It's Not A Bender, It's A Lifestyle.

Back from the yearly Xmas trip. Things happened. Flights:  Both Alaska and both fine. On time and no drama. No seat mates either flight and no 'rona concerns. Forfeited the flight credit on Allegiant not taking the Sunday flight back but it was a very good decision. Rooms: Cosmo was the reliable Terrace Studio for the first 3 nights. Had the view facing PH this time, quite nice. Had a look at the ice skating rink. Room great as always, this resort and room have cemented themselves as my go-to now for trips and I'm sure I'll be there many more times. Bellagio I had the Resort Tower King, non fountains view, so a view of the side of Caesars and of the Rio/Palms. Pretty meh. Bellagio has a kind of old, run down feel. Everything is in need of renovation; wallpaper peeling, old furniture, barely working shower. Best way I can describe it is it's your grandma's idea of a luxury room. Vegas has moved on and Bellagio needs to keep pace. Nice enough for $20/night though I gu...

By this time tomorrow I'll be sitting around SFO waiting to get on an airplane to the Vegas. Everything is ready. Money out of the bank, laundry done, devices charging, playlist completed, just need to get a good night's sleep tonight, dump the car at the work garage in the morning, catch an Uber to SFO and go go go. A last minute travel embargo placed by the City will not be enforced in any way and is therefore meaningless, but it gave me a palpitation when I read about it. I'm not concerned about my health traveling there. I feel at least as safe in Vegas as I do here, maybe even more so. The resorts are no joke about enforcing mask/distancing now. In terms of people, I expect it to be pretty damn dead. It always is for Xmas week, but this may be half again deader. The wildcard will be what the foreign contingent does. The strip is usually little Pakistan/India during Xmas week, but if they are not able to fly in it could be truly a ghost town, which I really don't mi...

So, after all that bullshit , I'm going to Vegas for Xmas, and it will probably be most of a normal trip. Or as normal as a Vegas trip can be in this fucked up year of doom. I will be willfully ignoring our state's governor (and the City's mayor) and boarding a plane in 4 days for my happy place. I'll be staying in 2 beautiful resorts, right next to each other (The Two Towers?), and going by the Turkey trip as a guide it'll be fairly normal-ish for an Xmas trip, mellow but that's always the case for Xmas trips and that's one of the reasons I love them. Hearing that hotel occupancy will be exceedingly low, somewhere around 5% even which seems crazy but that doesn't count all the peeps who may drive in for a day or two just to gamble and hang out. I may end up being the one and only at a lot of bars, but as long as they are open that doesn't bother me a bit. Some of my standbys like Fuel with tiny capacity will probably not be doable, especially since ...

His Eminence the Governor of Nevada holds a press conference at 4p today to presumably decide the fate of whether I get to go to Vegas or not. Nervous, but at least relieved that I won't have to wait until Tuesday to find out. 4 days before the trip was going to be a bitter pill if I'm fucked. If there's something like a test mandate to enter NV I have time to have a chance to schedule it. The way this year has gone I'm sure there will be some new wrinkle I'll either have to deal with or that will break the camel's back. One way or another, I either get the real hype going after 4p or I get the real depression.  Fuck it, I'm going to be an optimist and say my chances of going are now 80/20%. Why not. Check back at 4p as I live react. UPDATE 1: @VitalVegas, who is about as in the Vegas know as anyone alive, thinks there will simply be an extension of the current restrictions, nothing more. Hoping... UPDATE 2: Press conference starting...late. More cases...mor...

Still no clue if I'm Vegas-bound in a week. No change to CA's travel policy, it's "hey don't go anywhere" but there's no actual enforcement. The rub continues to be what will Nevada do. As has been the case for most trips this year, I probably will not know until a few days before trip time. Sisolak is likely to hold another press conference Tuesday at the end of the original "pause" that placed the 25% occupancy restrictions on. I have until Thursday to cancel the trip if need be so he's cutting it close as always. If he keeps everything as is, with the current occupancy rates and bars open, it's full steam ahead. If he shuts down or closes the bars, it's either go and be pissy or don't go at all. I don't want to do another seating required trip like August, but I guess if it were that or sitting at home I would go. Nothing to do now but wait until he decides my fate, for the 3rd time this year. Slightly more pessimistic now,...

