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

Whelp, after nearly 3 years of dodging it, and 4 vaccine shots, I finally caught the 'vid. Felt funky Thursday morning, did a rapid test that was pos then took a PCR that came back same. A new guy that started last week tested pos and I was in close contact with him, think his dumb ass gave it to me. And I even recommended him for the job after interviewing him. Fucker.  I don't feel terrible, mostly classic cold symptoms, headache, chills, body aches, runny nose. The fact that I'm quad vaxxed probably has knocked it down quite a bit. As it happens I've got it over a holiday weekend so I may only miss three days of work. Thu-Fri-Tues. I'll test Tues and if I'm negative I'll go back Wednesday. In the end I'm salaried so I'm not losing anything.  It was inevitable I guess. No matter how vaxxed you are it seems like variants can get through that. At least it's seemingly going to be mild and not really kick my ass. About the only thing I lose is not ...

3 months from today I will be in the Vegas. Slightly less depressing than being 4 months out! The true rut really in place now. I do my Saturdays out but even those are becoming a little boring and predictable. Not much going on in the City - no shows or events I really want to see. Giants season underway but despite a sweep of the Dodgers this weekend they don't seem to have the spark we had last year. Dubs still in the playoffs but that's over in a week, hopefully with a title. Aside from those distractions it's just go to work, come home and veg online, rinse, repeat. My whole concept of "fun" now is wrapped up in a city that's 450 miles away. Of course I'm "looking forward" to the September trip but it's hard to even think about a 3 month wait. It's the 2nd week of June now, early summer; it'll be fall and the first fucking week of the NFL season when I'm finally back. There are a couple 3-day weekends between now and then tha...

So, so far away. But it's still out there, and that keeps me going. The rut would be unbearable without knowing that somewhere in the deepest, darkest aether, a Vegas trip awaits. I'd be a sad, probably dead monkey if it were not so. This trip will be an action trip, too, with a Cirque show, and overpriced tix to Nails. Too early to book food but surely I'll have time for at least one splurge meal on the trip, as well. The last couple trips have maybe been a little too unstructured. I think having a couple things pre-booked (that I can't bail on w/o losing money) will be good to keep me engaged in the Vegas Experience and not just shuffling from one bar to the next. Added the option to tack on a day at the end of the trip too, I'll still have most of the weekend to recover  with the fly out Sat. If I don't completely lose my ass on VP it should be fine. Nearly 5 full months between trips is brutal, but I should be fairly bursting with hype by the time we get th...

Finally going to see MJ One in September. I've been circling this show for years, always just deciding it was too damn expensive, but MGM's running a flash 30% off sale so I broke down and booked it. Having seen KA and Mystere, and Love several times, I know what I'm getting into and I should be set up for a solid show. Putting all his alleged extra-curricular activities aside you can't downplay the greatness of the guy's songwriting. That and the Cirque experience should make it worth the hundy. So it'll be a "show" trip. MJ on Monday and NIN on Thursday. It'll be nice to have a couple events scheduled to break up the constant meandering VP and Belvedere train I've been on the last few trips. There's a lot of entertainment to be had in Vegas and I really ought to schedule at least one thing every trip to take advantage of it. Ready to Beat It to Vegas.

Locked in the flights for NIN September. Alaska again. With a little discount from flight credit, outlay was only $176. Not terrible. Could have saved more but would have been a scrub, ass-end of plane seat and possible bag bump. As is I'm about in the middle of the tube on an aisle. Air prices likely to fluctuate greatly this summer but since fuel prices are unlikely to go down I figured the time was right to book. May try to stick with Alaska for this year to maybe build up enough points for a free flight by next year. NIN has begun the tour I'm going to see. First two shows had wildly different setlists so unsure what to expect to be played on the LV date which is fine, it's nice to be surprised. Just hoping there's no COVID surge and cancellations of shows. 4 months is a long string to run out but keeping fingers crossed.  The save has already informally begun for the trip. Going to put away at least $500/check between now and then and probably closer to $1K once I ...

So yeah, that happened. Highlights, I guess, such as they were. Flights: No issues. Got to the airport for the in flight plenty early, it was nice having it be on a day off so the lead up could be relaxed and cheap. Just caught the SAMTrans there, had plenty of time to grab a couple glasses of wine then got on the plane more or less on time. Hit the ground, taxi'ed over to MB and was out on the casino floor by 8p. Return flight also fine, on time, no complaints. Upgraded to better seats for both flights. Well done, Alaska. Food: Had a couple good meals, got Delmonico on Monday, stellar filet, then the next night did the bison filet at Rivea which was also eye rolling good. That was about it for good meals, the rest was as-I-found-it for the most part. Nothing else memorable. Used up some resort credit one day at the cafe at MB and gift card value another day at Yard House, so it wasn't too costly at least. Drink: A lot. many, many "free" drinks sitting at the endless ...

Last call for not-being-in-Vegas-ahol. The trip is nearly upon us. The laundry is done, the bag is 70% packed, half the money's out of the bank and my balls are shaved. All that remains is to sleepwalk through two more days of work then turn off the email and Signal notifications and get on the MOTHERFUCKING plane. I'm so ready for next week. Rarely have I felt more of a sense of "I fucking earned this" than this time. I've set my work on the right path this first few months of '22 and have things ready to expand, or soon will. I'm a star there and feel part of the team and about as vital as can be, for me. Now comes the "life" part of work-life balance. I'll give the career 48 weeks a year, those other 4 when I'm in Vegas - that's me time, ya bish. Mandalay Bay is locked. This is one of the rare trips where I booked 3 months out and nothing better came along to upset that. Adding the Saturday to the trip meant there were other optio...