News and Musings.

Just got notice that my tax refund is headed to the bank this week, so my take-to cash for Vegas in March will be around $3500. This will be the most I've taken on a trip yet, and it's due mainly to to my anticipating the BS MGM policy of requiring a $100 a night hold on comped rooms, despite my again not staying in a suite or having access to any amenities of any kind. No, I'm not over it. Hey MGM, when you lighten your guest's pocket by $300 before they even reach their room you are not engendering a feeling of love toward your company. Especially when that guest religiously stays at your resorts (despite this fucktard practice) and blows money in your casinos, bars and restaurants. In fact, it makes me want to try out Total Rewards. Just sayin'. OK, for the purposes of this post, I'm over it.

So ANYWAY, This will mean a true 1K+ a day in spending money for the trip. Which works out to about a $400 a day eating/drinking budget and around $600 blown on the slots, give or take. Guess the only positive of the hold is I'm guaranteed to have a little cash left at the end of the trip in case things go badly (or well).

Honestly it really hasn't even been hard to not go out here in the City and save money for the trip. I could have gone out last Wednesday and gotten drunk, but I hemmed and hawed and just decided to put an extra hundie away for March rather than waste it in a bar in the Mission. I'm rarely going out to my usual haunts on Polk St anymore, just seems a little stale lately. Maybe will get back to it if I get my weekends back this year.

Speaking of which, that could happen b/c I have just gotten a new semi-promotion at work. Will be running the inventory processes for the company, something I like doing, am good at, and can shine at fairly easily I think. Little bit of a bump now with the potential for a bigger one in a few months. If I AM only going to take 2 trips to Vegas this year, the late year one could be a blow out. Week at the Bellagio? Maybe. Hook me up, Mlife.

That's another thing I've been musing about lately. I continue to get offers from MGM properties for comp deals, but it's been exclusively the south end of the Strip resorts, NYNY, Excalibur, Mandalay, and Luxor. Nothing yet from Mirage, the Grand, Bellagio, even Monte Carlo. Bellagio I sorta get (that would be an expensive comp), and Mirage may be busy enough that they don't have to offer comps, but I would think Monte Carlo or the Grand would be in my comp range. Is MGM having trouble selling the rooms on the south end of the Strip, and that's why the comp offers come from there? Maybe I just have to ask for it, or maybe once I pass into Gold on Mlife this trip they will start to come at me. This will be my first repeat stay at any resort (Luxor), even though it will be in an entirely different tower from the first stay. I suppose they base the resort comps on how much I spend (low roller) but it sure would be nice to start moving up north on the Strip on future trips (looking at you, Bellagio).

I'm also looking forward on this trip to seeing some of the new stuff going up all up and down the Strip this spring. Whole new frontages to NYNY/Monte Carlo, the Linq is up and running, O'Shea's is back, the High Roller should be nearly running by the time I'm there, and some new restaurants/bars to check out, like Tap at MGM for example. A lot of this is (unfortunately) retail space, but most of the new developments have peppered in new drink/eat spots to keep it at least somewhat on the entertainment side of things and not just brazen  "buy more shit" capitalism.

Anyhoo, less than a month now, I'll check in as I get closer. Pumped for 3/7 as always.