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Newsletter - June 15, 2015

GreedyGirl

Pickled Onion
Dear ,

Things are hectic right now, juggling work, home life, and of course, planning a wedding. ‘Relaxing’ is now what I do in the car, driving to and from wherever I need to be, or an extra minute on the toilet during a potty break. Joe complains that the only time he saw less of me was BEFORE we met!

This is why when there’s some sort of ‘real’ break, I want to do my best to relax and enjoy the moment.

That was MY plan when Joe and I had committed to joining friends for a ‘wine-tasting dinner’ at an exclusive restaurant outside El Paso, in New Mexico, this past Thursday.

Thursday’s are always crazy days at my house: It’s the day our gardener comes (he’s become a good friend), our pool guy comes (chatterbox) AND my amazing housekeeper Pati comes. Pati has been working for me since the very first day I arrived in El Paso and genuinely, she A) most likely saved my life when I contracted West Nile virus and B) has become like family. She also does not speak a word of English.

Before arriving in El Paso, I spoke very little Spanish, but having Pati, I had to quickly learn the language. There’s been no formal training for me, so I’ll be the first to admit, my Spanish pretty much sucks, but somehow I generally get by—understanding with probably 80% accuracy and responding with probably 70% accuracy.

So with all the craziness around the house (toss in several errands and work, last Thursday, as well), the day quickly whizzed by. I looked at the clock and realized it was already 4:45—we’d need to be leaving the house no later than 6:00 for this event, so I quickly dashed into the shower.

I’d not been in the shower more than two minutes when Joe came flying in…

Joe: “Debbee! The stove is not working! There’s no gas coming into the burners! Did you pay the gas bill?”

Me: “Yes, I paid it.”

Joe (in some goofy panic!): “Well it’s not working!”

Me: “Alright, but the gas is clearly on, as I’m taking a hot shower.”

Joe: “That’s a big hot water tank, so that doesn’t mean anything. The stove’s not working!”

Me (becoming very frustrated, but doing my best to both be patient AND enjoy a peaceful moment in the shower…unsuccessfully): “What the heck do you want me to do while I’m in the shower?!?!?”

With that last reply, Joe got the hint and walked off. Of course, there would be no peaceful shower moment, as I hurried to get out to see what the trouble with the stove was.

I come out wrapped in a towel to find Joe and Pati, hovering over the stove. Pati is rambling on and on in Spanish, while Joe is doing the same, in English. Both are frustrated and upset and looking to me to fix things. You know…because I’m so good at knowing wtf to do with non-functioning appliances!

I jumped into action, calling our local gas utility company. By now, it was 4:58 and Joe was making things SOOOOOOOO much better by telling me, “it’s too late! They’ll be closed by now!” Ha! After less than a minute, I was speaking with an operator, who actually had half a brain. Yes, only half of one.

I explained the situation to her and that I did not know if this was an appliance issue or a gas issue. She told me that if it’s an appliance issue, I would have to call the appliance repairman. I explained again that I did not know if this was indeed an appliance issue or if there was trouble with the gas lines. And once again, she told me that I would need to ring an appliance technician. At that point, I was beyond frustrated and had to pull out the big guns: “I’m so sorry. I’m Jewish…I come from a Jewish family. You have to understand that we’re very sensitive to issues involving gas.” Yep, believe it or not, that worked!

Half-a-brain woman then read me a scripted diatribe, telling me to remove all pets from the house…do not turn on any more appliances, light switches, etc…do NOT light any matches or smoke (as Joe is walking by, lighting a cigarette!) and please step out of the house. A gas company technician will be there, shortly.

Out of the house? No more appliances? Are you frickin’ kidding me? We had a dinner to get to! I had to dry my hair, for crying out loud! Joe had to shower, which meant turning on lights. And what the heck??? We weren’t actually SMELLING gas! As someone who already lives close to the edge, I decided we’d risk our lives in favor of having a clean fiancé and dry hair!

While Joe was showering and we were awaiting the arrival of the gas guy, Pati and I attempted to usher the pups outside to safety (such a joke!). Bear in mind, our weather has been averaging 106 degrees (which in non-Fahrenheit terms would be about 38…freaking HOT!!!) and I’m now all dressed up, WITH heels. As we’re getting the dogs outside, we’re realizing things are not going as they should be. Of course not. There are three doors on different areas of the house, leading to the backyard. Apparently, each door was open, so we’d get two dogs outside, one would run back in, and so on, until all three doors were shut and three dogs were outside (a good ten minutes on this task). By now, I was sweating and a mess. How could I go out like this? Back into the shower for me!

