Big rubber, throwing away money, to Disney and back, sick from it

So on Facebook on Friday I saw one of my FB friends had posted he had two oversized tires by the curb that were up for grabs.  He does a lot of unconventional outdoor work outs like I do.  I contacted him and he told me his address so I could pick them up.  He said one was about 300 pounds and the other was 200.

So I stopped on the way home to load up the Tacoma with 500 pounds of rubber.  I got the 300 pounder leaned up against the tailgate but was having a hard time getting a grip and body position strong enough to hoist the very heavy tire up.  Luckily just as the sweat was starting to build on my back a young guy was riding by on his bike and helped me out.

We stacked the tires in the bed and I used my strap ratchet to make sure they didn’t wind up rolling down a road somewhere.  I thanked him for his help, I would have been struggling mightily to accomplish the same task solo.

When I got home I dumped the tires in the back by my bar park.  I have various ideas of how I can incorporate the tires into workouts including flipping,  jumping, sledge hammering, and pushing them, among other things.

For fun I stacked the 200 pound tire on top of the 300 pounder to see if I could box jump on top of them.  Together they were about as high as my waist.  I managed to clear the jump, barely.

I went to my second Tarpons game of the season Friday night.  Despite my enjoyment of the games I am having a hard time imagining the team is going to be around much longer if attendance doesn’t pick up.  I am not sure if there were even 500 people there.

It doesn’t help that the team/league seems to change game times/opponents at a whim.  I think games have been shifted at least 4 or 5 times this season.  It makes it hard to regularly attend games when they are a moving target.

So during the day Saturday I worked on getting everything done around the house in anticipation of Troy’s arrival.  His plane didn’t touch down until a little after 5.  It was the first time I saw Troy since I flew up to his place to watch a Ravens game a couple years ago.  He was sporting a thick and heavy beard, a benefit of being able to work from home full time I suppose.

I told him I wanted to head to Zookie’s for dinner after unloading his stuff at the house.  On the way there we drove through some very heavy rain.  My neighbor later told me his rain gauge showed that an incredible 6 inches of rain fell in 90 minutes out at the house, unheard of in April around these parts.

Anyway, I figured Troy would enjoy the Zookie’s atmosphere.  We drank and ate our fill and even played a couple games of pool in the back of the bar.  I found myself distracted by the live lobster tank “game” they had.  I felt terrible for the lobsters and genuinely wished I had a realistic way to set them free.

Sunday morning I asked Troy if he was interested in walking the swamp with the dogs.  He said it sounded good.  The temps were nice at the start of the walk but got pretty steamy towards the end, both dogs had enough by the end of the 2.5 mile trek.

We didn’t see a ton of wildlife although Troy did get a good look at a decent sized gator, maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 feet long.

When we got back to the house, while Troy and I were playing some Borderlands 2 on the 360, Nicki was laying out on the lanai.  I noticed she was laying right in front of the dog door but didn’t think much of it.

A little later I hear her wimpering.  I went out to her to see what was wrong.  She looked at me pathetically and tried to get up.  Her rear legs were slipping on the newly painted deck and she didn’t have the strength to compensate.  She basically was stuck.

I felt terrible and grabbed around the middle to get her back on her feet.  One she was up she hobbled back to the bedroom, looking like a geriatric dog.  Poor thing, the swamp walk might be a little too much for her unless somehow we can get her doing it more often.

So as I mentioned, Troy and I were playing Borderlands 2 for quite awhile, a game Tim included when I bought the Xbox from him.  I never played the game before but had heard it was very good.  It is a good game, Troy and I had a lot of fun working in tandem to take down scores of bad guys.  It also can be very frustrating.

I found the way you do things like manage your weapons very klutzy and annoying.  I also found the questing to be a pain in the ass.  More than once Troy and I found ourselves stalled out trying to complete a quest objective that was not clear at all.  I could not find a way to simply drop a quest that was being a thorn in my side.  Certain things in the game just are not intuitive enough IMO.

