Gamblers Anonymous

Well here we are back in Vegas for the third time. I have to say, I am liking it more each time we visit. I feel more comfortable staying here in downtown and staying at the Golden Nugget is a real treat. Phil got it for a bargain price and we made the decision this morning to stay another 2 nights. Phil phoned the reception to arrange the extra stay and to double check that we could get the same room in the golden tower for the same bargain internet price. Fortunately he talked to a really dippy girl on reception that must have been new who confirmed that we could have it at the same price but when she realised the extra nights included Friday night she put Phil on hold; it was obvious that she had made a mistake but her supervisor must have said, because she’d already agreed verbally she had no choice but to let us have the same deal. We are not complaining!


I’m really getting into this gambling game, much more so then Phil would really like! I like the slot machines but I’m really enjoying the blackjack machines at the bar. Phil’s only giving me 5 dollars here and there and mostly I’m breaking about even. If I had money of my own, I’d be in the casino all day and all night. I can understand how easy it is to become addicted.

Last night we spent a few hours at the bar, gambling and getting free drinks. We cashed up at 8pm and went out to see the Fremont Street light show. It was great although I guessed it only lasted about 10 minutes. Unfortunately I missed the step on the way back into the casino and twisted my ankle. It was the same ankle that I hurt when I got chased down the hill by wild dogs in Thailand so there was already a weakness there. It hurt like crazy and we had to go to the shop inside the hotel to get some painkillers. And just so you know, for the record, I wasn’t drunk! The staff at the Black Jack bar were kind and got me some ice to put on my ankle. We had a few more games before retiring to bed around 10pm which I guess, is when the real action starts.

Phil is sleeping like a log and it was difficult to wake him up this morning. Even though my foot was throbbing I got dressed and hobbled out on to Fremont Street to source some tea and something to eat for breakfast. I was starving because we’d only had the one buffet meal the day before and eventually got us some tea & coffee from McDonalds and a tray of Dunkin Donuts. Not the healthiest of breakfasts but then, from what I can tell, nothing in the USA is healthy. After sorting out our extra nights we got showered and went out to see if we could found a place to do some laundry. They do have a facility here in the Golden Tower but it’s not a do-it-yourself service but room service and it’s expensive. I read on the internet that there was a place near to the hotel on 4th Street. We walked and we walked but we couldn’t find it.

The further you venture downtown, the dodgier the people are. They look just like they do in the movies and I certainly wouldn’t want to wonder far from Fremont Street at night. In the end we gave up the laundry search, or launder mat as they call it over here and brought some detergent from a store on the way back to the hotel. Just like it was in the old days, I left the washing to soak in the bath and we headed back to the casino for some pre lunch-cum-dinner gambling. I guess we are still ‘newbies’ in the gambling world and one of the bar staff came and gave us a sort of telling off, telling us that you can’t gamble for 25cents a go and expect free drinks! A lesson learnt I guess, it didn’t make Phil feel comfortable, not knowing the ropes; the secret we’re learning is, not to be stingy old buggers like us and to tip more! After all, America is the tipping capital of the universe.


Because the waitress in the buffet told Phil that it was good to get to the buffet at 3.15pm so we could get both the lunch and dinner menu for the price of the lunchtime menu we had a couple of beers and waited until the bargain hour time. We were both starving by the time we got to the restaurant and stuffed ourselves silly. Well Phil did but I didn’t, the dinner which was another 8 bucks extra wasn’t all that different from the lunch menu. Like everything in Vegas, it’s a con and O-T-T, unless of course, you win mega bucks. And then I guess, you’re quid’s in and nothing in the world will make you grumpy.


The original plan was to head out to Los Angeles but we’re delaying this move because the rooms are more expensive than Vegas. To be honest, we’re both ready (me more so) to go home but it’s so expensive to change our flights that we may as well stick it out for the last few days. Yeah I know what you’re thinking, it’s a hard life, but what choice do we really have? There’s going be enough shit to sort when we finally get home so we may as well delay the inevitable until we really have to. Australia seems a million days ago and I miss the local folks. America doesn’t really do for me, it fact it never has really and I think we made a mistake by making this last lag of our journey so long. Do I sound like a moaning minney? Yeah, probably, but you know me, I just tell it how it is. Right now I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, although saying that, it shall seem small with the big boy after sleeping months’ in queens and kings all this while.

Just to put things into perspective, which I need to do for my own sake every now and then; I had an email last week from Lynn Ling inn Byron Bay to tell us that Dillon, the DVD editor who toured with Parkway Drive had been killed. He’d travelled with a couple of local lads to Bosnia to jump a bridge. Apparently the locals told him it was too cold and too dangerous but he jumped away. He never came up and the last we heard was that his parents were there but his body hadn’t been recovered. Lynn also told me that the docs said her dad would never recover from his recent lung infection so more sad news there. I’ve learnt a lot from Lynn, she’s a wise gal and in the last line of her email to me, her message was, “keep enjoying what you’re doing because you never know when you’re time is up”. How right she is.