Tag: Oklahoma

Political Football

Finding the words to express my distaste of the media’s proclivity for ratings, at the expense of so many simply overwhelms me at times. If ever you were in doubt that we are a fallen people, watch the news!

What happened here in Texas and yesterday in Oklahoma is and was terrible. When we learn that someone or a group of someone’s decided that they did not want to spend the money on safe rooms for schools in OKLAHOMA (known for tornadoes,) is beyond comprehension! Criminal charges should be filed. Stupidity should be criminal…. Especially if you are in a position to make decisions like this!

I read a tweet today that some people are so stupid that they should turn pro at it… Kind of fits here.

Today on the floor of the US senate some democrat senator turned the whole thing in to a political football using his time to push for cap and trade, blaming global warming / cooling on this recent weather. These people should be so ashamed of themselves! I truthfully don’t know how they can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning. Don’t confuse weather with global climate.. There are no supporting facts scientific or otherwise to sustain this. The only “Facts” that have ever been displayed were later shown to be falsified to fit an agenda of selling carbon credits of which would drive the cost of goods and services up. In laymen’s terms you would pay for the carbon credit; that would go into some politician’s pocket, much like the Freon debacle of the 80’s.

Even if there were supporting evidence, do you really think that you can legislate China or Korea or other countries to “clean air,” water etc policies? Why in the hell do you think that our companies go over seas? They do it to get away from the EPA, OSHA, crippling taxes and other rules and regulations that we (you) impose on industry. And oh yes, they pay slave wages to their people as well. We do everything to drive business out of this country and then blame capitalism. Can’t we strike a happy medium? Evidently not, Government types who make the laws, well they have a job / salary / and really good health care plans for life, what do they care? Let me answer that for you, they don’t! If it puts money into their pocket they care, that is it.

To put it in our president’s words, “it’s the process and it is messy!” As an

American I can tell you, if that is the process, it needs to be changed! The whole damned mess of them needs to be fired, until they listen to the people.

We the People…We the people are their boss. They work for us! Someone needs to remind them of that and my friends you do that with your vote! The process sucks Mr. President, and it needs to be changed! Lead for once and change the process, do what is right for the country and not for your agenda, or your party! It is time that we do things to bring this country back together as Americans, and not rich vs. poor, black vs. white or any other derisive activities that have been perpetrated on the people to fit an agenda of divide and conquer!

When the chips are down, you can see who we are. When we put our “politics” aside to help our fellow man, you can see who we are. Does it really take devastation and heartache to wake people up to the simple fact, that we are all one people?

“Father, we lift up the people of Oklahoma and all of the other victims of the recent storms. We pray fervently for wisdom for our elected officials that they may be humbled out of their ivory towers; long enough to waken them from their delusions that they are somehow equal to you lord. We give thanks for those who have selflessly given of their money, time and energy to help those in need. Please watch over us and keep us humble as well lord, so we do not fall victim to the plight of those who have been given so much power that they have lost sight of who they are, and what they are there for. Father, place your arms around those that have lost so much in recent days and comfort them. Bring people into their lives to assist them through this time and in the days ahead. Awaken the people who decide things like “which school or building gets a safe room and which do not.” as it is not their decision, which life is more precious than another lord. In your sons name…Amen..”

Weather

The changing seasons historically bring with it violent weather. As the winter winds loose their icy grip on the north, they send wave after wave of cold fronts south and east which are met by dry lines and oh yes, the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.

This is dangerous combination of conditions and often will generate the weather that we have experienced the last few weeks and of course today. It has nothing to do with climate change, it is simply weather.

Keep the people of Oklahoma and of course CleburneTX in your thoughts and prayers as they grieve for the loss of loved ones, while picking the pieces up and try to continue on.

It is times like this that bring out the best in folks. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all acted this way just because; and we didn’t need an F5 tornado to remind us to be nice to one another?

-Best to you and those that you care about.

Choctaw Casino Grant Oklahoma

Choctaw Casino and Hotel, Grant Oklahoma

http://www.choctawcasinos.com/Grant.aspx

http://www.city-data.com/city/Southwest-Grant-Oklahoma.html

http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/97/03/Chapt6.html

http://www.don-williams.com/

http://www.thescooterstore.com

As Texas has not figured it out yet, there is plenty of revenue to be had by allowing Casinos for anyone wanting to throw their money away (be entertained by blinking lights and noises). Currently one must either travel to Oklahoma or Louisiana or further.

Don Williams was playing at the Casino in their attached “event center” just a few miles north of the Red River in Grant Oklahoma. We purchased the tickets a month and a half in advance and the seats were a mere 5 rows back from the stage. The seats were off to the extreme right of the stage so watching the entertainment meant turning your head at a constant 30 degree angle. The floor of the “event center” is not raised in the back meaning, the further back you are, you will most probably be looking at the back of someone’s head or worse, a cowboy hat.

