In order to not fall in the same trap as <a href=”http://www.iammike.org/index.php?subaction=showfull&amp;id=1161284525&amp;archive=&amp;start_from=&amp;ucat=2&amp;PHPSESSID=366e7cf00fc8da013cde834f4585a712″>my Japan write-up</a>, I’m going to update my Vegas expedition on a daily basis.<br/><br/>Background: I work for <a href=”http://www.anystream.com” target=”_blank”>Anystream</a> and am responsible for setup of the tech portion of our booth at <a href=”http://www.nab.org” target=”_blank”>NAB</a>.<br/><br/>[b]Day 1 – Wednesday[/b]<br/>First of all, on Monday, I was up until ~1am doing work. On Tuesday, I stayed at work until 12:30am. I then got home, packed, and managed two hours of sleep before I awoke at 5am for my flight. Note: Caitlin was awesome through this; she brought me dinner at work on Tuesday, hung out until 11pm, went home to do a load of laundry and shrink some shirts for me, and then woke up to drive me to the airport.<br/><br/>I arrive at the airport at 6am, my scheduled meeting time with Sebastian. There are no lines, but we want to work out sitting close to each other so I hold off on checking in. Well, Sebas had to get breakfast at McDonald’s and ending up not arriving until 6:30am (dick!). We wait in a bit of a line, but it isn’t too bad. Fully expecting to do <a href=”http://www.iammike.org/index.php?subaction=showfull&amp;id=1130604907&amp;archive=&amp;start_from=&amp;ucat=1&amp;loc=rants”>the typical TSA check-in thing</a>, I almost don’t even attempt to go to one of the computers, but something inside me tells me to do it anyway. Would you believe that it worked!? First time in years. Unfortunately, that’s where my luck would run out.<br/><br/>We connect in Chicago since the seating available for a straight flight was crap. I have always had bad experiences in O’Hare, but this day took the cake. It’s snowing… And our plane is broken… After a four hour repair of the air speed sensor, we board the plane under the promise from our pilot that we’re at the head of the line for deicing and such since we’ve already waited so long. He was wrong. We then sit on the plane for 2.5 more hours while they deice and we wait for a clear runway. While they deice, they must turn off the a/c so it reached about 85 degrees in the cabin… Joy.<br/><br/>We eventually get out of Chicago and hours later land in Vegas… 5.5 hours later than expected. To our dismay, the registration booth at the convention center closes at 5pm so our entire day is shot. We head back to the hotel, wash up, and head out on the monorail. Destination? The strip.<br/><br/>We arrive at the end of the strip with plans to walk for a bit just to check it out. I have never been to Vegas so I was anticipating really amazing things thanks to review from friends, but I must say I was a bit let down. Maybe it’s just not my type of vacation spot, but I couldn’t see coming here a) multiple times in my life or b) being here for more than a long weekend. Sure, there’s some crazy stuff and some of the hookers are nice to look at, but that’s about where the coolness stops.<br/><br/>We walk for a bit, grab some dinner at <a href=”http://www.smithandwollensky.com/las_vegas.htm” target=”_blank”>Smith and Wollensky</a>, where I ordered a New York Strip from their FRAMED MENU (major cool points there). Apparently it isn’t my favorite cut of meat (I don’t know cuts, I rarely order steak out), but it is still pretty darn good. We have a few beers, split some side dishes, and then begin walking to the <a href=”http://www.hardrockhotel.com/” target=”_blank”>Hard Rock Casino</a> to meet up with some coworkers who are already in town for another tradeshow.<br/><br/>Upon arriving at the casino, we find our friends, and head over to a craps table. Neither Sebas or I are big gamblers so we stay out of the way and through a few bucks in slots machine. He lost his $2 pretty quickly, but I hit a pretty solid roll and was up $14 on my $2. I tell myself that I’ll cash out when I get back down to my original $2 in order to break even, but of course that didn’t happen and I lost it all.<br/><br/>Gambling status: -$2<br/><br/>I still don’t fully understand craps at this point, but after watching my coworkers for another hour or so and seeing their chip counts go through the roof, I decide it’s time for me to get in. Of course, you’re never supposed to hop in to a hot table; that’s when it’ll get cold. Things started off really well and my $60 I was playing with was up to $100. Then the table got cold. I ended up throwing another $20 on the table in order to back up a bet I had in play, lost it, and cashed out with $19 remaining.<br/><br/>Gambling status: -$63<br/><br/>On the plus side, I did get several free drinks and I had a great time for a few hours AND my losses are still less than a typical night out in DC. Add in the fact that this trip (yes, my $90 meal included) is 100% free, and I’m still pretty happy :)<br/><br/>[b]Day 2 – Thursday[/b]<br/>Roll out of bed pretty early, grab some food downstairs, get in to booth, and find that the change order we put in (and received multiple confimations of) didn’t go through and our carpet was already placed. We spend an hour or two peeling it back to run our cables under it, all the whilke trying to not be too obvious so we can fly under union radar.