Whelp, a little over a week out, and I still have no concrete reason to think I'm NOT going to Vegas for Xmas, so, plan post time. Sunday: Fly in day, early to rise and down to work to drop off the car, then on to SFO for the flight out at 11:45a. To town if all goes well by 1:30p or so, taxi to Cosmo and try to check in, if too early I'll drop the bag and get a couple drinks somewhere while waiting. Once up in the room, do the unpack and head out to the strip. Getting sorted on day one is the priority after getting on the ground. Any drink/gamble time is a bonus. Sunday evening, since reservations for the trip will likely be required, I have a reservation at the Pub at Crystals for 4p. Figure that's a good spot to soak up a little booze and at least it's close to the Cosmo. After that it'll likely be a cab and over to the Palazzo to hang with whomever is at Electra and Rosina, hopefully the Evan/Daniel combo. Then we'll see where the night goes from there. I wi...

The winter of my discombobulation continues. Our old friend COVID is spiking across the country. The Bay Area including SF has basically re-imposed the full shutdown again, at least until after Xmas. There's no ban on travel, yet, but it's "discouraged". I don't think legally they can ban air travel unless cases go through the roof, and in an emergency I could always drive anyway, so now the only roadblock (probably) to me being able to go to Vegas is the NV Gov. He could re-impose a lockdown like March - probably unlikely. To update a previous post, I'd probably put my go/no go odds now at 70% go. But enough worry for one post. Assuming I'm able to go and do a Thanksgiving-level trip, I think I have a good one lined up. 3 nights Cosmo in a Terrace Studio, 3 nights Bellagio in a Resort Tower King still locked in. Moving resorts not ideal but I'll just do mobile check-in with the MGM app and avoid the check-in lines, I doubt there's an upgrade avai...

The mandatory 2020 pre-trip worry post to follow. Back from Turkey Vegas, got that one in more or less unscathed, but now more possible clouds on the horizon for the Xmas trip. COVID cases are ballooning all over the place, and things are escalating rapidly in terms of how governments are responding to it, and trying (in vain) to contain it. CA has imposed a curfew and rollback to basically lockdown, and there are rumblings that a travel quarantine may be put in place. This would obviously mean having to isolate for whatever arbitrary period of time after, say, a trip to Nevada. Can only assume this would be enforced at airports, not sure how they could do it on cars without causing traffic meltdowns. If it came to that, I could drive again (ugh), not ideal but I would do it if it meant a trip happening or not. Can't see Nevada putting one on, it would effectively be a death knell for the resorts. Speaking of Nevada though, next week Tuesday is the end of the 3 week "pause...

Back from the Giving of Thanks trip. Going to cover some of the high/low lights, and summarize. The Drive: To sum up, the drive in was fun and cool, the drive back sucked llama nuts. Got out of SSF shortly after 11a, made good time all the way really, no real slow downs on the way there aside from a couple rural roads that couldn't be sped upon too greatly. Stopped only once for gas, the cooler with the fraps and the apples worked fine, and the new car was a comfortable and efficient cage for the drive.  I had to compromise on tunes, the phone had to be hooked into the USB port for navigation and the other port didn't output the iPad for music, so I had no playlist just random phone music. A little jarring to hear Mozart after Queens of the Stone Age but it was OK I guess. Android Auto worked great for navigation. The drive was nice at times, I went through the Tehachapis in late afternoon which was beautiful, then hit the Mohave right at dusk which was nice too. The I-15 part...

Jusabout time to roll. In about 16 hours time I'll be roadbound for the Vegas. Not much left to say or do, really. The bags are 90% packed, the car is checked out and GTG, just need to get a good night's sleep, get everything in the 'Rolla in the morning, do a few hours of work then head out around 11a to do the first Vegas roadtrip. Money's out of the bank, $2900 total over 3 1/4 days to spend. That's $800/day for the full 3 and $500 for the first night. Should be more than enough. Going to try to stay within the cash means and leave my debit and CC alone, for the most part. May put a few meals on the Mlife CC to maximize points earned (it's kind what the card is for), but given the short turnaround this time between trips I'd like to have as little liability on it as possible for that Xmas trip. Bringing a little more sartorial style with me this time, or at least as much as my fashion-challenged ass can muster. Toting along some black dress pants, not goi...

