i had a swell birthday dinner with fellow ziners, shirley and keith post. they were gracious enough to wait for me since i was having transportation trouble and was 15 mins. late.

the GTG was small and the meal was buffet and fast, but we had a pleasant time. the posts are frequent vegas guests and i profited from their knowledge! they explained the players club each casinos have. a card records your gambling $$$ and awards you points. for joining the casino @ harrah's. i got free slots for an hour (i think i will be refunded the losses eventually) and a free ticket to the magic show - which was quite good.

i joined the clubs @ other hotels, realizing i was getting comps which is good, but also getting on God knows how many mailing lists.

i found a few penny machines! excaliibur, circus, fremont st and monte carlo (brewery). but decided to save the $1 slot coins from each casino. they are large silver dollars with the casino name and pictures on the back.

please keep me in mind if you see a penny machine in your travels!

other than the heat and the traffic...three days in vegas is enough for me. next birthday. i'm going to go the nature route (off-season).

i'll post any good pics on the shared files. cindyb in NC

p.s. thank you don and linda for my e-mail birthday card!