Day One

In which our hero braves the challenges of mother nature.

I registered for this conference nearly 4 months ago. I booked my flights at the same time. Sunday it was sunny and 75 degrees. Tuesday, when i'm supposed to fly to Vegas, we get 11 inches of snow.

Watching the airport update page, i'm watching flight after flight get canceled. Mine still shows on time. I figure they just haven't gotten that far down the list yet. Still, i'd better pack.
about 3 hours before my flight... still on time.
it looks like a blizzard outside.

I dutifully head out for the airport. The snow is supposed to stop at 5ish, and my flight isnt til 5:45.

How did i not expect the highways to be a parking lot? I sit in crawling traffic 4EVAR before deciding to ditch the interstate, and head in the backway up Nat. Bridge. This is mostly an improvement in speed, but the roads are way way worse. then nearer the airport, it's a parking lot too.

Somehow, i manage to get to the airport with 45 min to spare before my flight. Get checked in, check my bag, security, where for the first time i have to remove my belt as well. Get repacked and redressed after the stripshow they call security. Find my gate, realize i havent eaten anything but a doughnut and a PBJ sandwich today, and grab a personal pizza from wolfgang pucks for the bargain price of $10.

I feel sorry for the throngs of people on standby. Somehow, my flight is the first one out all day to DFW and Vegas.

The flight was mostly uneventful, we changed planes in DFW, which is an odd airport, but pretty cool. Grab some starbucks and get back on board.

The view out the window was very cool. it was clear, but there was no moon, so aside from the lights of the stars and cities and cars on the roads, it was pitch black. i couldnt make out any surface features. The pilot informed us that that bundle of lights was Flagstaff, and that glow off in the distance was Phoenix. I spotted the Hoover dam, and we're in vegas.

The slot machines just outside the gate set the mood. I catch a cab with a young russian driver, and the trip takes much longer than i would have suspected from the aerial view on Google Maps.

The Wynn is nicer than anyplace i've ever been before. I now understand why some people thing that really tacky is nice, they're trying for the opulence of this sort of place. Where most places i'd think the decor like this would come across tacky, the quality and detail here make the difference.

I check into my room that is bigger than my first apartment. Heck, i think the bathroom is bigger than my current bedroom. A quick shower to freshen up and i head back down to see what's to see, and try to grab a real meal. it's 11:00 local time. 1am to my internal clock.




Within 5 minutes of wandering down the hallway looking to see what's what, an attractive, well dressed, asian girl with no accent starts to chat me up, am i lost, am i staying here, and then the game is up, would i be interested in some company? I could see how the unaware could wind up very quickly getting taken. I mean, who wouldnt like some company, especially from this hot chick, but that's not on my agenda or in my budget.

I wander on, checking out the Wynn, then venturing outside to the slightly chilly vegas night. The mountain outside the Wynn isnt as flashy as the fountians at the Bellagio, or the Pirate ship at Treasure Island, but to build a forest mountain with huge waterfalls in the desert, is really just fantastic.

Wandering up the strip, i pass the Palazzo, which looks not quite finished, i think it's the expansion of the Venetian, and a handful of other casinos, ranging from scary low end to high class, the Flamingo, the Casino Royale, Harrah's, etc.. wondering where i should get some food, and what should appear from behind a building as i cross a street? Denny's!

Well fed with a Moons over My Hammy, i drop a couple bucks in slots up and down the street and head back home. Passing the Venetian a second time, a really cute, well dressed blonde, who seemed to be just loitering outside the hotel makes eye contact with me and tries to chat me up. This game again? I decline and head home. Finally i crawl in bed at 2am (internal clock says 4) and get some much needed sleep.