Rebel Prince

Today my parents and I drove up to the new Cache Creek casino in Brooks, northwest of Sacramento. Apparently the casino has been advertising a lot, and my parents wanted to go check it out. I acquiesced. I’m not much of a gambling man, and this trip was sort of unexpected (at least on my part), so I didn’t hit the ATM first to load up on gambling money. We had lunch at one of the restaurants, where I had a surprisingly good grilled panini, and then took to the various slot and video machines. At the end of the afternoon, my net loss was about $15, basically all I had in my wallet at the time. I can live with that. If there’s something positive to say about the place: it really is a beautiful property, especially for a casino. From the outside it looks more like a sprawling winery estate in a modified Mission style, set amid fields and hills. And inside, despite the machines and card tables, the architecture and decor continue a nature theme, with leaf and tree motifs running throughout. Typical me: I’m all, look at the Wright-like light fixtures! and the massive porte cochère!

On the drive back, we benefited from the unexpected kindness of strangers. As we approached the Bay Bridge toll plaza, we noticed that in front of us was a new Mercedes sedan, noticed because my parents recently bought a Mercedes SUV (yeah, I know). I was driving it on the way back, and when we got to the booth, I held out my two bucks to the toll taker, but he said that the woman ahead of us took care of it. Wow, thank you, random driver! Was it the new-car camaraderie? Was it just random kindness? Were you coming on to me and was I supposed to follow you to get your number?

Lose your money at the casino, make some at the toll plaza. Who’d have guessed?

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DALY CITY, CALIF.—Last night’s trip went rather smoothly. Though I was running late yesterday (I had left my office late, finishing a bunch of things that had to be done before I left town, but that’s work talk, so let’s not dwell on it), Thom and I got to Dulles with just enough time for me to glide through security, get to the terminal, and pop over to a nearby fast-food counter for a burger, which I brought on board the plane.

As you’ve probably read or heard, some of things the JetBlue experience has going for it are the inflight comforts: leather seats, extra legroom (thankfully not really ever an issue for a short guy like me), and DirecTV at every seat. I spent the first part of the flight switching among Food Network, HGTV, TLC, and even the History Channel (though a plane was not the most comforting place to watch a documentary on engineering disasters). I napped the rest of the way, and ended up arriving at Oakland earlier than scheduled. My dad, aunt, and mom (who had called Thom earlier in the evening to make sure I’d gotten to Dulles okay, since I didn’t get a chance to call her before taking off, like I usually do) were there to pick me up and bring me home, where much-needed sleep was had. Zzz.

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