STORIES

A STORY OF MY DRIVE ACROSS THE SALT FLATS

This story starts quite innocently in Ogden, Utah on a Sunday in early spring 1986. I was having a peaceful day when Deysi decides to make a personal attack on me and my character, for no reason, and after I refuse to apologize, she goes into a major pout and gives me the old Inca Stoneface. So after a while of this I decide I will take my rebellion on the road and go clear out my head. Armed with righteousness, I hop in my car and think ok where can I go to teach her a lesson? If you know Utah, then you know there is no place to go. I come up with a major idea. I will go to Wendover, Nevada and check out the casinos. Now Wendover didn’t seem to far away, but I wasn’t quite sure of the actual distance. No Google Eye, in those days, to give me distances, time, etc. I take off on a mission, hoping she is now missing me. In a half an hour I’m near Salt Lake City and turn due west heading into the blazing sun. I drive for what seems like forever, but was probably only an hour. By this time my rebellion has worn off and I’m thinking I hope she is really sorry now. I want to turn back, but I need to spend a little time so she gets really lonely.

I cross the border and there stands Wendover in all its elegance. Well really it was a little, dreary desert looking sprawl, with two big elegant casinos. I choose one and armed with my $20, I enter. Video poker was at that time my favourite poison. I sit down and prepare to give this place a bad beating. Maybe that will teach her! My $20 is gone fast, like fsssst! The machine is beeping and snorting and gobbling up my money at an incredible rate. I dig deep into my pants and come up with a wrinkled old $10 bill. I buy a small container of quarters and go on the attack. About 5 minutes in, I’m feeling like being at home, I don’t want to be in Wendover, I can’t remember what I was irritated about in the first place and I don’t want to spend all of next week’s allowance. Like magic this machine, lights up and starts jumping and shaking and spewing quarters all over the place. Bells are tolling, whistles screeching, lights flashing and a crowd is gathering. I’m scooping up quarters and sticking them into anything I can find that will hold them. My heart is beating and I am rewarded with $1100 worth of quarters. My god, I thought I had won the lotto. I gather up my winnings and cash in.

ME ONE MY WAY HOME FROM WENDOVER, NV. CROSSING THE GREAT SALT DESERT

By this time I had been in the casino about 15 minutes, I had driven about 1-1/2 hours and I want to be home. I look around and can’t see anything else I want to do, so feeling half elated and the other half sorry for myself, I jump back in the car and start my return journey. Back across that blazing hot salt flat and onto Ogden. It seems like it took me hours. I arrive home and nothing has changed there. I don’t think Deysi even knows I have been gone. So I whip out my money, wave it in her face and say “well whatcha think of that eh? Bet you wish you were nicer to me now, dontcha”. She calmly takes my money, disappears it into her clothes, turns and says “when you are ready to apologize, I’ll be waiting” and flounces off. I hold out for about 2 minutes and then with my tale between my legs I slink over and apologize. I later cursed myself for being a weak kneed, no back bone, pussy whipped, snivelling little dog. Then all returns to normal. I never saw my $1100 again, and had to ask her for my $30 allowance back. I might add that this was NOT the only time in our life together, that I apologized for shit that I hadn’t even done, let alone that I was sorry for! What always brought me down was my constant need for (love).

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