A GRANDMA J TUTORIAL

There are no Native Americans in Texas. At least there aren't any with a Casino. So, if you want to play slots or blackjack, you can fly to Las Vegas, or go to So CA where they have some major casino resorts operated by a whole slew of Tribes...just not the Juanenos. OR.....

I've heard talk about casinos in Oklahoma, close to the Texas border, so I did a Googled little bit of research and found a Winn's Casino just a cross the border off the I35 in Thackerville Oklahoma.

Different stubborn relatives seemed to think the border was almost a three hour drive from Dallas. I was pretty sure the people at Google had a much closer border.

Well, this relative knows someone who drives all the way to Lawton Oklahoma all the time, and it's not a hop skip and a jump. So like, I'm all where the heck is Lawton? Is that where the casino is? I mean Oklahoma is full of Native American casinos....

Instead of engaging in a civil conversation....the conversation was declared "over". And of course Grandma J thought to herself.....not so fast!

So, let's get to Grandma J's Tutorial, shall we?


This is a Google map generated from the Casino's web page.....pretty much a straight shot up the I35 all the way, getting off at exit 1 in Oklahoma. Of course, we all know Google likes to give written directions........

Because, Google doesn't want you to miss one single turn going from your home to the interstate. And according to them, the total miles is 217.

This second map shows the distance from Dallas to the final destination right smack across the Oklahoma border. Just a short jaunt of 79.2 miles.

Now if you didn't want to go to the Winn Casino in Thackerville, OK, you might want to go to Lawton. Especially if you have a friend or coworker who has family there, and makes the trip frequently......

Because that's a much longer trip. Google has the straight shot at 311 miles. But we had briefly disagreed about discussed how far Lawton was from Dallas. Don't know why, but for the sake of argument, because we never do, I put the equations on a board for you.

Looks like a twenty mile difference if you travel to Lawton via Fort Worth rather than Dallas. And I guess the question Grandma J has is this.....after all is said and done, don't you think a 217 mile day trip to the Winn Casino is doable?

YOUR REBATE IS BEING PROCESSED

That's what AT&T has been saying since August.

Remember when I had it up to here, and marched into AT&T demanding a free upgrade and threw my To-Go-Phone in the trash? Then asked Gary which phone would allow me to communicate without screaming saying "what?" constantly....then hanging up on all my calls.

He talked me into this BlackJack II....and it was going to cost me a couple hundred bucks, and committing to another two year contract.

Every couple of weeks I would get a new text message from AT&T a reminder that they were still working on my rebate of $100. Isn't it grand that I pay for unlimited text messaging? Otherwise I'd be charged for those friendly reminders.


I pretty much told myself, "self, you will either get your rebate or you won't".......end of story.


Well, end of story until today.....this is what came in the mail.




An AT&T Debit card for my rebate. Now, it also came with a generic looking letter.


And I really thought it was one of those offers to get sign up for a new credit card. Haven't you ever gotten those offers with a faux card enclosed? That's what I thought it was and I almost threw it away.



So dear friends, this is how rebates are sent to you from AT&T. Not a check, but a debit card. You can activate it over the internet or by phone.

I'm curious about AT&T monitoring how I spend my rebate. I'm sure they track it, don't you think? Have you gotten one of these?


PLEASE...retake my Thanksgiving poll. I lost my template and in the process most of my "ELEMENTS" disappeared.

HIT ME, HIT ME AGAIN

.......as said in the game of blackjack...on a cruise ship.

John and I are the only two who wander into the ship's casino every night after the show. John likes three card poker, which I can't afford with a $10 ante....and I play blackjack, minimum bet $3.

Now, on day one I met Carlos. Carlos was born in Morocco, but lives in Quebec. We like playing blackjack together and bring each other good luck. Carlos also likes the fact that I have a French name......some men are so shallow! Last night Carlos' wife Marilyn happened to show up. She's a beautiful woman, and seemed friendly enough but, after I took this picture of her and Carlos, Carlos asked her to take a picure of him with ME.....she said she didn't know how to use my camera...hmmmm.

Now, these are two other "regulars" who play at the same table every night. Chase is from Arizona, and Franklin is from Australia. They are both funny and they don't have jealous wives....that I know of.

One of my favorite dealers is Francisco...he lets me win..sometimes. So there you have a mini update from last night. I still have a few hours left to wander around Skagway, and take some pictures before the ship leaves port. I will post again as soon as I can....probably not until Saturday, which is when we dock in Whittier. Now, I can read your comments, and comment back from my blackjack phone, but I can't update the blog.

I WAS A BAD GIRL
......a really bad girl

OK, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm gonna confess and then hang my head in shame because I....well, I didn't go see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants II at the movies. That's because I didn't go to the movies. No, not at all. I did pull into the parking lot, and I was about forty minutes early...so I wandered next door and accidently bought this......

Then Paul tried desperately to showed me how to use it. Three hours later, I had to say good-bye to Paul.

Because I had to rush out to pick up my granddaughter, who needed a ride to the school by four! In utter confusion I went to the high school to pick her up...I know, I was supposed to pick her up at home, then take her to the high school. So she called me....on my new phone....and I didn't know how to answer it until the third call! because the only thing I wanted to learn was how to do this.

When the phone rang, I realized I forgot what Paul said about the phone function....Baby Jesus, help me!

And on top of it all, did I mention that it was pouring rain all afternoon? Texas style...Cortney knows what I'm talking about.

Tomorrow is another day. I promise to see the movie and report back. And this is where I ask for your forgiveness. Pretty please?