Yeagh. Bleah. Note to myself: I never want to go on vacation to an area whose main attractions are Casinos.

Last night I flew with my husband and his flight instructor to Tunica, Mississippi. Why? Jon needs a night time cross-country flight (greater than 100 miles) for his commercial pilot's rating. We rented a retractable gear Cessna 182 and off we went.

Many people love gambling; I saw a bunch of folks there having the time of their lives. Me, I felt like someone had put a vacuum hose into one of my pockets. One-armed bandit: oooOOOOoooh! NOW I get it! Eh, I know the odds and I allotted a small amount of money to gambling. I got so disgruntled I held back $40 and I'm going to take it and buy me a copy of Neverwinter Nights, a relatively new computer role-playing game based on Dungeons and Dragons.

Actually, I enjoy blackjack but the tables were crowded and the blackjack machines were not as fun as the ones I played on St. John: I spent about 5 bucks; and 2 hours and 6 Amstel Lights later I had won back about 30 bucks. The booze is free in Tunica (and considering some of the dumbass betting I saw from hideously drunk men, that's a smart move by the casino), but flagging down someone to bring me a fer pete's sake Budweiser (hey, what do I want for free?) was annoying. Guess I don't look like a big tipper. Actually if the waiter/waitress does a good job I go plenty over 20%.

But anyways we flew back at about 3am and my eyes were almost puffed shut from cigarette smoke. Yes, casinos are about the last place a smoker can go and light up. I don't begrudge them this priveledge; they can have the casinos. I won't be back any time soon.

Here's a web site to El Yunque, the rain forest in Puerto Rico; and here is a web site to Culebra and Vieques, two islands off the east coast of PR. Vieques might sound familiar; the U.S. Navy used part of Vieques as a practice bombing range since WWII. A resident was killed in a training accident in 1999 so many people came together and protested the Navy's presence. The Navy stopped, and I read today that the Navy presence has almost completely left Puerto Rico. This means that Roosevelt Roads has closed. I congradulate the people who stopped the shelling; Vieques is a beautiful place and now it can be completely cleaned up and rightfully claim its place as a jewel of the Caribbean. I also know a lot of people lost jobs because of the base closing; I hope they can find jobs and a better use for that land.