Love And Hate

When I moved into my apartment last year, I can truthfully say that it was the absolute lowest point in my life.  My mother and I became estranged after the death of my father last year.  It was quite a shock to me since I always considered myself to be a "mama's boy" and I thought our relationship was on rock solid ground.

Little did I realize how much of a liability she considered me (because of my financial debacles) and how frightened she was to be left alone to run the family cab business that my father had built.  I should not say alone because she chose my younger brother with which to align herself, while she legally incorporated what was a smooth running cash Taxi business, leaving my name off of all the paperwork.

Sorry, but I am not being a jealous baby here.  While my father was alive, I was the one who handled all his affairs,and did all the business legwork after he lost his vision to "macular degeneration", and most certainly felt that I would be the one to continue to do so after his death.  I was not even offered a clue by my remaining surviving parent, as to how the "now legal" Taxi
business was to be run, and was  summarily cut off from its existence.

I am not embarrassed or ashamed to state right now that while I was busy pissing away the rather good income I earned my entire employed life (a union carpenter), I always had a deep rooted security in assuming that in my older years, I would inherit, or at least be a part of a million dollar Taxi franchise.  To be severed from the family business, due to my father departing from this world first, is a nightmare I could never have imagined.

Thus, the culmination of my Natural Disasters.

Oh, and by the way, the casino chips were genuine.  I sent the blond into the casino on her own as I waited in my car that I parked adjacent to valet parking.  There was no way I was going to go into the casino and stand next to that girl while she passed 25 - $5 chips that she found on the ground, in a white plastic bag, along with 2 hunters knives, outside the door of the visitors annex of the Union County Jail.  Blondie (see previous blogs) later told me that she pawned the knives herself for some pocket change.

So, as my ex "go-go girl" girlfriend emerged through the lobby doors of the Tropicana Casino, with no security guards on her tail, I beeped the horn to alert her as to my location, which I changed after dropping her off.....just in case. 

She hopped in, handed me my cut, and we drove off to another casino up the road, where she proceeded lose her share, and I managed to somehow not even gamble one penny  of it. I just couldn't see driving 2.5 hours to come home empty handed .

As I continue to recount the numerous self inflicted disasters of my life, I am reminded of a glowing bright spot that ventured into my life during the weeks and months that followed the move into my new apartment last year.

This splash of happiness came in the form of a little 4 year old Indian boy named Manu, who resided in the apartment next to mine.  I will save the tale of our meeting and the bond that we developed for a new blog page. This little boy named Manu, who could not speak a word of English, would give my life some meaning again, and help me to understand the power that love and caring for others can have in filling our voids in life.

Natural Disasters meets Natural Phenomenon

ICELAND VOLCANO SPARKS UP SOME LIGHTNING IN THE ATMOSPHERE

I thought this photo of the Iceland Volcano was spectacular, and I wanted to share it with my 20 second viewers.  I have a personal obsession with Vocano(s or es?) as it is.  To be close to one in all its fury must be sensational.

This link  http://www.flickr.com/photos/skarpi/4527797541/sizes/o/ will bring you to the larger photo where the Lightning in the center is much clearer.

The She Devil Was Telling The Truth

                                 THIS IS MY GOLD CAR.  I LOVE IT

I get a call at breakfast this morning, and it is Blondie (you remember, the she devil) telling me that she has the Twenty Five - $5 casino chips from the Tropicana. I hurry to chew and swallow my Taylor Ham Sandwich (God's Food) and jump in my Scion to see these casino chips in person.  Still a little unbelievable that this girl could just find $125 in casino chips in a bag on the ground.  That, is the supposed story.

                                                                    

In preparation for a trip, (in case Blondie's story is true), I fill up my vehicle with gas.  It costs me $30 to fill up, and I am supposed to make $50 out of this transaction after cashing the chips, so I will wind up with a $20 profit.  Just to get away from the TV set to Atlantic City today is making me feel good.  I always try to defend the fact that gambling is not a real addition, but when a small dose of it (like today's trip will be) makes me feel better, I sometimes wonder.  Nah!!  No way is gambling comparable to crack, or coke, or meth, or heroin.  None of those addictions will ever have a positive outcome.  At least a gambling addiction will have you on the positive end of some pocket change (or more) when your done snorting the dice.

I arrive at Blondie's beat up apartment in Elizabeth NJ ( I hate that town), give her a call, and tell her to come to the car.  As she approaches the car in her Yankees baseball shirt, I glance at the white shopping bag tied in a knot , swinging in her hands.  She tosses it over to me, and I untie the knot to reveal the casino chips. That quick feel and the sound of them rubbing together as I poured them into my hands, was enough to convince me that the chips were authentic.  Cool.  Get in the car and lets go cash them.

