Hello on Sunday

Dear Friends,



What the Lord giveth, the Casino taketh, but we did have fun during our day long adventure. We had a semi full bus as we left the Polish Falcon Nest, as they call it at 7 AM. The bus was so comfortable, and the seats had plenty of leg room. The bus was pulled over in the Springfield, Massachusetts area for an inspection. We had originally thought that the driver was getting a ticket for speeding. Of course, the smokers on the bus went out for a quick smoke until the inspection was over. It takes a couple of hours to get to the Foxwoods Casino located in Connecticut.

Before we got off the bus, a representative from the Casino starts from the back of the bus, and goes to the front of the bus giving us our meal, keno, and raffle ticket coupons. The bus driver also gives us specific instructions that everyone has to be on the bus no later than 4:30 PM. At 4:30 PM, one person form our bus was not there. A couple people volunteered to go looking for her, several of us called her on her cell, but she did not respond. She had to leave a hot slot machine, and cash a whole bunch of tickets. She got stuck in a long line, and she had never used one of those ticket redeeming machines before. The bus was just about ready to pull out, and the lady and her two friends, who went looking for her, came running to the bus. If they had missed the bus, a friend would have to drive back from Pittsfield, and pick them up.



I am always amazed as I watch people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities, people using canes, walkers, motorized wheel chairs, etc., at the Casino hoping that they can leave a winner. The only sure thing about a Casino is that you get food for your food coupon when you take one of these Casino Bus Trips. Our friends who talked us into going have been to Foxwoods many times, and they prefer to eat at the Hard Rock Café instead of at the endless Buffet. There were 8 of us who had a wonderful meal at the Hard Rock Café. Our waitress did separate checks for each couple or individuals which was unusual. The waitress also told us a story that I thought that you would enjoy. After we had the main meal, the waitress came around with a tray of desserts trying to entice us into spending beyond the value of our food coupon. A couple people from our group did get dessert, but Linda and I were full. The waitress said that one late evening when she was working, and bunch of 30 something’s came into the Cafe, and stole this tray of all of the desserts. They went running out of the Café with the tray of desserts as they were eating while running. The tray did have real desserts on it but there was some kind of lacquer on them to preserve them, and keep them looking fresh. I wonder if any of the thieves got sick from eating these desserts!



On the way home we watched the newest version of the Karate Kid. Due to some technical problems, the movie didn’t start as we departed from the Casino. The best part of the movie started when we arrived back at the Polish Falcon Hall. They had a couple pizzas waiting for us when we arrived there. Well, most of us on the bus wanted to see how the movie ended. Visualize a bus load of people in front of a huge screen television in the members’ bar of the Polish Falcon Nest hooting, hollering, and cheering for the Karate Kid to beat the bad guy, and take home the trophy. This was a fitting end to a great day!



Linda was luckier than me at the slots. What ever amount of money she won, I lost.



I must say that we did have a good time on the bus to and from the Casino. One of our friends purchased some Munchkins and a box of coffee at Dunkin Doughnuts. Most of us skipped the cream and sugar, and put some Bailey’s Irish Cream in our coffee. This was not a bad way to start the trip at 7 AM in the morning. Linda and I don’t eat doughnuts, so Linda packed a couple of bagels with some maple flavored cream cheese.



Social Calendar for Sunday – Linda and a friend are off to breakfast and another Crafts Fair in my home town of Lee. The Crafts Fair takes place at the Catholic Elementary School which I graduated from: St. Mary’s from 9 AM until 3 PM.

I have to do some chores, squeeze in a power nap, and watch the 4:15 PM Patriot Game. I also have to do a load of clothes, and start thinking about what to pack for our multiple day Thanksgiving Day adventure in North Tewksbury.



My “Time” magazine came in the mail yesterday. There is a great article on the traditional form of marriage (and marriage in general), and why it is more important for men. I already knew that marriage adds five more years to the life of the average male compared to his single male counterpart. Women can do okay without a male partner which I already knew. There was a good deal of statistics in the article. One of them which really jumped out at me was about kids born to unmarried mothers. Blacks had the highest average of 72% of births outside of marriage, 53 % were Hispanic, and 29 % Whites.

The largest groups of people who get married nowadays are people who are well educated, and have a little higher form of wealth / income. Of course there were articles about divorce, and which decades had the highest divorce rate. All the stats were discussed in the article went from 1960 to 2010.

Read the article if you want some more facts and figures.



Sports – I fell asleep watching the Boston Bruins game last evening. Good thing that I did because they lost the game in a “Shoot Out”. Oh Darn!



Have a great Sunday.

I am going to read the local newspaper and the Boston Globe before getting to some chores.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad