SLOTS SNOT AND SPIT

Catchy combo, the above!  January has been a mixed bag!  Ryan and his family have been sick one after the other. Katie has been sick. Then I got a 24 hr bug followed by a cold, which I graciously handed off to Pat.  Ain't love grand? When we got here we did not go out of our way to choose a family type doctor so when Pat felt like he might have pneumonia and was having trouble breathing we headed to the closest ER. (That was a glimpse into the future of Obamacare.  It was packed. There is a shortage of physicians here in Las Vegas which they say will be even worse when thousands of newly covered make their way into the system.  It was a three hour experience! ) Needless to say we will be trying to find a doctor next week.  After an almost-finished course of antibiotics Pat is feeling better except for one of those deep coughs, the ones you start when you laugh and then can't stop and your head explodes! Not a pretty sight.

We eat breakfast, as is our retirement treat, at the Fiesta Casino here in Henderson.  $9 for two including drinks.  On the way home Pat makes his $5 sports bets and I play the slots while he does that. Let's say that in the gambling luck department we are desperately hanging on to the bottom rung.  I now realize that I will not win any jackpots playing penny slots.  It was a sad moment when reality hit.  I had big plans for my huge payout...having my picture taken for the Winners Wall holding that big fake check. I was visualizing surprising all the kids with big money.  No mas.  Now I realize what goes in the machine, stays in the machine. (That's  what they mean by that PR slogan! ) So, I will content myself with playing one cent Keno.  That is like watching the grass grow!  Pat has learned that the oddsmakers have an erie grasp of the various sports bets.  If they predict a team will win by 3-1/2 by George they mostly do. To make money I guess you have to bet against them which to my way of looking at it now that I have seen how it works, is a fool's game!  It is the promise of something about to happen that keeps the gambling part of Las Vegas afloat.  The rest of the city is like any other city...lots of shopping, tons of restaurants, shows, exhibits.  It is a nice contrast to the rural life we have at The Lake. 

There is plenty of sunshine here, but the temperatures are not summer-like.  I lost all of my newly planted beauganvilleas to below-freezing nightime air. I am watering them just in case there is a green cell left somewhere. They would have to be extra hardy since after we leave in April they wont have a drop to drink! 

Pat encouraged me to join him in some DNA testing. He did his as part of his ancestry searching, and to see what health issues might be passed on to his kids and grandkids.  It involves  spitting in a test tube and mailing it to LA.  He has already received lots of interesting information back. It takes about three weeks.  Soon I will know if I was part of the wooly mammoth clan...and if my long second toe will be passed along into eternity.  Ah, my lucky heirs.

We are enjoying our time here. It will be sad to leave the kids and grandkids...but next year we will be back...God-willing and the creek don't rise.

When does Game of Thrones return to Showtime?