Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Glory of Love



My good friends know what special meaning this song had. But maybe it's time to let things go and move on.

Monday, September 29, 2008

I'm OK

Scarlett Johansson got married to Ryan Reynolds on Saturday. Don't worry, my friends, I think I can handle it.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Nights in Rodanthe

I'm a sucker for the tearjerker chick flicks so I decided to go see this movie tonight (yes with a date). I've always liked Diane Lane (trivia buffs will know that Diane Lane and I were in a movie together in 1993 -- OK I was an extra but the movie was Knight Moves), and the movie was based on a Nicholas Sparks (who also wrote The Notebook) story. While I preferred The Notebook (one of my all-time favorites), this film was pretty good too. Diane Lane is a very underrated actress.

BAILOUT

Why don't the CEO's who are responsible for most of this mess take a pay cut? You hear of severance packages that are ridiculous, signing bonuses, duh. Once again, the rich get richer and the poor get screwed. It's the American way.

Friday, September 26, 2008

The Real Fab Four

I've been relaxing at home watching ABBA's All Time Greatest Hits. I usually make an effort to watch all ABBA-related shows (even if it's for the 1000th time). Watching and listening to ABBA always puts a smile on my face, because they take me back to a time when all was well in the world. It's scary to think that they've broken up for 27 years now. But their music will live on for eternity.

Wishing Upon a Star

Natalie Portman has broken up with her boyfriend. Call me Natalie, I'm available.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Once Upon a Time

I had dinner tonight at my uncle and aunt's place, along with my two cousins. While there my aunt showed me some recorded episodes of Oprah that featured a 16-year-old Filipino girl who had the voice of an angel. Her name is Charice Pempengco, and her story is that of a fairy tale. She was "discovered" on YouTube, and before you knew it, Oprah got a hold of her, got David Foster involved, and the rest is history. She was invited to Italy to sing with Andrea Bocelli and was invited ONSTAGE to sing with Celine Dion at the latter's performance at Madison Square Gardens. Fairy tales do come true. Many of her performances are on YouTube but I shall leave you her rendition of My Heart Will Go On. Enjoy.

An Angel Singing

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Shopping

I have four days off in a row (is that possible?). I have time to use my GEM (Employee of the Month) award of $150 to get something nice. Oh what should it be?

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Who Has the Biggest Brain?

I am looking back upon my 42 years of existence and trying to remember the dumbest things I've done. Once when I was in High School, I got up one morning, got changed, went downstairs and realized that it was Saturday and I'd set my alarm clock to ring for absolutely no reason. About fifteen years ago, I was getting ready to work (at the old Holiday Inn on Broadway). I hadn't been feeling well and probably should have called in sick, but I decided to work. I took a hot shower and grabbed a tuxedo shirt. I was still in a daze when I got to work. That's when I realized that I'd taken the PINK tuxedo shirt from my wardrobe. I had to wear a sweater all night.

Fast forward to September 20, 2008.

This morning was another one of those 4am shifts that I'd become quite accustomed to. Nevertheless I was running a bit late. I'd spent too much time deciding if my pink (diagonally) striped tie would work on my darker but also (vertically) pink striped shirt wasn't too loud. I suddenly realized it was already 3:30am and if I dawdle I would be late for work. So I said to hell with the shirt, put on my socks (which probably didn't match but since they're all black I could care less) and shoes and rushed to work. I got to work a wee bit late but all was well; except that something was bothering me. I kept thinking that there was something wrong. I unplugged the iron. Maybe I left a light on at home but that's not the end of the world.

Then as I was going up the stairs to work I looked down and realized that I'd worn two different shoes (I will wait 30 seconds here so you can wipe that drink you just spilled while reading the previous sentence)............now back in the "Holiday Inn" times I could have rushed back home (8 blocks away) and fixed my problem, but my drive to and from work now takes a minimum of 25 minutes. Could I torture myself with ten hours of incorrect footwear (well technically I was within the dress code since they were BOTH black)? It wasn't long before the staff realized (and so "graciously" spread the word to the other staff) what had happened to me. It was funny having staff see me and instead of saying hi look down at my feet and laugh. Even Surveillance found out and were paging me and asking me if I remembered to put on socks this morning. I managed to survive until about 9:30am and then I told Rick that I was going crazy with embarrassment and had to go for a drive. I managed to find Willowbrook Mall and found myself a nice pair of shoes at Rockport for $84. A lot of staff (that hadn't see my blunder) were disappointed when I suddenly appeared with matching shoes.

