I survived the casino floor. Thankfully that had some cheap tables. The $2 blackjack table was full when I got down there, but Paigow was empty. I played it once, and recalled it being a game you could sit down with a twenty that would last for hours, and thought, it might be a cheap way to pass the time. Well, 3 hours later, and I doubled my $20! New dealer was being wonky, and I lost a few hands in a row (tough to do in Paigow), so I took my winnings, and headed to the now half empty $2 blackjack table. At one point I had another 2 $20's on the table, but a bad shoe, and getting tired and making bad bets, resulted in me walking away from that table with just the winnings from the first table. So I was expecting to throw away $40, and I ended up wining $20! Sounds like a good thing to me.

As for the rest of the day. Started out at Cadillac Ranch tagging the cars. It's tough, as I had a dark green (for my Green Lantern stencil C at old job made me), and all the paint on the cars are mostly dark. If i had a light color, it'd be a lot easier. So I tagged the hardened dirt, and snapped a picture with the cars in the background. There was a couple there with a 3 month old baby. They had never heard of the Ranch until they were in the Wal*Mart around the corner and saw a postcard. They came over with no spray paint! I let the guy use mine. He knew his way around tagging. He was happy. I told them about the Punch Bug Ranch. "We gotta go get some spray paint honey". Very cute. Then a single mom and two tweener kids walked up. The boy was kinda kicking the sand, looked sad that he couldn't tag. I offered my can to the mother. She was hesitant. I coaxed her into it. She gave the can to her daughter first. I started walking away, and she was like "what about your can" I said keep it as a momento, or leave it for someone else to tag with. Kids seemed happy.

A lot of today's ride was the I-40, which meant increased speed, and more miles covered. I got to the 66 midway point, and ate at the "Midpoint Cafe", which served as an inspiration for the Pixar movie CARS. It was cool. Signed the pick up truck.

Some pretty views today. The sand catching the sunlight, the glint of weathered rocks, the strata between bushes and rocks, and huge flat top mesas, not tall, just long.

I also realized, as the 66 was the frontage roads for the I-40 in many sections, that the 66 wasn't graded near as well as the interstate. The 66 hills went higher, and longer, the I-40 was gentle rolls. Very interesting.

Albuquerque seems to have embraced Route 66 better than any berg I've passed through so far. I was tempted to stay in town, but figured my bucks would be better spent at a smaller place in the middle of nowhere. Then kept on driving as the sun slowly set. Saw an old bridge that has been replaced, but is being preserved. Snapped a couple pictures. Then decided it was getting late (nearly 8pm) and the sun was getting in my eyes, and figured I would settle in to the next joint that came along. As it happens, it was the Casino. Since it was called Route 66 Casino, I *HAD* to stay.

OK, tired now. Off to bed. We shall see how far I get tomorrow.

Wow, i am so behind.

In response to a question long ago about compression-only CPR.... I just went through our annual CPR re-cert at work and there were some questions about that policy. Basically, it boils down to people getting squicky about doing mouth to mouth on strangers. Since most folks don't carry around face shields, TPTB worried that life saving CPR was sometimes not being administered because folks didn't want to to do mouth to mouth with strangers (or friends/family....) Since most adults have a good amount of O2 in their bloodstreams, it is far better for survival rates to have good samaritans administer chest compressions only until professional help arrives than to do nothing. It's not nearly as effective, as the o2 levels do drop fairly quickly, but it at least keeps what remains circulating.

For children and infants, OTOH, rescue breathing is usually more imporant than chest compressions. (But then most folks don't have the same hangups about mouth to mouth on kids and infants.)

OMG Pix, that is unbelievable. So much better-job-ma to you!

My cats eat out of plastic bowls that they lick clean after every round of dry kibble. I wash them every few months when it occurs to me. They have two big topple-proof plastic water dishes that get refilled twice a day and washed once a day. So much icky sliminess. They refuse to drink out of metal bowls and i have yet to find a glass container than the older cat can't flip over (he likes to stand on the edge of the bowl while drinking.)

For myself, i tend to use the same water glass until it starts to smell funky. Sometimes days, sometimes a week or more. *shrug* Equally bad about washing my water bottle.

Pain woke me up through 50mg Diphenhydramine and a Vicodin.

I've had a wounded area in my calf that won't heal for a year now, and went back to the doctor last Saturday. In a few hours I will be visiting a Wound Care Specialist, but right now I want some relief and sleep.

I came down to check my glucose and found my blood sugar very low (75), which exacerbates pain.

I have now eaten some chocolate coins (including a chocolate Loony!) and the pain seems to be subsiding a bit.

Sigh, maybe I can sleep, again.

Windsparrow, thanks for the cat food recs! Leo ate nothing but Wellness brand since he was a kitten, and Percy has been eating it since he came to live with me. They both seem to do really well on it; it's only the wet foods that I suspect of causing trouble.

Sleep ~ma, Daniel.

vw, good ~ma to your uncle, and to you.

omnis, I'm vicariously enjoying your road trip!

smonster, I have been wondering what made the oil rig blow up, but I figured I just didn't know enough about oil rigs to understand it. My ignorance is more widespread than terrorist action.

I'm babysitting all day today for a reportedly cranky toddler who hasn't napped since he got out of the hospital the other day. Wish me luck!

X-posted from Beep Me: Ryan turned one last week, and we had some professional photos taken. We received them today, and they are quite gorgeous. You can see them starting here: [link]

We used the same photographer that took his 100 day photos: [link] Here's my favourite, this is a great photo: [link]

Babysitting started by the toddler crying until he puked when daddy left, but he is doing better now.

Poor wee kid. Poor sj. Thinking many nap-like thoughts for you.

Ryan is such a beautiful, beautiful boy.

Leo ate nothing but Wellness brand since he was a kitten, and Percy has been eating it since he came to live with me. They both seem to do really well on it; it's only the wet foods that I suspect of causing trouble.

Zenkitty, Wellness is definitely one of the best brands but their canned foods all seem to have either fish or chicken in them. If Leo's got more than one allergy/sensitivity, and they just happen to be both fish and chicken (like Harvey's), it just isn't the brand for him. Nature's Variety Instinct is possibly a step higher on the quality meter, and Natural Balance might be a step lower - but IMO Natural Balance is still good enough to include in my cat food cupboard.

continued Taz~ma requested- poor boy has crystals blocking the urethra and has to stay at the vet's to be flushed out with a catheter until Friday at least.

ARGH.