The Governator, in his infinite wisdom, has decided that all restaurants cannot accept walk-ins and must only take reserved tables.  This is in addition to the 25% capacity mandate. Both of them being in effect seem redundant and silly, but here we are. This, of course, presents issues for me. I'm generally a "seat of the pants" guy when it comes to food in Vegas, at least for the most part. I may under normal circumstances make 1 or 2 reservations during the course of a trip, for splurge meals or, as was to be the case on this trip, to soak up resort credit somewhere. Otherwise, for probably 3/4 meals I have in Vegas, I just stroll up and plunk myself down at the bar somewhere and eat that way, whenever the mood strikes me or when the alcohol needs to be soaked up, so I can have more alcohol. This trip, because it's 2020, will be different. With the reservation mandate I don't know ahead of time whether or not I can just waltz up and be seated at the bar anywhere...

Esteemed governor of Nevada Sisolak will hold a press conference at 4:30 to announce new restrictions based on COVID data from his state. The fate of my Turkey, and possibly Xmas trips hang in the balance. Initial indicators are no casino or bar shutdowns, but it's all speculation until 4:30. Stay tuned! UPDATE : Press conference now! Highlights: 100% masks everywhere except when actively eating/drinking. Going from 50% capacity for venues (bars, restaurants) to 25% capacity. No gatherings over 50 people (events, shows etc). Reservations required for food, unclear if that will be enforced or not in casino venues. 3 weeks of these restrictions, minimum, go into effect Tuesday at 12:01a. He's calling it a "pause". So, I'm going (whew), but it'll be another strange and possibly challenging trip. 25% capacity could be a challenge in some bars, but thinking during the week (Tues-Thurs) it might not be too limiting since you would think it wouldn't be crazy busy...

Well for good, bad or indifferent, I'm a week away from another Vegas trip.  Going to focus on the possibilities in this post rather than the potential problems. I've done my worrywarting on the last post ad nauseum. Here's to hoping the sky won't fall and thinking about the potential pluses. I get to drive, which in theory sounds like fun. I love the new car and I'm looking forward to being able to drive and enjoy it more than the 24 miles a day I put on it for the commute. Seems a shame not to stretch its legs, so stretch they will. Flights are as low as they'll be right now at $116 for me which is in line with gas cost, but that doesn't factor in the cab ride cost to/from the airport. It's less about the cost though, as it is I'm in no huge hurry to get there early Tuesday from a spend standpoint and I also have no big desire to deal with Thanksgiving week airports. The NoMad stay will click a strip hotel off my "haven't done" list, ...

The year of bizarre and slightly fucked up Vegas trips may not yet be over. I had hopes. Hopes that this upcoming Turkey trip would be, despite everyone wearing masks, more or less normal. Meaning bars would be open, most if not all of the strip would be open, and a sense of if not normalcy, at least calm and "Vegasness" would be back. After the June trip of less than half the strip resorts open, and the August trip of all the non-food serving bars closed, I feel like I deserve a normal trip for fuck's sake. Now comes word from Nevada's esteemed governor that due to a spike in cases there, he may need to take "severe" action after a period of time if Nevadans don't reduce cases and curb the spread. The deadline for this to happen, or not, and for that more severe action to come into being, would be the day I arrive for the Turkey trip. Thus far, his "action" has been to arbitrarily punish the resort and bar/lounge industries with closures and r...

Right about...NOW, in exactly 2 weeks time, I should be rolling into the Park MGM parking garage in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Earth. A great rate at NoMad, a good resort and a good location to branch out. A relative quickie for me now, but still 3 full days in Vegas as opposed to 3 full days of picking my underwear out of my ass at home.  Barring a last minute crazy great flight price, it'll be rollin' in the "Rolla. Really looking forward to it. This will be the first time I won't have to be on airline rules on a trip. No rushing to get to an airport only for the flight to be delayed. No luggage restrictions - I can pack whatever will fit in the car; an extra pair of shoes or two, a nicer pair of pants; no having to jam everything into a carry-on. Not going to go crazy for just 4 nights but I think I'm going to pack the carry-on for clothes and also bring my Timbuk 2 messenger for all the electronics and such. No baggage fees in my own damn car. First time November ...

