Celebrating coconut cream pie, freebies and a birthday.

This was a wonderful and exceptionally surprising day. After a lazy morning we decided on dim sum at Hong Kong Royal for a late lunch, but halfway to the restaurant Sam noticed a “traffic alert” sign on the LBJ Freeway about a ginormous backup near our exit so he merged onto the 75 north and took me to the Choctaw Casino instead. Choctaw Casino! Two Saturdays in a row!

But the exceptional surprises continued.

For instance: 1) I had enough points on my Player’s Club card today to pay for two free buffet lunches, where I enjoyed excellent hot and sour soup, a couple of nice tamales with even nicer guacamole and a little wad of mashed potatoes, among other things; 2) today’s featured sugar-free pie was coconut cream; 3) our waitress’ name was Janice; and 4) Sam and I both won some dough at the penny slots, then we peed and drove home. Life just doesn’t get much better than this. At the moment Sam is asleep in the family room watching a Jerry Lewis movie.

For your possible interest, our lucky slot machine today was “Cash Wizard,” with lots of free spins, bonus rounds and nice payouts. Sam does a happy dance when he wins. I like to watch.

And now for something completely different.

Sam’s brother David, pictured here with a car driving into the side of his head, is celebrating his birthday on December 18. Even if you don’t know him I think you should should buy a cake and sing something. “Happy Birthday” is our standard recommendation but selections by Bing Crosby, Lady Gaga or Herman’s Hermits would be fine, too. Mazel tov, David!