Travel Blog

The view from Marie Peak is spectacular. As shown in this panoramic view of the Coachella Valley played out for us. I took this picture with my iPhone 5. It is a 270 degree panoramic view from the top of Murray Peak in Palm Springs.

Murray Peak is located in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. It is approximately 2100 feet high with a 1500 foot elevation climb from the trail head. Although a 2100 feet elevation does not seem like much,  it certainly is when you are hiking up to the top of the peak.

Time to the Top of Murray Peak

This particular hike takes approximately 2 1/2 hours to reach the top and almost 2 hours to do sand. The hiking is very gradual in places while challenging in others.

There are lots of switchbacks to traverse while you’re climbing up the mountain although in some areas it can be a very gentle rise. There are five picnic tables at the top of the peak where you can enjoy your lunch, snack or just relax. There’s also cell phone service at this location. There are two trail heads that lead to the top of Murray peak. One can be found at Von’s along Highway 111 and the other from the South Indian Palm Canyon area.

Take lots of water, and something to eat as this hike will take you approximately five hours to reach Murray Peak and return round-trip. Wear lots of sun tan lotion and cover your head. The sun can get pretty intense and you really need to make sure that you are prepared for this hike.

Wear very good hiking shoes as well and carry a hiking stick with you. It helps with balance and provides protection from any animals that you may encounter. Note that the writer has hiked to the top of Murray Peak several times and we have never seen any animals  while on our hike.

For more posts about hiking and all topics associated with hiking, click here.

One of the best things about restaurants in California is that they post the number of calories against each menu item. This information may not stop you from ordering a particular item, but it sure makes you think about it before you do. If the average person needs 2000 calories a day and the item you are ordering is 500 or 800 calories, you might just begin to rethink your order.  It can be complex to keep track of all of the calories, however, if you focus on the big items and reduce your calories accordingly, it may help control your weight. At least this is what your government is hoping will happen. Posting calories on the menu in California is here to stay and spreading to other cities.

Posting calories on the menu – Eating Less

For those of us that pay attention to this sort of thing, it means you can control how many calories you eat when eating out!

The biggest challenge for people is knowing how many calories are hidden in these meals with the sauces and additives that are always part of the meal. Many restaurants will show a range of calories. This is designed to give you a feel for the sauces that you may or may not add and how many calories they contain.

If you are calorie counting this is another tool to help you while eating out while in California! It is surprising just how many calories are in the sauces and the added items on whatever meal that you order. Many people will just go ahead and consume these sauces without thinking about actually how many calories that you eat.

As a general rule when you see a range of calories on any menu, you can be sure that any sauce, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, etc are the items that are going to be in that range of calories. Fast food restaurants who are Posting calories on the menu in California are sometimes the worst. They automatically add all of the above items unless you tell them not to. It becomes a special order if you want to hold the ketchup and mayo! This is a great way to manage the total calories that you contain.

For more diet-related information, click here.

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Large online offers sound great. We have seen large online offers of free play. As much as $1500 offered to new people who sign up on various online casino websites. We have not followed through on any of these Casino Free Play offers. Nor have we signed up for any of these online free play offers. We do not believe that new sign-up will automatically receive immediately $1500 in free play. We are certain that there will be a qualifying period. As well as qualifying play that must be attained before the full $1500 in free play is available.

Casino Free Play

Free play can usually be used on any of the slot games available online as well as any of that table games that are available online. When you do receive free play, this is like real money placed in your account. The free play cannot be withdrawn from your account until it is all used up. Any money that you win as a result of using free play can be withdrawn from your account.

Most players often continue to use the money they have won using free play money because they feel it is free and they’re playing on the casinos money. Before they know what has happened the money is gone and now they need to contribute money from their own bank account.

Online Play

Free play offers when you sign up are usually available from most online casinos. It is important to read all of the FinePrint and understand what conditions apply to both receiving the free play money as well as utilizing the free play money.

Earn free play as you play when you are using your own currency from your bank account. This free play money will build up based on the amount of time, and the amount of money that you are gambling over a given period. Depending on how much you play, it can be substantial. This free play money is in addition to any winnings or losses that you may incur.

Free play money can disappear fast. We have seen $200 in free play money at brick and mortar casinos disappear within 15 minutes based on poor winnings and playing quickly. Take your time and enjoy the free play money and above all take your winnings and run. Online casino free play money can go just as quickly as it does in the brick-and-mortar casinos.

Use your own money carefully once your free play money is gone. After that, you are using your own money and it can disappear just as quickly. Of course, if you do when a big jackpot it is time to withdraw the money from your account and enjoy the winnings.

If you have sleep apnea and have been prescribed a CPAP machine, you probably know something about traveling with one of these machines. We thought that we would write a small article about some of the things you can consider. The focus is to make traveling with your CPAP machine much more comfortable. Also avoid any problems. Travel CPAP issues include finding distilled water, power, wall plugs. Also adding it to your luggage in general when you already have a full suitcase.

The CPAP machine comes with a case for everything that you will need while traveling. The exception is water and an extension cord. We mentioned the extension cord because we have found that in some hotels there is not an easily accessible place to plug in your CPAP machine. An Extension cord can be used to reach to a distant electrical outlet. This allows you to still have your CPAP machine located right beside you on the dresser.

Travel CPAP – Bring Water

In addition I always travel with distilled water. I have the proper kind of water with me at all times. If I’m only going for two or three days, I will use a small water bottle filled with distilled water. I carry it with me inside the case that I use. If I’m going for longer periods, obviously I will take a jug of water that has been distilled with me. I still use the small water bottle filled with distilled water. This helps avoid having to carry the jug of distilled water into the hotel room each night.

