Y5 D163

And here I am in Vegas. I warn you in advance, this is going to turn into a bit of a ramble of how much I dislike Vegas. I never was warm to this city but now I am able to articulate specifically why. I think it is because I am finally outside of some of the norms in society that make this place such an allure. But we will come to that. Let's get on the plane first, shall we?

We got home from the show as I mentioned yesterday at around 3. I ended up sleeping for about an hour and let B sleep for 90 minutes or so. She then drove me to the airport. I had upgrade requests put in for all legs of my flights and ended up getting the first one. This made for a nice relaxing morning. My second flight I had some fun because when we arrived, it turned out my departing gate was the same gate I had just arrived at. I had only 20 minutes to wait and boom, I was right back on the plane. It would have been hilarious if I had my upgrade and got the same seat, but regardless, it was only an hour and ten minute flight. I slept through the entire thing which was nice. Arrived in Vegas and was immediately disgusted. Why? Because this wasn't an airport. It was a casino, mall, and bar that happened to have a few planes stopping in it from time to time. Seriously. I was just like really? And the people. From the fat midwesterners to the snotty europeans to the annoying asians. I found the taxi line and was floored to see about 500 people in line. I am not exaggerating. I took pictures. You can imagine what that did to my mood right off the bat. I just want to sleep. I am not here to get drunk or laid or whatever. I want to sleep.

Finally got to the hotel an hour after landing which is ridiculous as it is 3 miles from the airport. I could have walked faster. I did have a pleasant experience at the hotel. First off, even though it's the "Tropicana" resort, it's a Hilton property. Which means I have status. That status came in handy. I walked right into the Gold line and bypassed about 50-75 people in the peon line. Score. FIVE MORE NIGHTS and I could have gone into the Diamond Lounge. So close. Regardless, the desk guy was nice and even though it was noon, he got me into a room, got me upgraded, and gave me some good coupons. I probably won't use them, but the generosity was appreciated.

My room is nice. Deluxe size with enough room to spread out and not feel cramped. City view on the 10th floor. Clean, nice, and a quiet corner. The room and the hotel get 1,000,000 points. My coworker called me around 1 to arrange a time to meet. We decided on 6:30 at his hotel where the convention is happening. I then slept until 5:45. Also yay! I am finally feeling like I am catching up on sleep. Got up, talked with B for a while, walked over to his hotel. I got there around 6:35 and he finally texted me at 7 saying he was going to be late. I decided to go to the House of Blues Foundation Room as it was right there. I ended up on the 63rd floor in the bar. THAT was nice. I had pork belly street tacos, duck confit with candied turnips and pomegranate molasses, grits, and a cheese plate that was wonderful. Had four or five drinks while I waited. At 9:30 he finally showed. We proceeded to talk about work stuff and vent. He knows I am unhappy and why. We talked about 2014 and what we can do to improve things. All in all a good use of time. His plan was to get drunk as hell and he had three glasses of wine just in the short time we were talking. I left him around 10:30 to his own devices. Lord knows how he is doing today. As I was leaving I realized the place had gone from quiet nice to nightclub. The waitresses had gone from corsets to lingerie. I mean full on lingerie. Stuff that should not be worn outside the bedroom. Add to this everything I saw earlier and it just reinforced why I hate this city. But we're coming to that. I got back to the room, talked with B and was asleep by 11:30. I slept until 2 when I had exploding ass syndrome, but was able to fall back to sleep until 7. Today I am free until about 5 when I have to pick up a badge and meet up with people.

Ready for it? My problem with this town is how forced and faked it is. There's what I call a "50 Shades" mentality. Oh look, I am in Vegas so I can wear this dress I would never wear back home and I can be a party girl or I can be the suave drunk single guy (even though I am fat, old, married, and have three kids back in MN). The whole what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, while a cute marketing gimmick, is annoying. It rubs me the wrong way. This city exists for one purpose only, to make money. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. It plays into cheap fantasies and makes even the most mediocre feel like a celebrity. Earn it bitches. Because it's not real. It's fake and it just keeps the falsehood going. I don't know. It just bugs me. I know what sex parties, and real debauchery looks like. I know what real alcoholism does. I know what drug lifestyles do to people. To make all of it glamorous and without repercussion is bad. Come gamble, don't worry about the money. Take these pieces of plastic so you don't realize it's real money you are wasting. My coworker lost 2,000 on Saturday. Two grand. He is not happy. But I have no sympathy for him. Yes, I gambled in reno, but the whole time we were there I spent *maybe* $80. Not two grand. Regardless, this place drives me nuts and I actually can't wait to be out of here. I am going to go find one chocolate store I do like here and that's about all my interaction with this town today.