So, I went down to Atlantic City (I know I said I was going to quit gambling) this weekend (wait, this gets worse) on the bus (see, I told you). The thinking between Walter and I (we both have our own cars) is why drive and risk getting in an accident on Friday, let's leave the driving to someone else for once. We knew taking the bus was a bad idea when we were on line. The passengers lined up looked a little rough around the edges, to say the least. I can't go into too much detail but I didn't feel 100% safe.

Bob and Walter on the bus

We got to AC around 6:30, we, smartly, got a room so we wouldn't have to take a 4 AM bus back. We check into the room and it isn't made up. The people before us left that room in such poor shape...by this time we both had some serious questions about the human condition. Walter, calls down, they get us another room right away. We got to the new room, dropped off our stuff and headed down to get some dinner. What could possibly be better than the $9.99 dollar buffet? They make you pay first...smart move. The cups were paper, the plates were about 8 inches and everything had an aftertaste. Never again!

We hit the floor and I lost and I lost and I lost. Couldn't get anything going. Around 1:55 AM, I came up to the room and left a note for Walter (He was playing poker).

The note reads: "Came up at 1:55 to use the men's room/have some water. Still have 2 hundy left...been sitting on it for a while...watching the money wheel -- I'm way down...time for some BJ (blackjack) to get me right!"

Oh, so sad, ha ha! Broke, I got back to the room around 3 AM.

When we got up, our friend Jay called to make sure we were OK...seems another busline headed for the Sands from NYC was in a bad accident. Wow. It would suck to go out like that. We were a few hours away from taking that bus. Anyway, we checked out at 11 AM and decided to have breakfast at...you guessed it, the $9.99 dollar buffet. WE ARE NOT SMART. We talked over our orange drink and mock eggs about all the mistakes we made. We lost a little more before the bus came and before we knew it, we were back in NYC!

The return bus trip was equally as rude and uncomfortable...turns out, the social elite in our society ain't riding Greyhound.

The rest of my weekend was playing catch up. I got home at 4 PM, gathered up my laundry, laid down on the bed for a second...for a second...for a second...and the next thing I knew, it was 8:30. So much for my laundry. I did see Brokeback Mountain that night...it was pretty good. I was surprised.

Sunday I woke up around 8:30 and headed up to the laundry mat, then to the A & P and back home. I could have gone into the city to watch the SuperBowl with Jay, Walter and Tom but after factoring in the ride in/ride back, I decided to stay in my apartment. Such a great game! Ben Roethlisberger was on Late Show yesterday...I was going to try to go down but I figured, I got a nice photo/football last time he was on (last year)...don't push it. But our intern Thea went down and was able to snag an autograph.

Thea with her jersey

Thea's from Pittsburgh so it meant a lot to her...my bosses helped her out, good for them, good for her...she's great.

That about wraps it up for today. If you learned anything from this diary, I hope it was this: DO NOT TAKE THE BUS TO ATLANTIC CITY! Ha ha.

Be real --

Bob