I am getting kind of tired now.  That trip to Atlantic City and back (5 hours total for me) really burns me out.  Plus, I had a couple of beers while we were there.  So if you come back here tomorrow, I'll reveal the outcome of handing the chips over to the casino cashier in exchange for the money.

Casino Gambling Chips

My two divorces and various choices of women have been a huge factor in a lot of my unfortunate circumstances.  And yet, I don't blame any of them because they were all fairly good girls.  Even my 2 ex wives turned out to be great mothers to my children and were probably making the right decisions when we went our separate ways. 

But there was one girl (the last one I was with) who was a major contributor to a lot of the destruction in my life in the last 10 years.  Not that I still wouldn't have self destructed without her, but keeping this girl in my life was like having my own private mine field, that I knew would explode as I ventured across it, yet kept moving forward amassing additional colateral damage along the way.

Now some people would say that choosing a go-go dancer from NJ to go out with is just looking for trouble, but I tried the other wholesome church goin', family oriented, child raisin', career focused girls and did not have much luck, so what the heck.  Little did I know then, that I was falling for the exotic dancer from hell.

Let's call this girl Blondie.  Why?  Because that's what she called herself.   When I asked her why she would name herself after a pop singer, she informed me that it was a term of endearment that her father called her when she was 3. That should have been my first clue to run for the hills.  I will probably be referring to her many times as I recount many of my natural disasters.  I served an 8 year self induced sentence with this girl, and have since cut the ties and remain alone as of this date.

Getting back to current events and the gambling chips referenced above......Blondie calls me today to tell me that she has happened upon a bag of $5 Tropicana Casino Poker Chips and wants to know if I will give her the money for the chips.  How she came upon this bag of chips is still not clear to me, but reveals that there are 25 of them.  Her offer to me is that she will give me all the chips if I can give her $75 cash.  I will let you know how this transaction turns out.  I am going over to her place tonight.

Let Me Ask A Question ?

Has anyone ever used Ashitaba?

It is some type of Japanese root that is prepared like a tea.

How do you prepare it, and is it beneficial ?

My Cartoon Analysts

I just realized , and have finally stumbled upon the blog of my one commenter.

I am honored to be viewed by a couple who I can only identify as residents of South Park.  Their depictions of themselves in that genre show me that they are not afraid to be real.

I enjoy reading their blog, and it is finally showing up on my clicker quite often.

Now I am experimenting on what I would look like as a South Park clone.  I don't have their artistic talent yet, but I am still drafting my look-a-like

Be back soon

Nothing Like A Good Cup Of Coffee

Upon waking up this Thursday, I find myself feeling better physically than I have in a long time. I don't get it.

I took two ambien (sleeping pills), and 6 percocet (pain killers).  I dread to think that this is what I need to feel good in the morning.

Well, I am going to the Racetrack again today, for the 4th day in a row.  Every day so far has seen my bankroll grow.  Not in huge leaps and bounds, but slowly.  I am still testing my Crystal Ball system and the only way for me to stay focused is to bet in small increments.  I tend to go off course if I bet large , and lose, and then I toss out any structured system that had me winning.

Gambling requires a mass amount of self control.  Probably why I don't drink alcohol while I gamble. 

You know, if anyone wants to comment on how boring or how interesting or how moronic, or how much waste of your time I am committing, please just say so in a comment.

One person actually commented , but I don't know who it was, so I can't have a conversation with that person.  I will always be nice.  I am notoriously nice, to a point where my last dollar will go to someone else but me.

But now that my son (21) has decided to move out of our home and go on his own, I am , for the first time in my life, living alone.  So if any other people live alone, and don't have a lot of friends, maybe you could tell me how to enhance my life.

Supposed to be in the upper 80's today , so the racetrack will have all of its charm out in full force.  Hey, c'mon people, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  That is so true. Who said that? 

Since I am exposed to a lot of blogs on this BlogClicker thing, I see that 95% of all the blogs are trying to sell something.  So, if I find something to sell, I could list it in my blog like a classified ad?  And some of those blogs indicate that I could make thousands of dollars per week.  I would stop gambling if this was true.  I wonder if there is less risk and less dollar investment?

For today, I bid you farewell.  I am going to check the news to see how many earthquakes we experienced, how many people blew themselves up, how many media personalities committed suicide, and how many politicians lied to us and cheated on their mates. 

Anyone giving odds that one of those scenarios above is in the headlines? And I swear, I have not looked yet.