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                                                                                     06.14.2019 Get on down to paradise*

 Hey Now!  Wakin' up once again in Vegas way before the sunrise. I grab a shower and  chow down on the rest of my leftover cowboy steak and TGIF goodies. I'm due at the Tocyznskis at 8:45 this morning so that gives me a couple of hours to shed some tears. I know where to start too. With Daniel at the Mardi Gras. Daniel is looking fit as usual and presently beers me. I set up Sweet Ti on 4 card Keno and I play .50 DDB. Bobby walks up. He's yet another bartender who started at Gold Coast with Bonefish and came here when they opened. Bobby is actually on his first day of vacay, but is here for a mandatory meeting. Great to see him. 

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                                           Sweet Ti is holding her own with these 2 hits. 

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                                                                      BAM! parley to .50

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                                                          Cashed out 500. and reloaded. Back to .25

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                                                                    Parley back to .50

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                                                                         Daniel at work

 He is by far the hardest working bartender I've ever seen. His barback hasn't shown up which is pretty much the norm around here. He tells me that early this morning he had a surprise inspection from a F&B Manager lady. She always finds something to write up. Sure enough she dings him for a dirty sink. Even though he is working alone. He can't win. That's the way the previous shift left it. Bummer. I finally lost my stake and cashed us both out. Call it 200. profit. I need to get on the road pretty soon, so on the way to the room I stopped by B7's.

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                                                      Another hundy profit.

        Back on the 21st I load up a few bottles of water for today's outing. I have plenty. Maria re-stocked me with another case.

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                                                               Amazing what a 5. tip brings

 Kujo took the new and improved way to Henderson. I had asked him his route here when they came on Wed. I figured he came down Bruce Woodbury to I-15 and took Russell Rd. That's the way I've been going for years now. He said that was wrong, I should take the Bruce Woodbury to Decatur Blvd. Get out of town. I swear it took almost 10 minutes off of my driving time. 

 Dusty started barking before I even got to the front door. The 2 of them let me in. Bo is still at P.T. She had surgery on her shoulder a few weeks ago. She should be back in a few minutes. I immediately notice that Dusty has had a bath.

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                                                                             Fluffy

                       Ziggy hooks me up with a jar of bayberry leaves. His neighbor has a huge bush in his side yard.

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                                                                   Bayberry for years

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                                                                breakfast appetizers 

 Bo comes in and we sit at the table and talk while Chef Zig prepares our breakfast. I inquire as to this morning's menu. Carne Asada. Bo and I start talking about their fruit. I explained to her that they aren't nectarines. There's really apricots.

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                                                            fresh picked this morning

         Neither of them are sure of the translation of apricots in Polish so Bo heads to the den to retrieve her translation book.

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                                                              very old and well used

           She found it. Morela. I don't think I've ever run across a Polish word that has so many vowels. Ziggy serves us up.

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 He marinated a skirt steak and grilled it yesterday evening. It was intensely flavorful. Leave it to Ziggy to come up with this for breakfast. After we ate I walked around the yard while they cleaned up and got ready to leave.

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 They really have a lovely back yard for living out in the high desert. They put that awning in a few years ago along with taking out a big circle of turf and replacing it with pavers. They even have a nice small vegetable garden. I'll miss this place when they sell it.

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                                                           Hittin' the road

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                                                        the stadium is progressing quickly

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                                                     Resorts World is finally doing the same

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 The clouds are beautiful today. Ziggy drove so that I could look around and take photos. He suggests that we drive on to Utah. He wants me to see the Virgin River Gorge. Then maybe even the Virgin River Gorge Scenic Drive. Sounds good. Into Arizona first.

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 Here we are in the middle of absolutely nowhere and we get stuck in traffic. We are getting ready to go thru the gorge. Apparently there was a rockfall that damaged the road and they are making emergency repairs. Ziggy and Bo start yelling at each other in Polish. Well, it's actually mostly Ziggy yelling. He apologizes profusely. It makes no never mind to me either way. I am enjoying being with my friends and looking around. I made the mistake of telling them I needed to pee and Ziggy kept threatening to do a u-turn in the median. That's not happening. Then Bo would point to a bush or a rock and tell me I can go there. I think I'll just wait. It really only took about 45 minutes.

