Las Vegas Day Three: May 27, 2011

We were right back at it the next morning, in spite of a pretty grueling previous day.  My feet were killing me, as I had blisters on my souls and between my toes from walking in flip-flops all day.  Everything we did was fun, but we had packed a lot into a short time.  We were awake pretty early in the morning, but didn’t have quite the same bounce in our steps.  After an expensive Day 2, we became a little more cost conscious and grabbed breakfast at the McDonald’s in the Monte Carlo food court.  Rob and I wanted to place a couple bets, so we went to the Sports Book, while Mike searched for a cheap table.  After our fruitless search on Wednesday night, we learned the best time to play low stakes blackjack was in the mornings, after the hardcore drinkers and gamblers had zombie-shuffled to their rooms.

I was only interested in placing a bet on the European soccer championship between Barcelona and Manchester United on Saturday.  I put $50 on Man U (as in “Man, U made a lousy bet!”) with the potential to win $80.  Rob did the same and put another $50 on the Bruins winning Game 7 against the Lightning that evening.  Once we had our tickets, we went to find Mike.

He was playing at a table essentially by himself.  The min bet was $5, so I cashed in $50.  Rob had placed two $50 bets, so he didn’t feel like risking any more money.  Like the previous night, the action started well.  The dealer was a bit of a cold fish, but Rob started goofing with Mike and getting her involved and she started to warm up.  Mike was on the start of a good heater, but he would never bet higher than the minimum.  Even the dealer suggested he should press his bet, but he refused, politely.  A couple other players joined the table and all of us were winning more than losing.  

The trend didn’t last long and I could see my stack of chips diminishing.  We had played for about a half hour and we still wanted to sit by the pool before the day got away from us.  We cashed out and from my original $50 stake, I came away with $50.50.  That would be my best session of blackjack on the trip.  I suppose I should be grateful that I came out “ahead,” but I could have sat at an unattended table and not played for thirty minutes and had the same result.  There is no satisfaction in a “push.”  Mike did much better and commented, “There’s nothing like winning big to put a spring in your step.”  He then turned to me, patted me on the back, and said, “Something I hope you get to experience some time!”  Thanks, dick.

Las Vegas Day Two: May 26, 2011

I had set the alarm on my phone for 9a so we wouldn’t waste the morning, but we all started stirring at about 8a.  Mike was rolling over and I reminded him I wasn’t his wife before he decided to grab a teat and tell me to roll over.  There were a slew of things we wanted to do and we decided to put together a schedule over breakfast.  We crossed Las Vegas Boulevard (it really doesn’t become “The Strip” until night time) to the Denny’s directly opposite the Monte Carlo.

There was a fair-sized line for a table and Rob agreed to wait for our turn while Mike and I tried to find the movie theatre.  We knew one thing we wanted to do was to see The Hangover Part 2 on its opening day.  This, too, was conveniently across the street from the Monte Carlo, but the entrance wasn’t obvious.  We saw a sign for the theatre, but it was over the entrance to the parking ramp.  We went to the next pedestrian entrance and took the escalator upstairs.  This turned out to be the department store, Ross.  Rather than losing ourselves trying to find the theatre, we immediately turned around and took the escalator downstairs.  We figured we wouldn’t be able to find it before our table was ready, so we cut our losses and went back to Denny’s.  Outside we saw “actors” dressed as Elmo and Bumblebee trying to convince people to pay for pictures with them.

Once at our table, we had plenty of time to plan our day.  In fact, I would say the wait for the food took longer than the wait for the table.  At one point, the waitress said she had put our order “on the slow side.”  Thanks to Rob’s restaurant industry experience, he knew she probably had forgotten to put in our order.  I was fine with the delay, as I would have the chance to tell her I put my wallet “in the other pants.” 

Meanwhile, we planned to hang out by the pool and then take in a matinee showing of Hangover 2.  We would also purchase tickets to a couple of the shows we wanted to see, including Jabbawockeez at the Monte Carlo and one of the many Cirque du Soleil offerings.  I recommended seeing the Crazy Horse Paris show at the MGM Grand (formerly known as Le Femme).  The Wife and I saw this show a few years ago and it was very titillating, emphasis on the “tit.”  We decided to have dinner that night at Bahama Breeze as Rob could get us a discount on the meal; again, thanks to Rob’s influence in the restaurant industry.  We felt a lot better having a plan in place.

After breakfast, we made another effort to find the movie theatre entrance and eventually asked a security guard for help.  If we had walked the other way down the cross street, we would have found it.  We decided to catch the 2:45p matinee and returned to the Monte Carlo.  We visited the concierge to see what tickets we could get for a Cirque du Soleil show.  I was on board for Zumanity, but I think the consensus was for O at the Bellagio.  Regardless, the prices were well above what we wanted to pay, so we chose to get tickets for Jabbawockeez for Friday night.  Since we were guests at the hotel, we received a discount on the tickets.

Las Vegas Day One: May 25, 2011

I didn't heed my own advice from my previous posting about what to plan and to expect in Las Vegas. Rather than pack my clothes in a carry-on, I packed a suitcase.  I'm pretty cheap when it comes to certain things and I usually can't justify spending $25 to check a bag.

However, my recent business trip to Kansas City made me realize the convenience of having one fewer item to bring through security. Plus, our most recent purchase from Melaleuca had a skin care kit that included sun screen. The tube is five ounces and too large for a baggie of toiletries. Rather than trying to squeeze three ounces into a TSA-approved container, I decided to pack a suitcase. This allowed me to bring the body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant I purchased as well.

The other piece of advice I didn't follow was using my pocket cash strictly for gambling. I spent the morning before my flight doing a little house cleaning to give The Wife a head start before her mother arrived on Saturday. I didn't eat anything while at home and waited until I was at the airport to buy a small Lunchable and a bottle of green tea.  The total was $6.15 and I broke a ten. For those keeping count (like me), the trip had cost me $31.15. I'm going to try to keep a full accounting of my expenses.

My morning wasn't all about Swiffer, Febreze, and chinchilla poop.  I had reversed engineered my schedule, as is my nature, to calculate when I should leave for the airport.  I usually allow for plenty of cushion because I get seriously stressed about being at the airport in time for my flights. The dogs, Jack and Jill, were itching for another turn in the backyard and I let them out as I gathered my bags.

Once I was sure I had everything, I headed to the garage to put my luggage in the car. As I crossed the driveway, Jill came running from the front yard and my heart sunk. The two of them usually pair up for their antics, so I assumed Jack had also run to the front yard and Jill followed. They are good dogs for the most part, but now that the weather is warmer, they suffer from cabin fever and wanderlust. In truth, I'm surprised Jill came back so quickly. I think she knew they were being bad and she didn't want to upset the Alpha Male. Jack, however, went rogue.
The next 30 minutes were highly stressful. I went around the corner to where a full-size poodle lives, but the dog wasn't outside and I didn't see Jack. I knew I had to leave shortly and all sorts of desperate thoughts crossed my mind. What if Jack was hurt?  Or followed someone home? Or decided to go exploring?  I paraphrased a line from Speed:  you've got 20 minutes before leaving for the airport and your dog is AWOL. What do you do?  What DO you do?