Casino Time and Airline Mergers

We decided Monday would be the day we’d take Terry’s mom out to lunch.  Well, we decided we’d ask if she wanted to go out to lunch.  We weren’t sure if she’d feel self-conscious going out.  She jumped at the chance.  She had guts and wasn’t self conscious at all.  She just told folks if they thought she looked bad, they ought to see the other fella!  In other words, she was quite a trooper.

While we were out and about she figured we could also do a little grocery shopping for her.   We did the shopping and she stayed in the vehicle.  We had discovered a few days ago that getting in and out of our Jeep was quite difficult for her.  It’s not that we had a choice of vehicle to take since hers was in the shop.   I think she would have preferred the motorhome over the Jeep.  By the time we got back to her place, she was pretty excited to see that her vehicle had been returned and was sitting in the driveway.  I’m guessing she’ll never get in our raised Jeep again.

Tuesday was casino day.  His mom LOVES casinos.  We had her vehicle to take and even though she had trouble reading the menu with the one eye, we knew she wouldn’t have any trouble making out the display on the slot machines.  She didn’t.  We spent several hours pushing the buttons on the slot machines.  It’s hard to leave a machine when you continue to win.  Well, we won a bit and lost a bit.  The only thing I can say is that I ended up walking out of that casino with a lot more money than I walked in with.  I can’t say the same about his mom but it wasn’t her  fault really.  It was mine. 

We only left the casino because we were very hungry.  We ended up at at Monti’s in downtown Tempe.    The restaurant occupies an adobe hacienda that was originally built  in 1871.  A lot of history has happened over the years in and outside of this adobe structure. There are many historical displays on the inside walls. 

In 1954 it was converted to a restaurant. It is now the largest full-service restaurant in Arizona with 14 dining rooms and 5 banquet rooms.  Ghosts have been known to visit and even paranormal investigations have been conducted here.  We didn’t see any ghosts but maybe they wait until evening to come out.   It’s a great place to eat with a lot of history in its walls.  I don’t know why we keep forgetting to stop here on our way through the area but the last time we visited was when I was pregnant with our daughter and that was many, many years ago.  However, we will most certainly put it on our “must stop” list for future visits.

Well, that was it for our Monday and Tuesday adventures.  Wednesday we plan on hitting the mall with Terry’s mom.  If we keep her busy, she doesn’t sit inside her home stressing about the removal of her bandages on Thursday.

We've also had our little calendar and map out recently.  Planning where to go and when to go there isn’t as easy as one might think.  Well, it’s not easy when you have other things you need to work around.  We’ve certainly had a lot to work around this year with no change in the near future.  Terry’s aunt and uncle will be in this area in January and February and his brother is making a trip out in January.  Then, our grandson, Justin, will be in Washington after we head back after Christmas.  Things can sure get difficult. 

In the meantime we’re still hoping to get reservations at our very favorite RV park after it re-opens again after being total rebuilt.  The original reopening was supposed to be in October.  That was changed to January.  Now it’s supposed to be mid-February.

Tuesday was a day for dancing in our motorhome.  If you were outside and noticed it rocking, it was because that’s exactly what I was doing.  I was dancing.  Why?  Well, my reason probably would not excite you.  Maybe the news even made some folks unhappy.  I was dancing because the merger between US Airways and American Airlines was finalized.  It’ll probably take a couple years for the full transition between the airlines.  After all, that’s about how long it took when American acquired Reno Air and then when they acquired TWA.  This is a little different.  This is a merger with American bringing close to 72% of the assets and US Airways about 28%.  I wouldn’t have liked it so much had it been the other way around.

Union employees will probably not be happy as one group is merged into the other.  They weren’t with Reno Air, TWA or even US Airways previously.  On top of that many management jobs will be lost as the two airlines consolidate their headquarters and airport staffs.    The Phoenix area will lose as the headquarters for an airline.  However, they will gain as a major hub for the world’s largest airline.  They went through a similar situation when America West bought US Airways several years ago.  The big difference is that the headquarters remained in Phoenix.  Some gates at major hubs will be lost which will also mean a loss of jobs in other places.

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No one else may care about this but we do because it is a positive change for us.  Our costs go way down on the routes US Airways previously served.  Many more planes and locations are also now open to us.  Yippee!  Whoppee!

‘Tis life on the road AND in the air!

It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile and one nut to scatter it all over the road.