Sunday night we went to Silverspot to watch Oblivion.  Troy was impressed by the upscale theater with assigned seating with a generous selection of food and alcohol.  We actually had dinner before the movie at Chipotle, the first time I ever stepped foot inside the popular chain. It was good stuff.

The movie was pretty good, not quite as compelling as I hoped with a cast including Morgan Freeman and Tom Cruise.  Morgan actually had a surprisingly small role, less than I expected from the previews.  I found myself yawning a lot but to be fair I think that was more to do with a lack of sleep than the movie.  I’d give it a B+

So Monday rolled around, already the last full day of Troy’s brief visit.  We pegged it as the day we would go to the casino.  Troy and I have had a few gambling adventures in our time.  The last time Troy was in the Immokalee casino it was still basically a warehouse with slot machines in it.  Since then a lot of money has been spent expanding and renovating the casino, it’s pretty nice. I was a bit taken back when we pulled into the parking lot and saw so many cars on a Monday afternoon, holy shit.

The one thing they evidently were not able to upgrade was the ventilation system.  Walking in the door immediately filled my lungs with disgusting second hand smoke.  In today’s world and it’s increasingly stringent rules about smoking, I rarely find myself in a smoky environment.  Perhaps that is why when I do find myself in one it seems worse.  It felt like almost instantly my eyes, nose and throat started to feel irritated.

Troy and I did a big loop around the casino to get a lay of the land.  We had to laugh out loud at both the clientele, almost exclusively 60 and older and the games they were playing.  The slot machines at the casino are more video games than anything else anymore, meant to divert your attention from the steady flow of money that is being sucked out of your wallet with big video screens and fancy graphics.

The theme for these games made both of us laugh.  I saw Family Guy, Michael Jackson and even Judge Judy slots.  These machines were all well populated with old people that somehow found enjoyment pulling a lever or pushing a button time and time again, hoping against hope that the next pull will be that elusive jackpot.

Much like strip clubs, spending much time in a casino quickly lowers my opinion of the human race.  I couldn’t help wondering how many social security dollars were getting funneled into the machines.

So anyway, my initial plan was to play some blackjack.  I gave myself a $100 stop loss number.  However the cheapest table they have at this casino is the $10 variety, I much prefer a $5 table minimum.  Plus the two $10 tables were full.  Well not really but one old decrepit gambler in a Navy hat was playing two spots himself as well as funding his wife’s spot.  My desire to play blackjack was not strong enough to make me want to wedge myself next to this guy.

Troy went off and played a little video poker while I did some more circling.  I stumbled across something new at the casino, roulette!  I always thought games like roulette and craps were not allowed in Florida casinos however this roulette game was different, it involved no casino personnel.

It was an automated roulette system.  In a large bubble in the middle was the robotic roulette wheel.  Around the outside were 7 or 8 seats where customers can sit down and control their bets with a large touch screen.  It was pretty damn slick.  Once I found it I told Troy about it, he came over to join me to play a bit.

I was quite surprised that more people weren’t playing at the game, there were always a couple seats open.  I theorized that the electronic interface may have confused or scared many of the old farts so they shy away.  Whatever the reason I found the experience quite fun.

Each cycle of the game takes around a minute.  You have your betting period ($5 minimum) where you can wager anywhere from 50 cents to $1500.  After the bets are placed the ball is shot out and the fun ensues.  I used a pretty conservative strategy most of the time, betting $5 on red or black with a smaller bet on a couple individual numbers hoping to get lucky.

Overall I did ok, losing maybe 40 bucks in 45 minutes.  Troy didn’t fare quite as well.  I cashed out and found Troy who had returned to the video poker machine.  I was amazed when he showed me his $140 voucher, he had just hit a royal flush, nice.

We both agreed we had enough casino time.  I felt fortunate to leave well above my stop loss figure and Troy’s poker hit actually meant he was leaving the building ahead.

I suggested that on the way home we stop at Ave Maria and have a few drinks at the on campus bar.  Troy made the term “sin it up” famous a few years back when we stopped at the Ave Maria Publix on the way to a Dolphins game and Troy walked out with a lottery ticket and pack of cigarettes.

