Casino Major

 Apparently my lucky time to go to the casino is around Thanksgiving time.    I made my way back from a quick though long drive from Detroit back home.   Weatherwise there was lake effect snow in several cities along I-94 that I usually take to travel.    To get around the potential delays on 1-94, I wound up taking the expensive I-80/I-90 tollway or the Indiana/Ohio Turnpike.   

There is another major snow system that will be hitting most of Indiana sometime on Saturday.   So I found myself heading back home earlier today to avoid it.   Going back I traveled north of I-94 on I-696 and I-96.   

Since taking the detours, I didn't make it to Firekeeper's casino this year where I won my first handpay last year.   Instead I stopped at another casino that's closer to home that I visit semi-regularly, the Four Winds in New Buffalo, MI.

I started out with a $20 on an Aristocrat classic game called Pompeii.   Sadly I played it down to 5 cents and then wound up getting the bonus on 3 cents.   It even retriggered once.  The 5 button was broken so couldn't play all of it.  The bonus wound up paying $5.80, which is an excellent return on 3 cents.    But that was very embarrassing since it was such a small bet and I couldn't skip the celebration music that was playing when I hit $1.50 on a spin...but again at 3 cents, winning a $1.50 is an excellent return on investment even if ultimately it's peanuts.

That bonus kept me alive for a little longer before I lost it all.   I played my next $20 on another slot called Prost Deluxe which is a game that's another version of Octoberfest beer game.   I wound up getting a $200 bonus on the game where whenever the beer lands on a space it doubles the current value and apparently it caps at a certain point where it stops doubling and was set to MAX (which is a shame since the beer seemed to keep hitting the same spots after they maxxed out).   That was my first time getting a really nice bonus on it and reaching capacity on not one but two squares.   I got briefly excited because I wound up getting a full screen of credits and was wondering if I would get the Grand jackpot.   But that's not the case.   The grand jackpot could just randomly drop on any spin.   Here's a shot of my winning bonus.

That's not where the winning ends.   I wound up playing the same Dollar Storm game (different machine obviously) that I won my first handpay on last year.   Wouldn't you know that this time I achieved another first.   I wound up landing the Major ball in my bonus which netted me $523 dollars.  The button to the game was broken so I was distracted and didn't fully realize what had happened.   There was a lady that sat next to me who decided to bring it to my attention.   The bonus ended up being over $650 in total.    It wasn't a handpay but still a milestone as I've never gotten the Major ball before where it counted.

Pretty much after that I didn't get any other wins.   I forced myself to stop at $500 and called it a win.   I will say it's still pretty shocking to me.   I will have to play again next Thanksgiving and see what else happens.   

Why I Love Dom So Much

 Monica - Why I Love You So Much

VERSE1:
You mean the world, ooh, and everything that I want for
Since I've been your girl, ooh, my whole life has been much better than ever before
You got a tender sweet love, yes, you do
That weakens me and takes over me whenever we touch

REFRAIN:
Baby, that's just why I love you so much
Baby, that's why I just can't get enough
Baby, that's just why I love you so much
I love only you

VERSE2:
Now you say that you're down, oh you said you won't play around
No, no not with my heart, and when your boys come around, no you're not disrespecting me, and not trying to be Mr. Wanna-Be-Hard
You let them know that I'm yours, yes, you do
By holdin' me and kissin' me , let's them know that for sure

REPEAT REFRAIN

Dom and I have been together for over 11 years, married for over 3 years.   If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that we've had our ups and downs.    That is the same for every relationship I suppose.   I'm constantly lamenting about Dom's lack of financial accountability.    He's the spender in the relationship and has a habit of wanting to spend without knowing if funds are there to cover.   It's been frustrating dealing with that and always having to be the one to cover.

I'm not saying that I'm this great money savant.   I've made my fair share of mistakes with money.    Over the years I did save up money to invest but instead of picking solid stocks from big name companies, I played the penny stock game.   I stupidly held on to a lot of those stocks too long before they either reverse split to oblivion or delist and become totally worthless.  I've lost tens of thousands of dollars over the years over that.   

