Finally I've returned from what felt like weeks of traveling.
The first was a five-day beating in Las Vegas for a conference where I presented in front of my largest crowd ever, 200. Fortunately it was well-received and people thought I was humorous.
The day before I returned home, I won $700 at Pai Gow with a mix of bonuses (quads was my best), which kind of saved me from my $1900 in losses.
I did have a glorious room there, at the #1 tripadvisor-rated hotel in Vegas, the MGM Signature. I lucked out with this room, which came with a full kitchen, a view of the Strip and pools, two-person Jacuzzi, a balcony and a pop-up TV in the separate bedroom. Costing $650k to purchase and $500 a night to rent, I scored with $175 a night from vrbo.com.
Penthouses covered the first two rows of elevator buttons. How can so many rooms be penthouses?
My friend got a room for another friend that was coming into town briefly. She booked IP's King suite with a LUV tub, mirrored ceilings, and wipe-clean sofas.
Upon returning home, I reluctantly visited HI-G (they've raised their rake to $5 for $4/8 limit on up) and early on flopped quad queens.
I was excited to see a Q and 10 of diamonds on the flop, and then a 9 of diamonds on the turn, especially when mister 6s kept raising me back and forth.
Straight flush, man, straight flush!
Eventually the remainder of the bettor's chips went into the pot when the 9 rivered.
Before I had a chance to flip up my cards, he showed his pocket 9's for quad 9's and I screamed and slapped down my quad queens,
jackpot!
An hour late for the $100k jackpot, but a small jackpot nonetheless -- $19k total, $11,400 to him, $3,800 to me and $540 table share. My second one in a year, "the small end of the small one," as we like to say at HI-G.
Next on the work travel agenda was San Francisco and an undisclosed location. My itinerary was:
- 12:30pm Flight to Oakland
- 03:00pm Arrive at hotel after a $60 cab fare
- 03:15pm Checked in hotel, out the door and on the BART transit system to San Bruno
- 03:45pm Arrive in San Bruno, home of Artichoke Joe's. Wait and wait for a taxi.
- 04:15pm See an Artichoke Joe's shuttle drive by, call the casino and they send another.
- 04:30pm Arrive at Artichoke Joe's after being made fun of by the driver for not walking 3 blocks.
- 06:45pm Leave with an extra $240 in my pocket from $6/12, mostly from a kill pot where I had 10-2, flopped 10-2 and turned a 10 for a full house, while two other players both had trips. Take the free shuttle again back to the BART.
- 07:15pm Arrive back at hotel and attend a typical hobnobbing mixer with $6 domestic beers and lots of stinky cheese.
- 08:10pm Get back to room in time to see "American Idol" and the premiere of "Kitchen Nightmares."
Next day,
- 07:00am Pick up a tasteless bagel at "Barbary Coast" where I insisted my bagel not be toasted (it was toasted). The knife was so flimsy I couldn't spread cream cheese with it.
- 09:15am Give a work presentation.
- 10:10am Leave the conference early, catch a cab to the airport and get on an earlier than scheduled flight. Hear the funniest ever delivery of safety and airport regulations on the plane, "Please turn off your iPods, iPhones, uPhones, Blackberries and Halle Berrys." Also, "Should the oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, put it over your face and breathe like you've never breathed before. Although your neighbor's bag will inflate, yours will not. If you're traveling with a small child, secure your mask before helping the child. If you're traveling with more than one child, pick the one with the most potential and secure his mask."
- 03:00pm Arrive in another state.
- 06:30pm Having lost all I won in San Francisco, met with five male "suits" for a pseudo-business meeting that turned into three hours of talking about sports, who's met who in first class and who knows who in related business. The dessert was a treat, heavily liquored chocolates served over a smoldering bowl of dry ice. A+ for presentation. Too bad the chocolates sucked.
Next day,
- 09:00am Wait for a suit to pick me up to go to a very large meeting where I was presenting.
- 10:00am Arrive at the state capital city. It looked more like the middle of nowhere.
- 02:00pm Give my presentation amid geriatric bigwigs that I didn't know and didn't care to know. The presentation was a favor for someone, as an aid to end a multiyear-long negotiation between two rival companies. I got a lot of laughs but honestly did not intend to be funny. Maybe because the presenter after me kept calling me the wrong name. Maybe because this wasn't a do or die presentation for me, it was just another notch on my Toastmaster's card.
- 03:00pm Vote taken, and the company I was presenting for won the contract. Two hours of backslapping ensue.
- 05:00pm Attend the obligatory post-contract winning happy hour. Drank a very large beer and was pummeled with three different organizations spilling out job offers. Fend off the sharks for now; it's not the right time.
- 08:00pm Finally arrive back at my hotel, desperate to get out of that city. A suit picks up my hotel bill and any future charges. I promptly try and charge a Quizno's sub, which doesn't take room charges, charge a pack of $8 cigarettes and $10 eggs benedict. I should have picked up a t-shirt or something, but I didn't want a souvenir to remember that town.
Two weeks later, I'm in Vegas again, staying at the 6-month old Venetian extension, the Palazzo. I had gotten a two-night comp.
I feel I've traveled long enough and stayed in a number of hotels to not see anything new anymore, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when I do find something different.
One of my favorite hotel experiences was receiving animals made out of towels, lovingly left by housekeepers in Mexico. Here at the Palazzo, it was fresh flowers, a brand new loofah in the shower and a toilet seat that softly closed by itself (along with the self-closing bathroom door). The room was spacious and looked over the Wynn golf course. Not bad for a first-time comp.
At Morel's Steakhouse in the Palazzo, I was offered a salt selection for the first time.
Doug and I were in Vegas this time to meet with our realtor and put an offer on a condo, which we did. We were rejected without a counter offer on the bank-owned condo. I suppose I should be disappointed, but there are always deals out there, it's just a matter of timing like everything else.
As I checked out of the Palazzo, my $300 in room charges consisted of a breakfast and a dinner. I had a "Club Grazie" person look up my comps and she said I had earned $175 in comps.
"Great, apply it to my room charges?"
To which I was told I was in the negative since my comps for the room itself started at --$400. To make any comps, I had to earn at least $400 to offset what they gave me for my room. I figured I'd never get another comp there again. Just as well, the Palazzo didn't even have a buffet!
Returning home, I had an offer in the mail for three comp'd nights at the Palazzo. I called and snagged Memorial Day weekend, gratis! So the Vegas trek is to be continued...
by grubette
Grubby's Hands of the Week
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