Sunday at The Casino

It's early but at least it's after 7AM and I'm doing my daily computer stuff like checking my mail and a few other computer things that make up my morning rituals.

We decided to get out of the house yesterday and go to the Casino for a while. At least it's nice and cool in the casinos and there are lots of people watching opportunities. It is about an hour's drive from here and after the first 3o minutes the storm clouds rolled in big, black and puffy and dropped rain so heavy the traffic was pulling to the side of the interstate and waiting it out. We just slowed down a little and kept going. We got a good drenching, the humidity raced higher and we thanked the air conditioner gods for the convenience of flipping that a/c switch onto a higher level.

At the casino a 30 something young lady was strolling along with her arm looped around her boyfriends' arm and from a distance they looked as though they were just moving from one area of the casino to another. When her arm slipped off his, she staggered a few feet to the side, paused and then put one foot very deliberately in front of the other and moved forward a few steps before she staggered a few feet to the opposite side which then put her back on course with her boyfriend who was waiting on her to return to his side. She couldn't make it without his help so he stepped back a few paces so she could lock her arm back onto his. Ah, the joys of free drinks while gambling. The casinos are not so free with the drinks of late so either this couple were buying some of their own or they had been there for hours and hours.

Hubby plays blackjack and he reported that everyone sitting at the table with him had been laid off just last week. One worked for UPS, one a truck driver, one a secretary at a realtor's office and if he mentioned anyone else, I can't remember at this moment. All of these people were Texans and most of them lived in Houston. One man mentioned that his whole family used to work in the oil industry but he decided to not do that anymore. He still ended up loosing his job. He commented that though Houston is a huge city and diversified, it is still a city based on the oil industry and the recession in the oil fields is once again impacting Houston.

I try not to dwell on the economy. It doesn't help and as I'm a chronic worrier in the best of times, this is a difficult thing for me not to do...worry.

That said, the job recovery is expected to be the last indicator that the economy is healing. Job losses are expected throughout the next two years; this I hear from the news reports.

One can't just stop living and wait for the ax to fall. I feel as though that is how I have been living for the past year. Although we aren't nearly as busy as last year, we still have an income most people didn't have in the best of times so I need to lighten up a bit and damper down the worry.

I'm outta here to get showered and dressed and see what the day brings. Maybe I will get inspired to do something. This could happen. Wipe that disbelieving look off your face!