In addition to these suggestions I also use a backpack instead of the case that is provided with the CPAP machine. I can combine several items of personal nature as well as a CPAP machine in my backpack, therefore having one less bag to carry when checking into a hotel or visiting friends. It is also less obvious that I have sleep apnea or am carrying a CPAP machine with me. Most people will not care about this last point however for those of you are a bit vain, using a backpack is a much more common and expected item to carry than the case that is provided with the CPAP machine.

Hopefully these small tips and hints will help several of our readers who also are suffering from sleep apnea. If you suspect you have sleep apnea, we suggest you get tested right away, wearing one of masks for sleep apnea is not as difficult as it appears and the benefits are fantastic. You actually get to sleep the whole night through and it is wonderful.

For more information about CPAP travel, click here.

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Live casino online competes with brick and mortar casinos for your time and for your dollars especially. Start by getting to play free games that are usually easy to win and pay big jackpots. Once you convert to real cash playing, the odds are much worse than the typical brick-and-mortar casino. At least that seems to be the common market information that is available online. We are not aware of any specific studies or reports that support this notion.

Convenience

Online live casinos are certainly more convenient compared to getting in your car and driving sometimes many miles to get to a brick-and-mortar casino. Just sit at your desk, use your computer, and logon into your favorite online casino and you’re ready to play. You do not even have to get dressed or take a shower, you can just start playing when you wake up in the morning or play well into the night!

They provide online benefits such as entries to tournaments and free play that you can use to actually win money when you’re playing with real dollars. Even people who are playing with tokens i.e. not real money can receive entries to tournaments and other benefits. Benefits depend on the particular online live casino that your playing.

The danger is playing too much which takes time away from family, friends, and your social life. If you’re playing for real money, there’s always the danger of gambling too much and losing more than you may want to. keep control of how much time you’re spending gambling online at the live casinos as well as how much you are spending and play.

International Play

Players get to play against people from around the world or against the casino. It really depends on the game that you’re playing. Slot machine games typically are against the casino. Table games with the casino taking a cut are played against other players from all around the world. At a Texas hold ’em table you could have people from five or six different countries all playing with you. There is a chat system Available and sometimes people will chat as well

Playing live casino online can be fun as long as it is kept under control. When you start spending too much time playing casino games online at your computer, it is time to take a break. Have someone take the time to interrupt you and get you away from the computer otherwise you will become hooked on one of these online casino games.

Just got back from Tylers burgers Palm Springs where you can have one of the best hamburgers, french fries and coleslaw meals for under $15! in Palm Springs California.

We ordered sliders, which come with cheese for $3.25. Order them with the works, with caramelized onions, mustard, relish, and mayonnaise. They taste fantastic and with the coleslaw and french fries are more than a meal. Don’t forget to order your favorite kind of cheese on your Tyler’s burgers in Palm Springs. We tend to split the fries since there are so many provided. Some people who are hungry will order a regular burger, but we find that the sliders are more than enough for us.

Tylers burgers Palm Springs – Licensed

We just have water with our meal, however, you can order wine and beer as well as other drinks. It is a bit too early for us to have a drink. They open at 11:00 and there is usually a line by 11:30 to get into the place.

Tyler’s restaurant opens at 11 o’clock every day and by 1130 there’s a lineup to get in. If your hungry and in a hurry, it is best to get there before 1130 otherwise you’re going to have to wait in line and sign in at the sign-up sheet. The wait is not too long, nevertheless, there is a wait because this is a very popular place.

Couples can often get in more quickly than parties of four or more. They also have a small seating area inside, but most people will sit outside under the canopies which protect you from the sun. They close at around 3 pm.

We make a special effort to go to Tyler’s every year that we are in Palm Springs at least two or three times a month. Try it out we know that you will enjoy it. For more posts about restaurants in Palm Springs, click here.

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Whether you support the president or not, there is something about a presidential motorcade that really impresses a person. It makes you proud of your country. This was the first time we had the opportunity to observe a presidential motorcade. It was really quite awe inspiring.

The precision and the organization of the motorcade makes one proud of the people involved. The professionalism of the teams of people who are devoted to making sure that the president gets from one location to another safely and quickly is fantastic. In this case he was traveling from the Sunnylands Estate in Palm Springs to the Palm Springs airport. This was for departure back to Washington. He had spent the weekend in Palm Springs coming here for a meeting and a little R&R time at the golf course.

Presidents Motorcade

There was a lead group of about 30 motorcycles, some occasionally pealing off to block streets or to keep onlookers from crowding the road. They roared past us at about 30 miles an hour. They were followed by several police cars, two black limo’s and a number of support vehicles. Also including ambulances, an emergency fire truck. Finally there was a number of cars filled with secret service men, followed up with more motorcycles. This was a team that was ready for just about anything and they also meant business.

It was a site that impressed us. It made us proud of the country and made us sad that the president must travel in this manner due to the threats against him. All of the presidents have been forced to travel in this manner. This is  due to many incidents over the years and the country certainly does not want to go through what they did with the Kennedy’s. The security surrounding the president is much more intense than it was at that time and for good reason.

The motorcade passed us and in less than 10 minutes the president was on his plane and it was on the taxi way ready to take off. There were no delays and the plane was at full throttle heading down the runway.

Still it makes us proud to be part of America even if we need to have this level of security!

For more posts about US Politics, click here.

This is a cute little casino on highway 86 on the road on the way to Borego springs. You cannot miss it, it is right along the highway with lots of parking for both cars and RV’s.

When you’re heading south along Highway 86, you will see the casino and then you will see aU-haul truck that is no longer running with a big sign on it, this is a road that you turn into. You can easily miss the road if it were not for the U-Haul truck sitting at the entrance.

Red Earth casino Salton Sea California

This is a great place to stop for a drink, something to eat or gas up. Many RV vans, trucks etc. stop here and overnight in the parking lot. This seems to be a popular place for RVs to overnight. You can also go dune buggy riding in the desert from this location.

