Slot machines on the lake

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. I don’t believe in all the commercial hoopla. In any case, my wife and I took a break from our routine and drove down to Lake Charles, LA (about 2 hours drive) in the afternoon. Destination - Isle of Capri Casinos on the Lake Charles. It was an overcast day w/ occasional drizzle and rain. The drive was fine with Ms Garmin (a GPS navigator) telling us where and when to make turns.

Once we got to our destination, the place was packed even on a gloomy day. People were coming by busloads. RVs were lined up on one row. Once we got inside, it had the Las Vegas’ atmosphere (not quite, although we have not been to Las Vegas or the Atlantic City in eons) from the music coming from thousands of slot machines. There were poker tables. Attendants were passing out drinks. The indoor fountains and neon lights were creating an illusion. After a sumptuous meal (my plate was overflowing with all kinds of sea food, a little beef steak, a piece of sausage, some spicy boiled shrimp ending with a little peach cobbler with ice-cream) I needed to seat down. The ideal place was near a slot machine.

It has been a long time since I confronted a money-eating monster like this. They have changed with time. Now you do not need to get coins from the attendant. You feed “green backs” of any denomination and keep playing with a push of a button. No pulling the lever, no sounds of coins falling on to the tray below making that heavenly sound sending you to cloud nine. One could play for pennies or dimes or quarters or $1, $10, $25, and so on. As usual folks with lots of money to spare (or going broke with a dream of making it big) were literally attached to some machines.

I am not a gambler. I fed the beast a few dollars for my simple pleasure. However, I miss feeding coins, pulling the lever, and the sounds of coin raining on the pan. I do not like the one-finger operation. A push of a button spins the wheel and steals more of your money in a second with less pleasure for people like me compared to that from old style machines. Well, life is full of changes and surprises whether you like it not. So, after feeding a few bucks we headed back home listening to some old time music. It was a good Valentine’s Day. I think my wife had fun too with such a break from our routine and watching me feed those money-eating monsters. Hope fully, we helped the economy too in a small way.

Books from Christmas

Christmas and New Year came and went. With the New Year we even have a new president. Time only will tell if he can translate his talk into reality. In any case, it’s a New Year and every day is a new day. We are back to our routine after the holidays – leave for work in the dark, return home in the dark, shower, eat, read the headlines, clean Tigger’s (our almost 18 year old cat) litter box and then go to bed only to wake up and do it all over again. So, I have not had time for anything, not even to post on this site. However, in between I have been reading a few books that I received as Christmas gifts from our daughters and our new son-in-law. I must say they seem to know me a lot better than I know myself.

I finished reading “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. I recommend this to anyone. I am not dying of cancer nor do I have any illness at this time. But I can relate to most everything as I have gone through many ups and downs including a close encounter with an accidental death. Randy is absolutely right. You have no control over the cards you have been dealt, but you have control over how you play the cards.

The 2^nd book (“Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer) is an amazing book in a different context. I recommend this to anyone with any adventure spirit. What makes some one consciously assume the agony at high altitude with thin air risking life in some of the harshest conditions? Yet, unless someone took that risk, the highest summit would be always an illusion. Many people died in the expedition described in the book. It may even scare some people away to try. I climbed Kilimanjaro, but Mount Everest is not Kilimanjaro and I am in my 60s. As I read this book I keep thinking I wish I were a lot younger. Perhaps I could have stood at the summit where Hillary and Tenzing stood one day.

I am currently reading a book (“What I talk about when I talk about running”) by Haruki Murakami, an accomplished writer who is also an avid runner. I am a runner and like him I started running much later in life (around 40). I have run for over two decades now, completed several marathons and an ultra marathon. “Once a runner, always a runner”. I still run just to stay fit. As Murakami writes, I agree that in running (and in life) pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Suffering is a state of mind. If you enjoy running, you will endure pain well and not suffer. That’s true with anything in life.

Daughter off to med school

Our younger daughter has been accepted to med school. 4 years at Princeton U, 1 year in Tokyo, 2 years at Columbia U and now off to a med school. We are proud of her. Good luck IDB