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                                                                       finally in Utah

              Since we have by now eaten up scads of time, all we ended up doing in Utah was taking a leak. We stopped at the Dixie Center.

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 This place has a little of everything. It's a convention center/ incubator/ wildlife museum. Killer gift shop too. I even score a couple of free trout stickers. I tell the clerk that I am from VA and inquire as to the origin of the name Dixie. She informs me that some of the original Mennonites settled down here in the south of Utah to try and grow cotton. Hence the term for the area became Dixie. Back on the road the traffic was much more manageable and we were soon pulling into our first stop in Mesquite. Eureka Casino.

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 Eureka is pretty much your basic locals joint. I hit the cage for a chip and ask about a token. Lady gives me a chip and a silver dollar. I don't have the heart to tell her I meant a gaming token so I thank her and pocket them both. Next stop Virgin River Casino

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 At the cage I pull off a daily double. A chip AND a gaming token! These things are getting really hard to come by. They just happened to have one. Just one. On the way out we can't help admiring the bar. It's really spectacular and really, really long. Hence the name.

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                                                                       Long Bar

          We drive thru the Town of Mesquite to our final destination, Casa Blanca Resort. The town is a bit run down, but scenic.

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 This place is great. They really play up the Casa Blanca theme here. The Skydome Lounge sits in the center. The casino sort of surrounds it. Zig & I sign up for player's cards and win 5. FSP each. We blow that on some Buffalo. And check out Katherine's.

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  They open at 5 p.m. so it's too early. We instead dine at the Casa Cafe. The hostess seats us and introduces us to our server and today's local, Lauren. Well, she is a Mesquite local, but close enough. Lauren is all excited because she just got word she was accepted into the University of Nevada-Reno Masters program in medical social work. It's an online program so she can remain here to work and look after her child. Good for Lauren. We peruse the menu. Their prices reflect exactly where we are. Very affordable. Let's eat.

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                                              'Shroom & Bacon 1/2 lb. burger, fish & chips and grilled salmon.

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                          The pool complex is just off the hook. Plus they have a golf course, for those types of peoples.

Virgin River Casino and Casa Blanca are owned by the same outfit. It looks as if they run the same promotions too. We found a couple of Top Dollar machines and each inserted coinage for a spin off.

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 I finally got a bonus as Ziggy ran out of chips. I cashed out 80. and we split it for a 20. profit each. Hell, it paid for our lunch. On the way back the clouds got even more awe-inspiring. It looked like they were dropping rain just this side of the various mountain ranges.

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 Then we realized that a large portion of what we were seeing was dust being picked up from the winds around the various gypsum mines.

 

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 Back at the Ziggy Ranch we let Dusty out and Zig showed off his fruit orchard. He was proud of his lemon tree. This very well may be my last time enjoying the backyard if they sell the house and move to Florida this winter.

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 We hung out for another hour or so. Zig was telling me about the Polish Club here in Las Vegas. Years ago it was a real happening place. He used to hang out with Oscar Goodman all the time there. I asked Ziggy about his work history here in Vegas. When they moved here in 1980 he went to work as a waiter at the Desert Inn. Bo stayed home while Sebastian and Thomas were little. Then he worked at the Monte Carlo as a waiter and moved up to being a bartender. He mostly worked events and banquets. Bo eventually worked there as a dealer. Then when the Continental became Terrible's, they went to work there. Ziggy was a bartender at both the bars and Bo dealt blackjack. Then she got lung cancer from the second hand smoke back in '09.  She recovered just fine, but never went back. Ziggy finally retired last year. Thomas moved to Boca Raton Florida 5 years ago and Sebastian followed last year. Zig & Bo bought an RV so when they sell the house they will take their sweet time crossing the USA. Like maybe a year. It's finally time for me to take my leave, so there's hugs all around and Kujo blasts us one last time back to Sin City. Yet another quality day spent with great friends. All we were lacking was our Sweet Ti.

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                                                                  Breezeway from garage

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 This will be my last night in the suite. It's been nice, though a bit of an overkill since it's just me. Hey, if they offer it comped, I'll take it every time. I have the room tomorrow night too, but my flight leaves at 11 p.m. so I went ahead and booked it thru. That way there's no rush. I do some preliminary packing and head down to play hard for the rest of the evening. 