As I exited the shower, I found Joe all dressed and ready to go. He asked me what the heck I was doing? And then that classic moment…”You DO know we’re supposed to be leaving in a few minutes. We’re going to be late!” With that, I gave Joe a glare that would likely cut glass! He quickly left me alone to get ready (again!).

A few minutes later, gas dude arrived and Joe explained what was going on. Gas dude took a quick look at the stove and explained that he was going to have to check the lines in the neighborhood and it would likely be at least an hour before he would have any answers for us. At this moment, I just wanted to stay home, to be there for the final verdict, but Joe reminded me that we had pre-paid for this dinner and it wasn’t cheap. We were going and that was that!

The gas guy (as most folks are, here in El Paso) was bi-lingual. He assured us that he would thoroughly explain to Pati what the trouble is, so no need for us to worry. Sure. No need to worry. He clearly doesn’t know who I am! I worry about excess lint in Joe’s belly-button, for crying out loud! Telling me not to worry is akin to telling a fish to walk. Not gonna happen.

Joe finally convinced me that we didn’t need to stay…Pati could handle everything…and besides, I’d already showered and dressed for this event, twice!

(Continued, below)

THIS WEEK’S CASINO OF THE WEEK!

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To take part in these deals, please go to the Casino of the Week section of the forum for all the need-to-know details.


FORUM STUFF – BLOGS

I’ve mentioned previously that members can start their own blogs in our new forum and now I’ve put my money where my mouth is (so to speak). I’ve set up my own blog, in the hopes of getting members a bit more active in this area.

My blog is all about my upcoming wedding (just around the corner!) and this should be a great place for me to vent/laugh/cry about the complexities and emotional roller coaster which is to be my wedding. If nothing else, I figured y’all would get sick of me talking my upcoming nuptials in the newsletters, so I stuck it in a blog. Check it out, comment on it (good or bad!) and maybe even get inspired to start your own blog!


FORUM STUFF – SCREEN SHOTS

Our thread on great casino winning screen shots is gaining momentum, but I want to see more! Aside from getting excited seeing our member’s wins, it also gives everyone that hope that we can hit the big ones!

Please post your best winning shots in the screen shot thread. We’re gonna be doing some updating on the main site’s homepage and with this, you’re screen shots could be in lights! So let’s see ‘em!


QUALITY TIME, PART II

We arrived 30 minutes late (big surprise!) and Joe and I were greeted by a waiter who was passing out the next wine sample (we had missed two samplings, already). Neither Joe or I are big wine drinkers—Joe enjoys wine more than I do and while I do like wine, it tends to make me very tired, so I generally prefer liquor.

We sampled that first wine (just alright) and within a few minutes, another sample was being handed to us. Joe mentioned that there was something wrong with my mascara, so I excused myself to head to the restroom to address this, leaving my glass of wine with Joe. When I returned, all the guests had been moved to the dining room, where I found Joe and a setting of a new wine sample. I asked Joe what happened to my last sample…he giggled and I knew it went straight down his throat.

We were amongst a group of probably 60 people—some we knew well, some we were meeting for the first time. Joe was having a great ol’ time, but I kept checking my phone, waiting for some sort of news on what was happening at home. I could not relax for the life of me. The first course of food came along…with another wine sample. The chirp of my phone came about the same time, so I excused myself to check the message outside of the dining room.

Sure enough, it was Pati. She was messaging me to let me know that the gas guy was still working in the neighborhood, but did I know where the large trash bags were? <sigh>

After telling Pati the location of the bags, I re-entered the dining room, where the first course was already being collected and another round of wine samples were being handed out. So far, I’d missed a total of four wine samples, of which Joe ‘took it for the team’ by drinking both my samples and his.

It was time for salad and although it was definitely quite tasty, my stomach was so knotted up from stress, I took only a few bites. So not to disturb others around me, I had placed my phone on the silent mode, so every few minutes, I kept checking. I don’t know WHY I couldn’t just let this go and enjoy myself—it wasn’t as if there was anything I could do, but this was bugging me.

Salad course, over…plates and the last wine samples removed and two more wine samples were being brought out. I had a few sips of each...Joe slurped it all down. He was definitely happy and I was happy to see him having such a good time. And somewhat relieved when I saw a message come through from Pati. Once again, I excused myself to go outside to catch up on the latest.

