It's Day 9 today - We’ve been at sea for two days now having left Cabo San Lucas. Today is also THANKSGIVING DAY in Canada so I thought it was an omen. When I opened my cabin door there it was in my mail slot. It was an invitation letter from the Casino Host to join the SLOT Tournament on a two-for-one buy-in because I was such a good customer. I thought today MUST be the day. We were sure to be there for the 2:00 p.m. start –tickets in hand – the race was off – three minutes of unbridled tapping and tapping that little white PLAY button just to eliminate every milli-second of the whirling little wheels from remaining idle. Every second counts. The other five people surely had no chance at all as this was Canadian Thanksgiving.

Sure enough my score was 63,265 – good enough for third place in the final round. I was quite confident that all I needed to do to secure my victory was to sit at my lucky #4 machine and the $500.00 would surely be mine.

It now came time for the final. Everybody was there on time, but they didn’t know my secret weapon – Canadian Thanksgiving. Jillian yelled start, and everybody started off with a fury of slaps. In the final they cover the score so you have no idea how you fare against your other competitors. There was sweat running down my face, on-board friends massaged my neck as I furiously tapped at that magical white button. "Go Bob" they yelled – promises of great wine for the rest of the cruise ran through my mind – but alas, it was not to be – I placed fourth with a paltry 35,500 points. Wouldn’t you know it – the winner was an undercover Canadian operative from KELOWNA, British Columbia sitting right beside me at machine #5.

There will, however, be other tournaments – whether it be slots, poker or blackjack. Have faith I say – I will represent all of us, each and every one of the downtrodden and will give my all at each one of these events to follow. It’s quite obvious that I need to get back my ass back on land and start touring some of this beautiful country that’s ahead of us.

I’d like to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY from both Deborah and I along with our biggest, but belated Birthday wishes to

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Gerry Guerriro in Caledon – Hope you had a great day!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dave Brodigan – You’ve made all of this possible!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sandy Brodigan – Sorry we missed the party!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Yvonne Evans – You have my I.O.U. for shots later!

I’d like to extend our congratulations to Robert and Anna Evans on the birth of the little boy A.J. – life is such a miracle.

And finally, tonight is the second-of-seven formal nights – apparently the Captain and his staff have put on quite a show for Canadian Thanksgiving Day – so it’s turkey – turkey and more turkey tonight to celebrate the fact that I AM CANADIAN !