Looking (Way) Ahead.

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The next, or maybe next after next, Vegas trip is already locked in.

I managed to score a ticket to see The Cure at the Chelsea Theater in the Cosmopolitan in May. They're one of my all-timers and I've seen them 3 times previously over the years; this is going to be in an intimate venue at my favorite resort in my favorite place on earth.

Feeling pretty lucky.

I had no guarantee of getting a reasonably priced tick, I knew with a max capacity of the Chelsea being around 3000 it was going to be an unbelievably hot ticket. I logged on to TicketMaster at exactly 10a when the presale started...no tix available. I just kept mashing the "best available" tab for the next half hour and finally got an SRO ticket in the extreme back of the house, but IDGAF, I got a tick at face value for the motherfucking Cure at the motherfucking Cosmo. I figured I was going to have to Stub Hub it for 3-4 times face value (like my boss did).

So then that night after getting the ticket I go on Jet Blue to just see theoretically what a plane ticket in mid-May (6 months from now) would be. Answer: $102. I shit you not. Round trip, non-stop, and seating in row 7.

Booked.

Thank you, low aviation fuel prices. I mean, I thought the $150 ticket I got for the Xmas trip was a deal, but this is crazy. Jet Blue has seamlessly filled in for the not-at-all-dearly departed Southwest as my go-to airline.

So, I'm a month+ away from my next Vegas trip, and I already have what may be my next NEXT Vegas trip locked up. Traditionally I will go in late February/early March when my tax refund comes through, so likely it's not even the next trip after my next trip, but it's locked in and I'm looking (way) forward to it.

6 months away is a haul, but I'm finally realizing that for the first time in my adult life I can plan ahead. I have a stable job that I'm doing well at (just went salary), that isn't going anywhere (going on 4 years there in January and the company's doing great) and my lingering fear of always being a day away from the unemployment line is slowly fading away. I wouldn't have DREAMED of booking something 6 months out in past years, and now I've done it for the Xmas trip (booked in July) and for another trip 6 months away.

Seeing nostalgia bands in Vegas is becoming a trend for me. NIN/Soundgarden last year, Alice In Chains this year, and The Cure next year. I'll be on my personal Fascination Street to see them again, probably for the last time.

Feels good man.

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