04-22-06_1912
Originally uploaded by Ergophobe.

Ok, so after I went to Napa, I took a quick look in the old GPS to see how far it was to Reno. I knew it wasn't too far away, and since I've never been, I figured I'd go check it out if I could. As it turns out, Reno is only a 2 hour drive from Napa. Plenty close enough for me to get out there by dark and start gambling.

Driving out there, I was quite surprised to start seeing small patches of snow. Keep in mind, I live in Atlanta, GA. We get a dusting of snow once or twice a year. This is late April. Spring time. Shorts and T-Shirt weather. I was NOT expecting snow. It had never even entered my mind. I knew I'd be driving through the mountains to get to Reno, but SNOW? And not just a little bit. There were stretches of road where the snow plowed to the side of the road was easily 9 feet deep. I just had to take some pictures. Besides, it was pretty too from the mountains.

The downside about not planning your trip to Reno is that there's no guarantee there will be anywhere to stay when you get there. Just about everyone was booked up. I got lucky after checking 5 other casinos and managed to get into a room at the Nugget which had just opened up. I dropped my "bags" in the room and went downstairs to find a place to eat. The buffet was closed, and the only food to be found that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg was in "Ruby's Cafe". Basically, Waffle House grade food. Actually, no. Waffle House food is better. But it was sustenance, and that's all I wanted.

I got to gambling around 11:30 or so. The only game I really like to play is Roulette. I found a $1 table and changed a Franklin. It took a little while for Lady Luck to find me, but after I'd lost about $60 or so, I went on a winning streak that shot me all the way up to about $250 dollars. I should have quit then, but I was there to play, not to win, so I kept going. Met some nice folks while I was at it. Even had a lengthy discussion about the origins of the word "Gringo" and the goods and the bads of illegal immigration with a local Mexican who was playing the table as well. The dealer said it's rare that he sees people talking about important stuff while playing and drinking, but it was a refreshing change. As it got later and later, my luck started to dwindle. I went back down to around $20, and almost gave up. I put my $20 on the middle column and it hit, putting me back up to $60. I did it again and went to $80. Then I hedged my bet by putting another $20 on the first column. Lucky thing I did, too. So I finished the night right where I started. Nothing lost, but nothing won. I went to bed about 3:30am.

That's where it got ugly. My lovely bride had apparently been calling for quite some time from Panama. I apparently had no signal. My lovely bride is very jealous. Put two and two together, you get one angry latina. It's two days later and she's still ticked at me. And I still don't know what I did wrong.

But that's life in the fast lane!