Day 19
The day began early as I head to the airport to go to Vegas. I scheduled an early flight so I could have the rest of the day to recover from the trip and any potential headache or back issues I may have. I say that as I have been getting migraines after flights quite a bit lately and it seems to be flights over 3 hours (if that has anything to do with it). As for the back, it is still tight from the wood stacking and I don't know what 5 plus hours on a plane will do to it.
No issues getting to the airport though it was in the 20's as I was on the way to the airport. I knew that would change when I arrived at Vegas and was looking forward to a brief escape from the cold.
Found a nice parking spot in the garage on the 2nd floor near the exit. Hope that is a sign of things to come for the trip (sadly not the case).
The current plan is that I will be in Vegas until Tuesday morning and then fly to Reno. We would stay in Reno Tuesday night, give a presentation and that evening I would fly back to Philly in a red eye (through San Francisco for some reason).
After the flight I arrived at the hotel at a little after 11 AM. The trip from the rental car pickup to the hotel was about 4 minutes, one turn. That is convenient. They were not ready for check ins so I left my luggage and contact information and went to Applebee's for lunch (it is right behind the hotel). I was their first customer of the day as they had just opened. As I was there I saw a couple that I had seen at the car rental location also show up (could be in the same boat as me?).
I had noticed that my car charger for the phone wasn't working properly (the phone went from 20% to 5% while plugged in) so after I ate I went looking for a place to buy a charger. I found (right up the road) an outlet mall, a rather large outlet mall. I walked around a bit but didn't see any electronics shop initially and my back was starting to really tighten up so I headed back to the hotel.
When I arrived they had a room ready for me, nice one up on the top floor actually (though that is just 6 floors up). Was happy to check in and be able to get off my feet (starting to feel the sciatic pain and that has led to days being completely laid up if it gets bad). Unfortunately that meant my initial plans of being able to check out Vegas on a free day were out the window.
When I checked in that I was on the way to Vegas I got a response from someone who posts at a web site that I have posted at since 1999 (a football game based site). He said that I should let him know when I am in and we can meet up. I was hoping that the back would not be an issue so I could take him up on that offer as it would be the first person from the site whom I would have met in person.
The rest of the day was pretty much resting in the hotel and having room service for dinner before falling asleep around 8 (or slightly after); was still on a long east coast day at that point.
The Photos
Leaving cold weather...
View from the hotel...
Day 20
Still on Eastern time as I woke up at 4 and laid there waiting for the alarm before I realized it was still dark. Got up at 5 and did a little work while watching TV and getting breakfast.
The day was okay as I worked out of one of the office we have in Vegas most of the day preparing for the demo. Did find out late in the day that the Wednesday demo was not going to happen for certain (we had a meeting earlier in the day with the client and only one person from the client dialed in but that person didn't even know it was cancelled so he wasn't able to confirm any rescheduling).
Waited until very late in the day to cancel my flight to Reno and subsequent return from to Philly from there. Instead scheduled a Thursday night return from Vegas (also through San Fran) and if the demo is scheduled for Reno on Thursday (still a possibility) I will do a round trip from Vegas and still take the same flight back from Vegas.
With my back hurting I laid low again that evening, in addition I had a couple late meetings with the India office so I stayed in after getting back from the office. Not exactly a Vegas trip dreams are made of at this point.
The Photos
The morning sunrise...
I can get used to these temperatures...
UFOs!!!! Or planes lining up to land... :-)
Day 21
An early day today as I had meetings to call in for which were early morning EST, let alone PST. Today we found out that the Thursday timeframe wouldn't work for the demo so I won't have to schedule a flight to Reno. I'll work from the Vegas office until returning to Jersey. Trying to get an earlier flight home on Thursday but more on that later.
Spent most of the day working on other projects in the office today. We will run through the demo tomorrow to make sure we are good. That gave me time to work on a couple other projects. Ironically one of them we now have to deliver to development soon even though that was a project that I was told would be put on the back burner because of a couple other high priority projects. Now it is in the "must be done by" category. Situations like that can make me hate my job. Though I love when I get to work with the clients and do presentations for them. I just hate things being out of my control (and in the control of lesser beings...;-) ).
When I got back to the hotel today I heard what sounded like an entire herd of emergency vehicles beginning an assault on an unsuspecting gazelle. I looked out the window and saw a huge plume of smoke not too far down the road. Ironically I had just driven relatively past that area just minutes earlier. Turns out there was a fire and sadly a young boy was killed; I will say the story sounds really fishy as to why no one "knew he was home"... he was 4 years old.
In addition to that, there was a car accident/shooting not too far in the other direction. Seems the police showed up for what seemed to be a car accident and found the driver to be shot in the chest with 2 young kids in the back of the car (2 and 3).
I was exhausted and fell asleep watching TV. Another fun Vegas night (see sarcasm). More discussions at night and another early morning coming up.
The Photos
The morning sunrise as I take a meeting...
The fire nearby...
Day 22
Today started with an early meeting and continued with what was a productive day. We practiced our demo and I got a lot accomplished with my newly reprioritized project. In the afternoon I went to one of our other offices to review a few other minor projects going on (minor in relation to the other "high priority" projects).
