Triple Diamonds

I arrived home tonight, after aerobics, in pain. The lightweight kangaroo hide shoes I bought last December in Brisbane were never very sturdy, and now, after nine months use, the shoes had let my arches down. Nothing seemed to help the chronic ache, especially in the left foot. After a suitably-brutal bruising in Pepper's class tonight, I was now both exhausted, and with foot aflame.

But E. had a different idea. "Remember when I won the triple diamonds? I only played one quarter though, so I only won $250. I was so mad - three quarters would have won me $1,000. M-A-A-A-A-R-R-R-C! Gimme some money! Let's go find that Black Oak casino! Let's go to Cache Creek! Let's go to Feather River! What is 25,000 divided by four? I want to play my 'Aliens'! Let's go to Thunder Valley! M-A-A-A-A-R-R-R-C! M-A-A-A-A-R-R-R-C!

Bleary-eyed, I looked at her and thought 'Good Gawd, what have I done to deserve this?' The insistent worm of gambling addiction wanted to be fed. An intervention was necessary. But how to distract the worm?

There is only one addiction strong enough, deep enough, to possibly compete with gambling addiction. Strong medicine, I know, but given the advanced stage of the disease, there was only one solution.....

OK, it was time to go to the mall....

I bought some sturdy shoes and she bought some heavily-discounted summer clothes at Arden Fair's Macy's.

We stopped to eat at California Pizza Kitchen. I was startled beyond words - Chris Scarberry was the server! After a summer in Sacramento, he is returning to UC Santa Barbara in a week, where he is working on a history degree. He hasn't been in any shows since RSP's "Victor Victoria", "Sherlock Holmes", "Sweeney Todd", and "Baby", however: just too busy. A shame - he has a lot of stage presence! Maybe after graduation....

Altogether, a nice evening, and even with a big tip for Chris, still a lot cheaper than an evening chasing 'Triple Diamonds.' May it be enough to placate the worm....