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

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...