So on to day 6 which was Friday after Thanksgiving. These losses were going to have to stop, or else it was going to be like the last trip. I hit several 4 OAK's, including the progressive 4 Aces on the BP for almost $500. But if you don't hit either the Royal or several other 4 OAK's, including some in DDB, you aren't going to make a profit if you play as long as I do. Bankroll keeps on getting smaller and smaller. So on to day 7...Sharlene is coming to town. At this point I feel she isn't coming to town at all. Losing gets you very depressed, although I've been through it before and at this point in time, it shouldn't bother me at all, and I try to keep at an even keel.
Saturday Day 7
Shar finally contacts me about 10 am. and she's almost packed and ready to leave. Halleluya. But knowing her, I didn't expect to see her until later that evening. And boy was I right! First of all, of course I had to send her some money for gas to get out here. Would $50 be OK? No! How about a hundred? OK! I'll send it Western Union, find a place near you. I decided to do the transfer online. She gets to the WU office...in Compton no less....and tells me they won't except her ID which has expired. The CHP took away her drivers license and mailed her a temporary one but it had no picture ID. So now I would have to cancel the original transaction online and go down to a WU office so I could add a test question which you can't do online as I explained when trying to send money to her jail bird friend in Elko. So now I have to find a WU office near me...or at least close. The WU agent gives me a few addresses after I give him the Silverton zip code. So now it's off to valet to pick up my car. These guys park my car in a certain spot, which is in easy walking distance, so I just give them my ticket if they gave me one, throw them a tip and collect my keys.
So I plug the address into my GPS, and it's off to the races. Just as I'm a block away from the Smith's Market to send the WU, she calls me. I told her I was only minutes away from sending it. She said she was already at the window. Now she had to go back to the end of the line. As I was filling out the paperwork to send the money, she calls again. She was at the front of the line again. She tried to stall, but had to go back to the end of the line. Finally on her third trip up to the cashier, I had the MTCN number and gave it to her over the phone. Before I got back to my car, I got a text message from WU that she had picked up the money. She called shortly thereafter with an amazing story of what happened to her before she picked up the money. She was almost arrested AGAIN!!!
She's on the way to the Compton WU office and she starts getting lost. She passes a police car that has someone pulled over. She decides to pull over a little further up the street to check the GPS on her phone. Next thing she knows, the police are behind her with their lights on. The ask her for her usual ID, registration and proof of insurance. Well fortunately, after her recent impound in Vista or Oceanside, she signed the truck over to me so I could pick up the truck, and I could get my laptop back for a change. We did this at AAA and it was a lot better than going to DMV. The next day I decided she needed insurance to be totally legal so IF she did get stopped again, she would have no problem. But she did have an expired license on her and when they ran it, they found out she had drug possession charges against her 22 years ago in the LA area. Well this allowed them to search her, and then her truck. So this female officer starts searching her from top to bottom, and I mean grabbing her tits, and even going into her pants to her "clit" ring. I never heard of anything like that. She then accused her of being a prostitute and a crack whore. They then handcuffed her and threw her into the back of the squad car. They then searched her car from top to bottom.. They also found out she had a warrant in Barstow for her non appearance after she pleaded not guilty. She told them she was going to Vegas to meet me...her representative payee. They then accused me of being her pimp. But if they ran me, they'd find out I had no record of anything, especially of being a pimp no less!!! So the female cop come back to the car with a high heel shoe that had the heel broken. Sharlene had told me earlier that she had broken this heel in a fall. The cop held the shoe up in front of her fully expecting to find something in the broken heel.. "This is where you crack whores usually hide your pipes!" When she opened up the heel and found NOTHING, Shar said she actually blushed finding nothing. And that was the result of the whole search...THEY FOUND NOTHING....and let her go!
Well she was now on he way to Vegas, and I returned to the bar and decided it was time for a cocktail. After all, I wasn't going to have to drive any more......boy was I wrong!!!!About 7 PM I missed a call because of the lousy reception...and I went ot my voice mail. It was Sharlene, and she had broken down just after she crossed the Cal/Neva border. I called her up and she needed help. Her truck had stalled out, and she was at the side of the road. I told her I would be right out to pick her up and it would be at least 40 minutes. By this time I had about 4 cocktails in me and really shouldn't have been driving, but I have some serious concentration issues and I focus very well when driving intoxicate. I used to do it daily when I was playing poker for a living and never got a DUI.
So I hit the road knowing I had at least 40 miles to drive until I hit Primm (Stateline), and then I would have to turn around and head back to where she was stuck. I made very good time, as that Lincoln just loves to eat up those highway miles. The car practically drives itself. She said I made it there in 25 minutes, but that's highly doubtful. But after I turned around, and drove for a bit, I spotted her truck on the side of the road with her flashers on. She had left a note for the NHP telling them she would be back for the car and to not tow it. She loaded her baggage into the Lincoln and we headed back to Vegas. What we should have done was cal the Auto Club right then and there and save us a trip back the next day. But I sure wasn't thinking straight, and I was just happy to have her with me.
When we got back to the Silverton, we headed upstairs to the suite, and wouldn't you know it, bump into Faye's son and GF walking to the room. We said our "hellos" and kept walking. BUSTED!!! But who really cared? I knew he wouldn't say anything, although he had ratted me out before after Star and I left for Vegas in August. We left her stuff in the room and headed downstairs to play.
