63 today so...)  I will try .

Tuesday

 Tomorrow is my 63rd birthday and I am pausing to reflect on things.  I am going to work- something I don't like doing, working on my birthday but I am expecting surgery sometime this year and I am saving all my vacation and PTO for that time.  I have about two weeks of sick time saved, I think, so it will be ok.  I think I will be off about three weeks, then I can start to work from home.  I can't drive for about two months.  I am having my right knee replaced IF I can lose 20 pounds in six weeks.  I am eating less and exercising more.  I have a stationary bike and I am on it daily- mostly- and am doing between 1-2 miles on it.  I feel stronger, but maybe that's the steroid shot the surgeon gave me.  It is helpful to have less pain, let me tell you!  Chris is taking me away on a small trip this weekend to help me feel better.

I read in the AARP magazine that one of the reasons people can't lose weight is lack of sleep.  I don't sleep well these days.  My doctor told me to take a lot more Tylenol than I have been taking for pain, but I don't know. The LAST time a doctor told me to take regular pain med, aspirin, I wound up sicker than a dog from it.  I was so spaced out I didn't know my own name.  Fun times.  Still two at  night SHOULD help me sleep, if I stop having asthma attacks during the night,   Stress, I suspect is the culprit here.  The trip away should help a bit, and some of the things that are causing the stress should ease soon, but sheesh,  

What do you do to lose weight?

Now that we can actually get out of the house it might be easier. I still mask up, but the mask sometimes triggers an asthma event and THAT is a lot of fun in public.  Having the mask on, I can hide the inhalers but it is not fun.  I want to go to the beach,  I want to splash in the water.  Walking on the sand might prove too challenging but I think I would like to try it.  Maybe in a few weeks.  This weekend is no where near the water.  Water is my happy place, it gives me peace. 

I am thinking about politics and the "for the People" act and wondering why the Republicans in Congress are SO dead set against it.  Probably being paid buy people who don't want democracy or know that their policies are not popular with  everyone, so they are trying to limit access to those who support them.  Call your representative to support the measure.  Tell them you will help elect their opponent!

I am going to try to make my "Summer" doorhanger this evening. I have been making them and the Spring one needs to come down.  I hope to have the energy and the creativity to do it.  They are not anything  that anyone would want to buy, but I find the creative process to be fun.  Like writing, it takes effort and I need to find the little spark to do this this evening.  We need to catch up on Loki this evening as well.  I love how Tom Hiddleston plays that character. He keeps you on your toes.

Politics - always on my mind

 I have been a political animal since I was about 8 or 9.  The murder of MLK and RFK happened when I was a kid and the Vietnam War raged.  I struggled then and I still struggle with, man's inhumanity to man and the need to own everything to the detriment of life on this planet.  I realize that ideology has a lot to do with it, and the belief that one group of people are somehow superior to another because of skin color or faith. 

I cannot understand the Republican Party's need to suppress votes in order to "win" an election.  Hey!  Why not put forward a solid platform of ideas and goals, not the current method, which looks like it was created by PeeWee Hermann ( I know you are but what am I?)  I may not have agreed with the plans the Republicans had, back in the late 60's and early 70's, but at least you knew where they stood.  Now it's all a Cult of Personality ( if Trump HAS a personality, he's a slimebucket in my opinion and the fact that some hold him up as god-like makes me physically ill)  Running a Country is different than being Prom King.  You should have a real plan.  Trump spent his time playing "you'll see, I have the BEST plan" without ever saying what it was. I suspect he didn't have one, save to line his pockets.  People believed that the Democrats would make us a "socialist country" without understanding that Democratic socialism is not communism.

I think Putin's reaction to Joe Biden is telling, but Putin is the Slimebucket of all Slimebuckets and while I think Joe Biden knows this, He needs to remain on guard as far as Russia is concerned.  We have come back into the light, our President does not kowtow to dictators and I have hope once again.

Joe Manchin is about to discover that there is no such thing as bipartisanship as long as Trump and Yertle McConnell have sway in the Republican Party.  I hope, after presenting his plan to amend the "For The People" act to get them on board, he will give up and just vote.  we need to get rid of the filibuster too.  I know it might bite the Democrats but really, didn't we elect senators to enact the will of the PEOPLE, not their Corporate Masters?   

Still, I have hope.  Juneteenth is a National holiday- and redneck heads exploded all over the South.  Student loan forgiveness will help jumpstart the economy; it's a proven fact that when middle income people have money they spend it.  Not having that huge debt over their heads will free them up to actually have a life, buy a house, have children.  The Rich - who probably don't HAVE student debt- only put their money in the bank.

Off topic.  I went to my doctor to discuss surgery.  I need to lose 20-25 pounds.  I freely admit I did NOT exercise during the pandemic, but am biking on the stationary bike and eating what I want but about half of it.   Wish me luck, I have until August 4!