One big name stock that I wish was in my radar 25 years ago was O'Reilly Auto Parts (ORLY).   The monthly adjusted price (post-split) for November 2000 was 0.89 cents which adjusts to around $16 pre-split.   The price of O'Reilly before it did a 15-for-1 forward split on June 9, 2025 was around $1365.   Can you imagine if I had bought 100 shares of ORLY in November 2000 for $1600 instead of chasing whatever stupid penny stock I was chasing at that time?    Assuming I held those same shares for 25 years (which I may or may not have), they would be worth on June 9, 2025 a jaw-dropping $136,500.   So yeah I made some more costly mistakes.

Thankfully though I did save money (still do) via 401-K and mutual funds over the years and that has helped me as well to slowly build a nest.   Even when I was working at Amazon, I still tried to save $10 a paycheck in the 401-K there.   Papa expressed to me early on about the importance of saving some of your coins for a rainy day.

From what I was told, Dom's parents taught those same things to Dom.   But the lessons went to death ears...LOL.

But I'm deviating from the intentions of this post.   I truly do love Dom.   I wouldn't be with him otherwise.   One of the things I love about Dom is that he's shown me time after time again how much he loves me.   He's my biggest defender whenever I'm in a jam and being attacked by others.   

He always asks me how my day is going.   He'll make sure that I eat something when I work myself to death and not thinking about food.    He will get random items for me to try and relieve some symptoms that I suffer such as my cold hands and feet.   He's purchased electric gloves, slippers, back scratchers, whatever will help me for whatever ailment.   He pushes me to go to bed when he sees me dozing off in the easy chair and tells me I need to sleep more.

I love his intelligence and common sense.   But what I love most of all is his empathy for those that are suffering.   He and I attended a Transgender Day Of Remembrance memorial that our Church was having to honor the memory of transgender men and women who lost their lives in various acts of violence.   Part of that memorial is reading off the various names of the victims.   Dom was one of the readers of the names.    As he was reading the names and the various ways the victims were killed, I felt Dom's voice cracking.

We talked afterwards and he told me that it broke his heart to read about the deaths.   He couldn't believe some of the murderers who had relationships with the victims.   He wondered why they couldn't just break up with a person if they don't like a person anymore, why kill someone.    He doesn't get all the violence that is going on and abhors it.    That's why he never wants to watch anything that has the potential hint of violence.

Dom really is the sweetest most caring man I've been with.  I do want him to enjoy his hobby.  I do feel sad that his diabetes is taking the feelings out of his hands and feet.    His neuropathy is getting worse and it's harder for him to enjoy his hobby.   The smaller jewelry and shoe pieces on his dolls are especially hard for him to take on and off since he can't feel his hands.

Part of why I am shooting for financial independence is so Dom can get things to his heart content and I don't have to worry that we are on the verge of getting broke.

At the end of the day, I do love Dom and appreciate having him in my life and look forward to our continuing adventures

Rhona's New Chapter

My favorite group En Vogue continues to make waves in the news.   Earlier in the year, original member Maxine Jones returned to the group to make EV a foursome once more.   Not long after that, original member Dawn Robinson made news for announcing that she was living in her car by choice.  Now Rhona Bennett, who joined En Vogue in 2003 and has been a staple in the group for over 20 years, announced on November 13th that she is departing En Vogue.   

I was totally shocked when the message popped up on my feed.   As I looked further into it, I found out that En Vogue performed with Salt & Pepa & Spinderella (that group has had it own drama but they looked to have worked it out) where the latter were being honored at the Rock & Hall Hall of Fame as one of their 2025 inductees.   Notably absent in the performance was Rhona.

It turns out according to Rhona that she found out about the performance at the same time as the general public.   She had a prior commitment that was happening on the same evening as the performance which took place on November 8th.    She stated in her announcement post that "It could’ve been nice to attend had [she] been given the opportunity to adjust [her] schedule."

She kept her announcement classy as she generically thanked EV for the opportunity to join the group.   I could tell she was just being polite since she didn't mention the members individually by name.  One of the things I noted when the group was on their European tour was that I felt like Rhona was being marginalized and regulated into the background since Max returned.   Thanks to a fan on Youtube I was able to see their performances.   They sang one of their songs Whatever off their EV3 album which was one that they haven't performed in years.   The song has two verses that are split.   On the album, Cindy sings the first half of verse 1 and Max sings the second half.     Terry sings the first half of verse 2 and Cindy again sings the second half of verse 2.   The assumption was that had Dawn not left the group, she would've sang the second half of verse 2 instead of Cindy.    So since they are a foursome now, I thought it would've been a nice gesture if each singer had a part to sing.    But they chose to sing parts like the album, which in one respect stays true to the album, but on the other end, it marginalizes Rhona who is more than capable of singing.   The argument could be made that maybe they were lip-synching and had to keep it to how the album had it.

