Back From Looooong Vacation

After spending another week in Florida, just repeat after me "There's no place like home, no place like home..."

The rental car we picked up from National was a Cadillac DTS which is a sweet ride. I highly recommend one if you can get a good rate. Also had a Caddy in December when I was in Missouri (pronounced MISERY) and Iowa for a few days and the seat warmer, or as I like to call it "the fart toaster", came in handy in the below freezing weather. Didn't need the fart toaster in Florida, but they have a seat cooler as well for those blistering hot leather seats baking under the Florida sun.

Every night was the same old song, "Where to go out to eat?", and the in-laws eventually grew weary of my bitching every time someone mentioned Chinese food. Let's get serious here, the SF Bay Area has some of the best Chinese food in the nation so why in the hell do I need to go eat second rate slop just because it's served under a Chinese shingle in Florida?

Never managed to make it to my favorite Italian haunts this trip as I got dragged to some overpriced shit hole that my sis-in-law raved about it. Sorry, it was just OK for the price which was a little over the top for what was served. The place was busy as hell so others might like it, but it left me wanting, wanting to go elsewhere! Just give me a place with good garlic rolls literally oozing in garlic to compliment the pasta drowning in red sauce and globs of gooey cheese and I'm a happy boy, but there was no Italian joy to be had like that on this trip.

Now Florida does have it's culinary delights like a few good deli's. All the deli's SUCK in the SF Bay Area so I had to grab lunch in places like Toojay's while I was there. Nothing I had in Florida can compare to Manny's in Chicago, but it's still better than the crappy delis in the SF area.

Spent a few nights at the Hard Rock Casino playing what Florida considers Texas Hold'em with a $2 maximum bet. If it wasn't for the bad beat jackpot which was over $90K it wouldn't even be worth the trouble to play there as you can't make any real money in that watered down sham of a game. Others play the tournaments to make some coin but I don't have the time or patience to deal with that long drawn out tournament shit. The upside is I won 4 nights in a row and left Florida undefeated as those wannabe poker players chase every hand and were eager to donate to my wallet.

Listen up Floridians, if you ever get real gambling you'll all lose your asses playing like you do and Celebrity Poker and Pogo are NOT the places to learn how to play!

Anyway, I'm back and my fat ass is happy in my own chair, laying on my own bed, kick'n it on my own sofa and most importantly, sitting on my own porcelain throne once more!

Now I have to go pick up the cat from the kennel.

This should be fun as that needy little bastard will probably spend the rest of the day crawling all over me.

Off to the kennel...