Things I’ve learned

This past weekend, my fiancé and I spent the weekend in Niagara Falls. It was so nice to get away for the weekend. But more importantly, I learned a few very valuable life lessons. They are:

1. Leaving my house to drive to Niagara Falls at 4 PM on the Friday before March break is not a good idea. But the upside, we were able to turn a drive that normally takes an hour and a half into a 3 hour drive. You can't do that every day.
   
2. When playing video blackjack, it is important, nope, make that critical, that you actually pay attention to how much you're betting. I was doing well, making some money. Hell, I'm a high roller (coincidentally the name of my Thursday night hockey team too – The High Rollers). I was playing $20 – CANADIAN. That's like $20.60 American. Anyway, I had turned my $20 into about $42. I got cocky thinking this game was going to pay for our whole trip, and then all of the sudden, over the course of 4 hands I was down to $2. WTF? Well apparently, if you're not careful, your bet keeps getting pushed higher so instead of betting $1 or $2 per hand, you're betting $10. It's good if you win, but if you suck at the game like me, it kind of hurts.
   
3. When filling up the Jacuzzi tub, it is important that you wait until you wait until the water level is over the jets before you turn it on, otherwise you will need a mop and a squeegee, and the towels hanging 10 feet across the room that were previously dry will need to be wrung out over the tub.
   
4. Apparently bubble bath in a Jacuzzi tub is also a no no. Lesson learned.
   
5. Everybody in Niagara Falls wants a tip. People there must be the lowest paid people in the world because everybody had their hand out for a tip. Hey, if you're a server and do a good job, I will tip you handsomely. If you're a bus driver, sorry pal, no tip for you. But the absolute best was in the bathroom at the old casino. There was a "Tip Jar" in the bathroom. There were no bathroom attendants, or other staff anywhere to be found, yet there was a tip jar. And here's the worst part, there was money in it. Real live folding money - $5 Bills, $10 Bills and even a $20 Bill. How big of a mess did a dude make that he felt obligated to leave a $20 tip to nobody?
   
6. The Outback Steakhouse is overpriced and shitty when compared to the Keg. $11 for a Cesar? Really? And that is without naked ladies dancing around a pole! Unbelievable!
   
7. Cheesy haunted houses scare me. Always have. Always will. I remember one time I was about 11 and was in the falls with my family. My sister who was about 6 at the time wanted to go into a haunted house. So, my dad pays the admission and we walk down the stairs. When the door opened and I saw that it was dark, I totally freaked out. While my 6 year old sister enjoyed the haunted house, I sat in the ticket booth with the lady until my family was done. Incidentally, that's some pretty good parenting when my parents would leave me with a complete stranger in a ticket booth rather than miss out on a haunted house. No wonder I'm messed up.
   

That is all.