Vegas Thursday Night

To read episode one of my December Vegas trip, click here.

So I nap for an hour or so, then shower up and head downstairs to meet Mark and Mike. Chilled at the sushi bar upstairs from the casino for a while as they eat and I drink my Pepsi (no place had Coke the whole weekend and I just couldn't grasp that, and ordered a Coke every time we went to eat. Sometimes multiple times at the same restaurant too.) which the bartender got into me a little about when I asked for it without ice. When I told him I was allergic to ice he didn't question it, didn't blink, didn't care....he was one of the coolest bartenders we'd see all weekend.

After the sushi we hung out in the casino for a couple minutes deciding whether or not to go to another restaurant or if I was just going to catch something quick on my own. We named places here and there and nothing sounded that good until Mark said, "How about that Italian place in Paris?"

I got up so quick that my chair started spinning and we were off to have some good food and GREAT bread. I am a carbaholic, always have been, and I really love bread. From now on I'm going to make sure I eat there at least once every time I go to Vegas....all because of the bread. I was pretty disappointed in myself for not thinking of the bread place as an option.

So we ate dinner at the little Italian place inside Paris. Wish I could remember the name of the place but I can't, and I don't feel like looking it up right now. After dinner we headed back to the room to freshen up and get ready for the bar. We left the room about 10ish or so and a few minutes and one semi-failed shortcut attempt later we rolled into the west wing entrance at MGM and walked right into the West Wing Bar/Lounge and immediately dug it....too bad we were the only ones in there as they were about to close.

We made our (roundabout) way over to Studio 54 to see if there was a line....I think I actually heard crickets when we got near the door. So we headed over to Centrifuge, the small bar in the middle of the casino area you first come into from NY-NY or Tropicana. The bar was pretty cool with a very attentive, attractive waitstaff and bartenders that know what a good pour is. Every so often the girls and guys that worked in the bar would get up on platforms or the bar and dance to a song for the enjoyment of the crowd. Thankfully we were sitting on the side of the bar where there were only girl bartenders.

After a few rounds at Centrifuge we staggered on over to Studio 54 to check out their "Dollhouse" night and see what that was all about. I had been to 54 a couple times before and always liked the layout of the place and the nice mix of people who go there on any given night. Some fabulous people watching to be had. The DJ was very good and gave everyone a chance to get out on the floor and shake their money maker. Too bad after a couple more drinks inside 54, I wouldn't really be able to shake someone's hand, much less get out and dance. The biggest draw for the "Dollhouse" nights are the girls and guys who change outfits every so often and get up on the platforms and dance in various stages of dress and undress, or in some cases just stand there and let someone paint their body.

All in all we had a good time at 54 and left as the crowd started to thin which is when we decided it was the right time to hit Fatburger. On the short walk there I found some "slippery when wet" cone/sign sitting outside and realized that it was actually put there just for me, so I picked it up and carried it with us. But when we got to Fatburger, the security guard stationed at Walgreens wouldn't let me take my cone in and forced me to leave it outside. Well, at least for a few minutes because I just went and got it when he wasn't looking anyway and put it in the seat next to Mike.

Things are kinda hazy for me inside Fatburger, but I do remember that Mike made quite a mess with his food and condiments, and earned the nickname Big Vagina from the guy sitting at the table next to us whom he ended up wrestling around with in the parking lot after we were all done eating. Sometime during all this the poor Walgreens guard came in and took the sign back outside. Why do I insist on making people's jobs (and lives) harder than they already are?

After dining on the burger that is so fat, we headed back to the room to let Mike pass out and Mark freshen up a bit. I also passed out sitting straight up in a chair waiting to see if Mark was up for more hi-jinks. When he woke me up I had no flipping idea where I was or what was going on. Love that Grey Goose and Red Bull.

After a short conversation where I told Mark I wasn't going to go to the Horse with him, I had a Monty Python moment and followed him out the door as he left. Again, details are hazy, but we left the Horse after a couple hours and lamented the fact that we didn't bring our sunglasses with us.

I Hate Being Sick.

Haaaate it. Thank God I don't get sick very often, but when I do it's bad. I'm sure being a baby and whining about it doesn't make it any better, but hey....