<br/><br/>Once the cables are down, we pretty much relax the rest of the day by supervising the build of the booth. Funny, we were charged three days by the exhibit saleswoman (whom we didn’t like and apparently not many do) when it only took two guys around 5 hours to get it done. We’ll be working on that charge :tongue:<br/><br/>A bunch more people show up, we grab tapas at <a href=”http://www.fireflylv.com/” target=”_blank”>Firefly</a>, which turned out to be like a McDonald’s compared to Jaleo. The food was decent, but nothing to write home about… The prices weren’t great, and the sangria, which I had 5 or 6 glasses of, must have had no alcohol in it.<br/><br/>Following dinner, we head to <a href=”http://www.nynyhotelcasino.com/” target=”_blank”>New York, New York</a>, which was really quite cool. The exterior and hotel rooms are a small scale cityscape. The interior is made to look like city streets; very neat. We watch a piano bar for a few minutes, which was out of control. The players were really good, but were only playing songs for ~30 seconds before they received another payment ($40-$60) to play a new song… Wild. We leave there, grab some car bombs and Guinness, and begin our walk to <a href=”http://www.mandalaybay.com/” target=”_blank”>Mandalay Bay</a> to meet coworkers. As soon as we arrive, we get a call that they were in a taxi heading to <a href=”http://www.mgmgrand.com/” target=”_blank”>MGM Grand</a>. Argh! We walk there, have a bunch of tequila shots, I try my hand at craps again, lose a few bucks, and we monorail/stumble back to bed. Good times.<br/><br/>Gambling status: -$112<br/><br/>On the way out of the MGM, I threw a dollar in a slot machine and lost.<br/><br/>Gambling status: -$113<br/><br/>Apparently (I don’t recall this), I then threw a dollar in a slot back at our hotel. Doh!<br/><br/>Gambling status: $-114<br/><br/>I’ve realized the air is really dry here; my sinuses are rock hard!<br/><br/>All in all, having a very good time, eating really well, and it’s only cost me $114! Can’t beat it!<br/><br/>[b]Day 3 – Friday[/b]<br/>Awoke around 7… Man, that was tough. Grabbed some breakfast and off to the booth to set up. Nothing too wild to note during the day.<br/><br/>At night, we head out to &lt; href=”http://www.treasureisland.com/pages/dining_isla.asp” target=”_blank”&gt;Isla, which is mexican food and a tequila bar. I ordered the “Steak Pyramid,” which turned out to be fantastic. Side note: Lobster avocado is great. Following our meal, we ordered tequila flights, which are wire towers with three quality shots of tequila at different heights. At the bottom was silver, which is made is steel drums and not aged; very easy to drink. In the middle was reposado, which is aged for two months in oak barrels; I liked this one the least… Too woody. At the top was an anejo, which is aged for a year; was very very tasty.<br/><br/>Following dinner, we decided we wanted to play some cheap craps so we head to <a href=”http://www.bourbonstreethotel.com/” target=”_blank”>Bill’s</a>, which is older and of much less quality than most other places, but still a good time… A beginning gambler will feel very comfortable at their tables… <br/><br/>We started by not knowing what we wanted to do so I threw $5 in video poker and promptly lost. Then I tried another dollar, and gone. <br/><br/>Gambling status: -$120<br/><br/>Funny how on your last roll, the machines let you stay in FOREVER. Finally, we found a table we liked. I threw down $60 to begin with, was down to $5 at one point, made a crazy strong comeback, put $65 in my pocket, which left me with around $50 on the table and then things got cold after the crazy meticulous guy lost his roll (he was exaiming the dice, place them an exact way each time, and throwing exactly the same way each time). I ended up losing that $50, but I had already pocketed more than I started with so it was all in good fun.<br/><br/>Gambling status: $-115<br/><br/>Since I was a dummy and played some slots, I still lost for the night, but I totally felt like a winner. Two free drinks, and a few hours of entertainment for $1? Good times.<br/><br/>[b]Day 4 – Saturday[/b]<br/>Oh my… this is when everyone got to town… The day was uneventful with just putting the final touches on the booth. Despite having four time more machines than in previous years, apparently we were wrapped up earlier than ever before… :bow:<br/><br/>This night was very on-off. We met at <a href=”http://www.lvhilton.com/entertainment/tempo.shtml” target=”_blank”>Tempo</a> in our hotel, sat there for nearly half an hour as people figured out what they wanted to eat and finally just ended up at <a href=”http://www.lvhilton.com/dining/andiamo.shtml” target=”_blank”>Casa Nicola</a> right at our hotel. The food was great; I had the best filet mignon I’ve ever had. Added to that was a 20/person appetizer platter w/ calamari (sucked), peppercini, various slices of hams, mozarella, and… something else that I’m forgetting. Following that, a somewhat crappy salad, some good olive kalamata, and finally some so-so tiramisu. The extras weren’t all that great, but the filet and wine were to die for so I was happy. Total bill for 9 of us? Over a grand.