I can't help but wonder with Max being back in the group, things became extra awkward for Rhona.  I felt for her even before Max came back when they would do interviews and everything would be on their early years which Rhona was not a part of.    She would be a deer in headlights as Cindy and Terry would speak on those times.   She was always referred to as the "new member" even after she had been there for more than a decade.

En Vogue purists would always lament that they wanted Max and Dawn back with the group.   Dawn actually was my favorite member in their hey-day.    I honestly did think that Max and Dawn were the soul of the group and their departures hurt the group overall.    But at the same time I loved what Rhona bought to the group.   She had her own spin on various songs when given the chance.   In the early times when Rhona joined, it felt like Cindy and Terry were hogging all the parts and only giving Rhona scraps to sing.

Sadly En Vogue never had another hit after Max left.   They tried with Rocket off their second studio album with Rhona.    It did hit #8 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart but it wasn't a smash like their earlier songs in the 90's.

I was disappointed to hear about the drama behind the scenes and feel like Cindy, Max, and Terry did Rhona dirty by not telling her about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame event.   I imagine that may have been the final straw that pushed Rhona to make her decision to say deuces to En Vogue.    It will be interesting to see if En Vogue gives a statement on the departure.   It's not a good look for them.   The ladies are in their 60's and they still seem like a bunch of mean girls.   Unfortunately though, age does not necessarily bring wisdom.

Rhona did announce that she has a new song that is coming out just before the holidays called “It’s Christmas Time (For You and I),”.  I look forward to supporting that when it comes out.   I also hope she releases another solo album.    Her first and only self-titled album had a lot of great songs.   Unfortunately the label she was on folded shortly afterwards so there was no promotion of it.   She also has a presence on Youtube so look forward to seeing more of her there.   I hope that she blows up to super stardom.    That would be the ultimate revenge.

Lost Stories

 Dom and I had an interesting discussion earlier.   It came out during a discussion of why I always have cold hands and feet.   When the weather changes for the cold, I find my extremities to get cold even when I have socks and gloves on.    Dom is the opposite and always is hot.    So you can guess I find myself seeking Dom's warmth much to his annoyance.   But Dom being my source of heat is in our marriage contract...LOL.

One of the theories Dom shared with me was that since my family is from the "islands", Guadeloupe to be exact, where it's tropical, having cold hands and feet could've been a mechanism of cooling off.   I realized with mentioning my country of origin that I've never ever mentioned it before in any of my blog entries from either this blog or my original one.   Well, except for a story of a cousin that visited the family almost a decade back.    I just said she came from overseas.

Part of why I didn't mention it could be that I was born in Detroit and only visited Guadeloupe two or three times growing up.    So for me Detroit was home.    It was second home of course for my Mom and Dad.

So Dom and I talked about how Papa came into Detroit in 1957 to stay with his Uncle and Aunt.   His Aunt was by blood and was his Mother's (my paternal Grandmother) sister.   I know Papa's uncle as "Uncle".   Dom asked me how Papa's Uncle and Aunt came into Detroit.    It was only then that I realized that I had no idea.    Can you believe I don't recall ever asking Papa about it?

I only remembered the stories Papa told about how "Uncle" was miserly with his money and how he was protective of his possessions.   The most infamous story was how Papa needed to borrow Uncle's encyclopedia set for something he needed to do research on.   He recalled how he didn't return some of the books right away and how upset his Uncle was.   After returning it, one of the first things my Dad did when he got a job was save up to buy his own encyclopedia set from World Book.    The set was from 1960.   I knew this because when we were in school we used that same set for book reports.   And yes this was in the mid to late 80's so a lot of the information was over 20 years old and a lot of it obsolete.

But I remember how proud Papa said he felt when he got his own set.   It was a form of independence from Uncle.   

Papa's Aunt died less than two years after Papa came to Detroit which left him devastated.   It seemed that Uncle and Papa's relationship was a tumultuous one.   I wonder if losing his Aunt played into that.