We were both disappointed to see that we picked the one day a week the bar is closed.  We still hung there for awhile, grabbing some stuff in the next door coffee shop.  We were dumbfounded when we walked out and saw no less than a half dozen police cars with their lights on, blocking a side street.  We weren’t 100% sure but it looked like they were called to the jewelery store.  Theft in Ave Maria??  Wow Troy and I were both struck by the irony.

The rest of Troy’s final night at my place was laid back.  We played more Borderlands 2, grabbed a pizza, (saved a turtle in the process) watched Stern shows on YouTube and drank a LOT of beer.  I am not quite sure how many BLP’s I drank in total but I am sure it was a record for one sitting.

Troy is a fellow Stern fan as I am.  We laughed our asses off watching shows involving Sourshoes, Medicated Pete and finally the Artie Roast.  I am not sure the last time I had compressed so much laughing out loud into a small time period.  Troy is one of the few people that can bring that part of me out.  I did not hit the pillow until a ridiculous 1 AM.  My bedtime was slightly extended because I insisted on jumping in the shower first to wash the remaining casino stench off me.

When I woke up Tuesday morning I was not feeling well, the sore throat and general malaise was all attributed to the casino,  late night and large amounts of alcohol consumed.  I do not typically drink much at all. To have two heavy sessions in three days just never happens.  I tried to shake it off the best I could as I had a long day ahead of me.

Troy’s daughter, girlfriend and her son were coming down to visit Disney for 5 days.  I told Troy I would drive him up to Orlando to meet them instead of him having to rent a car.  We piled his luggage and the dogs into the party van and pulled out.  I have to admit I was a bit nervous doing so with Nicki after the disastrous diarrhea incident when I tried taking her north in January.  Luckily there was no repeat of that incident this time.

I stopped and loaded up on gas and coffee for the 3 plus hour drive north.  The drive went well, Troy and I are able to roll in and out of conversation easily, another rarity in my circle of friends.  Sadie even gave Troy’s lap a brief test run on the road.

We arrived in Orlando right about one o’clock.  I dropped off Troy and wished him good luck, he was going to need it to survive 5 days in Disney.  It felt like a very brief but fun visit.  I am hoping I get a chance to visit him up north sometime in the not so distant future.

I stopped for gas on the Disney grounds.  I remembered from before that for whatever reason, the cheapest gas you will find is at Disney which makes little sense since everything else is so overpriced.  Once again the premise proved true as I paid 3.30 a gallon, almost 20 cents less than I saw it out on the public roads.

I had an aggravating moment as I was pumping gas.  Troy had given me 50 bucks to help offset the gas I was using to get him to Orlando.  I had just shoved the $50 bill in the pocket of my Adidas gym shorts instead of taking the extra 5 seconds to place it safely inside my wallet.  Well as I pulled out my wallet to grab my credit card I felt for the bill, it wasn’t there….

So I check both pockets again and then once again, even turning them inside out.  I then surveyed the ground and the inside of the van, nothing.  Son of a bitch.  As I retraced my steps I am pretty sure the money was lost at the rest stop when I removed the keys from my pockets.  Somebody more than likely got an unexpected $50 smile maker.  Oh well.

The drive home felt long.  Instead of feeling better as the day went on, which is normal for a hangover, I was feeling worse.  My throat was getting more sore and a dry hacking cough was starting to show up.  I was also feeling very tired.  I stopped for another cup of coffee in Sarasota but it felt like it hardly made a dent in my alertness level.  I pulled back into the driveway at 5pm.

As the night went on I was still progressing upward on the “feeling shitty” meter.  My voice started to sound like a 2 pack a day smoker and I was just exhausted.  By the time Ali showed up to pick up the dogs I had no doubt I was in full blown sick mode, so much so that I called off from work today.

Speaking of Ali, her trip to Costa Rica sounded amazing.  She had such an awesome time.  I was happy for her.

Time to go lay down. Here are the pictures I took from Troy’s visit.