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

The site where I work will be shutting down at the end of March. J&J research site. Less than a year and a half old. Crazy. But big money companies do big money wasting things. Apparently this is somewhat par for the course for J&J.  What it means for me is unclear. Right now it's not even official, apparently it gets media dumped tomorrow at 5p Eastern to minimize the stock drop it'll likely cause. More details about whether it's just...over on March 31st or if there will be months of decommissioning equipment (which we would likely be involved in) is also unclear. I've been assured that since I'm not J&J, that I'm a contractor, my job is safe. Apparently this comes from the higher reaches of my company group so that's good, but what that means for what and where I'll have that job is unknown. If it's a remote job, great, if it means commuting to someplace like fucking Fremont or something...not great. I spent some time dusting off the r...

T-minus 2 months from Next Vegas. Nothing has changed in the plan. Still locked into Resorts World and JSX, otherwise known as baller and baller. I requested early arrival and at the Conrad, so hopefully that will come though so I can get into the room a couple hours early. Flight time would make that ideal. Still have just the two food reservations, no shows or anything this time. Little early for a Birthbies post, but booking the King Suite on RW or Hilton's website would cost me $2380 right now, as opposed to the $1500 it cost me on Priceline. Tight. And I have the whole $2K from JSX and the room paid off now, so it's all gravy save at this point for the next 4 paychecks. Already have the full cash save needed in the bank and will try to bump it up some between now and then to have a cushion. I keep checking MGM pretty much daily for rate drops, but anything even in the same tri-state area of niceness as the Conrad suite (like a Resort Tower King at Bellagio) are just as muc...

The bill has come due for my abject failure in December. Tier level updates have happened and I am no longer MGM Gold. I'm back to a lowly Pearl, where the poors hang out. My shame is beyond measure. I knew it was coming. I didn't monitor my spend well enough at the end of the Xmas trip and left myself 5K points short, which would have been easily gettable had I not been in a fog of Belvedere and cocaine the last few days of the trip. I have no one to blame but myself, Belvedere and cocaine. In a practical sense it means 2 things. The biggie is no more waived resort fees at MGM resorts. That will cost me $200-300 per trip depending on length of stay and resort. Not inconsiderable, but also not the end of the living universe. The other main drag will be no available room upgrades on check in, which is less of a big deal. I think the whole time I was Gold it might have only meant a few view upgrades, I don't think I ever got a better room class out of it. There are also thing...

This is going to be a baller-ass vacation. Private planes, 1100 sq ft suites in a 5-star resort, steaks and high-end sashimi. We be living  good  on the 55th birthday trip. It all starts with flying semi-private on JSX in and out. Flown with them a couple times before, SO much less hassle than dealing with the fucking major airports. Private terminal, no TSA, no bag worries, big cushy seats, free drinks. Hopping on in OAK and will just UBER it to and from. So much more evolved than being basically violated by TSA in the normal airports.  Then on arrival in LAS it's in the taxi and over to Resorts World. I have added early check-in to standby, so hopefully I can just roll straight up to the room at 1:30p. It's the One Bedroom Suite at the Conrad, 1100 sq ft of lovely at the north end of the strip. No resort hopping this time, one room, one unpack, one relax.  Trying to think back, pretty sure this will be the biggest room I've ever had in Vegas, I think Encore or Dela...

Holy shibbles. Just booked the 55th birthday room, and it's a dooz. I will be in a One Bedroom King Suite at the Conrad. This is big swinging baller. It's also $1500, but that's actually a sincere fucking bargain. For my dates right now, places like Wynn are wanting $400+ for a standard room, V/P even more, no other 5-star on strip is less than $170/night for a standard room, I'm getting a 1100 sq ft 2-room suite for a couple bucks less than that. Even with my MGM status I would have paid more for a standard room at Bellagio, for ex. Thank you Priceline. Have seen video walkthroughs, it's a gorgeous room and far better for a celebration trip than anything I was going to be able to book with any other resort group that week. Rates are high, must be a convention in town. Yes, $1500 all in is still a chunk of change but as previously stated, I'm only turning into a senior citizen once and damn it I'm going to leave middle age with a fucking bang.  I have 3 full...

Whelp, a couple weeks back from Xmas Vegas and I'm booked in the air for the return. JSX again this time, feeling like posh-ness for turning 55. Going in on a Saturday afternoon, early-ish, getting in around 1p. Quick Uber from the private terminal, then I can get the bag dumped and get settled for 5 full days over the Bday week. No resort-hopping this time. The out is around 1:30p Friday so no need for an early last morning wakeup, just breeze back to the JSX term with no TSA worries and it gets me home by around 4p with any luck. It's $530 fucking dollhairs but the lack of TSA hassle, relaxed vibe and the bag allowances make it so much more civilized than going through standard airlines. I'll have it paid off next month so no worries. Fuck it, it's my 55th Bday I'm going to splurge. No resort booked yet and it might be a while, I want to see what my booking packages look like with MGM when they flip in February, after all my play in December. I put through $30K co...

OK then. That was OK. Slightly strange, but a good time. Highlights by subject, as always, below. Flights: Both good, on time, but I did have to check my bag both times. Not ideal and on the in flight it freaked me out because I inexplicably left $7K in the checked bag. Luckily I had honest or oblivious bag chuckers on both ends or it could have led to disaster. As it turned out though no issues with United. Rooms/Resorts: Again no complaints. 1 night at Cosmo was good though all I really saw was the bed. Had the PH facing view. Then Delano for the last 6 nights was, again, fine. I'm an old pro on the MB campus now and the suite was a fine place to start and end the days. Resort was pretty mellow except the first couple days at MB, they had a football bowl team staying there so a lot of them around but otherwise pretty slow. Food/Bev: Had a few good meals, did a great bone-in pork chop at Blue Ribbon on night 2, good tapas on Xmas night at Jaleo and had good sushi at Kumi on the la...