Here we are in Vegas. I used to like this town. When I drank and gambled and spent money like a sailor on shore leave. Now I am older, calmer, and find most of the things here annoying as hell. Like most places, it's changed over the last 20 years too. There's too much these days. It's overwhelming to the senses. Too much going on at once. Too much noise. Too many drunk people. I ranted years ago about all the reasons why I hate Vegas. No need to rehash it. Suffice to say, I am simultaneously too old for this place and too young. Too old to spend $300 on vodka at a club, to young to want to spend $500 on Celine Dion. Oh well.
We headed out to the airport at 4:30, got there by 5, went through security with no issues, and sat in the club until 6:40. Boarded a little before 7 and we were off at 7:30. Got in about 15 minutes early which was wonderful because we were just ahead of the VP. Unbeknownst to us, Pence was coming to visit to do his photo opp du jour at the shooting site. We literally landed 20 minutes before his plane. The whole airport was being shut down and cleared out. The taxi line was completely empty which is how we found out about all this.
Got to the hotel a little after 10 and luckily they had a room ready for us. It's okay. This is the one type of property where my status comes in 2nd. We are at the Hilton Grand Vacations which makes Owners a higher level than me. I am still treated well, but get bumped by those with just a little bit more. I took what they gave me at 10am (6 hours ahead of normal check in, I will deal). B immediately took a nap. I unpacked, dealt with some emails, and explored the grounds a bit. We are right behind the Flamingo hotel and casino so I wandered over there.
After B woke up, we had some snacks brought to the room and then around 2 we went out. We wandered around the shops at Caesar's for a while. Came back, and since she wanted to, we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. She had never been and I said what the hell. It's a Landry's property and we got points for eating there. It was acceptable. After dinner we went back to the shops where I got a hat I had been looking at earlier. A real Stetson. Hand shaped. Silverbelly model. They even branded it for me. That is my anniversary present. B's is the Britney tickets on Wednesday so this was mine. I look good. Period.
Got back to the room around 9 and we both crashed hard. Although at 1, B woke me up to use saline spray because this room was drying me out hard. Her exact words were "use this or I will kill you". Yep. Now it's 4:30 and I am awake whether I like it or not.
One thing she mentioned yesterday is that she apologized for treating this solely like a vacation. I thanked her for that. This is work for me. Yes, we tacked on these extra days but starting tonight through Thursday night, I have work to do. Real work. I have to go over to Mandalay tonight to get pre-registered and get settled with my badge. I have setup at 7am, I have events and keynotes and booth duty. This is why I am stressing. This isn't a picnic for me.
Don't know what I am going to do with myself this morning, but I will figure it out.
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