A horse of a different name

So far, it's turning out to be another busy (but interesting) weekend of new adventures for Dave and I.

Yesterday we played some glow-in-the-dark mini golf with Rob and Diane, and a good time was had by all. (Maybe too good.)


The decorations were a little trippy, but we had fun singing and dancing to Sublime music and checking out the various glow-in-the-dark creatures drawn on the walls.

Dave won, followed by me, Diane, then Rob. (Rob was mad that he didn't hit 70.) I guess there are a few of these locations on the northwest side; everything glows under black lights - especially your ball and putter. And they give you free glow-in-the-dark bracelets!

Then today, Dave and I hit the Arlington Park racetrack with some folks, and yet another good time was had by all.


It was my first time at the races, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I had Alec and Josh to guide me through the process, which is both complicated and simple. For instance, it's incredibly simple to just pick a horse with a funny name and go over to the station and place a bet. However, you have to know something about odds and the sport of horse racing to increase your chances of winning.

Though I know very little about horse racing, I placed cautious bets on horses with medium-level odds, and this strategy seemed to pay off. Out of the four races that Dave and I played, I won three times. (I only bet that my horse would be in the top two each race, so what happened was that two of my horses won their races, one of my horses placed in second, and one didn't place at all.)


Overall I won about $7.20 off of my $2 bets, which was enough to keep us betting for free. (Dave didn't win at all - he kept betting on long odds and losing. Still, it would have been him that had the last laugh if Pleasurable or Empty Holster had won.)

So for making my first day out at the track a success, I'm sending out a big thanks to Marikitten, Trading Post, and Respectabeau. Monkey Dust, I'm afraid I have to shake my fist at you. (Other horse names I loved were Sir Winzalot, Gender Fever, Really Nice, Oodles of Noodles, and Nevercomingback.)

At any rate, I learned a lot about horse racing, and I had a lot of fun doing it. In fact, I had so much fun that I have new ideas for racing horse names in the future. (Feel free to vote in the comments section.)

• Extreme Starfish
• Fluffy the Rabbit
  
• Pride of Cuba
• I'm On Crack
• Cinderblock
• Used Pinto
• Mr. PotatoHead
• The Penguin
• May 14th, 1977
• Tijuana Whore
  
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Bert
  

So, after this fun-filled afternoon, we headed down to the south suburbs to wish one of my oldest friends a happy graduation - congratulations, Katie!

Now Dave and I are tucking in for a Saturday night of work and relaxation. (Little of column A, little of column B.)