Went to dinner last night at Johnny Carino's, a new chain restaurant that recently opened up nearby and serves Italian food. Had some bread and Italian butter (olive oil and black pepper), couldn't really taste it. Had some bruchetta, couldn't really taste it. Had some ravioli, couldn't taste it and was full after a few bites. This is not how I want to lose weight....I haaaaaate being sick.

I don't have a full on sinus infection yet, and I am trying to keep it at bay with some Advil Sinus (since I can't find the Motrin Sinus anywhere now), orange juice, water, chicken noodle soup, and plenty of rest. So far I'm just dealing with some sniffles and a whole lot of sinus pressure. Last night seemed to be the worst of it with the nearly blinding headache at and after dinner, which thankfully went away as I slept (more or less tossed and turned and coughed actually) last night. Did I mention that I haaaaate being sick?

OK. I am done whining about being sick. To make up for it I will work on the rest of my Vegas posts and try and have them up before I get all types of comatose later today.

Christmas Recap

So how was your Christmas? Personally I had one of the most laid back, chilled out, stress free weekends I've had in years. On Christmas day none of us left the house, and that was nice. We had food and basketball and football and even watched a little poker. Our gift giving was short and sweet and I think my parents got more for the dogs than they did for anyone else.

Then my mom decides it's time for negotiations...."Hey, do you still think I should quit smoking?"

"Of course, it'd be great for your health."

"OK, then how about this?"

This is where I begin to panic. My mother has only agreed to quit smoking for one thing....ever....and that's a grandchild. And I would be all for that if my parents had only supplied me with a sibling or two, but being an only child makes that a little difficult for me to support. And I swear to God if this is another push at getting me to settle down and start a family before I....

"If you lose say 20-25 pounds in 2006, then I will quit smoking."

Did I hear this right? After so much fuss about the smoking issue and the grandbaby first mentality did she just say lose a few pounds and I'll quit? My response was short and came out almost immediately.

"Done."

So maybe this is the push I need to get back in shape after more than a year of sitting on my arse and plumping up at the 9-5. Every job I've ever had involved standing, walking, or running for a good portion of my shift. In my latest position at the 9-5 I've been sitting for about 8.5 hours and only standing/walking for about 30 minutes a day. That's a big change and my waistline has reflected it. Now I have a week to map out and implement a workout plan and diet that will help me drop my BMI rating from "I can't believe you haven't had a heart attack yet" to the coveted "Well, at least you aren't as fat as most other Americans".

I weighed in at about 235 last night and 25 pounds seems like nothing really. I could get that done by February if I really needed to, but boy would I be a grouchy em-effer for the month of January if that were the case.

I'll do my official weigh in at the gym on the 2nd, and track my progress until I reach my goal. It doesn't make for interesting reading, but I'm sure I'll end up posting that here on a semi-regular basis.

Merry Christmas!

Spending the weekend with my parents and and three dogs, each of them weighing about the same as my mom. Good times.

Have a great and safe weekend.

Paging Doctor Heimlich

Last night Jen and I went to Kiernan's Steak House in Dearborn for dinner. My filet was unremarkable, which really disappointed me because I was looking forward to it because I know they have bernaise sauce, which I really like with my steaks. But the food ended up playing second fiddle to the people watching action at the table right in front of us. The lineup at the table was a well-to-do retirement aged lady with a nose that was definitely not the one she was born with. 2 stereotypical "mother of an affluent man" types complete with the old lady clothing that is nothing but old lady clothing, but still not your run of the mill department store old lady clothing. We also had the affluent white male who is on the board of a local hospital group, and the last person was hard to peg, and we just assumed she was part of the help for someone in the group.

Toward the end of their dinner, and just as we were getting our entree, little old lady began to have trouble breathing because some of her food didn't quite make it all the way down. She was still getting air, but was in distress. Some of the staff tried to Heimlich her, but it didn't seem like the food was lodged high enough for that to work. I watched intently to gauge the woman's condition, deciding whether or not to step in and take over administration of first aid.

Just as I was resigning myself to the fact that I would need to step in for the safety of the old lady, a man at the table next to them calmly came over and did so himself. From the way he grasped the old lady and Heimliched her, you could tell he was a doctor. After a few attempts he decided to try using her gag reflex to help clear her airway, and stuck his finger down her throat. I didn't see her gag reflex kick in, but after a few moments she said she felt better and all was well.

