Daily Diary Notes - January

01/28/2009 - First off, Connie had a doctor's appointment to get the results of the last tests she had. So far it seems that the only thing they have come up with after six months of testing is a high cholesterol level and some atherosclerosis . They said to be more careful about what she eats and control with diet. So they have given her some new pain medications for her hip and some Vytorin to lower the cholesterol and treat the atherosclerosis.

After the doctors we tried out a new place for lunch called Santora's Sunset Bar & Grill. We both had an Avocado Hamburger and fries that was excellent. With a coupon they were only $3.50 each. We also found out that they have baked stuffed Haddock and Haddock "fish & chips" on Fridays. Because you can almost never find Haddock here, we thought we might try it out soon.

We then spent some time browsing at Barnes & Nobel where we both bought some books on a Christmas gift card that her brother had given her. In the evening we were invited to a friend of Connie's for dinner. She made us a wonderful baked chicken-breast on a creamy mushroom Alfredo linguine. She had a oven-warmed pecan pie with whipped cream that was the best I've had in years. It was a nice evening out, but needless to say, we came home stuffed.

01/26/2009 -Drove a neighbor and friend to the VA for a medical procedure, as he was told that he couldn't drive after the procedure. When we got back, we picked up Connie and all went to GVR, where we treated him to the lunch buffet. As he had been unable to eat for nearly 16 hours because of the medical procedure, he really enjoyed.

01/23/2009 -In the morning we both went out for "hair" appointments. In the evening we attended the first round of the CBR (Championship Bull Riding) 2009 World Championship finals at the South Point Casino Equestrian Center. The event featured 36 of the top bull riders from all over the USA. What can we say other than the fact that these guys are nuts. The bulls were so tough and mean, that in the early rounds it was "bulls" 5, "riders" 2. Things finally got a little better and we ended up seeing some spectacular rides. The highest scorer for the evening, with a ride of 92.5, got to ride the meanest bull of all, one who has never been ridden by anyone, for a chance to win $25,000. Bull won, He lost! Click here to watch my video/A> ...

01/22/2009 - Went to see Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino at the Southpoint Casino. Thought the movie was very good. Click the title for a review.

01/19/2009 - Connie had another appointment with the rheumatologist. Seemed like a waste of time. Afterward we went to the Red Lobster on a gift certificate that the girls gave us for helping them move. It was a very good meal. Shared a Caesar salad, had lobster and crab stuffed mushrooms, I had a stuffed fillet of sole and Connie had a Maine lobster tail that was excellent. We called the girls and thanked them and told them what a great meal we had.

01/18/2009 - Our neighbor Marc treated us to dinner at King's Fish House in the District. Marc and I had the scallops and shrimp on a skewer and thought is was very good. Connie had the sword fish, which was dry and over cooked. It was our first time there and thought it was a little over-priced even though all in all it was a pretty good meal.

01/17/2009 - Played in GVR's free-roll hold'em tournament today over at Texas Station. Unable to get into the second round, however i picked up $65 for playing in the first round of play. Oh well, it didn't cost anything to enter. Connie has some free play at Fiesta, so we then went their for a free brunch, both won $10 playing slots and then headed to GVR where I picked up another $200 playing poker. All in all it was a great day.

01/16/2009 - Today was just a beautiful day, in the 70's, warm enough to hit the outside spa and pool and finish reading my book. It seems that lately my reading has taken a back seat to some year-end computer projects. Hopefully I can get on to doing more reading and getting more reviews posted. I just finished Assassin by Stephen Coonts. Click here to check out my review Assassin.

01/15/2009 - Today we tried a new breakfast restaurant called the "Cracked Egg" that opened just a couple of blocks up the street from us. I reminds us a little of a place we liked back home called the Egg and I. It's the only free-standing breakfast place in the area and should do well. Their signature item, served with every breakfast, is a fresh baked coffee cake served warm from the oven. It is to die for! The hash browns are golden and crisp and all of their portions are huge. Everything is made from scratch, and tastes like it. They should do well and will definately see us again soon.

01/14/2009 - Well, we thought we were doing well today ... I made $200 playing poker and Connie won $75 playing slots. Then Jeff Stecker, a dealer friend of mine that I used to work with at GVR came up to me and show me a payout ticket he won on a poker video machine for $11,000. WOW! Maybe I need to give up playing poker and start playing slots.

01/13/2009 - While the rest of the country is still experiencing the troughs of winter, the weather here seems to be getting better and better. This whole week is suppose to be in the upper 60's. Readings on our deck in the sun are in the mid-70's. May even get out to the pool today to do some reading and sunning. Got to love it.

Connie went to the doctor last Thursday for an MRI and today for another blood test. With all of the tests she has had in the past several months, the only thing they have come up with seems to be a possible buildup in one artery that may be causing some minor blood flow problems. We'll have to wait and see what this latest test shows. About all we do know is that the doctors are getting rich off of our Medicare and Insurance company.

01/06/2009 - Just so everyone doesn't think it is always "rosy" here ... it was 28 degrees when we got up this morning. BRrrr. Yesterday we went out to lunch, played a little slots and poker and saw the movie Seven Pounds (click to see review). Thanks to coupons and gambling, everything was free and we ended up with a $75 profit. Gotta love this place. A friend's mother fell and broke her hip a few days ago and was operated on last night. I stayed at the hospital keeping him company until she came out of surgery around midnight.

01/03/2009 - Finally got to the end of my annual year-end project of "cleaning up" my computer, deleting old files, unused programs, upgrading all my programs to the latest version, backing up, etc. Because I'm so annal, it has taken me weeks. Because we have more than our share of power outages here. Even though most are very brief, they've had me worried lately, so today I went out and purchased a battery backup unit for my system. Click here ... to check it out. There are two programs that I use regularly, that I don't know what I would do without them. Notezilla, a sticky note program, Snagit, a screen capture program, and Evernote, the best project information database program you will ever own. This year's upgrade to all of these programs have made them even better. Click here ... to read about Evernote.

01/01/2009 - NEW YEAR's DAY - Well, here it is another year, and, with the state of the economy, a tumultuous one it is expected to be. After a very late evening of poker, I closed the year with a win of $350 dollars; Connie only lost $10 dollars after about five hours of play. This morning we started the day off with our yearly tradition of watching the Tournament of Roses Parade from Pasadena, California. Later I made Connie's famous Mexican dip which we enjoyed with a light-hearted Netflix movie, "Someone Like You." Later in the day we then decided to go to GVR for dinner and to see the movie Frost/Nixon. Click title for review.

Master Post Date: 01/01/2009; 8:53am