<br/><br/>And then? The night stalled… We didn’t know where we wanted to go, but after much deliberation ended up at <a href=”http://www.binions.com/” target=”_blank”>Binion’s</a> (formerly the Horseshoe) on <a href=”http://www.vegasexperience.com/” target=”_blank”>Fremont Street</a>; the old strip.<br/><br/>The olds strip really did turn out to be the “old” strip. Dealers and waitresses alike we ANCIENT. I honestly feel they must have had coffins in the back of these places just to wheel them away. Anyway, we’re not too pleased with any of the tables at Binion’s so we just make our way back to the bar. The bartender was a huge a-hole and really put an odd mood on us…<br/><br/>And then? The night stalled… And then? We found a $10 blackjack table we were happy with. I stayed out for a while as I really would have preferred a $5 table, but it wasn’t to be. After 15 minutes or so, my $50 was gone and I was done for the night. Note: Some people who had just arrived that day were already down more than me in four days :tongue:<br/><br/>Gambling status: -$170<br/><br/>And then? The night stalled.<br/><br/>Standing around on Fremont Street, we catch the tail of another light show (yes, again, it is an entire street domed with a hemispherical TV), and cannot figure out what to do. The strip club looks nice, but two guys decide that “$1 Daquiris” and “Free $10000″ (by my definition that means you can just walk up and take it) are more intriguing. <a href=”http://www.casinocity.com/us/nv/lasvegas/coincast/” target=”_blank”>La Bayou</a> was a complete dump so most of us decide to stay outside for the time being. Five minutes go by and the two have still not left so we head in to check on them. Sure enough, they’re at the drink counter and have already been upsold from the $1 drinks to $15 footballs filled with whatever slushy concoction you could dream of (they had a wall full of slurpee machine type things). We all decide to get them, and based on the reecommendation of a Bayou frequenter and <a href=”http://www.nicekicks.com/images/fat-joe-sneaker-comp.jpg” target=”_blank”>Fat Joe</a> lookalike, most of us got Jungle Juice w/ the extra shot, which he tells us is ~5 shots of Everclear (grain alcohol), and ~7 shots of Vodka. We completely doubt his claims, but are certain we’ll get pretty screwy on these anyway. We remind the host of the place, who is loud, large, african-american, and has already told my friend a vulgar, vulgar second prize in the drawing (hint: has something to do with her penis… yeah), that twice she has gone through the alotted 15 minutes to draw a number. She hands my friend a ticket, reminds him to listen for the numbers, heads back, and draws. Sure enough, he won. He gets to the back of the place, is faced with a slot machine that tells him what he wins, and spins. What do you know? The worst prize. $2 or choice of beads. The beads were pretty decent, but $2 goes a lot farther (or does it?). He takes the $2 and leaves. On our way out, the large host tells him that it’s messed up he didn’t split it with her. He laughs (really, she’s caring about this rigged dollar?), gives her one, and we’re gone.<br/><br/>Back on the street again, light shows are over for the night, and we are stalled.<br/><br/>And then? Some beads hit our feet and notice they were thrown from a fairly decent looking girl in front of <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaids_(casino)” target=”_blank”>Mermaids</a>. She continues, and continues throwing beads and we keep grabbing them in graceful fashion (bending over and such). Eventually some girls come up to her, flash her for beads, and it’s on. We yell “Hey, we’ve got beads too!” At this time, we all haad full necks of them. Unfortunately, only guys are attracted to us. One guy celebrating his birthday comes up to us and starts spouting lines out of <a href=”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443453/” target=”_blank”>Borat</a>. Imagine ten (his friends arrived) wasted guys (after a few sips of the jungle juice, we were toast) yellings “It’s niiiiiice,” “I liiiiiike,” and many more lines from the movie. It was ridiculous. Eventually, his friends pull him away to the strip club and our focus shifts back to bead girl. As time rolls on, we go up and chat with her. We chat for so long, that she asks us to go inside to play a few slots so she doesn’t get in trouble. A few of us oblige, but a few (Ken) also remain outside to heckle her coworker who totally isn’t in to her job. Sitting at the slots with Rob, we burn a dollar each in anticipation of the free drinks to come. They do come, but after them the waitress returns asking Rob for $5 so she can meet her quota. Rob obliges as I snicker that he just got scammed. To my amazement, she comes back a few minutes later with half a dozen drinks! Crazy! We share them with everyone, go around the casino asking the waitresses their real names since we had found that NOBODY working in a cheap place in Vegas uses their real names. For a few minutes, that was entertaining.