Day 1208

We went to another casino party tonight. Janet and I usually play roulette at these charity fundraisers, mostly because we are the designated roulette dealers whenever Dalmatian Rescue has similar events. Sometimes we can pick up tips from other dealers that we can use ourselves. Not tonight. The pair at the roulette table this evening were the most inept roulette dealers we've come across yet. They didn't know the odds on the board. They would routinely pay numbers that didn't win and forget to pay number that did win. They seldom paid winners the right amount either. These dealers didn't even appear to know how the game was played. Nobody got mad though. We were just playing with monopoly money and the entire evening was for a good cause. Janet and I are much better roulette dealers than these bumblers though.

The weather finally cleared up today. With an abundance of clear skies and warm temperatures, the dogs finally got the enjoy the newly landscaped back yard. It would have been a good day to do a little more gardening, but I'm still not sure where all the poison ivy plants are hiding. The meds are starting to work, but I still think it's going to be at least another week before the itching subsides.

I had to get all my Saturday chores finished a little early today, since we needed to leave the house for the fundraiser by 6 PM. We ate dinner at the event, so that saved a little time. The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, vacuuming, making fresh juice out of a big bag of oranges, and looking for the source of the latest leak up on the roof. I couldn't find where the water was coming in, but I did get clean sheets on the bed and gave the dogs a nice long walk before we left for the evening.

I hope I remembered how to use the DVR correctly. I set up the machine to record the new Dr. Who episode this evening, but I haven't had time yet to see if my efforts were a success. So far, the new season of Dr. Who looks like it's going to be a good one. I'm kind of pleased that I've finally mastered the television. I no longer have to watch shows when they are aired. Now, I can watch them any time I want.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a dog park day. I can tell Dash has cabin fever from being cooped up too long. He needs a chance to run off-leash. With all the rainy weather we've been having this Spring, we've missed our Sunday visit to the dog park for several weeks in a row.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1005

I'm quite familiar with the concept of luck. I've spent a lot of time in Las Vegas and my favorite charity likes to use casino parties as fundraisers. I'm usually the roulette dealer when we have these casino parties. I can tell you one thing about roulette. If you play long enough, it is a mathematical certainty that you will lose all your money. Sure, the odds are pretty good in roulette. Sure, some lucky people do win huge amounts. The arithmetic works against you though. If you play long enough, you will lose.

The winners in roulette are those who put a huge stack of chips on red and then walk away when the ball lands on red. The same can be said for most games of chance. The winners are those who make a conscious choice to leave the game after they get lucky. Of course if you have the resources to stay in the game longer, your chances of getting a random lucky break improve, but it's still a game of chance.

I think politicians are like gamblers. Sometimes good things happen and they have the good fortune to be able to take credit for them. Sometime bad things happen and they take the blame instead. In both cases, the politicians are not nearly as much in control of events as they think they are. I like to imagine politicians sitting in the basket of a hot air balloon. There is a big wheel attached to the basket which they love to turn. They think they are controlling the balloon's direction, but you and I both know it is really the wind.

Dalmatian Rescue has another casino party tonight. People always have fun at these events. I think people basically like to gamble. How else could you explain the choices many people make. I'm not much of a gambler myself. I'll take a sure thing any time I can get it. It's a sure thing that I'll be tired tonight when we return, so I'll post a little early today. I'm a methodical person. I'll spin the wheel for other people, but I certainly don't want to take the chance of missing a post myself.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 980

No time for the pool today. I was busy. One of my clients has a retail location in Caesar's Palace, and I went over to the store to interview the manager and take lots of pictures of the place. I wish I had an assistant, or at least a roadie. By the time I carried my 35 pound bag of gear from the Bellagio to Caesars, I was already tired. The interview went well though. The manager was delightful and regaled me with stories of what it was like to run a high-end business inside a casino. I'm glad I brought good lapel mics and a mixer with me. Las Vegas is a noisy place. You don't do anything in this city without a soundtrack in the background. You seldom see where the speakers are hidden, but the music is everywhere. Just going to the drugstore to get some toothpaste can feel like you're inside your own music video. Actually my video interview worked out pretty well. I won't need to add a soundtrack later. It's already there.

Janet won $200 last night while I was writing the blog. She said I brought her luck by staying away from the casino while she was gambling. Works for me. I have terrible luck at the tables. Playing slots is definitely not a game of skill, but I think having the right attitude helps. Janet thinks the glass is half full, while I tend to think it's half empty. It's not surprising to me that she consistently wins more than I do while we're in town. I've usually convinced myself that I'm throwing money away before I even start.

Now that I have today's pictures and video clips safely saved to a hard drive, I feel better about tomorrow's busy schedule. I will be doing several more interviews at the big WWD Magic show that's currently underway at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Janet want's me to scour the booths for free fashion swag while I'm at the show, but I'm afraid if I put one more thing in my already heavy bag, I won't even be able to lift it.

It's hard to know what to wear in Las Vegas. While it's blistering hot outside, the casinos and hotels are always freezing cold. It's disorienting to spend the day going from one extreme to the other. When I'm inside the casinos I'm always looking for a sweater. Outside, it's a much different story. It's almost impossible to dress light enough to be comfortable walking down the strip.

I'm going to have to get a wake-up call tomorrow morning. We have one of those blackout curtains in our room. No light gets in whatsoever. If nobody opened the curtains, I'd probably sleep till noon.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 979

I could learn to live this way. We just finished enjoying a wonderful dinner at Todd English's Olives Restaurant while watching the sun set through a nearby window against the backdrop of the spectacular Fountains of Bellagio. It was a nice ending to a relaxing and enjoyable day. I actually like living in hotels. Someone comes and makes your bed every day. They bring you clean towels and leave little chocolates on your pillow. What's not to like? 

We don't have a pool at home, so it's always enjoyable to take a swim after breakfast. When I'm in the water, I realize I should swim more often. I still have a dislocated shoulder and swimming would really help build up those muscles. I'd never swim at home though. There's too much to do. It's only on days like these that I realize how enjoyable being in the water can be. Yeah, I know. I live right next to a large lake. I'd never swim in the lake. Many say it's polluted and it's full of snakes anyway. I think the pools at luxury hotels are much nicer places to swim.

I miss the dogs. We watch them every day on the webcam, and you can tell they don't really like being boarded. We could never bring them to Las Vegas though. I haven't seen a single dog since we arrived. I wish the dogs traveled better in the car. We could take them down to the Gulf Coast and let them run along the beach. We've got a long way to go before we can get them to Padre Island though. Dash totally freaks out in a car and we're lucky to get ten miles down the road without a major panic attack. A long trip would be a nightmare. Since Dash is a rescue dog, we think his previous owners might have just dumped him on the side of the road and left him. He definitely doesn't have positive associations about riding in a car.

This might be the last lazy day I'll have while I'm in town. Tomorrow is a work day. I'm covering the WWD Magic show for one of my clients and since since this is the magic show, I'll somehow manage to transform myself tomorrow from an old guy in swim trunks at the Bellagio pool to a hip young fashion blogger. I'll admit I'm an unlikely fashionista, but I do like the industry. The Devil Wears Prada was one of my favorite movies and I seldom miss an episode of Project Runway.

I used to like playing the penny slots in Vegas, but they're all gone now. In the old days you could stretch out losing your money over an entire afternoon, while friendly waitresses brought you free drinks. Now the electronic machines literally suck the money out of you. I put a twenty dollar bill in a slot machine this morning and it was gone in less than five minutes. What's the fun in that?  I love Las Vegas for the food and the shows and the people watching. I'll leave the gambling to someone else.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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