Yesterday evening, after dealing the second day of dayshift, we went once again to the Sunset Grill. This was my second opportunity to order food and have the waiter/waitress disappear with me thinking I was going to get it…and one of my meal mates got some of what I wanted but they were out of what I ordered. Kind of like a repeat of the English Muffin thing at breakfast yesterday.

I ordered the shrimp cocktail, having had it on my first trip to the Sunset Grill…wonderful. A few minutes later the waiter appeared to tell me they were out of shrimp, did I want something else? Ugh!!! But don’t worry, Wayne got stuffed shrimp for his meal. It looked exactly like the shrimp on the shrimp cocktail only with some kind of stuffing. Now the Kids Across the Hall were really chuckling at me because I was on a ‘bad food run’…everything I wanted, they were out of. It was also the worst service and overall food experience we had in Aruba.

But on to Thursday, the 29th, the Kids Across the Hall called my room, woke me up around 11:30ish a.m. We were going in to work Swing Shift in the tournament area that night and they were up and about and wanted to go use our food coupon before work. I was dragging ass tired but couldn’t go back to sleep because 10 floors below me – poolside – the aerobics instructor was screaming out commands and the bass/beat of the music was pounding through my skull – so food time.

We went to Gilligans for lunch. Another food ordeal. I ordered the Tuna Melt, supposedly with avocado and other things. I got it. But there was no avocado and other things. I questioned the waitress, she questioned the cook, and came back to tell me they were out of avocado. More chuckles and jeers from the Kids Across the Hall. These boys do have a mean streak in them.

We finished our food and headed back to the hotel. Jim wanted to walk down the beach, the sun was out, it was hot…and yes…I did mention the fact that I don’t do sunshine. Wayne ragged at me, “Come on, Linda. Don’t you want to walk barefoot in the sand?”

He followed it with something like, “Live a little.”

PH-F-F-F-T! Where the hell is he coming from? Few people could keep up with me on jamming life into every minute of consciousness. And just in case any of you were roaming the Radisson Foyer a couple of times…I was the one blowing the bubbles that hung in the air. *fun*

So…I took off my shoes and we wondered out to where the sea meets the sand…and it was hot…and the sun was glaring down on my little vampiress body…and they talked about swimming…and we arrived home…and I handed my camera and bag to Jim and said, “If you drop this, I’ll kill you!” and I waded out into the sea until I was at float level. Float level? I cannot sink. It’s a true story. Even as a skinny little child, I couldn’t sink.

So here I am, about 20 yards from the shore, my feet above the water, my hat never got wet – floating – and the Kids Across the Hall stood on the shore while I ‘lived a little’.

Back to our rooms with the thought that we would all nap and then get ready for the evening shift of tournament dealing. I couldn’t sleep. Damn it! I was running on dead tired.

We went to work. We were all dealing in the satellite area. The main tournament was breaking down rapidly – it was down to four tables and the players were going on dinner break. We got our table assignments, it was a $1,000 buy in tournament. We had a few minutes before the players would be filtering in to take their seats and I talked to Jon and Suzie about getting an E/O. But then what else is new?

I knew I was going to be dealing the final table – of the main event on Saturday – and I also asked Suzie if I could be excused from the Friday night ‘Turtle Line-up’. The Turtles were scheduled to deal live/late at the Radisson Poker Room. She gave me the Ok…woo hoo!

I signed in at my first table, a few players came in and joined my table, but I got pushed before the tournament actually started. I was on a break. I milled around, went to the main tournament area and took a few more pictures. One of the dealers there asked me what I did. “Do you just take pictures?”

*Chuckling* “No. I deal poker.” I’m sure he found it hard to believe.

I dealt one table of the $1,000 tournament. It’s so relaxed and everyone’s so easy going. The guy in the 1s’s wife brought him a gourmet coffee from Coffee and Cream upstairs in the foyer. He didn’t want it but asked me if I did. I jumped on it…the aroma had already pulled me into the magical lure of great coffee.

He set it on the table, between him and me, with the cover intact. I know it’s hardly kosher but in that moment and time, no one seems to care – so during a ‘wait a year for a player to decide to call’, I took a few sips.

A few minutes later, we lost two players. Jon (tourney director) told me to wait while he brought in a player. I set the deck down and sipped coffee.

The woman in the 4s had been talking to the 6s and didn’t realize we were waiting. She suddenly looked up, “What are we waiting for?”

The 1s piped up, “For her to drink her coffee.”

I jumped right in, “Yeah. I’m drinking my coffee.”

I know she’s a player, I’ve seen her beau before, and I was surprised when she said, “Oh…I just wondered…”

I explained we were waiting for a player. The whole thing was funny. We got our player, I finished the down, Suzie told me I was OUT of the line-up and she would have the Kids Across the Hall out in a half hour. Yoo-hoo! I visited the Radisson Poker room and milled through the main tournament area while I waited for them.

We headed for home and the water. We changed to our swim togs, got a bag of brews and ice – Jim did a pepsi-vodka thing or something like that – and we headed for the sea. It was dark, warm, wonderful. We floated and gabbed and drank until we ran out of libation. Jim went up to the rooms for more, Wayne and I held hands (to keep from drifting apart) and just floated – under the stars – in the Caribbean Sea, a million miles from the rest of the world, the pull of gravity, and any stress or strife. Then we swam out to a small pier/dock and as soon as we saw Jim hit the beach with the booze, we were back in the water.

We turned into people sized, wrinkly bags of flesh, somewhere around two hours or so in the sea, then it was off to the pool. I was close to ‘pig’ drunk.

While we were kicking around in the pool, I managed to get off on a ‘love’ run. It was all about telling people you love them before they are gone from your life and you never have the chance. It’s something that is paramount in my thoughts at times – because I’ve lost five family members and a husband – and I feel that letting important people in your life know you care should be a priority. Not to worry, I turned into a ‘tear ball’ for a few moments. Kee-rist! So I’m an emotion slut…there are worse things in life.

Then it was time to pass out…yup…that’s what I did. After I checked email and played a game or nine of ‘Cubis’…I was out for the count.