john Site Admin
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Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1181
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Posted: Jan Sun 01, 2006 9:53 am Post subject: I missed Jerry at the Siena - nice try tho |
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As I've exhausted most of my philosophical cogitations regarding Metropolitan Reno, I'll just give you the highlights:
-Perfect weather (finally); driving up a pleasure, walking around downtown Reno in the evening a delight.
-Hotel view this time was once again of the long-abandoned "King's Inn", and that mission place where the destitute gather; I think this is the 3rd time in a row - they must be trying to tell me something!
-Train tunnel is looking good; the real question is, once it's finished, will the trains continue to blow their whistles? It wouldn't surprise me a bit if they did.
-Don't miss the Fitz's promotions desk - if you're not a member, you can get five bucks cash for signing up! If you are a member, show your key/card from any hotel-casino, and get a dollar cash. I put my free dollar in a slot machine, and left with $1.50 - a minimal win, but a profit margin of 50%!
-Bankroll of twenty-one bucks for blackjack at Cal-Neva - lost four hands, decided to quit for the night. I always seem to lose whenever I sit next to some loud-mouthed guy who insists on moaning and crying about the cards, and always wants to compare his to yours. I should have held out for an empty table, but they really don't appear until prime time is over.
-El Dorado has some nutty "Expedition"-themed promo going on; since you get free pulls every couple of hours, it seemed worth a shot. I 'won' a two-for-one coupon for some show that I'll never go to, but then later, scored a ballpoint pen - woo-hoo!
-Somehow pulled ahead for a couple of bucks on a slot machine, I can't even remember where; by the time I retired, I had an unexplained stack of quarters jingling in my pocket. Warning: free drinks induce fuzziness!
-Ate at Brews Brothers both nights, though for some reason, the hotel failed to charge me for the second one, which I didn't even notice until I got home. Quibble corner: insufficient quantity of sauerkraut on their bratwurst sandwich. Later on, this mattered less for reasons I won't disgust you with.
-At the convenience store on Virginia street where I usually score my beer for the room, the signs and stickers indicating prices were all gone. If there's one thing I hate, it's an unwillingness to post prices. I brought my 24-oz. Coors cans to the register, and asked how much they were. I was told they were $1.65, or something. I mentioned that they had been $1.17 the last several times I'd been there, and the guy asks me if I'm a local. I tell him, yeah, sure, I'm a local, and he asks for I.D. So I say, all right, look, I'm no local, but I'm here once a month. So he grudgingly says he'll give me the old price, but says I shouldn't have told him I was a local, if I'm not. I say, hey, it's your store, you can raise prices if you want, as that's your prerogative, but you should post those prices.
So here's a store vendor trying to make me feel like I'm pulling a fast one on him when he's the one who's NOT posting his prices AND engages in a two-tiered pricing structure! That was my last purchase from them.
-Remembered Tuesday that Jerry was supposed to be at the Siena Monday; was under the impression he would be there Tuesday as well, so I finally stumbled over. Never actually been out the back door of Cal-Neva, or over the river bridge, or into the Siena. First-timer impression: very classy. Relaxing casino atmosphere, though I couldn't help thinking this was at least partly due to a dearth of people, which is never a good thing for a casino. Overall, looks like a nice spot. Couldn't spot anyone wearing a Jerry badge, so I guess it'll have to wait until next time. Sorry, Jerry!
-2nd try at Cal-Neva: won a bunch of blackjack hands - four doubles, three of 'em winners - a very nice run. Wiped out the previous session's losses, and added some. Even had time to start ordering free drinks. Here's where this month's big lesson kicks in: putting 7&7s on top of several Brews Brothers large-size drafts is NOT A GOOD IDEA. This lesson was foisted upon me later in a regrettable fasion. Lots of fun while I was having the 7&7s, though; played some video poker, and won a bit, which is always nice. But man, those 'free' drinks came with a high price in the end, and I'm not talking about gambling losses!
-"Ouch" moment: while climbing to ever-higher floors in the Silver Legacy parking garage in search of a space, observed one car that had its bumper torn off, clearly by a car that had been parked next to it while backing out. The bumper was wrenched from its mountings and mangled, dangling grotesquely on the parking lot floor. The driver who committed this was clearly long gone, and I really pitied the poor guy or gal who would eventually be returning to the car and making this horrible disovery. The lesson: DO NOT SQUEEZE INTO A SKINNY PARKING SPACE FOR ANY REASON. The spaces in the Silver Legacy are laughably thin, and I don't know how the management can take its parking garage seriously. Annoying as it is, do yourself a favor, and go up to the sixth, seventh, or eighth levels as necessary to get one of the better spaces. It is not worth the potential damage; as I observed, you can get much worse than a mere scratch or dent.
-Final thought: I wonder what's in store for downtown Reno next? Will one of the existing casinos close, or will a revival actually inspire someone to put in a new one?
See y'all next month. |
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