The only other story I remembered was how Uncle didn't trust banks and kept most of his cash in his mattress.    There was even a story of how Uncle could've bought IBM stock and had he done so, perhaps they could've gained some wealth when the stock really started appreciated.    Speaking of which I never knew that IBM originated from another company called CTR (Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company).   The name was changed to what it's known as today in 1926.   Interestingly enough I've been trading stocks for a number of years now myself (though I'm not really good at it...LOL).

Who I knew as "Grandma" was the daughter of Uncle and Aunt.    I never knew Uncle since he died in 1977 when I was 5 years old.   I only remembered him through the stories.   Grandma also had a husband who passed away in 1978 and they did not have any children.

So I never knew Uncle's story.   Was he even from "the islands" or was he actually American?  What was his family life like?   I feel bad that I never asked Papa about his Uncle's history.   I asked Tasha and Trina and they didn't know either.    Sadly a part of family history is lost forever though perhaps it may be revealed on the other side of life.    Who knows?   If I do I won't be able to tell yall...LOL.

I can only guess there must've been some opportunity that led his Uncle to Detroit.  A lot of times folks move for opportunities.   That's why I moved to Maryland for a brief spell and ultimately Chicagoland.  So it was probably the same for Uncle.

Work's Unsung Hero

 In my job I am responsible for putting customer fires out on the daily.   Since I'm part of the Severity 1 team, some of those customers have been international ones from France, the UK, and Asia Pacific, among others.   When I get those cases, the customer usually sends them during the end of their work shift so I'm not always able to connect with them.

If I'm not able to connect with them and they didn't provide a way for me to access their system or enough information about the issue, I'm limited on what can be done.  You would be surprised by the number of cases received that just says the bare minimum with absolutely no details.   The description just says for example, "this is not working".   

In those situations we are responsible for meeting the SLA, or Service Level Agreement.   The SLA simply is the contract between the service provider (my company) and the consumer which defines the expected level of service in the event issues arise.

When we receive Severity 1 cases from those customers who pay for premium service, the service provider is expected to send out an initial response within the hour.   There are automation processes in place that will send you a warning message, if you have less than 30 minutes to respond.    You'll even get a human who will message you and say that you're in danger of not meeting the SLA.    Those messages are always so annoying especially if I'm in the middle of reviewing the issue.   Incidentally if that's the only job those folks have, where do I sign up?  *LOL*.

There are times when it takes time for the case to be assigned and when you receive it, you have less than 20 minutes to meet the SLA.   That's when you have to quickly give a generic response before time runs out.

Once the SLA is met, there's pretty much nothing else you can do for that particular case.   There are plenty of other fires from U.S. customers to keep me busy.    Near the end of my shift, for those cases, I would fill out a template with what little details I received, and then transfer the case to our general queue and directly route it to my European or Asian Pacific or India counterparts.

There are situations though where we are able to reach the international customer and obtain details.   I even had a case this past week, where the International customer opened the Severity 1 case near the end of the day and left excellent details about their issue.   They also gave me access to their system to investigate.   They weren't available to chat but I had what I needed.

I was able to immediately narrow down on the issue but I still needed time to verify that the issue indeed was what I suspected.   This involved testing the scenario in my personal work org.  I also had other fires to put out as well throughout the day.

I finally had some time about an hour before my shift ended.   I was able to confirm my first instincts were correct.    But since the customer was International, I had to decide whether to keep the case in my queue or transfer it to the customer's time zone.    I was certain that I figured out the issue but I felt like the customer may have had additional questions and if they responded on the case and I wasn't available (because it was outside my shift), it would sit there all day during their shift without a response (unless the customer escalated the case, which would be a bad thing).    Best case scenario, the customer would close out the ticket or give permission to close.  

I decided to transfer the case.  I checked on the ticket the next day and the customer did indeed respond that it was fine to close which the current assigned engineer did.   We receive credit on cases when they are closed.   Whoever is the case owner at time of close gets the credit.    Since I didn't own the case anymore, I didn't receive credit even though I was the one that resolved the issue.

During those times I feel like an unsung hero.   I lamented about it briefly to my co-worker Alvin who could relate.  He and I have definitely made a positive connection even though he's in Indianapolis.  He's become someone that I can trust for sure.   

On the flipside I've had some international cases where I was completely stumped and was so happy to pass those off and not have to deal with them anymore.   It's all part of the game.