STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21185: Happy Birthday To Me

July 14, 2005 on 12:43 am | In Miscellany |

Today is the 58th anniversary of the day of my birth. This BLOG is now 1 year old as well. Since it is 113 dergrees at 1145, I have few plans. The main “plan” is to find and devour a GOOD steak. The Silverton Casino across the street from my current location at the TA Truckstop has the Twin Creeks Steakhouse, as well as Bass Pro Shops. This comes highly recommended by my brother (Bass Pro Shops, not the Steakhouse). I’ve also heard good things about Billy Bob’s Steakhouse in, of all places, Sam’s Town Casino. Decisions, decisions!!
The CD drive in this computer is giving me fits. It works whenever it damned well pleases. It will not read some of my CD’s at all, and others only after 3 or 4 attempts. This is not good since I’m in the process of copying my CD library onto my hard-drive. If I had any hair left, I would be pulling it out. In lieu of the afore mentioned method of venting frustration, I may pay a visit to Fry’s Electronics and purchase an external CD Drive. If I am prudent, I will ensure that any purchase of such a devise will be compatable with Windows 98 as well so that I can also use it with my Sony VAIO desktop. I have already had to replace that CD drive once. I think that this would certainly save time over taking my computer to the repair shop to have the internal CD drive repaired or replaced, and possibly even save some $$$ as well. Time and computer availability are definitely factors in any decision I make concerning these matters. Since I do not watch Television anymore, my computer is my main source of entertainment in my leisure hours. At any rate, this is something to be dealt with tomorrow.
After lounging most of the day here @ the TA, waiting to no avail for the temperature to drop below 110 degrees, I decided to walk over to the Silverton Casino and Lodge at about 1900 PDT. It was still 112 degrees. When I entered the Casino, they were just feeding the fish in the 80,000 gallon salt water aquarium. It’s a kind of show with one person talking to the crowd outside the tank while another is inside the tank in S.C.U.B.A. gear actually feeding the fish. The water was murky because, according to the person doing the talking, it’s a natural process of the method they use to clean a tank that size. It takes about 3 days for everything to settle back down to the bottom of the tank. They do this thrice yearly. The diver actually had to put food into the mouth of the Sting-Rays because their eyes are on top of their body while their mouth is on the bottom. They can’t see the food which the diver is offering them. In their natural environment, they are lawyers, oops, I mean bottom feeders :>} and do not need to see the food they consume.
After that, I went into Bass Pro Shops. This is an interesting place, reminiscent of Cabela’s, with everything outdoors available. Specialized clothing, boats, fishing and hunting accoutrements, de-hydrated foods for camping and hiking excursions; if you can use it outdoors, they have it here. I bought a nice light-weight shirt with a special pocket for glasses and a few snacks.
I then went to Twin Creeks Steakhouse. I had no reservation, so I was told that I would have to wait for over an hour if I wanted a table in the smoking section. Just after I had opted to sit in non-smoking (they had tables available immediately there), a table opened up in the ’smoking’ section (as it should be on my Birthday) and I got it after a 3 minute wait for them to clean it and set it up. I ordered a 14oz New York steak. It came with 2 side dishes (un-like Ruth’s Chris Steak House for instance where everything is al a carte). I selected Yukon Gold steak fries and steamed asparagus. The meal also included a “bottomless” salad with a dandy Balsamic Vinagetette dressing ( the only dressing available) and some delicious rolls. In addition, I rounded out my meal with iced tea (surprise, surprise) to drink. After my salad, I decided to go “whole hog” and order a glass of wine as well. With the aid of my server (an affable gentleman approximately my age), I selected a pleasant, yet rambunctious, cabernet. (I’m actually a functional illiterate when it comes to selecting a wine, so I’m faking the ‘wine-snob’ terminology). The meal was excellent. My steak was actually medium-well, as ordered.There were only 6 steak fries (wedges), but if you were to assemble them, it would be a whole baking-size potato. The asparagus was al dente and tender (not ‘woody’) and delicious. At some point during the meal, I must have casually mentioned to my server that it was my Birthday, because just as I was trying to locate him so he could bring the desert -cart over to my table, he showed up with a huge piece of Raspberry Cheese Cake, complete with 1 candle, and sang “Happy Birthday” to me. I wasn’t going to order Cheese Cake (I was leaning toward a Berry Compote), but what the heck. The Cheese cake was complimentary, so the total damage to my wallet was $45.00 including tax and a generous tip. I’ll rate the meal as a whole as very, very good. The fact that there was only one salad dressing available, and that there was no soup option instead, and the butter for the rolls was straight out of the refrigerator and therefore un-spreadable prevents it from getting an excellent rating from me. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.
After the meal, I meandered around the Casino for a while. All of the gaming tables had a $5.00 minimum bet with the exception of Craps and Roulette and they were $3.00 minimum, even during mid-week, but that is pretty much the norm here in Las Vegas now. The waitress uniforms were fetching (as were most of the girls in them). They have a Sports Bar, the Shady Grove Lounge, with a pool table that had the most hideous ‘felt’ I’ve ever seen (a Hootie and the Blowfish album cover???). In addition, they had a 1/2 scale ‘mini’ bowling alley (2 lanes, housed in an older type Airstream trailer). The balls (sans holes) and pins are 1/2 size and the length of the ‘alleys’ was 1/2 scale as well. The bar also features tables which offer a close-up view of the aquarium.
I returned to my truck about 2215 PDT and was exuberantly greeted by the MMM (probably because of the left-overs I brought them). The temperature had plummeted to a paltry 102 degrees. Despite the agonizing heat (the high was in the neighborhood of 118 degrees), I have to rate this a good day. I did absolutely nothing that could even remotely be construed as work (apropos on this most exalted day). I went to bed just before midnight PDT.