 I hit the kiosk and see that I have 2 entries into the Ultimate X VP tourney. They run this most Fridays. I print out said coupons and head for the tourney area. Deborah is running the show. I play my 2 rounds and my only real hit is a 4OAK Q's. She takes one look at my scores and shakes her head. Nope. She said it takes either a Royal or 2 4OAK Pointies WITH a kicker to be in the money. Oh well, at least I got a hug. That out of the way, it's time for the main event. I hit the Cracked Glass Special, Sweet Ti does TriDouDluxe. I.C.

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                                     I love the way you are never really quite sure just what you have won.

                                          Let's go down casinoside with our roving reporter J.J.-

                                        

 I once again run into our dear friend Rennneeee. She is busy at home entertaining her Mom how is visiting. We make plans to get together somewhere other than here on our next visit. Oh- by the way I have booked us back here for the week of Labor Day and Sweet Ti is coming with!!!!!! The time has come for a bit o' bison. W4 old school. I load up 4 Buffalo games, insert coin, and hit Maxi Bet. Jimmy????

                                     

                                              

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                                                           A chip plopping herd

 This part of the joint is getting way too odoriffic. I mean it is Friday night and you can really tell the difference. I retreat to the NS.

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                                                     Still chasing those progressives.....

   Enough of that. The VP is calling. Those uprights way back tucked into the corner fit the bill nicely. 8/5 BP 10. a spin.  Jim?????

                                    

                                               had to go for it at least!  

             You can really eat up some duckies fast as shit at 10. a spin. I downgrade to 1. 9/6 DDB and hope for the best.  

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                                                               parley back to 2.  

 I'm pretty much holding my own when I am dealt 2 Pointies. I didn't think much about it till all hell broke loose. Replay there Jim????

                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                          

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                                                                  Hey Now!

 Eric shows up and gets the paperwork started. I ask if Renneee can pay me but Eric tells me that she just went on break. Bummer. That's okay, I'll catch up with her in a bit. He brings a pile of hundys and the IRS slip along with a witness. It always seems to take 2. I toke them and sit back for a minute to soak it in. This has been the Year of the Handpay. 3 trips to AC netted at least 1 handpay each, and that;s my 3rd one so far this trip. If I keep this up I might even get to itemize our taxes this year. I certainly hope so. I spun off my winning hand and moved on. There's this particular W4 machine here in the NS that I have had pretty good luck on. As I sit down and insert TITO a guy walks up to play the next machine. He looks to be Asian and is huffing down on a ciggie. Unbelievable. I show him the non-smoking sign. He says he didn't see the sign. I tell him this entire area is non-smoking. He apologizes profusely and wishes me luck. He takes his leave. I used to let it go when someone did that, but now any more. It stinks!!!! Pretty soon I get a bonus. Then this, right Jim?

                                            

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 That was nice. A few spins later the machine just kinda went berserk. Blue screen followed by HTML lingo. It came back to and I figured that was a sign to cash out. Time to dance the Polka with Heidi. Bier Haus 200 if you please Jimmy-

                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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                                             This explains all the things that never really happen during play.

                                                                Cue the Heidis Jim Jim!

                                       

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                                                                                                                Ja Fraulein! 

                                                        Continue with our feminine theme J.J.-

                                        

  

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                                                                                                  Thanks for the ride Lady.

 Renneee will be getting off her shift soon. I need to see her before she leaves. I find a Lucky Larry's III right outside her station. I manage a few small hits but no bonus. Renneee soon arrives. I quietly slip her a hundy and tell her of my good fortunes. She grins and we hug our farewells till next time. Take care Darlin'!

                                                          Let's kick out the jams Sir Jim!

                                          

                                                        Glad I got that out of my system 

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 What a day. I actually stayed up till a bit past midnight. So a short 24 hours from now I will be well on my way back to my Sweet Ti.

                                       Totals: coin in- S.T. 1442.          tears-1050

                                                          RB  12125.                 1915

 

 

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              06.15.2019 You can be sure I've been grinding, 'till I'm grinding to a halt

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