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

Back in the hobbit hole after 5 days in the desert. Twas a trip. Fairly normal as trips for me go these days, with a couple twists. One being the above photo. But we'll get to that. Again not a blow by blow because ain't nobody got time for that. Just some general impressions again. Flights: Southwest came through fine on this trip. Both flights were on time and uneventful, which is all I ask. Buying Early Bird check in for both flights was money well spent. Got first 6 rows aisle seat both times. Today's flight would have been awful if in the last groups boarded. Played the airport game well, TSA lines not too crazy nor was my wait time for either flight. Resort: Aria was fine . Got up to the room right away on Wednesday with mobile check in. Room was just what was expected, the normal vanilla standard room with a strip facing view. Could see everything from PH to MGM from the 15th floor. Nothing compared to the Cosmo FV but not bad for the price. Aria really showing that ...

Some things I'm telling myself pre-trip. To make for a better trip. On the trip. Relax It'll be a weekend. There will be crowds. It will be warm. Remember to breathe and not forget that Vegas is there for the people, not one person. Try to be patient and understanding with stupid, slow or annoying tourists (I struggle with this massively). You're on vacation - slow down a little bit, take a breath and go with the flow. Mix It Up Don't fall into a rut. Though you may enjoy it greatly, don't revert into the trap of doing the Sam Ross run every damn night. Check out new places, take a risk, get out of your Vegas comfort zone a few times. Jump in a cab and run down to MB or up to Sahara, or something. You come to Vegas to get OUT of a rut, not to engage another one. Going to Virgin one day will help with this. Let It Fly This is your best financed trip in a while. You have plenty of spend and plenty of cushion to let the funds flow. Not saying you have to make it rain ...

It's a Vegas week. It almost doesn't seem real after four full months of NoVegas, but the wait is finally almost over, and I have a good almost 5 days coming up. Boozing, fooding, chasing tail and winning enough money to quit my job are the orders of the trip. The iPad is all loaded up with the 10th anniversary playlist. It's a greatest hits list of all the memorable playlists from the past 37 trips. From Animation on trip 1 to Exercise 4 from last year. Also have a few other playlists loaded up in case I'm feeling a different mood. One with smooth, classy stuff, another with all "fun" songs, and a couple others for various vibes. Alongside the iPad the trusty JBL wireless cans and the UE Boom II will be along for the ride as always. In the charge up mode on all devices and getting them ready to roll. Southwest early bird check in hits tomorrow. Should get me closer to the head of the line on the normal SW cattle call boarding. Haven't done SW in years, ho...

Almost go time.  Properly pumped for trip one of '21 after 4 months in the desert away from the desert. By this time next Wednesday I (and the plane I'm on presumably) will be on approach to LAS. Actual physical prep underway, pulled the carry-on down and have all the undies packed. Hit the bank to pull out half of the spend, just need to drop by maybe Saturday to pull the rest. No surprises, $5K in the bag, $3K in the bank. All the pre-trip Amazon packages delivered. New pair of jeans properly broken in and looking good for the trip. A couple medical needs arrived. Getting into the insulin routine so that shouldn't be a problem to handle in-trip. No updates to the on-the-ground sitch when I get there. 50% cap at bars/restos which in reality is plenty, and I have a good mix of reservations and freedom on the food front. I switched a reservation I had at Jean George at Aria to Carbone instead. I'm just feeling Italian for the birthday dinner for some reason. Still in Ari...

Oh, hey George. 1 more week+ of mindless drudgery then it's 5 days in Happyland. Everything on track. Got the last paycheck before the trip so I've paid pretty much all remaining bills and pulled out enough cash to get me through the next week until it's time to go. The Save That Wasn't went as planned, I will have $3K left in the bank when I go, with another check coming in while on the trip so no matter what happens in town I still will have a decent cash cushion when back. Nice for once. Even nicer if I actually come back UP for fucking once from a Vegas trip. I've heard that's theoretically possible. Have started the insulin regimen. Not too big a pain in the ass, literally or figuratively. The U100 needle is almost imperceptible going into a fat layer. No blood or anything. I bought a small sharps container and a travel kit bag for the gear so that's covered. The only rub for Vegas might be when to do the injections. I'm supposed to do them before ...

Well MGM seems to have noticed that I'm not gambling as much with them the last few trips. My comps have taken a nosedive this week. Whereas I was previously getting 3 nights comped + $50 FP + $50 RC at Aria, for example, I'm now getting "up to one comp night". Gee thanks. Bellagio was 2/$50/$50 and now gives nothing but an "exclusive rate". Lower end places like Luxor are keeping the comped nights in place but have dropped the FP/RC from $50/$100 to $20/$50. Good thing I booked 3 trips ahead of time for the year and locked in the old packages, I'm thinking. Not sure if this is all due to my diminished play or if it's just due to the general upswing in room demand on strip. Probably a little of both. It's always a bit of a personal swipe though to have something taken away from you. I did drop over $21K coin in with them last year, after all. Short memories.  In reality I'm probably 80% resolved that I'm moving on from Mlife and MGM anywa...

Whelp, the day I've been trying to put off for over 10 years has come.  I'm going to have to go on insulin. Ordered today, arrives this week. Now I have to stab myself every day to keep my blood sugar under control. It's been coming for a while, I've tried various combinations of drugs to treat the diabeetus and it's finally failed.  Trying to be sanguine about it. The drugs got me by for a decade+ and the insulin was almost inevitable as I got to a riper age. This way I'll be able to dial in the necessary dosage to keep the blood sugar down where it should be. And I can drop one of the 7 pills a day that I take to stay alive. The jab will be just once daily at night so it shouldn't affect my globe-trotting, cosmopolitan lifestyle too much. And at the end of the day if it makes me feel better and less tired like I usually am, fine. Also there's the not dying thing, which I'm a fan of. From a Vegas perspective there could be upside, too. The last few ...

Close enough now to pretty accurately work out the bankroll and other financials for April Vegas. The no doubter is $5K cash will be in pocket for the 4 3/4 day trip. Obviously $1K per day spending cash which is the preferred way I like to do the trips. Highly unlikely that all gets spent but it makes it a no-stress trip having that much available. That covers all gambling everywhere, and drinks outside of Mlife resorts. Most if not all non-Cosmo or Mlife food will get covered with cash too. This still leaves me, after all other normal-world obligations this month and two more paychecks, with around $4500 still in the bank when I step off the plane from Vegas. And that's assuming I spend every penny of the $5K, which is unlikely. But if I do, I do. The Mlife card, which will sponsor the rooms and nightly hold at Aria, and meals/drinks at MGM resorts, will have at least $5300 free when stepping off the plane. The rooms/hold once arriving at Aria will suck up about $1300 of that, lea...

It's April. It's a Vegas month. Very spring'y day today. It's like 80 degrees in the City which is unheard of in April. It's actually the same temp right now here as it is in Vegas. I stowed most of my warm pullovers, and pulled out all of my stored polos in anticipation of the April Vegas trip, now less than 3 weeks away. Temps for that weekend should be in the 80's day, 60's night - perfect. No jackets or sweaters needed. Baseball opening day is today too. My Giants are most likely going to suck, if they break .500 this year it'll be an over-achieving team, but on opening day everyone is 0-0 and there's always the optimism of the first week. If nothing else it's a great time soaker watching many of the games the next 6 months, and having something to watch in Vegas doesn't hurt either. The Jints play every day during my trip. I have finagled a deal to stay at my current job a bit longer too. I basically told them when I am going to work hou...