We arrived early with a budget set aside for gambling. We found parking close by as someone was leaving however; there is ample parking if you don’t mind the walk. They do have a shuttle bus that is working the lots. They also offer Valet. I noticed police on bicycles checking the lots every few moments. The building was pretty full at 3pm on a Friday. There is smog inside as they allow smoking inside the building. Within minutes of being there my eyes started watering and nose starting running so I was off to the room to take some Benadryl. While the smog was not as bad as some that I have been in; if you are not a smoker beware.

All of the “one arm bandits” are computerized; simply meaning that there is probably more to it than simple “random results.” My guess is that not only are these things computerized, but they all attach to some sort of master server that keeps up with what is going on and who is doing what and at any given instant the owners/management know what is going on to the penny. The good new is that they are heavily regulated by the state to make sure that the games are honestly run.

If ever I were to describe a ZOMBIE, it would be “the people sitting at those machines” for hours on end transfixed on spinning wheels, blinking lights, and noises. I am not a betting man but, I would think that your odds of winning would be better playing something that was not computerized, like Black Jack, Keno or roulette or even Craps. I also noticed that the Scooter Store was well represented there as the average age of the gamblers had to be in the high 60’s.

The prose were that this was a clean well run establishment with security everywhere. There are hundreds of cameras, watching every thing. I felt fairly safe there and I would bet that if someone had picked a pocket, security would know who it was before they reached the parking lot.

The cons:

There are only two places to eat there so getting in to eat was an ordeal.

The Drinks, if they had alcohol in them; I would never have known it. Stick with bottled beer if you want something other than soda or water.

Soda was complimentary and self serve however; they only allowed you to get it in those small Styrofoam cups which hold about 8oz. including the ice and of course those things do not biodegrade easily or quickly. While I am not a “green freak” I would like to see them come up with a better solution.

As far as our gambling experience, knowing when to stop is key. We broke even, if not a little ahead on the money spent playing the machines.

As we were leaving the next day we watched people leaving who had been there all night.

The concert was good and Don Williams was as good as ever. They played less than 90 minutes, and it was to a sold out house. Interesting side note; people were taking video, pictures and what have you and it was evidently allowed! Here too there was enough security to handle a small mob. I think that if I ever want to change careers, being a security person for the event center would be cool as you get to go to all of the concerts!

No review would be complete without talking about the room. Finding a non-smoking room you need to go to the second floor as there is no smoking allowed on that floor at all. The bed was a little firm for my taste. The TV was an older flat screen regular definition. If you are used to high def this will get your attention. There is no refrigerator in the room and the biggest disappointment of the room was that there was no Wi-Fi. As well as no Wi-Fi, there was extremely limited cell service on ATT. We were on the edge network with one or two bars if you stood by the window.

One would think that the owners would have more pull with ATT and others to improve performance for their guests. There was local internet in the room if you brought a laptop with a cable.

The one thing that was noticeable in that it was odd to me was the smoke alarm. It had not one but two different “bright” LED’s that would strobe every few seconds. Every now and then they would stay on for one or two seconds and then go back to blinking every few seconds.

If you wonder why I am mentioning this here is why. When you pull the curtains and shut off the lights, those led’s in that alarm are noticeable big time! It is almost as if (and I am exaggerating) they were landing lights on a runway.

I also should mention something about the food. We ate at the restaurant that was not a buffet. The staff was confused at best and the line was very long. There were empty tables and I overheard one girl telling the hostess not to sit anyone in her section for another 5 minutes as she could not get to them. The hostess doubled as a busboy so this was very confusing to me in that the whole place seemed to be so polished and so well run as far their operations with everything else. The food was not something that I would recommend. It was several steps down from Chilies, if you like their food. I ordered the fish and chips. The fries were cool if not cold; and the fish was soaking in oil and warm. If they were not over burdened, I would have sent it back. As it was I ate a few bites and left it.

All in all I would go back. I would bring with me some small bottles of whatever I wanted to drink that could be added to soda. I would bring my laptop instead of an iPad and a network cable as I am not a gambler. I would make certain that I got the more expensive seat for the concert and I would shop early. I also think that I would learn more about non-computerized games as mentioned above, so I could gamble if I choose to with odds that are easily calculated.

As far as eating was concerned, I might be inclined to valet park and just drive into the nearest city and see what I could find. I would also make certain that I had plenty of Benadryl and I would make certain that I brought a plastic bag to put my clothes into when I returned back to the room as to not get the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke in the room or on my clean clothes. I would also not wear anything that needed to be dry-cleaned as to keep my laundering bill down.

One last mention here and that is about the staff, very friendly and very helpful. I realize that this Casino is a major employer for an otherwise severely impoverished area of the states for both Oklahoma and Texas.

If you are one of the ZOMBIES that I mentioned above, (which by the way I mean no derision or disrespect) or just someone like me has a casual interest in slot machines, this link is fascinating!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slot_machine

–Best to you and all those that you care about!