Reznjun

mary had training in shawnee oklahoma last week so i went along for the ride. i havent seen some of my family down there for a while. i got more kin than a hillbilly. and i have friends all over the country. i wanted to visit with them while mary had training.

on the way down we stopped in coffeyville to see my nephew zach. he is enrolled there to play football. we took him out to eat at the steak house buffet. after he tore his acl in the state wrestling tournament the school he originally signed with withdrew their scholarship offer. their loss i think. he has his weight back up to 305. his knee is holding up during weight training. he said he is enjoying school. i plan to go watch one of his games next fall. everytime i see him i cant help but think of my brother mikey.

near tulsa i seen a gas station that had gas for 2.27 a gallon. you dont see prices like that around here. i think its because oklahoma invented oil or something. our indian stations charge as much as everyone else. so its not really a savings to buy from them. the state told them they couldnt under sell other stations. so in the name of sovereignty the tribes agreed.

soon as we crossed the stateline we started to hit the indian casinos. they are everywhere. when you sign up for a new players card they give you free play. it was anywhere from 10  to 20 bucks. coffee and pop is free. some have free ice cream. i won here and there.  we would just take the winnings and lose it at the next casino down the road. i played my cherokee winnings i had at sac n fox. then my sac n fox money at kickapoos. etc. i thought the machines down there were looser than the ones here in our state. i played for hours on some machines. they have to do something to lure customers in. they have more promotions. like 5 bucks free play on guys night. or ladies night. the same for senior night. it ended up that we played at 12 casinos. we hit a few of them several times. i broke even for the trip.  i now have more players cards from oklahoma to add to my collection. i dont have cards from some of the casinos around the country that i have visited. i just started saving them the past few years. i have 43 of them now.

i didnt think i was gambling too much til i seen a guy near the freeway. he had a sign that said ‘please help’. out of work etc. i thought i could help that poor fellow or go double my money at the casino.  gambling won out. my cousin said they see those guys all the time. then they see them later playing at the casino. so then i didnt feel bad bout being a heartless gambler.

i am realistic enough to know i will never get rich gambling. i play for the hell of it. if k u basketball is my second religion then slot machines are my third. it is fun if i break even or even play for a  while. its entertainment. at one casino a little old indian lady sat next to me. she was probably in her seventies. a grandmotherly type. we started talking and telling jokes. we were laughing and i hit 40 bucks. we were still laughing and she hit about the same. i said i would cash out. she said ‘no play some more’. so i did. she just wanted the company. me and that old lady became friends. if you can make an old person laugh you have done something.

i think someone ought to lobby to make slot play an olympic event. it takes stamina, concentration and training to play the slots. and some speed to beat those little old ladies to a good machine. you also need endurance to stay up late at night. i believe that my index finger got calloused over from hitting that little button on the slot machine.

i got to visit with my cousins alot. we went out and ate several times. we hit the casinos together. seems we spent most of the time laughing and having fun. it sure was a good visit. thats why i went along, to see them. the gambling was just icing. i took a few pictures. probably dont need them to remember the times we had together.

we visited the citizen band museum. they have some nice facilities. i talked to a guy there about researching some of my family that comes from there.  then we went to the absentee shawnee senior center to have an indian taco. they were raising money for something. i ate with with my cousins.

we left at nine in the morning to head for home.  on the way we went thru pawnee. i had to have a picture of the indian hospital where i was born. they had a new casino near there too. we hit a few more near the state line and filled up. we headed toward the turnpike for a straight shot home. we listened to the k u basketball game on the radio. that made time go by quicker. we finally got home around 11 last night. so it only took us 14 hours to make a 5 hour drive. we were tired when we got home. it is nice to get away but nicer to be home. now back to the routine.