  So Circa opened on the Fremont Experience.  It looks pretty fly, from pictures, especially the sports book. Not that I usually give a shaft about sports books, but I do like spectacle. In general it looks like a strip-quality resort, which is what downtown has always lacked and what partly has kept me from ever going down there to spend a day.  I'm a strip addict, always have been, and don't foresee that changing with a day trip downtown, but it might be fun to go see how the other Vegas half lives. I doubt seriously that will happen on the short-ish Turkey trip, but I will have the time and opportunity on the Xmas trip and may well make the trek.  Probably would Uber it to curb the long taxi expense, and go late morning. See what can be seen in and around the Experience, concentrating on Circa then see if I'm having fun or pining to get back to the strip. There are supposed to be a lot of fun divey bars in the immediate DT area, something the strip is sadly lackin...

  November. A Vegas month. This titanically fucked up year is coming to a close, finally. I was able, due to a stable job situation, to weather it better than most I guess. Really glad I left my last job when I did, it was an events company and ain't nobody doing any events right now. Not in person, anyway. If I had managed to stick on there for another year and a half I would no doubt have been laid off and would be probably coming off unemployment and digging into the 401k that I would have had. Unlike others I would have had that cushion but who knows what the future would hold. The coof didn't really end up messing up my work year much at all, I was able to WFH for a couple months then slowly phase back into full onsite. This last couple months there has been tough due to some supply issues but the site manager seems to have our backs and I don't think I'm anywhere near the chopping block. Just have to keep my eye on the ball for this next few weeks until science s...

Pretty minimal this time, but worth a post I suppose. -4 nights at NoMad, 3 nights comped, total with tax and resort fees $233.56, would be $841.28 with no status, savings of $607.72. -$50 resort credit, $50 Freeplay as part of Mlife booking package, value $100. And that's all, folks. Total of $707.72 saved over JoeBob NoStatus. Not going to use any other potential savings avenues like coupons or gift cards, and have no flight savings because I'm not bloody flying. Bonus trip and I'm staying within my means, means only available due to some timely bonus action from the employer. So when it comes down to it it's not actually costing me anything aside from some mileage on my car and my body. I do so enjoy unplanned, impromptu Vegas trips.

Getting ready for the road trip in a month. Going to try to make it as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Timing will be the first part of that. Going to get gassed up the day before, check all fluids and tire pressure yadda yadda so I can be road ready the following afternoon. Staying up late the Sunday before so I can hopefully get a good 8 or more Monday night then go into work, do 4 hours or so and hit the road. Taking the classic 101 to 5 route, all the way down to Bakersfield, across on 58 to 15 then on in to Vegas. If I leave early enough I should be able to miss most of the Bay Area rush hour traffic, 5 will probably be heavier than normal with peeps going to/from Thanksgiving but hopefully once I get to 15 it will open up a bit. Hoping as well to catch a break on weather, such things do happen in November. I think I'll be dodging a bullet by coming in on Tuesday and leaving Saturday, but we'll see I guess.  My goal is to be in town by 8 or 9p, so I'm building...

Shortish trip, shortish plan post. Driving in on this one. Looking forward to the road trip, I've always wanted to do it and now have a reliable enough car to pull it off. Could fly for around double gas cost but would have bag restrictions, the airport would likely be murder and I just want to get out in the Corolla and break it in anyway.  Assuming (and hoping for) no major traffic, will be getting into town probably somewhere between 8-9p. Pop into the self park garage at Park MGM/NoMad and check in. Once up there I can dump the bag, unpack, take a shower after the long drive to refresh then jump out to the strip, hopefully by 10p latest. First night in town, taking it very easy, both on money and drinking, as this will be a minimal spend night. That and I'll probably be slightly wasted by the drive and having been up since 7a in the morning. A few drinks, some light dinner somewhere, nothing crazy. Don't want to throw off the sleep clock too much so probably in bed by 1...

Been an up and down week this week on the money front. The good news : as chronicled in prior posts, I'm getting some solid bonus action here end-of-year from the job. Got an unexpected bump for "COVID hardship" (even though I didn't really have any) this check, two weeks pay in December as an end of year bonus for a job well done recovering the company from COVID, and I hear as well, unconfirmed, ( UPDATE : confirmed!) that we may also be getting paid out for a week of emergency COVID pay that's been available to us since the thing started. All totaled if all come through, a nearly $3000 bump over and above my normal pay. Thank you COVID.  Throw a possible $1200 stimulus check in there from Uncle Joe after the election, also no guarantee, and I could end up pulling down an extra $4200 between now and Jan 1. Which may be a good thing, because... The bad news : I got a dimly expected but nearly forgotten about unpaid tax bill from the feds today. Related to the dis...