The casino itself is a small casino with a good selection of slot machines. They unfortunately allow smoking in the casino and it is not large enough to have a non smoking area. There is regular bar and drink service from the staff, as well as a serve yourself area for soft drinks. Attached to the casino there is a Subway shop and a small store with lots of snacks and drinks. This is one of our favorite places to stop at least once a year when we are in the area.

You can also see the Salton Sea from the parking lot which stretches south from this area. There are a number of small towns and villages around the area, however many of these have seen much better times. The Red Earth casino Salton Sea California has lots of penny machines to play as well.

Relaxing in Palm Springs California. Although this is just a parking lot outside the Starbucks in Palm Springs, you can see the palm trees in the distance and the mountains in the far distance. It is about 8 o’clock in the morning and already it’s 18°C or about 65°F. What a great place to be!

The Palm Springs area has a lot of great bike trails along with golf courses and along the various washes, which were built to channel flooding water from the mountains. I guess I will bike for another 10 km’s and then head home for a totally enjoyable ride of 20 to 25 K! The other interesting thing is that everyone you meet along these bike paths and walking paths is that they all have a smile on their faces.

They are happy and enjoying the great weather that Palm Springs offers. Everyone says good morning, or hello. People are friendly and they are enjoying life.

Relaxing in Palm Springs California

Once I get back from my bike ride, I will be heading to the swimming pool and relaxing while catching a few rays!  Later on in the day, we may head downtown for a coffee or something stronger and enjoy one of the many happy hours that seem to be available in Palm Springs.

Many restaurants will offer happy hour drinks and food items in an effort to draw people into their business during slower times of the day. this is a great way to enjoy the day or evening while not spending a great deal of money.

You can easily go out for a couple of beers and something to eat at a nice restaurant in the Palms Springs area for less than $20, $30 if you really spend a lot. All in all a great day in beautiful Palm Springs.

What a great way to spend a day while retired! For more Palm Springs things to do, click here.

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This Archway leads from the parking lot to Ruby’s restaurant on Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs. You’re missing an excellent meal if you have not dined at Ruby’s for breakfast or any other meal. You can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air as well.

They have a large outdoor patio with heaters when Palm Springs gets a bit cooler. You can also sit inside in what can be best called a 1950s diner, complete with a little train running around on tracks suspended from the ceiling. This is one of the best places to enjoy a meal, get great value for your money and do a little people-watching at the same time.

They have two patios, one facing the street and the other facing the walkway/archway we mentioned earlier. There is lots of opportunity to find sun or shade, depending on what you are looking for.

Ruby’s Palm Springs

We make a habit of going to Ruby’s at least once or twice while we are staying in Palm Springs. On the second floor, you can also try the Falls Restaurant above Ruby’s Palm Springs. It is another great spot for happy hour as well as fine dining.

Ruby’s offers a really large breakfast menu. The portions are large and sharable if you are so inclined. The coffee is bottomless and there are umbrellas, if needed, over almost all tables. A favorite time to eat at Ruby’s Palm Springs is the street fair on Thursday nights.

You can sit outside, have dinner and watch all the people strolling past. After you are finished, many people will stroll the six or seven blocks along the street and take in the street fair, which offers something for almost everyone.

There are lots of food stalls, vegetables, and things like homemade jams and honey. Many different arts and crafts and lots of displays for services offered by local businesses. The street fair runs every Thursday from 6 pm until approximately 9:30 pm all year round.

For lots more posts covering restaurants in Palm Springs, click here.

Casinos all over the US are offering casino hotel deals to attract customers to their casinos, their restaurants, their hotels and their shows.  They do this to drive up occupancy and to attract people to the casino itself to enable more revenue. This is also really beneficial for patrons of the casinos, since receiving a free room, free play or a free meal at the buffet is like winning a small jackpot. As with most things in life, moderation is key to enjoying life and that applies to casinos as well. Enjoy the benefits but watch how much you spend. Tunica Casino Hotel Deals are part of this trend.

Tunica Casino Hotel Deals

The casino hotels in Tunica are no different and in fact they have to work pretty hard to fill their venues since they are in the middle of the country and do not have the name recognition and reputation that other places like Las Vegas and Atlantic city have. As a result they offer some pretty good hotel deals. Many patrons who use their slot cards will find that they will be offered free rooms and meals as part of the enticement to come to their hotels.

The picture above is of the Gold Strike in Tunica and is one of the hotels that we enjoy staying at once or twice a year. They recently upgraded their buffet restaurant, have nice rooms and they offer many different slot machines that are attractive to all players. We always use our slot cards which gives us free rooms at the gold strike in addition to free meals and free slot play. Sometimes they will also offer us tickets to shows that they may hosting at their casino as well. This is all part of the enticement package for their hotel deals to get more and more people to come to Tunica and the casinos in the area.

We recently visited the Las Palmas Hotel and spa to go to one of the restaurants called the Palms Café for breakfast. The setting is gorgeous as shown in the picture that we’ve taken and included on this blog. The Las Palmas spa restaurant is very much over rated. We would not suggest that you spend your money at this particular restaurant. The service is not very good. It was if they did not want to serve us. We also found the cost of the items we were considering much more expensive than many other locations around the valley. This one is not for us even though the  scenery was great.

Las Palmas spa restaurant – Service

We found that the service was very slow and the prices were exorbitantly high for breakfast. As an example a small bagel with jam was nine dollars and a coffee was $2.25. We found this very high for the level of service and for the quantity and quality of the food. There were a couple of people eating there, but nothing fancy.

Granted that the setting was beautiful and you’re probably paying for that setting, but if you’re looking for a decent meal this is not a place to come. It really looked like this restaurant was something they provided because they felt they had to and it was not really aimed at making money. We would recommend that you not waste your money on this location! Anyone who spends their money at this location is looking for a really quick bite and not interested really in spending quality time or enjoying a quality meal. Swimmers at the pool might look to this restaurant for something quick to eat, a snack to satisfy their hunger until the next meal, but be prepared to pay a lot for little quantity..