We decided to play at the Flair Bar as I almost never play there, and most people wouldn't know me there. I decided to play for quarters as I couldn't get any money until after midnight, or the next day. I really didn't think I was going to make it to midnight. But for some reason, Star has always brought me luck on the VP machines, and tonight would be no different. And I seemed to bring luck to her. I inserted $20 for each of us, and when I got down to my last 5 coins, I hit 4 Queens. Star followed with a 4 OAK playing bonus poker. She was now over $40. My hit was worth 250 credits and I was hoping for more. Sure enough, I got 2 Aces dealt, and on the draw I caught 2 more Aces with a 4 kicker playing the "right" game. That was worth $500, and I almost cried as I wasn't playing dollars. What a bitch. NO! Not Star, but the machine. We cashed out and headed for the center bar where that jackpot was still teasing me. After mixed results, we decided to go up to bed. Sleep would come later. We had a great session and I fell fast asleep. It was nice having someone next to me. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I couldn't find her. She was buried on the far side of the bed under the Silverton comforter. I got up and got a soda out of the mini bar along with a Butterfingers.
We finally got up the next morning, and I ordered room service for both of us. We knew we had to hit the road and pick up the truck. What a bitch! After going to the bar and playing for a while...I was back up to dollars...it was time to pick up the truck. Naturally, it was NFL Sunday, and I was going to miss most of the games. Not a happy camper on that one, but I really had no strong feelings on what to play on the early games. So out to pick up her truck we went.
I NEVER want to leave Vegas on a Sunday. I've told you of my experiences before of leaving Vegas on Sunday, and I avoid it at all costs. If I have to leave on Sunday, I'll leave at 4 am or so. But since I wasn't really driving to Calif., I didn't think it would be a problem. Boy was I wrong.
After driving for a few miles, all I saw were brake lights ahead of me. Now there's a road next to the I-15 that runs parallel to the freeway, and if you're lucky enough to get the right exit, can ride it all the way to Primm with hardly any stops. So I start to take an exit, and wouldn't you know it the traffic starts to move.BIG MISTAKE!! Right after I passed the exit, the traffic came to a halt again, while the traffic on LV Blvd kept on rolling along. Talk about pissing me off. Well we finally got off at Jean, NV, and both gas stations were filled to the brim. I decided to get off there and take the parallel road. Another BIG MISTAKE!! Although we were making great time, and other drivers were doing the same thing....all of a sudden, I saw brake lights in front of me. Not only brake lights, but clouds of dust! What was going on? Well it seems like the road turned into an unpaved road of sand and rocks, and that would continue for the 15 miles between Jean and Primm. What a joke.
At this point, somewhere in between would be Stars truck. at least we hoped it would be. She kept leaning out the window hoping to see her truck through all the dust and debris that was being kicked up by the vehicles in front of me. Finally, after driving what seemed like an hour, she said she spotted her truck. I saw something though al the dust, but I wouldn't swear it was her truck. For all I knew, it was just someone else that had stopped on the shoulder of the road. I had tried to cal AAA on our way out there so we could save some time, but if we weren't within 5 minutes of the truck, they wouldn't come out to save us.
I finally got to Primm, and had to take a leak. It was so busy there, I said screw it and I would take a leak when we got to Star's truck. We kept on driving, and we passed 5 miles where we thought the truck would be. Then 6..7...and 8 miles. The truck was no where in sight! I told her to go to one of the call boxes on the side of the road, and find out if the truck was towed. Each time we passed a "box", she told me to keep driving. I thought it was hopeless, and just knew I would be paying another impound charge. At least it would only be for one day as opposed to the others. As we hit the 9 mile marker, and as I was calculating how much this was going to cost me, I heard her scream, "THERE IT IS!' I looked as hard as I could, but I didn't see anything, and I didn't need glasses. I thought it was wishful thinking on her part. After driving .4 of a mile more.......there it was!!!! Boy, as much as she was happy to see her truck, I felt my wallet take a bulge, as I wouldn't have to lay out any towing fees.
So I call AAA and told them I was now with the truck and could they send someone to bail me out. He said the only person they had out there was on the "wrong" side of the road, heading south to LA, and it could be quite a while. We had left around 1 pm, and it was now about 3 pm. I sure as hell would miss the SNF game as it started around 5:30. But the guy called me back and told me a tow truck was at Stateline and was helping others, but he could see me next.
Sure enough, he showed up 40 minutes and I told him we needed a "jump" start. So he hooked up his jumpers to the truck, and although it tried to start, it failed. Seems like she ran out of gas, and he didn't have a gas can which we had requested. Since Jean was in plain sight, he suggested he tow the truck there and get gas. That should solve the problem. I dreaded the thought of going to those Shell stations who were loaded with cars trying to get gas. So he hooked up the truck to be towed, and Star and I headed to Jean. Boy was this going to be a wasted day.
Arriving at the gas station, I tried to hold a place in line waiting for the tow truck. Sharlene was out directing traffic to hold our place in line., The tow truck finally made it to the pump, and I used my debit card to get gas. I went inside to get change for a $20 as I wanted to tip the driver. He was really nice and I figured he could use and extra $5. But the line was down the block. I thought that they might have a change machine because they had video poker machines. I just went up to a cashier and asked them for change. The guy said as soon as he opened his draw. Next thing I knew, a guy came up to the other cashier and asked for $50 in gas. I saw there were lots of five dollar bills that he gave the cashier and I asked her if she could give me change of a $20. She complied, and I was out the door looking for the driver. But he had already left to help other people, but Star knew where he was. She grabbed the fiver and took off looking for the driver. She found him and returned to her truck that she left running. Finally, we were going back to the Silverton for fun and games.
Tomorrow.....our first fight!!! Stay tuned! It's a good one!
