Let’s sit in the Park, drink beer, play old 80s music and reminisce about days gone by!
Quick!
Slice and a beer
Only the most premium of…
Only the most premium of Electrolyte water for me. Truth.
Somehow the best coffee
Downtown at the Fremont Casino.
Free Food!
Ok not free but close. Decided to throw some money into the Walking Dead slot while visiting the Suncoast and try my luck, something I would have done anyways. I did not win but as I was getting up from the machine a cocktail waitress reminded me to check if I’d played enough for a buffet. So I did by finding a terminal, sliding my card in and checking my account status. Sure enough, comped buffet.
Each Casino usually has a loyalty program that allows you to insert your players card into machines or submit to the pitboss before your play. They then incentivize you to play by offering certain perks for your contribution to their bottom line. In this case, Boyds gave me a buffet worth 13USD for my 50USD of play.
Now you might be thinking, “But Zaal, that’s not a fair trade! They scooped 50 out of your gambling budget and all you got was a lousy Buffet!”
True enough, dear Reader! But here’s the rub: had I won money(which has happened to me in Vegas before) they still would have given me the buffet. These are the comps that you hear people talk about sometimes. I’m not a big gambler, but I do spend some time at the tables and try my hand at the occasional slot machine. Regardless of if I win or lose the casino has always made a promise to provide me with, at the very least, free rooms or buffet or other perks.
The one thing that must be kept in mind is the casinos don’t stick around because they lose money on buffets or rooms. Know there’s always going to be that one-sided part of the equation that allows them to get the best of us while we enjoy what we do to have fun and getting a few things back in return. Remember, if you win at a slot machine someone else has to lose.
My advice to anyone planning on a Vegas vacation is to sign up for all the loyalty programs you can and make sure you get credit for the gambling you do.
Breakfast in America
Well that’s what the coffee shop was called anyways.
Moving through the city
As mentioned previously I really like taking public transit. This morning I’m on the WAX again headed up to the Suncoast Casino. Don’t know how long that’s going to take but it should be pretty quick. I’ll share pictures as I go.
From the lap of luxury…
To the warm embrace of public transit.
Yes folks that’s me; a walking dichotomy. On the one hand I enjoy sitting in a lounge, drinking “free” booze and enjoying my self but when I land I’m all about the frugality.
I’ve arrived in Las Vegas just after 2100 PDT and now I’m checking the transit schedule to see when my next bus will pick me up. I have a problem paying exorbitant amounts of money for someone to drive me from the airport to my hotel. I’m so cheap.
Instead I’ll buy a 24 hour transit pass and take the WAX (Westcliffe Airport Express) to get me to the hotel.
It’s 8 USD and can be purchased in the rideRTC app. Great deal since I can use it tomorrow as well.
Transit has always fascinated me no matter where we travel. It really is how the locals travel.
I’m going to stop this post so I can catch the next bus and get some dinner in this oppressive 25 degree heat. ?
Fall Break Starts Now
Headed to Vegas for a week. Watch this space for updates on stupid shit you probably don’t care about.
What Does It Mean To ‘Holiday’?
We’ve just spent the last 25 days out of the country, visiting the Mouse and taking a Caribbean cruise. I think this might be the perfect amount of time to vacate as I’m much more relaxed than I was at the end of our trip last year. Disclaimer: I’m sitting in the Delta Lounge, off my face on Long Island Iced Teas.
How is it that we as a society decide that working ourselves to the bone over a 47 week period (due to my time at SAIT, I get 5 weeks of vacation) is okay? Why is that the norm? Why do we put up with it? How do we fix that so that we’re balancing our working lives with time away from work?
An even better question might be how do we make sure those 47 weeks don’t occur in one lump batch and make ‘mini holidays’ a norm again? I think I mull these ideas over at the end of every single holiday I’ve taken for the past eight years which doesn’t invalidate them, just makes me wonder if I’ll figure the answer out sometime soon.
My wife actually gets more time off than I do but she’s employed at a school and only really gets her long break during the summer because I get more flexibility in my schedule. I’ve considered Fall and Spring breaks and how to integrate them into my work schedule but this can’t be done for Sly.
Which is a conundrum because, unfortunately, I love her and love traveling with her. Not having her with me really does change the texture of a trip somewhere. On the one hand I become more adventurous, striking out in random directions to explore and find things that I wouldn’t normally do with Sly by my side. On the other, I don’t have the most important person in my life with me to share those experiences. I attempt a sort of ‘hacky’ pseudo-experience where I send her pictures and texts all day, telling her what I’m up to, where I am and what I’m seeing.
Did this last year with a spring trip to Vegas and it worked out pretty well. Five days off work and a quick jaunt out to Nevada gave me the recharge I needed to get me back in the fight at work.
So I’ve already started thinking about my next trip and it will probably be something quick and cheap (aka Vegas) that will get me out of the city for a few days and allow me to relax a bit.
This trip was incredible and I’ll probably want to write-up a few lines about it and some of the neat things we saw and did while away but I’m sitting in the Delta Lounge at MSP relaxing before our next flight which will take us home and I’m in more of a mind to sit and try to keep this travel glow going as long as I can.
Well maybe just a taste:
I’ll have more later.
Cheers!
Z