There are many great places to go to have a meal other than the Las Palmas spa restaurant. There are so many choices that one wonders why you would ever consider going to this restaurant at all. The entire valley is filled with restaurants of all kinds. With so many to choose from, providing better settings and value for your money, this is one to avoid.

Lately we have found that casinos really want their customers to use their comp’s on their cards before approaching the slot host to find out what additional comp’s they might he entitled to. The writer had  a conversation with a slot host recently about this topic and she confirmed that all of the casinos are moving to this model.

For example, lets assume you have spent the afternoon playing the slots, using your slot card all of the time and racking up points on your slot card that is commensurate with the level of play and the amount of time you have gambled. You then decide to go for dinner at one of the restaurants in the casino. In the past you may have gone to the casino host to request a meal comp.

Casino Restaurant Promotions

This takes time and it can be sometimes frustrating if they have to deny your comp based on your play. Now you simply head to the restaurant of your choice and when it comes time to pay for the meal, they want you to use your comp’s that you have earned on your card to pay for the cost of the meal. You simply present your slot card to the waiter and they will run your card and deduct whatever comp you have on your card. If there is not quite enough, you just need to pay the difference in cash or by credit card.

Depending on how much you have played and the cost of the meal, the entire meal may be covered. If the full meal is not fully covered, You have several choices. You can then either pay cash, pay with a credit card. Charge it to your room for later consideration by the slot host before you check out.  We followed this latter approach at the last casino hotel we stayed at.

At the end of our stay, we met with the slot host who based on our play wrote the remaining food charges off. Even though the direct comps on our slot card were not enough to cover the total charges.  This is the approach that all slot card players should consider when gambling at a casino. Take full advantage of casino restaurant promotions. You only need to meet with a slot host once at the end of your stay prior to checking out of your room.

We recently enjoyed the seafood buffet at the Aquarius Casino and Hotel in Laughlin Nevada. This particular buffet is offered on Friday afternoons and evenings. The prime attraction for us is the crab legs that they offer in both hot and cold varieties.

These crab legs, the hot ones, were absolutely excellent. The meat was sweet and tender, not salty at all, and easy to extract. The Aquarius pre-cuts all of the larger pieces. As a result, they are easier to open and extract the meat from the shells. This is one of the best crab leg and seafood buffets for the money anywhere.

Aquarius Casino seafood buffet – Pricing

The price started at $26 plus tax, however, if you hold a yellow slot card or higher, you are eligible for a 25% discount which brings it down to $19.95. Then you can apply your slot comps to the cost of the buffet which can often mean you eat for free! How good a deal is that.

In addition to crab legs, they have many other types of sea food that is prepared in a variety of ways. In particular, the shrimp were large and fresh. They also had several different kinds of salmon, oysters, clams, mussels, etc. in addition to prime rib and other more traditional foods.

This price also includes two glasses of wine, beer, or mixed drinks. for the price of $26, it is a good deal and if it is free, due to comp’s, well that is a  fantastic deal! The wine is ok, although it is from a bulk tank. It is actually on tap and not poured from a bottle. Still, after the first drink, it is just fine and it is included in your meal. We have not tried the beer or the margarita, however, we have seen lots of people enjoying these drinks as well. Friday or Saturday night are the nights to try the Aquarius Casino seafood buffet!

Many articles have been written about the decline of the middle class in America. In our post we are assuming that the middle class is already well on the way to decline. Which really means that the middle class will shrink leaving fewer people with sufficient money to achieve the American dream. The 1% group continue to get rich. While more and more people have trouble just making enough to pay for food, clothing and lodging. These are the basics for many people without even considering simple extras like owning your own home, saving for retirement or paying for health care. Why is this occurring?

Factory Jobs are Disappearing

Many factory jobs have left the country for other countries. As well as many jobs have been automated. The jobs that are left are either very few high skilled jobs or many jobs that are not paid well. They are low skill jobs. The Walmarts, the fast food stores and the retail industry in general are examples of low paid, low skilled and no benefits types of jobs. Consumers with these types of jobs can barely survive let alone even think about saving for retirement.

It has often be said that money breeds money. It is certainly true for the rich. They have invested in the stock market. They have seen their share values escalate by huge amounts over the last 5 years. Sure they may have lost some money during the recession. However they only lost this money if they cashed in these investments at that time. If they held onto these investments, they not only recovered their loss, they are well ahead of these potential losses. They are even more rich than they were before. But the poor middle class guy has fallen further behind due to his lack of investments in the stock market.

Decline of the Middle Class

The gap has certainly widened between the upper class and the poor with the middle class getting further  squeezed. As time goes on and these people approach retirement, they will find that they are having to work well into retirement years with no thought or ability to even think about retirement.

Over the next 20 years we anticipate that this decline of the middle class will become even more pronounced and will lead to more crime, to more poverty, to situations where families must look after each other since there will be no one else to look after them. This will create a lot of hardship, even more than what we have today. Unfortunately this is the environment that we have to look forward to over the next 20 or 30 years.

There will be more gated communities, there will me more crime, there will be more people begging and so on compared to what we have today. This is not a great scenario, unless we can get America back to work and lower the cost of living.

What are your thoughts? For more ideas about future trends, click here.

If you are one of these people who takes their smart phone to bed with them, you may want to think twice about it. Especially if you find that you are not sleeping well at night.  There are a couple of reasons for making this suggestion. If you are having chronic non sleeping issues, then anything you can do to help you sleep should be considered. If you do not sleep well but your situation would not be considered chronic. You should also pay attention to this post. One of the best things to do is to Turn your Smart Phone off at Night. Or at least put it on do not disturb while sleeping mode.