<br/><br/>We again find ourselves out on Fremont Street with nothing to do. Luckily, “bead girl” (I forgot her fake name and real name) is getting off soon and has taken interest in one of my coworkers. Score! Before that, though, I tell her that she has forgotten to do her version of the “Free $10000” numbers. She concurs, runs inside, and sure enough, I won! I totally forgot to listen, but she came out a few minutes after the drawing to tell me to come in. Ooops! I am faced with the notorious spin machine… I ask her if anyone has ever gotten $10000, to which she laughs “In my several years working here, nobody has ever gotten more than $2/beads.” Yay for rigging! You of course know what I “win,” which I split between her and the prize lady. As I’m walking away I hear the prize lady say “That was nice of him,” to which bead girl says “He’s got a nice butt, too!” Yayyyuuuhh!<br/><br/>Anyway, she finally gets off. Coworker and her start to disappear in to Binion’s, but moments later he runs out the side door asking if we’d wait for him. We tell him “sure,” and he heads back to the side door where she’s supposed to be waiting for him. As he approaches the door, we see her come out the front. WTF? We yell for him, he runs back to meet her, but not in time as she slips in her place of work just before he gets there, and a security guard locks the doors down. He forgot her first name so they won’t let him in after her so it seems as all is lost. What did he say? What didn’t he say? Moments later, we see her leaving out the back door of her place! Coworker runs after her, they have a chat, hug, and she’s gone. Unfortunately, he was the only person to finish his jungle juice so he doesn’t remember anything that was said. Hell, he didn’t even remember any of the story (only two of us did)… All he remember was talking to a girl in an alley (behind her place). Crazy!<br/><br/>It is now late so we decide to head home. There are six of us so two cabs are required. While waiting for ours, two of us think nothing of peeing in the middle of an alley, which our most drunk friend (the one involved in the girl story) waits by the curb. We finish up, a cab arrives, and drunk guy and myself hop in the back. Unfortunately, his balance is off and he goes crashing backwards on to the pavement. I help him up, lift him in, and we’re on our way. <br/><br/>Back at the hotel, I volunteer to take care of him. He tells me his room number, we head there, but he reversed some numbers. After another short elevator ride, we’re finally at his room. After fumbling with his key card, he’s in. I head up to my room, and that is the end of that night.<br/><br/>Note: Apparently the guys in the other cab did not end their nights there. They took their cab to a strip club, and two of them were not home until 5am and 9am. I’m glad I didn’t go with them…<br/><br/>[b]Day 5 – Sunday[/b]<br/>Sunday was a pretty lax day. We tidied up the booth, ran through all the demos one last time, and were gone from the show floor.<br/><br/>We opt on an early night so we head to <a href=”http://www.bahamabreeze.com/” target=”_blank”>Bahama Breeze</a>, where we had reservations. After waiting an hour for our tables, I ordered cajun chicken, which wasn’t too bad, and some water. Note: We also got some appetizers, but their calamari was the worst I’ve ever had, and I really dislike goat cheese. Following the meal, I make a masterpiece carving out of a slab of raw tuna, and we ask for two cabs to be called. Some people in our party are ansty so we figure waiting at the nearest hotel is a better idea. Unfortunately, this is not a hot hotel so there are no cabs. What there is, though, is a Hummer.<br/><br/>Meet, Jerry Hummer. Jerry is a short guy, blonde spiked hair, ratty little mustache thing, and a bad temper. He allows all nine of us to fit in his H2. As a skinny guy, I’m tossed in the back seat with three others… That was fun. After a few seconds of riding, Micah asks “Can this thing go offroad?” Before you know it, we’re going straight at curb without braking. We launch over it, are tossed all around, and then take a little detour through a garden. Yeah, it can go offroad apparently. Battered, and bruised, we’re finally on Paradise Blvd on the way back to the hotel. Oh did I mention Jerry almost got in to a fight with a biker when he picked us up? Yeah, it was pretty heated. Jerry almost ran in to the back of one guy (ABS kicked in) after our offroad experience because he thought it was the original biker, but it wasn’t. Yeah, Jerry has a temper. We chat with Jerry, find that just before picking us up some guys got in a brawl in the back of his other Hummer resulting in blood everywhere and 100 stitches for one of them. Kevin decides to take down Jerry’s number. He asks Jerry his last name, but Jerry doesn’t hear him so Kevin says “Can I put you in as Jerry Cab?” Jerry takes offense “F you, I’m not a taxi.” “Ok,” says Kevin. “Jerry Hummer it is.”<br/><br/>Back at the hotel, we all thank the lord for getting us through that ride, and head to bed as the show starts in the morning.<br/><br/>Monday and Tuesday? Stay tuned.