I know I've said I'm an idiot in the past, but no, seriously, I'm a fucking idiot. Just got some pennies from heaven in the form of a little $470 bonus from work. COVID related, kinda knew about it but wasn't really counting on it or expecting it. But of course, it got my twisted mind thinking. I did some math. Along with the bonus I'm going to be getting in December, if you add the two bonuses together and don't reduce my normal save I'll be doing anyway, it comes to a little over $2000 over what my save would have been for the Xmas trip. And what, pray tell, could be done with an extra $2K between now and Xmas? A goddamn motherfucking Thanksgiving Vegas trip. Booked. I grabbed three comped nights in a NoMad Classic King room; just paying one night at $50, tax and the cost of resorts fees: $234 all in. That, and really ONLY that will go on the Mlife CC, leaving it as unmolested as possible for Xmas, and minimum $2700 cash will be the spend for the three day...

Rut. But time is flowing by. Keep knocking back the weeks and closing in. Less than 2 months now to Xmas Vegas, 1 month to Turkey Vegas. Work going OK, was dicey for a bit and actually started looking at Indeed again, but things have settled and I think I'm OK short term, short term being the next 6 months or so.  It's tough being an onsite contractor, you work every day at your client's site but don't get your paycheck from them. Visibility is limited, which can be a blessing and a curse. If things are going great you're left alone and it's a piece of cake. The first sign of trouble and it's all your fault, even when it isn't. Navigating that can be tough. But I think things have evened out to give me some breathing room for the next few months at least.  Even after over 1 1/2 years I'm still not convinced this is the end game of my career, but I don't have the luxury of $20K in a 401k to be self-righteous and walk away like last job. We'll ...

Going to be in a good place on subsidized flights, stays and eats on the Xmas trip. I'll have, to summarize: -3 nights comped at Cosmopolitan in a Terrace Studio, all-in for 3 nights only $132.66, would be $651.94 if I had no status, savings of $519.28.  -3 nights at Bellagio in a Resort Tower King room, $20/night, all in $221.09. $820.87 rack rate, saving $599.78. Package includes $50 of Free Play so another $50 of free = $649.78 . Only $353.75 total for 6 nights in non-base rooms in 5-star resorts. Pretty tidy. -Flight in on Alaska, used prior flight credit and $49 flight is free. $10 in taxes and such so call it $40 saved. -Flight out on Alaska, used accumulated mileage points and paid just $6 taxes, would be $69 otherwise so saved $63. -$100 gift card to Yard House at the Linq. One of my fave chicken strip/beer hangout spots. Should be able to get 1, maybe 1 1/2 meals out of the hundy. Got for free through my company rewards program, $100 saved. -$93 resort credit at Cosmopo...

Where my head is at with Mlife/MGM right NAH. In order of "perceived poshness", where I will or won't stay in the MGM pantheon. All (except Signature) currently offering me 2-4 nights/$50 RC/$50 FP. -Bellagio: I just...eh. I really don't like this place. I used to really hate it. My stance has changed a bit after the last 2 trips during which I spent quite a bit of time there, mostly because it is next to where I was staying and it was open. I had decent gambling luck there in June, August not so much but on a smaller scale. It's just so stuffy. I don't like the clientele, it's usually packed, poorly laid out and seems to just be resting on laurels earned in the 90's. I can get two nights comped though so we're going to give it a whirl for 3 nights over Xmas. See if my mind changes. -Aria: Not really my cup of java either. It's beautiful and has one of the best restaurant lineups on the strip, but the place is a "vibe dead zone". Ther...

It's 3 months until Vegas Xmas. Ugh. This is always the toughest time of year for me. The stretch every year from August or September, whenever my last summer trip was, to December, is always rough. A numbing sort of rut sets in, especially now since I can't even go out on weekend in the City to take the no-fun edge off. It's 7:05a alarm every week day, trundle off to work, come home, stare at a computer screen, rinse, repeat. Then weekends post-COVID are sit around staring at the screen even more. And 3 more months of this til I can get my party on. Getting the new car has added a little yay and a little boo to the proceedings. It's nice to look forward to the commute time again, but I suspect that will be short lived and there will be sacrifice financially for having gotten it. With some cutting back I should be OK, but next month when the bigger save amounts kick in there could be some "make a loaf of bread last a week" weeks. Maybe I can get a few "Su...