Many people use their smart phones as an alarm clock, which by itself is not a bad thing to do.  However if someone calls during the night this phone is ringing right beside your ear and there is no escaping the phone. To avoid this problem, set it to silent mode, turn the ringer off or on iPhones set it to do not disturb so that it does not wake you up when emails arrive, text messages arrive and people call you. Your sleep is far more important than attending to anyone calling or texting you at night.

Turn Your Smart Phone off at Night

Many people also wake up during the night and will glance at the phone to see what time it is. Most smart phones will display notifications that may have been received since the last time you looked at your screen. These notifications of course attract your attention. Very quickly your mind goes from sleeping mode to being wakeful and ready for business. If one of these notifications, is at all disturbing, there is a good chance that you will quickly become awake. You may stay awake for some time as you mull the issue over in your mind.

Even if there are no notifications on the screen, many people are tempted to check on their email. Which has the same affect as looking at notifications. If the emails are work related, you will be quickly drawn into your work activities and likely not get back to sleep again. For these reasons turn off the smart phone at night or at the very least leave it somewhere it will not tempt you during the night.

If you must use the phone as an alarm clock, particularly when you travel, place it on airplane mode. Leave it that way until you are ready for the world the next day. Anyone who has trouble sleeping will certainly resonate with these concepts! For more ideas about getting a better nights sleep, click here.

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You may not experience all of the issues we review below. However if you recognize yourself in any of these areas you may want to think about focusing on getting more sleep. If you are having trouble sleeping, getting to sleep or staying asleep, there are techniques that can be used to help people improve these situations and avoid falling into chronic sleep loss situations. The signs of not getting enough sleep are pretty obvious once you analyze yourself and your life habits.

Sleep loss once and awhile can cause some of these issues we review. However chronic sleep loss will cause these situations to occur often. You need to consider taking positive action prior to something more significant occurring. Here is a brief summary of ten of the major sleep loss symptoms which can be experienced by many people.

Signs of Not Getting Enough Sleep

Cause of Accidents – whether it is lack of attention or nodding off at the wheel, people who are over tired routinely have more work and personal related accidents than those people who get a good nights sleep. an accident can be devastating depending on the seriousness of the accident.

Dumbs you Down– being able to think quickly, remember stuff and being able to discuss complex issues can be much more difficult when you are over tired. Many students will pull all nighters studying, only to find that they cannot recall half of what they read when it comes time to write their exams. This is a classic symptom of not getting enough sleep.

Health Problems – can be initiated or become worse when you are not sleeping. Chronic loss of sleep does not give your body time to recover from loss of sleep and the days exertions. Repairs toi injuries are slowed and if you are fighting a cold for example, it can be much worse when your body does not have the energy to fight it off.

Lack of Sex Drive – for both men and women is symptomatic of lack of sleep. women complain of lack of interest in sex, while men may experience a lower level of testosterone leading to sexual dysfunctions.

Depression

Some people will experience depression when they chronically lose sleep. The world appears to be against them and everything they try is difficult and insurmountable.

Ages your Skin – chronic lack of sleep does not allow your skin to recover from the sun, etc and it will appear much older than you actually are.

Being Forgetful – forgetting even the most common things can be symptomatic of lack of sleep. If you cannot recall what you did yesterday or even a few hours ago, you may be experiencing lack of sleep in a major way.

Gaining Weight – no sleep often means low energy and we eat to gain energy to get through the day. This can lead to weight gain. In addition if we are tired all of the time, we tend to do less. Which means we burn less calories off as well.

Can Cause Death – in severe sleep loss conditions as well as leading to health conditions which leads to death. Talk to your doctor if you are not sleeping and get help before it is too late.

Impairs your Judgement – making decisions is more difficult. Recalling all of the data you need to make decisions may be difficult. It all can lead to poor decision making because your overall judgement is impaired.

Seek your doctors help if you feel that you may be experiencing these symptoms and not sleeping well. Follow some of the more common suggestions for improving sleep patterns as well. We cover these suggestions in other posts on this blog.

For information about sleep issues and what you can do about getting more sleep, click here.

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We recently went to Shanghai’s bar and restaurant in Palm springs, California and would like our readers to know that this is a really great place to have a cool beer and enjoy a fish taco. The Shanghai Restaurant Palm Springs is a little hole in the wall behind the Fish Market. It has a lot of character, is a neat place to go and really great food. It seems to be a place where the locals go to have a beer, a fish taco etc. You can sit inside at the bar or outside, however we feel that the inside bar has all the charm of an old style bar.

Shanghai Restaurant Palm Springs – Fish Taco’s

The fish taco’s they serve at this location are really great, and priced reasonably as well. For $3.00 you can have a fish taco and a beer for another couple of dollars. The atmosphere is really great, relaxed and enjoyable. As of the fall of 2014, the prices have been increased, however we still think it is worth it.

They also serve garlic toast as well to patrons. In fact one night we had 3 servings of  garlic toast brought to our table before we had to tell them to stop. We wanted to leave room for our meal of fish taco’s! If you are looking for a relaxed meal, in a cool place this is definitely the place to go.

There is ample parking in the open air parking lot in front and if that is full, park in the parking garage for free right next door. If you live anywhere close to down town, it is easy walking distance and probably better that you walk and not drive after having a few drinks.

Many people also like the fish market for their fresh fish and apparently the meals are quite good. However we the atmosphere does not agree with us. We prefer Shanghai Restaurant Palm Springs much more.

The Colorado Belle is adding a new pub to the area just outside the north entrance to the casino. It is called the Colorado Bell Brew Pub. The area shown in this picture was taken a few years ago. It is an open area where there are various activities from time to time. They set up open-air parties, pubs, and dances along with bands that play on the weekend. This entire space is now under construction.

