NOT! I don’t do sun. But I am having a ton of fun out of it, early a.m. beach walks, evening walks along the highway side of the high-rise hotels, intermingled with beach side walks along the high-rise hotels, a few short walks during the heat and sun filled day to fulfill my hours at the UltimateBet shindig, and just kicking back in general with my good buddies, Wayne and Jim – the Duo. I left them one afternoon a few days ago…headed to my room for a nap before we were going to meet for food and work. They were going to the beach for a few hours. It seemed that I had barely dozed off and was lost in Sandwoman land when I heard a pounding on my door.

This is what greeted me:

They even tried to maintain a straight face as I listened to Jim go into a dissertation about how he was swimming along and suddenly ran into a black wall, and Wayne had to save him, with Wayne cutting in that he didn’t give Jim ‘mouth-to-mouth’, and then Jim was off on another story of how his legs were paralyzed, blah, blah, blah. Their cooler was obviously empty, the beer was gone, and they left the beach, hit the lower lobby, and decided to abscond with a wheelchair that was setting there waiting for someone. I gave them a little bit of shit about that. They said they were going to just put it in the elevator and hit LL. Did they? Hell if I know. Maybe you had to be here towatch thescene unfold. *Laughing my ass off* They were leaving and Wayne exclaimed, “Linda, I can’t believe you’re not taking a picture of this.”

They were already out the door and I yelled, “Well get back in here.”

Unbelievably funny thatWayne actually brought Jim back in so I could photograph themand prove they were lunitards. That’s why I love the Duo,individually and together, what a couple of running mates.

One of the first people I met when we went to deal the first day UltimateBet satellites, was Gene. Actually we re-met. He had introduced himself to me in Vegas at the WPBT Winter gathering at the IP. I had just spaced it. We’ve spent more than a little time visiting on this trip. What a great guy, with a great attitude. Gene is blogging with the UltimateBet Bloggers. You can keep up with him on his blog too.

While sitting a dead spread in the satellite area, Scott appeared and introduced himself and his wife, Liz. The dead spread was great because I had nothing to do for a few moments and they sat down to visit with me until players arrived a few minutes later. Scott was playing in the main event. *go Scott* What a nice interlude, meeting bloggers, hanging out in Aruba, and having poker games cranking…it just don’t get any better than this. Scott and Liz:

The Duo and I had planned a trip to the store but we couldn’t get our timing right with the island’s time – matching our time away from the box with the time the stores would be open. We ended up going to a small convenience mart and our taxi driver waited for us while we slammed a few necessities into our cart. I only picked up $25 worth of goods…I’m not drinking so I couldn’t spend a ton on beer this year. The Duo spent a little more, they were looking for beer and while they were particular, they were offered a brand that appears to be sold on the island…not Balashi, we’ve all tried that one. The proprietress appeared to be Asian and her English left her stumbing to convey what she meant, although she tried and had a great smile and attitude in her delivery.

As we stood by the coolers, and she listened to Jim, he asked her if he could sample one of them, stating that he would pay for it anyway. Whether she agreed or not, or even had the time to know what he was asking, he popped the top and started inhaling the beer. *gut wrenching laughter* She seemed to take that pretty well too. He bought something else and we paid for everything and escaped. Wayne wanted to stop by the Alhambra Casino (I think that’s the name of the damn place) as he’s a chip collector and nothing slows him down in his quest for new treasures. Jim and I waited in the taxi while Wayne went inside. Please note that the casino shuttles are nothing like those in Vegas:

And check out these early birds, those in the sky and those in the water. This picture is right out the back door of my hotel, just as dawn is nudging the night into the future.

This sits right on the beach side sidewalk and I feel it’s a must see for everyone that visits Aruba, just in case they are wondering:

And last but not least, never – EVER – get to squirrly around your friend Linda when she has a camera, unless you want the world to see you from the finer view of life:

More tomorrow – or sometime soon anyway. Bon Bini!