Payin' It With Love

I’m on board the “Big M” casino ship, wondering if I made the right decision. It’s supposed to hit 73 degrees today, but I am dubious, being currently at 49 degrees, plus there’s a pretty good wind blowing, so it promises to be a bumpy, chilly ride. I have my sweatshirt on, one of only a couple days I can remember wearing it since arriving here back in November. All of which would feel welcome, I’m sure, to you folks back in Wisconsin. I see that it’s currently 3 degrees in Madison, and I see there’s more snow on the way to boot.

I had breakfast this morning at Marti’s, a family style restaurant on San Carlos Blvd. that’s very popular with the locals, plus is gaining a favorable rep with the tourists/snowbirds via Yelp and TripAdvisor. (Sister) Dawn, I didn’t get a chance to take you there, but it’s very similar to the Cottage Café back in Madison. Generous portions, and breakfast is usually under $10, including coffee and tip. This morning, I had a Western omelet with Swiss cheese, hashbrowns, raisin toast, and coffee.
Nothing earthshaking to report the last few days. I have the bike in the shop at the moment undergoing some adjustments and a changeout on the seat, both of which I decided to save myself the aggravation and not try to tackle on my own.  So I drove the Prius over to the beach today rather than ride the bike.

Sunday I decided to watch the Superbowl after all, joining the game about half-way into the first quarter. Despite having no interest in either team, it was a very interesting game, especially at the end. I, along with the millions of other viewers I’m sure, couldn’t believe the Seattle coach’s decision to go with a pass at 2nd down and goal to go, when all they had to do was give the ball to their tallest player and have him simply fall over the goal line. Holy cow. That Seattle receiver who a few plays earlier had made that amazing pass reception that put Seattle near the goal line in the first place surely had to have felt robbed.

Some of the commercials had not played on youtube, and were interesting/provocative, too. Did anyone see the McDonalds commercial for the “Pay It With Love” promotion they are running until Feb. 14? The reason I ask is that, in a moment of weakness on Monday, I stopped at the McDonald’s near me for a quick “food pill” of a McDouble, small fries, and diet Coke, and was one of those randomly selected. My “payment” was to perform a “fist bump” with any restaurant patron in view of the cashier, which I did with a gentleman seated at a table with his family.

I had a nice long (40 minute) Skype session with Dawn on Sunday, and got caught up on family news, and Dawn showed me the snow on the ground and piled up at the end of the driveway outside her condo.
Happy to report that I won $52.50 at the blackjack table on Tuesday. I was going to play craps, but the boat was rocking so badly that it was hard to keep my balance standing up. Despite my doubts, the temperature did finally get into the mid 70s, and the wind finally died down by the time we got back to the dock. My winnings were more than enough to pay for the adjustments on the bike ($31), which I picked up on the way back to the apartment. Had I attempted to do this myself, I'm sure it would have cost me at least two hours of aggravation, and that's two hours that could be better spent at the beach or perfecting my Margarita-making skills.

It's now Wednesday, and I'm in desperate need of a haircut, so am returning to "Doug's Barber Shop" on Cleveland Ave. Then I'm thinking of a bike ride along the John Yarbrough Lineal Bike Trail, with a stop at the Sunshine Harvest Citrus Co. for some orange juice samples, an orange/vanilla twist cone, and possibly a slice of key lime pie. It's supposed to reach 78 degrees today. Tomorrow, we are supposed to have rain and possibly thunderstorms, so it might be a good day for a movie.

Bruce