The entire area is now closed and boarded up and a new pub is being built in this space. O course we did not take a picture. Since all you would have seen are the barricades and part of the new roof. The pub will be open in the summer of 2014. We will be back at this location in May and will provide an update for our readers at that time.

Colorado Bell Brew Pub

Update – The Colorado Bell Brew Pub is now open with an inside and outside dining area. We visited and tried the breakfast buffet which was ok, but not great. We think this would be a great place to spend some time sitting outside on an afternoon or evening enjoying some munchies and a couple of beers.

All of the hotels are making changes and upgrading their facilities. As the economy is improving, they are benefiting and investing in their properties. Laughlin is in need of some updating. We are happy to see that they are now beginning to spend some money upgrading their facilities. Every casino and hotel is slowly investing some money. But they are not doing a wholesale update at this time.

Laughlin is on the Colorado River at the southern tip of the state of Nevada. It portrays Las Vegas the way it used to be many years ago. Therefore, it is a much more relaxed place to spend a few days and the prices are also much more reasonable as well.

Don Laughlin created Laughlin Nevada. His Riverside resort Hotel and Casino is the signature location for all of the casinos in the area. You can’t miss it as you drive down casino drive. It is located right on the Colorado River.

We have other posts on this website that provides a review of the casino. This post is about his antique car collection displayed on the third floor that is free for anyone to visit.

We included several pictures to show you the type of cars and motorcycles in this antique car show room. There are approximately 100 cars of various vintages and ages and models displayed in the show room. At any given time there are as many as five or six cars that are available for sale.

In addition to various models that are being shown in the showroom, also antique motorcycles of various kinds available for people to go to view.

The antique car showroom is located on the third floor. Access can be obtained by going up the escalators or taking the elevator to the third floor. It is free, all that they ask is that you don’t touch the cars and don’t go beyond the barriers. These cars are in excellent condition and pristine shape.

Riverside resort Hotel and Casino Laughlin Nevada

The hotel and casino is one of the original casinos along the Colorado River and also is home to a large RV parking lot where many vacationers in RV’s will park for a few nights or longer. There is also a large RV park across the road with services for those that want to stay longer.

The Riverside Casino also provides free water taxi rides across the river from a parking lot on the east side of the river which is actually in the state of Arizona. Many people who work at the casinos as well as tourists and casino visitors will park on the Arizona side and take the water taxi across the river. There is a huge amount of parking and the water taxis run every few minutes so no need to worry about schedules etc.

There is lots to do in the Riverside resort Hotel and Casino Laughlin Nevada, so don’t forget to at least take a walk through the casino. The only negative in our minds is the amount of people smoking in the casino. It can be a bit of a turn off for non smokers.

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The Palm Springs area has many outdoor activities for those people who are interested in that sort of thing. If you want to get away from the pool, shopping or playing golf, there is lots of hiking and biking that just about anyone can take part in. Palm Springs – hiking and biking activities are supported by volunteer organizations in the valley which many people benefit from.

This picture was taken near the San Andreas fault line. An Oasis in the background of this picture is only here because of water that seeps up through the fault. It provides water for the palm trees. In the middle of the desert with nothing else around it is always amazing to see It is an area like this that seems to exist somehow in the dry desert.

In this area, there are at least 4 oasis within a mile radius. There is dry desert in between all courtesy of the San Andreas fault that runs north to south just a few miles from Palm Springs. You cannot really see the fault. However there are signs and there are volunteers that are at another oasis with an information center. You can learn all about the fault, the oasis and the palm trees that grow in this area.

Palm Springs – hiking and biking – Safety

When do go hiking, regardless of how far you plan to go, always tell someone where you plan to go. Always take water with you. Even a short hike can be difficult if you do not have adequate water with you in the dry hot desert. The water in this particular oasis is not drinkable due to the sulfur content. There are other minerals that exist in the water as well. Of course if you are biking within the city, there are lots of stores to stop at to get some water. Most coffee shops will provide glasses of water for free. However if you head out into the desert areas or in areas with lower population, make sure you have water with you. Dehydration can set in very quickly in the high temperatures.

Online casino gambling is a huge business. There are literally hundreds of online casino websites available to gamblers. They can gamble from their home, office, or from their smart phones. Some are offshore, while others are developed and run by the major casino companies. This site is about bonuses that are available to online casino gamblers and so we will review a couple here that may be of interest to gamblers. Regardless of how much you play, always play with your head and not your emotions.

Online casino gambling – Slot Machines Match Bonus

Most online casino gambling sites provide a slot machine match bonus that is targeted to slot machine lovers. They provide a bonus to the slot machine gambler often in US dollars. They have several rules the players must abide by in order to use the slot machine bonus. For example, one site indicated they are obligated to wager at least 25 times the bonus amount before they can withdraw the bonus. If you’re provided with a bonus of $100, that means you have to wager $2500 before you can withdraw the bonus.

All wagers that are placed on any slot machine are usually counted towards fulfilling the wagering requirement. These promotional bonuses are usually for new players. Existing players can earn promotions as well based on their play. This is certainly a lot of gambling. If you happen to hit a losing streak, it can mean that you have lost a lot of money only to receive a relatively small bonus. Play smart and stop if your session is not paying very well.

Online casino gambling – Table games match bonus

Table games also have online casino bonuses available for their players as well. Table games usually provide a lower bonus. But require a higher number of times that the bonus amount must be wagered before they can withdraw the bonus. For example, one site requested that you must wager 40 times the bonus.

These are relatively large numbers that gamblers must do in order to be able to withdraw the bonus for slot machine match bonuses and table games match bonuses. There’s no guarantee that you will have any money left after qualifying to be able to withdraw the bonus amount. If you plan on playing a lot, you can easily achieve these ratios. If you happen to hit an online slot machine that is paying, you can easily keep going until you hit the bonus level.

