Casino's Abound

This past weekend we finally got around to visiting the 'Tunica Casinos' just across the border in Mississippi. There are 6 or so huge, really laid out casino complexes there, in the middle of nowhere, just East of the might Mississippi River. For our 5th anniversary, we are staying down there for a couple night (this coming weekend) and going to "play the slots". Mainly, we just wanted to take a weekend trip and since we had heard so much about Tunic, we decided to go down. We got a room at a new Microtel ($100/night). All the rooms down there, in the casinos or in the 5 surrounding motels, are really jacked up on the weekends. The Sheraton Casino wants $400/night! Not from me! Heck, spending 100 for a suite at Microtel is tough for me, but it is our anniversary, right? I am not much for gambling, but I will go through 25 or so on the slot machines, might even get lucky and win a couple thousand. We hear stories about folks winning as much as $8 K on the machines there, but I expect that is not too often. Our room will next to the Sam's Town and Hollywood Casino complexes and they both are huge and really nice. The amazing thing is, there is nothing but flat, barren, Mississippi "delta" land for miles and miles around the casinos! We didn't even seen a town, although Robinsonville MS supposed to be there somewhere. On every intersection, there is a gas mart and we saw a couple small strip malls, but otherwise, nothing! The roads down there are so flat and straight, they appear to go on for eternity w/ no curves or hills... really different from most of the southeast where I have been. Even here in Southwest Tennessee, there are rolling hills and some forests to break up the monotony. But, we will have a good time and on Sunday morning of our 5th anniversary, we are going to a Champaign brunch at the casino!

I'll let you know if I win enough to pay for the trip.. that would be nice.

Good day!

Feb gone?

I looked up and just realized that next Tue is the last day of February! Wow, where did it go? Great thing about that is, I get my first paycheck from Southwest TN CC! They pay well ($2500/course), but you only get three checks each term. Got to get a SUV payment out of that and we are planning a weekend get away for our fifth anniversary. We are going across the border down to Tunica, a casino haven in Mississippi with some really nice resorts and shows. I guess I need to find a nice piece of jewelry for my wife since it is #5. It seems that now matter how much and how fast I make money, it goes even faster! Oh well, such is life in the fast lane (Memphis), right? Just called the secretary at STCC and she says there will be a long line Tues. morning to get checks. That seems so outdated to me, a professor having to stand in line to get a paycheck. I guess they haven't heard of direct deposit over there yet! Well, I don't need mine that bad, so I will ease over there in the afternoon and pick mine up. Tue is a good afternoon, since I don't have classes after my 10:30 lab is over! Might just get some cash in my pocket and find me a cozy little bar downtown, sip a few brews and contemplate life for a while. Well, I might contemplate for a few minutes, then I get confused and begin working the crossword in the Commercial Appeal (Memphis' major daily) or the USA Today. That reminds me, I have only bought one USA Today newspaper in the last 4 years or so. I began delivery the paper in 2002, so I had more that I ever wanted for free, then went to Nevis and didn't see a newspaper for months. On my way home from Nevis for good, I bought one at RFK as I ate my first REAL pizza and drank my first BUD LIGHT many weeks. Then, a few days after I got back SC, I called my old USA Today supervisor and got lucky walked right back into a route! Although I don't really miss getting up at 2:30 to pick up my papers and get them delivered by 5:30, that wasn't such a bad job. I had the roads pretty much to myself, and other than rainy mornings, it was kind of nice being out in the peace and quite and seeing the earliest peak at the sunrise on many a morn'....

Well, forget that, I can't romanticize newspaper delivery no matter how hard I try, but I did get money coming in each week, but rolling up all those coins and having to cut the top of the papers off for weekly audits was a bit of a pain. But, between this money, my wife working part time and my mother helping pay my child support, we squeaked by until I landed this position, and THANK GOD for that!

I have mellowed a lot over the past several years. Been through some low points in my life and lost my mother to cancer, but the once consistent thing I have noticed is that God is there for us, no matter what, and all we have to do is turn to him for help and guidance. I really don't think it was a coincidence that shortly after we started going to a Baptist church in Columbia that I got four interviews for jobs in a two week period and got 2 offers from those! And, the best offer was from the Baptist College! Well, we made it to Memphis and things are good now. (knock on wood and praise the Lord!)

Kind of got carried away here. Didn't mean to write so much, but it felt good.

Good day!

V day

Survived another valentines day! We had a nice dinner, good bottle of wine and a few drinks at the French Quarter in Midtown Memphis. Nice, really nice, hotel that is modeled after Bourbon St. in New Orleans. The dinner was a little pricey at $93 + tip, but the steaks were good and the green beans, baked potato were nice compliments. We even got cheese cake for desert. If I had know the bottle of wine was going to be $25, I might have passed on it, but, what the hey, it was V day afterall and restaurants in Memphis try to make as much as possible! One nice place we were making reservations for had a V day special: a 3 course meal for only $59 each! I passed on that deal quickly!

They may have to cancel the KY Derby this year! Seems as if Pamela Anderson is going to boycott the Derby and the State of KY! Know why? She doesn't approve of KFC being a major partner with the Derby because she thinks we should be more evolved than to resort to killing and eating chickens! Please, Pam, get a life and let the rest of us enjoy what the Grace of God has provided for us! What would life be without KFC? Not worth living I bet! Really, I think some people just have too much time and/or money on there hands, so they have to find things as ludicrous as this to make an issue about! Let her dumba-- have to really work for a living and worry about bills, kids the price of gas etc like the rest of us and she wouldn't be so concerned that humans are still eating chickens!

Well, got to get to work on my quizzes for class today and tonite, so adios!

Good day!

Time Flys?

Wow, hard to believe I haven't 'blogged' since Jan. 23! The days after the wreck where hectic and got even more so when we began looking for a new car (truck). We compromised and bought an '02 Dodge Durango SUV. It is loaded and had relatively low miles. Real nice ride, but not so great on gas mileage. Hopefully, when my annual annuity check comes in April, I will buy me another Ford Ranger and my wife can have the SUV. I really miss having a pick up truck, maybe that is a guy thing, but I have driven one for 13 years now and got used to it. I know it might be a 'red neckish' concept, but trucks in the south just seem right for a guy.

Well, got an lab exam to give now. Feels good to be blogging again. Hopefully, I won't stay away so long.

Oh Yeah, happy Valentine's day everyone! Bought my first ever chocolate covered strawberries for my wife last night and we are going out for a nice romantic dinner tonite! Who knows, she might get lucky tonite!

Good day