And then, as if the Guy Upstairs didn't have enough of a sense of humor, I discovered that I was chosen as one of two "Employees of the Month" at my location and got a $150 American Express card. So I guess I gained $66 for being a complete idiot.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Deposits

So let me get this straight. The American banks are losing money so George Bush is asking the "public" to save the economy by taxing them (or whatever he's calling it). So these people all deposited money in their banks and now they have to put in more? Hmmm....

Dear Mr. Bush:

I've had a tough few years and I've lost a lot of money. Do you think you could get the American public to help me out a bit too?

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Burgers

I'm looking forward to my return trip to Vegas next month. While looking for items for the staff newsletter I came across the following article for the most expensive burger in Vegas. Enjoy.

Vegas Burger

Hole in the Wall

Lately the unimaginative American TV networks have been adapting Japanese gameshows for the North American audiences. Shows such as Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show (and the early candidate Iron Chef America) were very popular in Japan. Tonight I watched Hole in the Wall and it is now my favorite show on TV! It is hilarious! If you want to get an idea of what it is like, search on YouTube for Human Tetris.

It's time to FACE THE HOLE!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

WTF

The gas companies say the prices are based on supply and demand. So explain to me why in the span of 2 days the price of gas has gone from $1.35 suddenly to $1.51, then back down to $1.40, back up to $1.51 and down again to $1.41. Obviously they just charge whatever the hell they want to. This is ridiculous. Barrel prices are dropping and gas prices are rising. BS

Monday, September 15, 2008

96 Hours

My owed days are being collected now. After my shift today I'll have four (!) days off in a row, and next week I'll have five (!!) days off in a row. The second week of October I'm going back to Vegas with Joe and hopefully Nav; I got a good deal for $164 total. Fatburger here I come!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

A New Era (Again)

Today was my first afternoon/evening at our new location (upstairs). As expected, it was a lot busier than before. It is unfortunate that we have four less tables in order to still fit the slot machines in, but hopefully with our increased traffic we will be able to expand by a few more tables. I also got to wear my new Hugo Boss suit. The scary part is the pants are a bit tighter than I thought they would be.... and the pants are 36 x 32. Don't tell me my waist has expanded to 37. Maybe I do need to start....what's that thing called.... exercising?

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Russell Peters x 4

Tonight I went to see Russell Peters for the fourth time, this time at the River Rock Theatre. It was a lot smaller audience than usual, as Peters has sold out both the Queen Elizabeth and Orpheum Theatres. As a result, the crowd wasn't as lively as usual but he was still enjoyable. His style of humor is hilarious, very adlib and spontaneous.

Seems Like Yesterday

It was on November 18, 2007 when Wayne and I worked together at the last night of the Casino on Broadway before our move to Fraser Downs. Tonight, it was a bit of deja vu. In this case, we were merely moving from our downstairs location to upstairs with all the slots. This will be a new and hopefully more profitable phase for the Fraser Downs Racetrack and Casino. As far as I know it is still the only racetrack in BC which has both slots and table games. I'm not sure how many of these true racinos exist in Canada (there are a lot of racetracks with slots but few with table games as well).

Monday, September 08, 2008

Boredom

The Canadian federal election will be October 14, which is a little over a month after it was announced. The election will be over in one night. Meanwhile, down in the States, the election has been going on for what seems like an eternity. Just get it over with.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

zz

I was so tired last night I went to bed at 7pm and despite waking up a few times, managed an amazing 11-hour sleep. I haven't had a sleep like that in a long time.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

The End of the Rainbow

I've written about it before but the last two months at work have taken quite a toll on me. From the 50-hour weeks to more than my usual share of night shifts, I've spent most of my time at home just sleeping. I've pretty much lost contact with my parents and a lot of my friends, for which I apologize. But things are back to normal, or as close to normal as possible. I should have more time to spend with my friends....maybe even a short vacation. There is a lot to think about for my future.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Labor

The last day of August (and the night before Labor Day) was very busy at work. I must have spent half my shift supervising. Despite my usual hatred of giving out OT to dealers, I had absolutely no choice tonight. And while I find it almost unacceptable to have dealers working 10 hours, it happened to a number of the staff, because it was just that busy. Some of them worked 10.25 hours. At 3:45am there were still 12 players playing (usually by this time there might be one if we're lucky).

Oh well, Happy Labor Day.