The writer just slept for nine hours and seven minutes and he feels fantastic! The day before well actually the night before he only slept for five hours and 24 minutes. This is not a very good sleep at all. During the day he was a bit draggy due to lack of sleep, unable to focus and certainly unable to work in an effective manner. This was an example of the direct health benefits of sleep or not enough of it. The impacts of not getting enough sleep can be far more serious and should get everyone’s attention.

You might wonder how I know all of this and the answer is that I wear what it’s called a jawbone bracelet. It records my sleep patterns throughout the night as well’s the number of steps I take during the day. Consumers should sleep for an average of eight hours per day and walk about 10,000 steps per day to maintain a reasonable quality of life and health. But we will focus on those aspects in another post at some later time. If you are interested in the Jawbone, look it up. I have been wearing it for several months now and although it has not changed my life significantly, I am more focused on getting enough sleep and how much walking I do every day.

Health Benefits of Sleep

This post is focusing on the benefits of sleep and how one feels after getting a great nights sleep. Pretty much we all know that if you get enough sleep you will be able to function better, have better cognitive thinking, and be more attentive operating machinery which means less accidents and damages overall.

The benefits of getting enough sleep include:

• Feeling more rested and comfortable
• Being more alert when operating machinery and in general
• Better health overall
• Being able to enjoy your day and have fun
• Having fewer arguments with your family
• Reduced friction between colleagues and even customers

These are just a few of the benefits of getting enough sleep and the negatives associated with each of these benefits can be critical to your well being and overall safety. One friend of mine was falling asleep often while driving his car which is a very dangerous thing to do. He clearly was not getting enough sleep and has since cured his problem. Turns out that he has sleep apnea and now uses a CPAP machine which ensures that he sleeps well every night. He no longer falls asleep driving the car or at work!

For more information about getting sufficient sleep and leading a healthier lifestyle, click here.

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We were wondering what people see in online live casino’s? Personally, we like to go to a live casino. That’s the brick-and-mortar casino. We like to experience the feel of many slot machines, the noise, the music, the excitement of other people winning, and to be able to talk to people or have a drink. This becomes a social night out in addition to gambling at the slot machines or the tables.

Online live casino

Online live casinos are convenient for many people since they do not have to leave their homes. In fact, they do not even have to get dressed, they can be dressed in their nightgown or house coat and play online at a casino against other people if you’re playing the table games or play slot machines if that is your choice of gambling.

You can play for free or with real money. Any of the online live casinos offer the real gaming experience playing with tokens where you do not have to provide any cash from your bank account. This provides almost everything that people are looking for in terms of playing the casino. If you play table games you can play against people from all around the world. Texas hold’em is particularly good for this style of casino gambling play.

Play against people from around the world. If you place your cursor over the icons of other players, online life casinos will provide you with basic information. They will indicate their online name and the country from which there are connected.

Players receive online benefits such as entries to tournaments and if you’re playing with cash i.e. real money, you may also receive free play and other benefits that are particular to that online live casino.

Need to maintain limits if you’re playing with real money. Just like going to the casino, brick-and-mortar casinos, limits need to be established to ensure that your losses are reasonable and can be afforded If you’re having trouble in this regard. Call Gamblers anonymous call for help.

Many Canadians spend their vacation in the US. Snow birds make the annual trip south every fall to escape the snow and ice in Canada. They head to Florida, Texas, Arizona and California to spend the winter. They head home once the winter is over. Canadians have enjoy warm temperatures and also a strong dollar for the past 5 years. However now the dollar is not so strong and Canadians travel cost going up means it is going to cost more.

Canadians travel cost going up – Categories

Exchange rate

Lately the exchange rate, the price you pay to purchase US dollars has been going up. As of writing this post the best rate that is currently posted is ninety cents or in other words it takes approximately $1.11 Canadian to purchase $1.00 US, which is an 11 percent increase in the cost compared to a few years ago. It costs more to travel as a result and Canadians are beginning to look for cost saving measures.

Cost to travel

If your vacation is costing you $1000, then you are going to pay an additional $111 Canadian for every $1000 US you are going to spend. This can be significant and can add a significant amount for more expensive vacations.

Hedging the exchange rate

One solution is to hedge the exchange rate by averaging your cost over a year. As rates change you will pay the current rate, but at least you will not lock in the rate for your total vacation. if rates improve which they might then you get to take advantage of the improved rates. Unfortunately it also works the opposite way as well. The economists are forecast and $.85 cent dollar by mid 2015, which means that your US vacation cost is going to go up another 5%!

Cutting back on travel

Another solution which is not popular with many people is that the Canadians will start cutting back on travel to conserve money and bring it back to levels that they can afford with the increasing costs. This will hurt the travel industry to some degree and could even trigger a decline for a short period in this industry.

Let’s go anyway

Many senior snow birds realize that they may not have than many years left that they can travel and as a result just suck it up and plan to go anyway. They only live once and if they can get the money together they plan to go regardless of what the cost will be.

What are your plans for vacationing in the United States this coming year? For ideas about trip planning, click here.

We predicted that Hillary Clinton surging at Cristie’s expense and all of the attention to Governor Cristi would basically kick him out of the running for the US presidency. It appears to be holding true. His popularity poles have sunk to the point where he is running dead last. This is due to perceived wrongdoing with the bridge scandal and a number of other suggested negative issues.

Hillary Clinton is surging at Christie Expense.

Clinton, on the other hand, has surged in the poles. Although she has not yet declared her intention to run for election to the highest job in the nation, she is the person for the job as far as the Democrats are concerned unless someone comes along to outpace her.

There is a lot more to come in terms of how Governor Cristi will respond to the allegations concerning the bridge scandal. We also wonder whether they will stick or not. This could all disappear if the investigations clear his name. If this happens, the people who fired these political bullets did so too soon. There could be a strong backlash against the Democrats as well if they are seen to be behind this entire fiasco.

We will have to wait and see if there is more to come. Cruise forward to the 2016 presidential race, and this time, Donald Trump is outrunning Governor Cristi. Trump is behind Hillary in the polls. At the time of this update, there are still five months to the election, and anything could happen.

Hillary Clinton is surging at Christie Expense.

But Hillary is now focused on Trump and beating him to the presidential seat in November. This is an amazing race to watch because of all of the trash talk and the issues that are being brought forward by both parties.

It is anyone’s guess regarding who will win in Nov. For more posts about US Politics, click here.

The Golden Nugget Casino in Laughlin Nevada has been updating one of their restaurants. Harlows, a restaurants that many of you might know has been renamed to “Claim Jumper”. They have a new menu and spruced up a bit.

The menu has changed, the food is still excellent and the quantities are large. There is lots of food for those of you who want to split a meal. We often split meals simply because we cannot eat so much. The restaurant is really good about this. They will provide us with two plates with the meal already split equally. We ordered two eggs, a slice of ham with the bone in, home fries and toast for a price of $7.99. The meal was split and my wife actually could not finish her half.

Golden Nugget Casino – Restaurant

The waiters and waitresses at the Claim Jumper at the Golden Nugget casino in Laughlin Nevada, all are the same with new uniforms that are very tasteful. While the menu has changed, there are still excellent meals. the early bird meals are no longer available, so some people may pay a little more than they used to.

The Claim Jumper is located at the front of the hotel near the waterfall and jungle area. There is lots of light and it is a very enjoyable place to have breakfast or any other meal. Note that you can use the points on your slot card to pay for your meal as well provided that you use your slot card when you are playing the slots at the Golden Nugget.

We just had dinner at the pints brewery restaurant at the Colorado Belle casino in Laughlin Nevada. Designed to look like the interior of a ship, this restaurant combines a brewpub, a sports bar, and a bar that reminds you of being on an ocean liner.

Patrons can sit at the bar, watch sports or play one of their favorite video poker or slot machine games. They can also sit in the main restaurant and observe their favorite sports channel on one of the many TV screens located throughout the restaurant. This would be a great place to spend a few hours and chill. The area is safe and comfortable.

Colorado Belle Casino – Decor

The Decor is meant to be a river boat back in the 50s or 60s. You can also sit near the windows which is meant to be at the front of the ship, looking out on the Colorado River. This is a neat place to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is somewhat authentic, not meant for fine dining and more of a pub atmosphere.  Service was also fine, nothing exciting or memorable.

We found the prices to be about the same as any other restaurant in the Laughlin area. We had macho nachos which was a huge plate, with refried beans, tortia meat, onions, jalapeno peppers, and cheese. It was delicious and well worth the money. In fact it was one of the best plates of nachos that I have had in a long time. Next time we are in Laughlin, we will go back and try another dish at this location.

We did not try any of the other items on the menu, however we could see the other diners and some of their meals. They were large and looked delicious.

For more posts about casinos in Laughlin, Nevada, click here.

The Aquarius Casino in Laughlin Nevada has opened up their new Aquarius casino coffee shop – Duet. It replaced the Starbucks restaurant that used to be at the Aquarius Casino. This is a modern up-to-date clean, and smartphone and computer-friendly restaurant/coffee shop.

Wi-Fi is available within the coffee shop and within at least 100 feet of the entrance to the coffee shop. There are lots of chairs and tables set up. In addition, there’s a counter in the middle of the coffee shop that has lots of room for laptop computers with power outlets which are lacking in many coffee shops. This is truly a computer-friendly coffee shop.

Aquarius casino coffee shop – Duet

Background music is peaceful and not too loud which was a problem for the previous Starbucks restaurant. There are more food items available although they are expensive as usual in any casino coffee shop or restaurant.

This is a huge improvement to the previous Starbucks restaurant that used to be here. They still offer the 10% discount with your Aquarius card and you can charge your food and beverage to your room for later consideration to be comped.

There are other areas within the casino that are under construction and we look forward to these improvements as well. They are updating some of the other restaurants and have already updated the elevator lobby.

The Aquarius hotel is located on the banks of the Colorado River on the Nevada side of the river. Patrons can walk along the banks of the river from one end of the casino row to the other in comfortable and safe surroundings. Some of the casinos have outdoor dining on warm nights along the river. Although most are indoors with large windows that look out on the river. The Aquarius hotel has floor to ceiling windows in the buffet restaurant that allows you to look out on the river while enjoying your meal. The Aquarius casino coffee shop – Duet is located inside and does not have windows.

We recently stayed at the Drury Inn hotel in San Antonio Texas. This hotel is modern and looks great from the outside as well as in the lobby.

However it is very difficult to get to from the Interstate Hwy., #10 and 1604. It is right on the corner of these two major highways and very difficult to get to as well as to get back on the highway. We made several wrong turns getting to the hotel.

We recommend that you park using the garage parking lot. For security reasons you should park inside the gated garage to ensure that your cars contents and car remain safe at night. Remember that even in a secure garage, you should never leave anything exposed in the car that might attract car thieves. You do not want to give then a reason to break into your car.

Drury Inn Hotel- San Antonio – Good Deal

We paid $90 plus tax for two people. This includes a hot breakfast as well as hot hors d’oeuvres at night and three alcoholic drinks for each person. You can choose between beer, wine and mixed drinks. Of course if you do not drink, you can also have non alcoholic drinks. Most people will give their unused tickets to other patrons to enjoy.

While generally good value for the money, we did not get a good nights sleep. The king bed that we were provided was very soft, and moved each time the other person in the bed turned over. It was very disconcerting. These are not good beds to sleep on and would not recommend this hotel to couples who want a good nights sleep.

We’ve had too many situations where the comfort of the bed was not sufficient at this particular hotel chain and will not be staying at this hotel chain even though we will pay more for a single nights accommodation plus food.