The excitement seemed to thin the crowd drastically, especially after the paramedics arrived, and pretty soon we found ourselves almost completely alone in the restaurant to finish our meals. We made sure to chew everything very thoroughly after that....

Spaced

I have this spaced out, preoccupied feeling right now....and have felt that way all week, even though there isn't anything I am (consciously) preoccupied with. Maybe it's all because the 9-5 needed me in at 2am on Monday instead of the normal 6am, but didn't call me until almost 11 on Sunday night. Of course after I finally got to bed that night I was stressed about not getting enough sleep and tried very hard to fall asleep....nothing worked and the alarm went off before I ever got any rest.

So now my normal sleep schedule has gone out the window, and I think my brain may have followed....

I'll try and get my Vegas Thursday part II post up later today....hopefully I can get them all up before the details start to fade....

Vegas Thursday Part 1

Not much sleep on Wednesday because the day just ended up being a whole bunch of halla walla after I got off work. Capped off by the fact that I had to drive to Howell (2+ hours round-trip) to get my valid license so I would not have a problem in Vegas.

6:00am: Woke up early to finish laundry and packing for the trip.

6:35am: Grossly underestimated the amount of time it takes for my socks to dry.

6:55am: Tell (lie to) Mark and Mike that it's only going to be another couple of minutes til my stuff is dry and I am all packed up.

7:05am: Dump my still damp whites in my carry on and head out for the airport.

7:07am: Can't find my phone....need my phone.

7:12am: Drive home and find my phone sitting right outside the porn shower.

7:15am: Let Mark know the flight leaves for Vegas at 8:30, not 8:00 like I had originally told him. His response, "That's probably the only thing you could ever lie to me about and not make me mad...."

7:15-8:15am: Drive, park, shuttle, baggage, security.

8:15am: Mike gets stopped when the plate and screws in his ankle set off the metal detectors and confuse the TSA peeple.

8:17am: I run ahead to keep the plane at the gate just in case Mike's search gets a little too personal....

8:22am: Walk down ramp to plane, run into line. "Hmmm, hope they didn't over book...."

8:25am: Find out some rather rotund woman was holding up the plane because the overhead bins were full and she refused to check her carry-on. Low level yelling and near obscenities strew from our mouths. Flight attendant announces plane doors will close in 30 seconds, as I stand in the doorway and tell her that there's gonna be a problem between her and I if she tries that. Not finding the humor in my words, she begins to explain that it's all a grand psychological ploy to make Big Fun take her seat.

8:27am: Big Fun sits, Mark's carry on checked with regular baggage. I pass Big Fun and refrain from hitting her with my briefcase, but do point her out to everyone as peanut target practice later on....

8:35am: Rolling down the tarmac and I stop looking at my watch....

During the flight the three of us, all seated on the aisle near each other, begin talking about whether or not mathematics exists or if it's something that humans made up on our own. Surprisingly, we tend to agree on most points....ironically leading to a very short conversation which leads us to another, longer conversation about Absolute Truth(s). This conversation starts to tail off as I begin my third Malibu and Pepsi. Getting the drink alone was hard enough considering the attendant I ordered it from couldn't care less about my order.

The plane lands without me ever pulling out anything to read or write on....truly my quickest plane ride to Vegas ever.

Pick up our bags and hit the cabstand, which had no line at all, and run over to the Aladdin. We roll into the Aladdin lobby somewhere around 10am and I find a very lovely clerk who agrees to check us in early AND upgrade us to a strip view room for free as long as I meet her in said room after she gets off work....OK, it was actually a $50 bill that got us in early and upgraded, but hey....gotta make sure my readers are paying attention right?

Insert pic of room view here--->

$50 between 3 guys for 4 nights is well worth it for the view we got of the fountains across the street at Bellagio. Once we get our bags from the bell hop we are off to Bellagio like a rocket.

GELATO! MMmmmm....Dulche' de leche and Oreo gelato on a waffle cone....welcome home Mister M. After our delicious traditional indulgence we walk by the poker room and see Scotty Nguyen. Man is this trip going to be fun or what baby?

From the poker room we stroll over to Snacks and each get a sandwich. None of us are very impressed and Mark and Mike wander off to the slots as I finish off my huge club and nearly deck some ugly woman who won't get out of my way when I go toward the trash with my tray....had the sourdough not soaked up some of the rum from earlier I might have put an ugly lady's head shaped dent in my tray.

