ATM ding ding ding

Sights and Sounds and Security Issues
at OLG Slots
Monday, March 12
8:00 - 8:45 a.m.

ATM
ding ding ding ding ding ding

Asian Princess
Heart of Gold
50 Lions
Fireball
Wolf Run
Code Red
Hexbreaker
Golden Goddess

dingdingdingdingdingding

Sign: "Winner's Circle Rewards"

dingdingdingdingding

A woman in bright earrings and a fake fur parka plays a machine called Kitty Glitter.

Sign: "OLG Slots & Casinos -- Bet You'll Have Fun!!"

dingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingding

A few guys play two machines at a time.
2 cent machines
5 cent machines
penny machines
(What's the harm??)

Wild Blue
Silver Raven

I notice the security guard following me, eventually he stops me, asks what I'm doing.
I say I'm trying to figure things out, I'm new to this, I say.
But the notebook, what's that for?
I'm writing down names of machines, I explain. They're kind of funky, don't you think?
He doesn't answer.

Starlight Fire
Quick Strike Major
Fire Opals
White Orhcid
Red Lions
Wild Wolf
Miss Kitty
Tiki Talk

dingdingdingdingdingding

Harelquin Hearts

An older man in a plaid cap plays Chieftans.

Triple Lucky
Triple 777
Triple Stars
Triple Slingo
Mermaid's Gold

The security guard sidles up to me again, arms folded over his chest, says he's never seen anyone writing things down in here before.
I say I'm sure he hasn't.

Live Lobsters

Nowhere to sit except at machines.

dingdingdingding

I sit down at Pelican Pete and when a passing drink server asks if she can get me anything, I ask if she can tell me how the machines work. She's happy to help and it's very simple, I discover; but then, it would have to be, wouldn't it?

dingdingdingdingdingding

I play 30 cents worth then cash out.

Sun and Moon
Buccaneer
African Diamonds
Golden Theatre Deluxe (takes bills from $5 to $100)
Diamond Solitaire Deluxe

Staff walk around wiping down machines, hand sanitizer is available.

dingdingdingdingdingdingding

I stop a moment at Jumpin' Jalapenos and a woman in a red coat sits down at the machine beside me, plays a while then leaves.

Aztec Kingdom
Leopard's Claw
Peacock Magic
Jewels of India
Siberian Storm

I notice there are exactly no machines named for anything along the lines of Contentment, Inner Wisdom, Fresh Air.

Twin Warriors
China Shores

A tall man appears, smiles, says hello, introduces himself as the manager, asks what I'm doing.
I explain. I tell him, really, he has nothing to worry about.
As he walks away, he says he doesn't worry about much.
There is worry in his voice as he says it.

Gold Gold Gold
Diamonds Dublin

dingdingdingdingding

Instant Riches
Full Moon Diamond
Ontario Problem Gamblling Helpline above the BET MAX and SPIN AGAIN buttons
1-888-230-3505

dingdingdingdingding

Capricorn Mountain
Eleven Pearls (I play this, win a dollar and cash out immediately)
Yellow Brick Road
Glinda the Good Witch

The floor manager, a woman this time, comes over, says hello, tries to get a look at my notebook, asks what I'm doing.
I tell her I'm fascinated by the way the place is set up, how the machines work, their names; I point out I've played a few.
She looks concerned.
I smile, tell her not to be.
She says she's not but she can't stop trying to sneak a peek at my notebook.

Wicked Riches
Jack Pot Vegas Hits
Cats
Peacock Magic (played this and lost 15 cents)
Horoscope
Twin Win

The coat check cum snack counter cum lottery ticket kiosk mostly sells tickets; no one checks their coat, they don't even take them off at the machines, maybe to reassure themselves they won't be there long enough to bother.

dingdingdingding

Fort Knox
Crystal Forest
Wild Wild Safari
Maiko
Paraoh's Contest
Lucky Fountain
Stand & Deliver
Gold Fish

The same machine you use to redeem your winnings, breaks large bills just in case you'd like to stick around another minute or two while a video-screen shows well-dressed people laughing, chatting, hands raised in the air in victory; none of them wear coats.

dingdingdingdingdingding

But in reality no one chats
No one laughs
No one even smiles
Nor makes eye contact with another
Except the men and women who wander about asking if all is well and would you like a drink.

Rock Star Sevens
Triple American Spirit
Triple Charms
Cleopatra

After 45 minutes I redeem my ticket; total losses = 25 cents. (started with $5.00, leaving with $4.75)

I pass the floor manager on the way out, tell her I'm leaving, that she can relax.
She laughs (a mixture of relief and confusion), then says Oh, that's okay, stay as long as you like.

Red Hot Fusion
Planet Moolah

to make asap

To Make ASAP,
and (A Few) Things I Learned...
from HEALTHY STARTS HERE
by Mairlyn Smith, Whitecap Books

TO MAKE ASAP:

Asparagus Salad (and all things asparagus)
Curried Lentils with Spinach
(Secret Ingredient) Chocolate Mousse
Fennel with Spanish Onion Slaw
Leek, Parsnip & Apple Soup
Sweet & Spicy Walnuts
Marinated Mushrooms
Winter Pea Salad
Summer Pea & Mint Salad
Crispy Kale (with parmessan)
Tuscan Supper (a soup)
Olive & Herb Topping (for salmon)
Four Sauces: citrus, teriyaki, wasabi, dijon
Coleslaw: master recipe
Chili Roasted Broccoli Stalks
Asian Style Chicken & Watercress Soup
Roasted Butternut Squash with Turmeric
Pan-Fried and Oven-Finished Fall Veggies

(A FEW) THINGS I LEARNED:

My addiction to salt can be overcome.

Serving sizes on labels vary. Marketers love this trick.

Cut dates with scissors.

How to choose asparagus, broccoli, fish. (The darker the broccoli the better.)

Don't over-stir mushrooms.

Mushroom stems are good for stock.

Mushrooms are the only vegetable that contains vitamin D.

A good temp for fridge is 4 degrees C. (40F)

I need a set of dry measuring cups. Glass is for liquids. Silly me.

How to measure liquids.

Yogurt is a dry ingredient.

Easy way to peel ginger. (with a spoon) (it works!!)

How to hard 'cook', as opposed to hard 'boil' eggs. Makes for fluffier yolks. (it works!!)

Rand McNally Deluxe

(Some) items found in convenience store
(in the order they're displayed)
at Fifth Wheel Truckstop, Bowmanville, ON

Rand McNally Deluxe Road ATlas
Chips
Maps
Scented Candles
Harley Chachkies
Harley Dog Chachkies
Greeting Cards
Angel Pins
Single Serving Cereal in a Bowl
Single Serving Microwavable Soup in a Bowl
Single Serving Chili in a Bowl
Single Serving Ravioli in a Bowl
Paper Napkins
Paper Plates
Plastic Cutlery
Can Openers
Corkscrews
Sardines
Miniature Jar Instant Coffee
Sweet & Low
Dads Oatmeal Cookies
Chips Ahoy
Ziploc Bags
Ketchup
Mirror Mounts
Wet/Dry Vac
Halogen Headlights
CB Antenna
Antenna Mount
Mini Jack Strap
Cables
12 Volt Power Socket
Dome Studs
Noise Cancelling Microphones
LED Marker lights
Rope (Nylon, Sisal)
"Wide Load" Flag
5" Convex Mirror
Metal Strapping
Hubcaps
Nut Covers
Canadian "D" Sign
Steering Wheel Covers
Cowboy Hats
"No Smoking" Decals
"Caution: Wide Right Turn" Decals
Steering Wheel Spinner (skull)
Licence Plate Bullet Studs
Soft Bottom Ashtray
Tarp Straps
3-Lock Grip Pliers
Air Freshener
Feather Dusters
Bottled Water
Pop
Chop and Grate Machine (as seen on TV)
Smart LiDZ (as seen on TV)
Boot & Sneaker Dryer (as seen on TV)
Toy Guitar
Back Rest
Postcards
Steam Mop
Toy Trucks
Leather Belts
Stuffed Toys
Toilet Paper
Sweatshirts, Toques and Socks
Ice Scrapers
Books: Dean Koontz, Louis Lamour
Baseball Caps
Fluorescent Orange Vinyl Jackets
Coffee Mugs
Box Set of 'Sex in the City' Body Lotion & Eau du Parfum
Piggy Banks
Charm (and other) Bracelets
Sunglasses
CDs: Roy Orbison, Dr. Hook, Shania, Elvis, Franki Valli, Lonestar
Audio Books: John Saul, Louis Lamour, Daniel Silva
DVDs: Silence of the Lambs, Missionary Man
Souvenir Key Chains
Work Gloves
Canary Yellow Vinyl Rain Gear
Canary Yellow Helmets
Pads of "Drivers Daily Log"
Pads of "Drivers Inspection Report"
Pads of "Drivers Trip & Cost Report"
ID Sealer
Mountable Map Light
Hole Punch, Stapler, Liquid Paper
Pens
Playing Cards
Calculator
Paper Clips, Rubber Bands
Animal Crackers
Miscellaneous Toys
Faerie Figurines
Nascar Decals
Candle Holders
"Remember When" Books
Wall Sized Framed Pictures of Horses, Blurry Landscapes
Miscellaneous Pharmacy
Gum, Candy, etc

abernethy, wood, mackinnon

Brock Township, November 2011
Sunny hillside with a view
And not a Johnnie Walker among them

Abernethy
Wood
MacKinnon
MacLean
McInnis
McInnes
McGregor
MacDonald
Michael
Cameron
Clark
McCallum
Duncan
Campbell
McPhaden
McLean
McQueen
McDonald
Philp
McIntyre
McFadyen
Bailey
Sheldon
Brown
Wylie

Babysitting a kid on Bermuda Avenue

Jobs I had
before I was eighteen,
starting with age twelve.

Babysitting a Kid on Bermuda Avenue whose name I forget. Boy, maybe five or six, possibly annoying, not sure. Had a dog. TV in basement. Nice parents. Went out a lot. Paid well.

Selling Regal Cards and Novelty Items door to door. Best customers in the high rise apartments over by Food City.

Selling Sarah Coventry Jewellery through home parties. Only ever had one home party -- hosted by my mum. I let her friends look at my samples plus showed them a few nifty tricks with a scarf I learned from the training brochure. If I sold anything, I don't remember.

Selling Avon. This was so awful I've blanked it out. All I remember is thinking the plastic turquoise case was a kind of grown up version of Barbie, where you, yourself, have become the doll. I still have a mild reaction whenever I see a stray catalogue or, worse, a Tupperware full of assorted 'product line' at a garage sale. It ruined turquoise for me.

Strawberry picking one summer; had to get up before dawn, walk to the Towers intersection, wait for a flatbed truck that would deliver me and the other pickers to a farm forty minutes (by flatbed) away. Ate more than I picked. Got a tan and a rash and a very small cheque.

Slicing meat and cheese at Tothe's Delicatessan. Also slicing fingers. Visits to emerg aside, I quite liked this job. Make-your-own free lunch included, which meant shaved Black Forest ham and smoked cheese on a fresh kaiser slathered with sweet butter and grainy mustard, a large dill pickle... and custardy, creamy slice of Napoleon, washed down with Orange Crush.

Receptionist at a denture clinic. Mostly what I did was take messages, make appointments and when people arrived with their broken dentures, pulling them straight out of their mouths to leave for adjustment, I'd grab a kleenex and carry them into the back room. I also paid myself because the denturist, a madman from somewhere in Eastern Europe, named Dr. P., did not know the going rate. Yoost write out some kind chick! he'd yell, so I multiplied my hours each week by the minimum wage, wrote a cheque to myself and he signed it. Sometimes he'd yell for me to go to the liquor store and get him some brandy. Only taking teaspoon for medeecinal! One time he yelled my name from the back room in such a way I thought he'd yanked out his own teeth by accident. I ran in to see and he was there in his big black dentist chair, leaning back, holding a huge butcher knife in one hand and a peach in the other. You vant peach? he yelled. Is good! I did not have peach.

As I have been given

First sentences of culled books
enroute to Sally Ann
July, 2011

As I have been given a large and magnificent diary for Christmas--seven by ten and nearly two inches thick--I intend to fill it in as long as may ardour lasts.

It is difficult to know quite where to begin this story, but I have fixed my choice on a certain Wednesday at luncheon at the Vicarage.

I'd never felt so intimidated ringing a doorbell.

The espresso machine behind my shoulder hissed like an angry snake.

"Thanks be, I'm done with geometry, learning or teaching it," said Anne Shirley, a trifle vindictively, as she thumped a somewhat battered volume of Euclid into a big chest of books, banged the lid in triumph, and sat down upon it, looking at Diana Wright across the Green Gables garret, with grey eyes that were like a morning sky.

It was late May.

It was the opening day of the summer term at Meadowbank school.

The July storm moved down the valley, rumbling around either side of the hills and Pembina Lake.

Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th-17th September--a Thursday.

Miss Jane Marple was sitting by her window.

I was standing at the window of Poirot's rooms looking out idly on the street below.

"Anything of interest this morning, Miss Lemon?" he asked as he entered the room the following morning.

The memory of the public is short.

Both Frank and Nancy have been married before.

When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks, and diverging wrinkles appeared round them, extending upon his countenance like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun.

Every time he drove through Yorkville, Rosenbaum got angry, just on general principles.

Look at me now, Joshua thought.

I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles), who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates a 'Claudius the Idiot', or 'That Caludius', or 'Claudius the Stammerer', A.D. 41 or 'Clau-Clau-Claudius', or at best as 'Poor Uncle Claudius', am now about to write this strange history of my life; starting from my earliest childhood and continuing year by year until I reach the fateful point of change where, some eight years ago, at the age of fifty-one, I suddenly found myself caught in what I may call the'golden predicament' from which I have never since become disentangled.

We called him Old Yeller.

About midway along the Atlantic seaboard of the North American continent lies a strip of land which is known today as the Sate of Old Catawba.

"That is New York."

The children were at the Theatre, acting to Three Cows as much as they could remember of Midsummer Night's Dream.

I was nothing but a pimply little question mark on the day my sister and I first walked into Ken Jones Music in Etobicoke.

Some twelve miles west of Istanbul, beyond the outskirts of the city in the flat farm country near the coast, is Yesilkoy International Airport.

The extent of territory occupied by the Ojibway nation, is the largest of any Indian possessions of which there is any definite knowledge.

We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.

The ship that was carrying me away from England to Africa in the autumn of 1938 was called the SS Mantola.

After an hour the young policewoman brought Fielding a cup of coffee and left him alone in the room.

The Beast destroyed my brief peace.

I was never so amazed in my life as when the Sniffer drew his concealed weapon from its case and struck me to the ground, stone dead.

3 Km - Grass

Randomly Selected Kilometre Markers
Eastbound on Hwy 407
Sunday, June 19/11

3 Km - Grass
4 Km - Guelph Line
5 Km - Dundas Street
7 Km - Appleby Creek, new housing development
11 Km - Recently ploughed field
14 Km - fallow field
20 Km - Sixth Line
25 Km - Lower Baseline Road
39.5 Km - Financial Drive
49 Km - kids' soccer game
50 Km - Algonquin Power
53 Km - Airport Road
53.5 Km - Mimico Creek
57 Km - large pond/small lake
61.5 Km - Rainbow Creek
62 Km - train trestle over woodland
77 Km - Yonge Street
85 Km - Warden Avenue
90 Km - grass, trees, chain link fence
92 Km - Markham Road
92.5 Km - Rouge River
94 Km - Ninth Line
96 Km - Barn
98 Km - York/Durham Line
100.5 Km - "Aircraft Patrolled" sign
103 Km - field, trees
103.5 Km - Sideline Road
104 Km - thicket, pond
104.5 Km - woodland
105 Km - woodland, Urfe Creek
105.5 Km - barn, Brock Road