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

Well that was...a Vegas trip. Not going to do a blow by bow on this one because there really wasn't much to distinguish this one from previous trips. Just going to make a few points: The Flights: Fine I guess. It was a royal pain in the ass to have the Long Beach connectors on both ends of the trip but the flights themselves were all on time-ish and nothing bad happened on any of them. It's probably the last time I'll fly JetBlue but they almost redeemed themselves for the colossal fuck up from last year. The dropping the car at Hotel Focus by the airport thing worked OK. The Rooms: Tropicana for one night was fine, got upgraded to the Paradise Tower. It's run down and the 50's Cuba theme to the rooms is tired but for one night it was OK. Wouldn't want to stay there for any length of time unless it was fully comped. Spent zero time in the resort. Cosmo was the City Room as expected, view of the side of Aria and the Chelsea pool below. It was fine, they a...

I suppose after 20+ trips I should have this Vegas thing down. And, I do. Everything is set. Money worked out just as I planned, should be plenty for 4 1/2 days. Have plenty of discount food possibilities so assuming I don't get drunk and put all my money into a Willie Wonka machine some night I'll be fine. If all goes to normal I'll be able to loosen up and get nicely spendy by day 3. Will have $800/day regardless so I'm not going to exactly be broke in any case. Feeling like I have a very low-level sick going on and have for a couple days, just kind of body-sore and woozy, hoping a good night's sleep tonight will crack it back and I can be 100% for the 5 days I'm there. Using actual luggage like an adult this time, though the new "carry on" I just got (via work) may be too big for my Jetblue flight so I'm using the slightly smaller, not so nice one I bought in the break between trips. Whatever, at least it's not a backpack like a 12 ...

Because every blog has to do listicle posts now, here's my TOP 10 BEST VEGAS RESORTS. RATE ME ADD ME SHARE ME BLOW ME. My 10 favorite Vegas resorts, from 10 to 1. 10: Luxor It's a bit run down, smoky, and the theme of the place is a bit tired, but there's some low brow fun to be had here. Public House is a solid sports bar, Tender is among my fave steakhouses in town and the newly renovated rooms look like they will be having me staying there in the next couple years. 9: Excalibur It's the Circus Circus of the south strip but the old clunker still has its charms. Would never stay in one of the horrid rooms again but Dicks Last Resort is a highlight, really no other place on the strip like it. The staff is jaded and ancient but fun to hang with and the Octane bar outside Thunder Down Under is a hoot. And hey - Krispy Kreme! 8: MGM Huge, impersonal, and crowded, but I have fun here occasionally. Tap sports bar is a good spot to catch a game, Whiskey Down has...

Closing down to trip one of 2018. Seems like the wait for his one has been interminable, and that's because it FUCKING HAS BEEN. Four full months is a haul for me between trips. As it turns out what I thought was going to be a pretty well-spaced year of April-August-December has now had a wrench thrown in by the impromptu June Nine Inch Nails trip. That one's just a shorty but it still requires cost and savings. Hopefully the slot gods are kind to me in 2 weeks so I can bank a little for the coming trips of the year. If I could come back with a grand that would be ideal so I could pay down some debt and be in a good position for the more or less back to back summer trips. I'm not going to skimp on this first trip though, I'm budgeted for $800/day and I'll spend that much if need be to get the most out of the trip. In any case, this coming trip is pretty much good to go. I've paid all bills needing paying beforehand - including one that I wasn't re...

The champagne's on ice and only the finest pink pile carpet will do, to mate with the standard creme piano and shockingly white loafers. 1968 decor at Caesars Palace was the essence of style, understatement and sophistication. Just the most elegant ladies and gents may join me in my Roman Tower Suite. (photo from vintagelasvegas.com)

Can't call the haul "freebies" this time because, well, I've got zero comps on this trip but I did rack up some nice discounts this time worthy of mention. -One night at Tropicana, online as of today for $229, got it for $80, savings of $149. -Four nights at Cosmopolitan, online today for $1030, got them for $368, savings of $662. -myVegas reward for $50 off of $100 at Camelot Steakhouse at Excalibur, savings of $50. -myVegas reward for a $35 no-strings coupon at Nine Fine Irishmen, savings of $35. -Three Restaurant.com certificates worth $75 that I think I paid $8 for so savings of $67. So that's a potential discount from full rates/prices of $963. I may not end up using all the R.com certs but they're there if needed. Despite no actual "comps" this time (first time in a long time) it's still a solid decrease in overhead, and if nothing else it shows I've gotten pretty good at playing the discount game in Vegas even when the freeb...

I'm a fucking idiot. Yet again against best intentions I've added a Vegas trip to the hopper for this year off the cuff. I'll be going for two nights in mid-June to see NIN at the Hard Rock. It's the only North American shows they have planned so far this year. Easily one of my top 5 bands and the opportunity to see them in a pretty exclusive fashion and in Vegas was just too much to turn down. Haven't been to Hard Rock since my first trip, and have never seen a show at the Joint so this should be fun. It'll be a quickie, in early bird on the 12th and out in the afternoon of the 14th, so basically 2 full days/nights. Luckily the overhead will be pretty low. I got in on the pre-sale and got a balcony seat (too old for GA) for $95. Booked flights on Expedia, it'll be United on the way in Tuesday morning, basic economy so no full carry-on bag but that's fine, I'll only need a couple days summer clothes so it'll all fit in my small Timbuk 2 ba...