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

I'm done. Done buying stuff before the Xmas trip. I gave up this week on any fantasies about getting the MGM CC paid off, and bought everything I will need to be Vegas-ready. Started with the return flight today. Fares just weren't coming down, and at basically a month and a half out I was concerned that they never were going to drop, so I bit the bullet and pulled the trigger on United for the come-back. $145 one way. Was able to use some points so a little less painful than it otherwise would have been. 4pm flight so not ideal, but I can just add late checkout to my rezzy and it'll be fine. The other reasonable option was Frontier and just, no. So the total cost of flights is about $315. The price of flying on the Sunday before and Friday after Xmas. Also picked up some new jeans for the trip, some new glasses to replace my 3-year old pair, and various needed underwear items. The glasses are a bit bougie, Gucci's, but I'm wearing Prada now so whatev. They are no-l...

A couple rezzy's booked. To take advantage of the windfall of MGM RC we will be luxuriating in on the Xmas trip, I have booked a couple restaurant reservations. 1st one is on the Monday at the lovely Carama in MB, where they have a killer pasta Bolognese. So nice I went back twice on the last trip. And it's MGM, so, points. 2nd is on Xmas night at the reliably great Jean Georges steakhouse at Aria, I've eaten there many a time and never a bad meal. Seems like a steak splurge is always a good idea on Xmas night, and Aria is good place to jump off from for the rest of the Xmas night once the protein is on board. With the RC dump I have to blow through, I will likely add at least one more good meal on the trip, I just don't want to load myself down with too many scheduled reservations. I'll play it by ear the other nights and just sit at the bar wherever I happen to be if I'm in need of foodz. I'd like to use up most of the RC as it will reduce the overhead on ...

Starting to get just a tiny bit of a stiffy for Xmas Vegas. The mantra a month ago was "just get through October", both in a life sense and a Vegas sense. Well, it's just a week and a bit away, and I think I'll make it. Next week is already Halloween, for fuck's sake, so yeah. Then once we're into November it's only a couple weeks until Thanksgiving and then it's almost December and then it's only a couple weeks until Xmas and then it's December 22nd.  I'm not saying I have a full heat on like I will in December, but I'm starting to take note of what's happening in town. Checking the news sites a bit more. Checking the forum a bit more. Just starting to keep an eye on things. Maybe at the start of November I start putting in 50 hands of VP practice a few times a week, to start loosening up. It WILL be a gambling trip, as I will need at least 10K points once I arrive to make Gold again, which should be doable without blowing the whol...

Blah. Don't care much about Vegas right now. Usually between trips I'm obsessing about new things in town, new openings of food or entertainment venues, additions to existing resorts, and just Vegas news in general. Right now I'm just completely disengaged. Maybe it's because there's still 3 months from the next trip, with 3 months gone from the last. It's the dog days of the Vegas drought.  I have a good suite booked. I have the in flight booked. Hell I even have 2 food rezzys booked, 3 months out. But it all seems by-the-numbers right now as opposed to being excited about the trip. It's possible the Junepocalypse has taken a mental toll, losing $7500 on 6 days of vacation is not something you forget (or forgive) quickly. My tail was solidly between my legs as I sulked out of town last time, and I'm still not remotely recovered. This month will help a bit as it's essentially a 3-paycheck month and I can throw $4K at the problem, which I will.  It...

Got a nice little Resort Credit bump today, from an old job.  While I was with Kit/Ro in late '22 to early '23 I racked up some Marriot points while I was flirting with the move to Phoenix. Now that Marriot and MGM are bumping uglies, I was able to convert those (otherwise useless) points into MGM Rewards points. It turned into about $190 in credit, which, thanks old job! That means with what I already had earned, I will have over $230 available for the Xmas trip. Hello, Xmas dinner on Marriot, and one other dinner too. That's on top of the $50 I will have from the Aria booking package, and the potential $100 RC bump from getting to Gold on the trip, if I do. 3 nice meals (at least) inbound. We eatin'  good  for Xmas, y'all. The Xmas-freebies post coming up this year will be tidy.

  Booked the in flight for XmasVegasExtravaganza2024. Round trips just too damn pricey to do all at once, so booked the in through Southwest for $170 with Early Bird. If all goes well the flight arrives around 9a, hopefully can check in at Cosmo right away and start the festivities. The out is the one that was killing me on price, I'm splitting it up so I don't have to take the financial hit all at once. I do have 3+ months to spread out the pain. May even JSX it if the commercials don't come down some. So, now this trip is real, I have non-refundable skin in the game.

I'm somewhere in the middle of my long Vegas exile. This will be a whine post. Things are - not great. Struggling on a few fronts. The one that concerns me the most is...I hate my fucking job now. In order to stay with the company I'm with I had to start commuting every day back and forth across the Bay Bridge. For that to work I have to be there by 6:30a, meaning I have to wake up a little after 5a. This, this is not good for me. I hate getting up before the sun, hate going to bed at 9p, it's just totally against my body clock and it's not getting any better after almost 3 months. Then there's the job itself, which essentially entails me sitting in a chair for 7+ hours properly formatting documents to store. It's mind-numbingly boring and soul sucking. The people suck too. It's just a bad environment in general, more industrial plant than drug discovery facility. I'm searching for a new job but the prospects aren't great, I've had 2 companies wa...