It's 11 am, I am in Vegas, and I have nearly hit a woman on two occasions....I need to chill the eff out. Let's hit the strip!

We walk out into the sun and make our way up the east side of the street to Wynn. We go in, check it out....it's nice, but it looks so familiar. Oh yeah, it's the Bellagio....but different color schemes, and a different layout....Impressive sure, but not so much.

I must say though, that we all noticed the high level of hotness in the cocktail service area....Hottest in town, with really nice outfits too.

From there we crossed the strip and hit the Fashion Show Mall because I needed to get some black pants for the weekend. The food court there is a pedophile's dream....I don't remember 16 and 17 year olds looking like that ten years ago....we quickly got uncomfortable and left the food court for the mall.

We actually saw a fashion show there too. As we were walking back to the strip from Dillard's there was a Christmasy one going on....it wasn't good enough to hold our attention, and we headed back. Walking along the cove at TI we noticed it was empty, but the audio for the show was still going strong. We walked inside of the Forum Shops for less than a minute to show Mike the curved escalators, and then back to the Aladdin.

It was about 4pm at this point and I decided there was no way I could make it through another 12+ hours without a nap....and I was the first of us to sleep in Vegas.

Read part two here.

Vegas Afterglow

It's not so much an afterglow as it's about three days of separation anxiety and heavy under-eye baggage....The more I go to Vegas, the less likely it is that I will end up back in Michigan. This time was extremely hard to cope with. Had I been lucky enough to take a fitness exam and face an oral board out there on this trip, I might be looking for housing in Henderson right now. The department has urged me to apply again because I was very near the cutoff date and might not have even been considered because they got the number of applicants they wanted before I even turned mine in....so not all hope is lost. Although I would love to do it, it's hard to imagine that it would be the best thing for me. How long before I seriously think I could make a good life playing poker? I don't have the constitution of a high stakes player. I like stability in my life, and that goes out the window the minute you let the cards determine whether or not your bills will get paid for a given month, or even year....I know that it's a game of skill more than luck, but luck is still in the equation.

I handle bad beats pretty well, unless I hit a rash of them in one night or, God forbid, a week. But I play low stakes with money I have already written off as gone. Had I to play for rent money or food money, would I be able to take those beats without beating the hell out of one of the donkeys who laid it on me? The answer is probably....knowing me, I'd end up picking the biggest donkey of the bunch and get my own ass beat on top of losing my money. At least I'd have a hard time getting the word "rebuy" out if my jaw was wired shut....

I am still piecing together last weekend's events, and hope to have the first of my five posts done later tonight or tomorrow, with the others following soon thereafter. Stay tuned for my somewhat coherent babbling about my somewhat unsober affairs....

I SHOOK DOYLE'S HAND!

Just getting back into the swing of things here after my long Vegas weekend. Had a great time as usual, saw tons of poker pros in town for the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic, and of course, got to shake Doyle Brunson's hand during one of the breaks on the first day of the tourney. More to come....

Sin City and All That it Stands For

Yay capitalism! You've just gotta love a town that is run on greed and love of the almighty dollar. It's like the Republican Party without the uptight religious facade. Although I am sure you'll find more people praying in Vegas than you will in the House or the Senate, but they just may rival Vegas for high stakes poker games and prostitutes....

Anyway....my procrastination is catching up with me again. 46 hours from takeoff and I am woefully behind on everything I need to get done before Vegas. Thankfully I already have a dog watcher in place, because this trip proved to be the toughest to cover yet. I still need to get a new phone. Mine is only good for about 8 minutes of talking anymore, and the connection problems persist. On top of that I need to get my finances in order, a haircut, and find some more clothes....but really, that's about it. Not much to get done, but a whole lot of running around today.

I am hella excited about this trip. Not only is it just me, Mark, and Mike unsupervised, but there is a WPT event starting on Monday, and a WPBT event on Saturday that I am going to camp out at the Imp for....with any luck I'll get one of the few open spots. I'll probably just donate my funds, but it should be a great experience to play in a tourney with all the bloggers I read about....

Next post should be after Vegas! Hopefully it'll be after I take down the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic....