Oh yes, I was on the line by 8:00 AM making sure JZ was up and getting ready. It is past 11:00 but I assume he is on the way. It is usually the same story for us, he takes forever to get underway but after that we get all over the place looking for women. Sad to say, without me the only place he would ever look is in the Church (a pub in Little Haiti).
I set about learning that Shondell’s tune I told you about. Very sparse guitar parts. It sounds quite okay when brought up to modern standards and sounds, the original bass part was just a tad sloppy but proved distinctive enough to work with. Remember, what I lack in technique and talent I more than make up for with perfect timing and astonishingly simple interpretations. (Did I say perfect? Yes, my timing is perfect and I’ve won many a bet that said I could not do it to a drum machine. Play, turn the volume down, I play for up to two minutes, turn the volume back and I am right on beat.)
NOON
JZ made it at 12:30 PM, roughly a half-day late. What you see here called a “cashout ticket” (photo missing) is actually a bit of evidence. Now, while I did not personally hear any of the TV advertising, it has been well talked about that the new Gulfstream Park would draw crowds because it made cash payouts. Wrong, baseless lies. This ticket is what you get when you win. The premises are completely video-taped end to end and you must take this ticket to a marked area and feed it into an ATM-like contraption. That is hardly the same as cash, and the individual machines are identical to the Indian reservations.
We went to Panera, where they seem to have taken my advice about moving the lines faster. Once there, I proceeded to teach JZ how to play Crib. He was constantly distracted by tattooed married middle-class women walking past, whereas I seemed to be able to focus completely. I even got a twenty hand thanks to a lucky cut.
To revert a bit, I got a call from the CIA guy. He has that system for contacting people to sell Cayman Islands property, but the problem is he wants me to work for free for a “cut” until the first sale comes in. I told him I cannot do that, although I might consider a discount. That discount is $20 per hour instead of my normal price, plus 10% of the sales commission – in writing. He is not listening, he does not seem to hear that (déjà vu) because I can do clerical work does not mean I will for any [realistic] price.
JZ and I headed for the Broadwalk, right up to the far northern end near Dania Beach. It was a great ride, although he tended to always lag behind at less than 8 mph. We met a few girls and poked into that cantina where he got the $1.50 beer a year back. Except it was $4.00 a bottle today. On the way home I showed him that “New Year’s” pub and collected the phone and fax for the owner, Dave.
NIGHT
Matter of note, the Broadwalk was practically deserted except for a small crowd near the Hollywood bandshell. This is a serious situation for a Saturday night at the peak of the tourist season. Furthermore, it was a strolling crowd, not a buying crowd. Nobody was wearing those $30 t-shirts with sexually suggestive slogans or buying $18 pizzas. They were gathering for a free show at the bandshell, which I have learned not to wait around for if they are not already playing when I show up. We rode up to Dania Beach and back, noting a proliferation of “For Sale” signs. The recent moratorium on tall buildings on the beachfront slowed that circus down.
I’m informed my earlier review of Gulfstream Park (Hallandale Beach) is not pointed enough. Okay, try this. The place is no different than any other gambling joint. You do not get cash payouts. The whole “cash payout” rumor appears to have been a carefully stage-managed shipload of Bunker C Crude. The machines will accept cash (or the tickets you may win in return) but do not pay cash. You must still stand in front of a video-taped dispenser to redeem tickets. (There may have been other options but they would be even less anonymous.) If you had visions of people headed for the exits a-jingle with pockets full of quarters, think again.
Also, the staff and security are the same tired old people you see in every casino, although these ones have attended pep meetings to convince them they are bigshots. (You’d think for a job that requires zero brains, they would hire only the pretty ones, but no.) Prices are very high for a place that, in the end, has no redeeming qualities. I'm saying, if you can afford those prices, you can afford to go some place nice. The gambling is no different than the Indian reservations and draws the same elements.
It will not put either the Indians or the gambling cruises out of business because without that hourly horserace, the place is tacky and sterile. There is even a little area out front where people can pretend they know about horses and such. The casino has a loud overhead speaker system that blares down slot machine sounds that finally drove me outdoors.
It is a sad and telling commentary when such an outfit is the only way left that your town can draw a crowd. If the operation (as claimed) brings new money into an area, the surrounding district provided no evidence of that. The trailer courts may eventually be replaced by condos but in reality the only change is the price.
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