After the day was over I stopped at the outlet mall and found a car charger. I also picked up a shirt to wear (as I didn't have anything for the added day) and a present for Chris; got her a suitcase to use for her trip to Florida next month (she's going with my sister Debbie).
When I got back to the hotel I decided to make tonight a "Vegas night" so after relaxing the back for a couple I had the front desk call a cab and headed out. Didn't want to worry about driving through the strip traffic and finding parking so I figured cab was the way to go.
I got dropped off at Caesars Palace and walked around the forum shops for a bit. While there I picked up a Seahawks hoodie (they have been my second team for 30 years now, because my brother liked the Raiders and I saw them playing them one time and liked them).
Out from Caesars and I headed to the Bellagio to walk around a little and then out to see the fountains. Still haven't found anything that I wanted to really do yet.
Decided to go across the street to Bally Paris to see if I could go to the top of the Eifel Tower that they have but then saw a sign for single deck blackjack so I went to play that instead. As it turns out it was my favorite pit ever. :-)
As I was walking over to the table I noticed that in the middle of the pit there were two stages and a woman was on each stage dancing in a distracting outfit. Then I saw that the dealers were also dressed in lingerie. Favorite pit ever. :-)
I sat and played for a while, never far enough ahead to make it worthwhile to stop, though I probably would have been if not for the tips I was betting (nothing to do with the pit as I always place a tip bet as it is common courtesy; and hopefully good karma).
A dealer change shortly after sitting down led to the 'regular' dealer that we had while I was there. She was pretty but a little chunky (not a criticism, just painting the picture); not chunky in an extreme way but not someone that, on face value, someone would immediately think would be a dealer in a pit like this. With that said, she was one of the better dealers that I have ever had at any table that I have ever been at.
She really got into the game and would fist bump the players on a big win, or when she would bust. She seemed to be genuine and that made it a fun evening.
In the middle of the time in which she was dealing she had a break and the dealer that broker her was quite the opposite. She was easily the sexiest of any of the women in that pit, she put the dancers to shame. She moved better and looked better than any of them. Sadly she seemed to be an empty shell and was dealing just to deal. There was no connection between her and the table.
The other dealer returned and I stayed for a little while longer before seeing that it was getting late and that I hadn't eaten yet and also needed to call to the offshore office that night.
I headed back to the hotel and was too late for room service but luckily the Applebee's behind the hotel was still open for a few more minutes so I called and went over to pick up my dinner. Was their last customer of the day (fitting as when I arrived I earlier in the week I was their first customer of that day).
After some discussions with offshore and letting the meal digest a little before going to bed I got a couple hours sleep. More later as I head to the final day in Vegas, this time around.
The Photos
A stingray in the tank at the forum shops... looks like it's smiling as it swims...
The fountains at Bellagio...
The Vegas version of the Eiffel Tower...
Day 23
Today I leave for home. Have been trying to get on an earlier flight but no avail as of yet.
I woke up early and had meetings from the hotel room for most of the morning and worked on a couple of my projects. When time came to checkout I headed to see one thing that I planned on seeing while here, the pawn shop from Pawn Stars.
I found it and after parking at Walgreens several blocks away I walked over to check it out. Had to stand in line to get in but the wait wasn't too long. Have to say, not much to see in there. The first part of the store has items for sale and some had tags on them that they were on the actual show but those items were extremely over priced. Nothing else really stood out and the second half of the store was all Pawn Stars souvenirs for sale.
They must clear the shop out when the film as there is no room in there if not.
From there I went to LVH to find a place to eat a quick bite before heading to the airport to see if I can get on the earlier flight.
After filling up the car and returning it to the rental agency I was at the airport and checked in. Sadly I couldn't get a booked seat on the earlier flight but still a chance. It would turn out that was not meant to be but then I saw that I didn't have a seat on the flight from San Francisco to Philly. I didn't want to be stuck in San Francisco airport overnight so I tried to get in touch with someone to either confirm or rebook but I had to wait until there were agents available for my first flight.
As I was standing in line I heard someone say my name. I turned around to see Marty, someone that I had worked with several years ago and who was also in Chennai on my first trip to India. He has since left the company and is living in Vegas. As it turned out he was on my flight to San Francisco and then the same flight to Philly. He is going to see the Rangers/Devils game being played in Yankee stadium with his son.
I was able to get a seat booked for the second leg of the trip. Good news!
From there it was on to San Fran for a bit of a layover. I picked up a couple things for the girls while there and then the red eye to Philly. Heading home!
The Photos
Final sunrise in Vegas...
The pawn shop...
Day 24
After a long red eye I arrived at Philly early in the morning. I was slapped in the face by the 9 degree weather and it was made worse by having to walk from the garage at the terminal where I arrived to the garage at the terminal where I departed. My hands were frozen.
After an uneventful drive home I gave Chris the suitcase that I got for her and showed her the other items I picked up and my photos. From then it was time to sleep since I couldn't get much on the plane.
A couple meetings later in the day and then a relaxing evening with the family.
The Photos
No photos for the day. Though I should have taken one of the temperature as that would be the biggest happening of the day, the temperature shock.
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