Power words

 Do you have a "go to" word?  When you are facing an obstacle is there a word or a phrase that motivates you?  Mine is "rise"  I know it seems weird, but that word let's me know I can do whatever it it that I need to do ( I know most of you thought my word was "coffee" or "Chocolate" but those are a different motivator altogether)

Lately, I have been struggling with a situation- not related to my family.  I have spoken with colleagues and I have to tell you, I am most fortunate in the people I can call my friends.  A lot of them are facing the same challenge and my conversations with them, while not solving the problem, which frankly seems unsolvable, made me feel less like I was alone.  I need to find a way to work around the situation, because there is no changing it.

So I rise.  I put on my big girl panties and soldier on  ( how's THAT for a mixed metaphor?)  I don't cry in public.  When the situation is in my face, I will try to remember the words of my friends who are in a similar situation.   

I saw my surgeon yesterday.  I need to lose 25 pounds before they will do the surgery.  I have six weeks.  Wish me luck.  I don't need a special "diet"  what works for me it to eat what I want, but half of it.  If I deny myself anything it will be the ONLY thing I want and then I will overeat it.  I know myself.  That and exercise, which I must admit I have neglected.  So far I am biking a mile on the stationary bike. It went easier than expected so I may bump it up to 2.  Again, wish me luck.  

Rise up
When you're living on your knees, you rise up
Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up
Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up

Tuesday and I am writing

 I see that Joe and Jill were in Cornwall and I am super jealous.  I was GOING to Cornwall, where my family lives until the pandemic.  WAAAAHHHH   Also in a weird "six degrees" the young lady chosen to sing at one of the events is a dear friend of one of my extended cousins ( I am not clear on the "once removed" or "second and third" so Cousin it is!)   It was so NICE to see everyone smiling- and no pouting orange menace sitting there with his arms across his chest like a teenager dragged to an AA meeting  I am hopeful for the state of the world again.

Did you se that moron Marjorie Taylor Greene made a half-baked apology about saying masks were like the Holocaust.  Turns out they don't teach the Holocaust in Trump Elementary or wherever the hell she went to school.  It is my hope the people of her region do NOT reelect her; she was the only one running and still didn't get 100% of the vote, so there IS hope.

Can we just drag Bill Barr and HIS minions into court for white collar crimes?  He must have thought no one would catch up to what he was doing- illegally going after anyone who publically opposed his Master and trying to get anything on them.  Did he wire tap  Adam Schiff's KID?   that's the inference.  Geez I won't ask "how low can you go?"  I think we are just on the surface.  If you are ok with that, being so afraid of the truth  coming out you go after your "enemies" then you have no place in politics.  Go back to bankrupting universities and casinos.  I remember being shocked that Nixon had an "enemies' list.  Nixon got out and made a deal.  trump thinks he is immune and I fear that there ARE two legal systems; one for the rich and one for  the rest of us.  He needs to be held accountable.  Period.

Better jump off or I am going to be late for work.  I am going downtown at least once a week, possibly more based on need and workload.  Frankly, I am tired of working in my 2 x 2 workspace in my tiny apartment.  I need a change of scenery.

and Blog, blog blog

 I saw the Former Guy shut down his blog.  Apparently, it did NOT take the literary world by storm- he couldn't get people to READ the darn thing, let alone PAY for the privilege.    Remember, your fan base thinks you are rich beyond the dreams of avarice, so you don't really NEED the money to run again, do you?  Move a few couch cushions and PRESTO several million dollars.

Perhaps a meandering rant about things every day was not quite as entertaining as people had hoped.  Perhaps it showed them a peek into your worm infested brain and it wasn't the thing that made them say "oh YES we must have him leading the Nation again"  Maybe his Minders realized he was about to give away the plot for the next Coup attempt- although with half the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in the Federal pokey, I wonder who will storm the Capitol this time?  Maybe his 30-day free trial expired and he didn't want to pay the fee for the snazzy blog page his people designed for him.

Maybe writing something with more than 280 characters was too taxing on him.

We can laugh at him, but it's people like Michael Flynn and his ilk that should scare us.  He WANTS a dictatorship and would probably get help from countries who would benefit from our demise.  There are people in this Country who THINK they are "patriots" when they are really "patsys" for people who do NOT have their best interests at heart.

People have been slamming Joe Biden for not bringing forth a miracle in his four plus months in office.  Do I wish he had been able to do more?  Yes, but The Republicans in the Senate are Hell-bent on preventing any progress.  This is they way they "win"  they can point to their "success" in stopping anything from happening as proof of the ineffectiveness of the current President.  The Democrats have to play the same game, then.  Enough  nice bi-partisan efforts.  They have the majority and should just ram it home as much as possible.  Any Congressperson who doesn't show up to vote- without a darn good reason- should be removed from office.  We elected them to represent US- not the corporations they kowtow to or the special interest groups.  It's time the American people held our representatives accountable for their behavior at their jobs.  If I behaved that way, I would have been sacked a long time ago.

Marjorie Taylor Greene should be held for a 24-hour psych eval. I hope the people of her state hold her accountable .  I would elect a ham sandwich over that nutjob.

Still, writing an honest blog that is thought provoking can be tricky.  I subscribe to Dan Rather's "Steady" and Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters from an American"  Both are well written, and make you think or teach you something of our shared history.  If you are not reading them, I recommend you take a look at both of these fine writers.

It shows the blog format is not done, if done correctly.