I read Pati’s message and I was a little confused. I forgot to mention, Pati has terrible spelling. For someone like me with limited Spanish skills, proper spelling is crucial! After reading the message a couple times over, I did wrap my head around it and it was bad news. The stove had been red-tagged and we were now without gas until this could be properly repaired. It was bad enough to not have a stove, but this also meant no hot water. Crap!

I quickly rang the landlord to let her know what was happening. Being this was Thursday evening, it was important to us that she arranged a repairman to be at the house the next day—if not, we’d be without gas for the weekend. She told me she’d get back to me within a couple minutes, as she was going to call the warrantee company immediately. Rather than go back into the dining room and excuse myself again, I opted to stay outside and wait.

A couple minutes turned into nearly 20—my landlord told me that she would not have an answer from the warrantee company until morning. Oh well, nothing I can do now, so I decided I was going to make the best of what was left of the evening. As I re-entered the dining room, I could see that the main course was not only served, but most folks were already finished. My plate was sitting at my place…now cold. Joe was laughing, toasting it up with all his new buddies—I don’t even think he realized I was gone!

Joe asked me if I was going to eat or not. I gave him that same glare I’d given him earlier after I’d showered for the second time. He didn’t deserve it, but he was having such a great time, while I was dealing with all the crap!

Another round of wine samples came by and a waiter asked if I was finished with my main course. I hadn’t had two bites, but I said yes. I tried to explain to Joe what was happening at the house with the gas situation, but nothing was really penetrating his wine-soaked skull. Turned out while I was away there was another wine sample I’d missed…and Joe had made sure my wine was tasted!

Finally, it was time for dessert. The one course I actually ate…and enjoyed! It was Tiramisu and probably the best Tiramisu I’ve ever had. It was served with a wine that was probably the worst I’ve ever had…but I drank it. I just wanted to be able to say I finished one of the wine samples…and I didn’t want Joe finishing another one of my samples!

The dinner was over at a little past 11. Joe wanted to continue his party with friends, but I had had enough for the evening, plus I still had work to do before going to bed. He understood and we headed for home. As I drove, the wine hit Joe hard…and within a matter of a few minutes, he was passed out in the car, head back, mouth wide open just waiting for flies to zoom in! Yup. That’s my partyboy!

We arrived home and I went straight to the stove—I wanted to read what the red tag stated. I didn’t see it, so I asked Pati where it was. She walked me to the closet where she keeps her cleaning supplies, which also happens to be where one of our two water heaters is located. When she opened the closet, I see the red-tag. It was pinned to the water heater! WTF?!?

It was then that I realized the entirety of the insanity of the evening. I misunderstood Pati’s messages, gave an erroneous story to my landlord and my landlord now had a major appliance guy coming to the house for no reason. The stove was fine. The gas in the house was fine. There WAS an issue with gas pressure in the neighborhood, which was resolved. What was the red-tag about??? Apparently there’s a recent ordinance stating that air conditioning vents must be three feet above the water heater lead off the roof and our clearance was not three feet. The gas was shut off leading only to the water heater (which fortunately only feeds our pool bathroom and washing machine—doesn’t affect the areas of the house used most).

At this point, I’d had enough. Now, I would have to get up extra early in the morning to catch the landlord to have her cancel the appointment with the appliance guy and try to get an appointment with a plumber, instead. I figured since I had to be up so early, I’d just do my work in the morning and try to get a good night’s sleep. As I walked into the bedroom, there was Joe…passed out in his clothes…mouth wide open just waiting for flies to zoom in.

So much for my ‘quality time.’

COMING VERY SOON!!! MY FAVORITE GUILTY PLEASURE…

It’s that time of year again, when both Jas2587 and I get all sorts of giddy. Long-time members would easily guess this means it’s Big Brother time in the U.S.!

This also means that we’ll finally be diving back into our Eliminations game! Get ready, as Big Brother begins on CBS, June 24th!

MEMBER OF THE WEEK

I’m absolutely stunned that doc3738 had not yet had the Member of the Week honors bestowed upon him—how has this happened? Doc is amazing, loyal beyond words and certainly quite the GoneGambling ambassador these days. He absolutely deserves to be Member of the Week, even if it’s a bit belated! Enjoy your bling, doc!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

If you’re not busy, I’d love to encourage you to stop by our Sunday is Funday chat, where we’re always having a great time with some of the craziest conversations you can find at an online gambling site! It’s a great way to meet other members, win some cool GoneGambling stuff and have a generally really fun time! Chat begins every Sunday at 6pm, EDT and runs for four hours, so there’s plenty of time for you to pop in and say hi! Hope to see you there!

And with that, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and as always, win BIG!!!

Greedygirl
 
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