Incredulity

I come home to a cool house and welcoming cats after what has been a very intimately stressful day. While I shared what I'm going through, the self-imposed stress can't be shared. Every time the office phone rang, I wondered if it was the "You want to fix your car, it's going to cost an arm, a leg, a kidney and half of your liver". My boss always leaves early so I am at home now, waiting for that call.

I get the mail and there is a strange letter from Wynn/Encore resorts in Las Vegas. I open it and read it. This is beyond weird. The Senior Vice President & General Manager of the resorts informs me,

"I'd like to personally invite you to be among the first to experience the exciting new amenities at Wynn with this exclusive invitation to stay in a Resort Room at the following special nightly rates: From $109 Sunday through Thursday and from $199 Friday and Saturday. Also receive a Complimentary Upgrade to an Encore Resort Suite King at the time of booking based on availability. We would also like to help you make the most of your visit with two tickets to see the breathtaking aquatic spectacle, Le Réve, when you stay three or more nights."

To say I am quite amazed at the timing of this is a massive understatement. I have actually read everything on this letter twice, picked up and restrained Pilchard in my lap so when she launches herself off my lap in a "OMG! She's loving me and I don't want to be forcibly loved!" fashion, I feel it, just to be certain this is, in fact, real.

There is a P.S. "As our special guest, you may offer your friends and family a Resort Room..." I have a "special code" (Everybody say, "ooooh.") for the use of my friends and family.

Now, if you know me well, I should have warned you, because you have probably sprayed whatever tea you were drinking all over your computer screen as you let out a very hearty guffaw. There are some places I would love to see before I pass on.

Fife, Dundee and Edinburgh in Scotland

Stratford-on-Avon in England

Paris, France in April, if you please

Montreal, Canada

Washington, DC

Disneyland, California

the Grand Canyon in Arizona

the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor

New England in the fall

Notice, Las Vegas is NOT on that list.

I've been through there. When Carole spent a summer in Reno, Nevada, I flew through Vegas to help move her home. I could see the Luxor Pyramid from the airport. But just as flying through O'Hare does not constitute "seeing" Chicago, I don't claim to have been to Vegas by being able to sit in the airport on a hot August afternoon and see the strip.

I'm also not all that interested in actually going to Las Vegas. I have friends who have gone there and it just strikes me as an enormous money vacuum. When I have so little to begin with, why would I go some place where there is no return for me? I do like kitsch and the strange and silly and downright weird. But, as Carole knows, I also like rarified and intelligent. Both trips to visit her in Seattle included museums and nature and conversation and good food. Everything I've seen of Las Vegas says I would be overwhelmed by excess, bad shirts and too much neon.

I have no idea where they got my name. I have until December 29, 2010 (subject to availability, of course) to redeem this offer. I will hang on to it, file it in with all my other papers to be discovered when I do taxes come the end of January. You never know. If my life were to take a dramatic turn for the better, perhaps I would stumble upon a reason to go to Vegas for an adventure. Then, having a discount would be extremely good.

For now, I am left to scratch my head at the sheer wild coincidence of receiving this on a day when I'm struggling to figure out where money will come from to pay bills. I think this is called "black humor".

Beverage: Scottish Blend tea

Deb

Gas

As promised, I thought, while it's still fresh, to comment on gas prices in Iowa versus gas prices in Illinois.

$2.45 per gallon versus $2.79 when I left Wheaton. The Iowa price is for mid-grade. Regular is $2.55 per gallon. Why the disparity?

I honestly don't know as I'm not savvy on such things. It seems far more than simple supply and demand. The 10 cent per gallon differential in price between regular and mid-grade in Iowa reflects the state's push of ethanol. Mid-grade contains more ethanol, which helps the Iowa corn farmer. This is also subsidized by the state, hence a lower price. The Jeep runs very well on mid-grade and I don't mind helping the farmer.

Gas has always been cheaper in Iowa than in Illinois. Probably reflects the levy of taxes and delivery fees and whatever else gets tacked onto the wholesale price.

When Carole moved to Reno for grad school, we took photos of every station where we stopped for gas, just to keep a record of what prices were as we worked from Wheaton to Reno. The lowest prices were in Iowa, $1.99 gallon, if I remember correctly, back in August of 2005.

Seattle, where Carole now lives, has higher prices than Chicagoland which reflects the lack of refining in that area and how gas has to be shipped into Seattle. This past Christmas, when Seattle received a foot of snow that, essentially, shut the metropolitan area down, gas was hard to find. The Port of Tacoma froze so gas laden ships couldn't off-load and the mountain passes were blocked with snow so the tankers couldn't make it over the mountains. Many stations just closed for Christmas since they had nothing to sell. But since people couldn't go anywhere because of the streets, it was kind of a moot point. No gas, but no customers either.

As I drove through rural America, the America I remember from my youth, I saw a Sinclair station. That takes me back. I remember when they gave away these green plastic dinosaurs at Christmas. My dad didn't like the guy who ran the closest Sinclair station so we didn't buy our gas there. But I think my grandmother had a good relationship with a Sinclair station. She refused, up to her quitting driving, to put gas in her car herself. I think she got two of those dinos and my brothers got them.

I remember Kurt Russell doing commericals for Sinclair gas. It was during his Disney phase. He pulled into the gas station in one spot and had to scrounge for gas money. He handed the guy a dollar, I think, and his girlfriend said that wouldn't put much gas in his car. He said he didn't have much because he'd spent $5 for a nifty new gas pedal shaped like a bare foot. The station attendant checked the oil and washed all the windows and the front headlights. So Kurt scrounges around and comes up with 50 more cents. His girlfriend purrs, "Ooooh big spender." I think the tag line was something like "Extra service is something you expect at Sinclair".

Heh...interesting. Nowdays, I expect they should have ice cold Dr. Pepper and the ability to pay at the pump.

Beverage: English Teatime

Deb