It’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog, and this could be for a number of reasons. It may be that I couldn’t think of stuff to write, I was tied up with a bunch of random things, or I had just simply forgotten I’d had a blog. I’m going to try to keep this up to date. Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed.
What…a…day… definitely the kind of day where at the end, one might say “gah, I need a vacation…” Thankfully, I’ve just started my vacation today.
The real shenanigans didn’t begin until I got here to Vegas. My flight was fairly routine, but I really enjoyed listening in to the tower chatter as we flew from Newark to Vegas. I kept listening for our call sign, “United 587” - I was amazed just at how polite everyone is to one another. Pilots are reporting the turbulence and the ride quality back to the air traffic controller, even when changing from one controller to another they’re all saying “have a good night” and “thanks for your hospitality” - telling a plane what altitude to fly at, most likely to avoid in-air collisions certainly is hospitality. It gave me a chuckle. Definitely the definition of teamwork though… it’s not just a matter of some guy flying a giant tube across the country. There’s so much more to it than that; it’s a complex puzzle that, when some piece is out of sorts and it throws things off, it’s understandable.
So, I landed in Vegas and got my bag fairly quickly. It said “VIP” on it… I consider myself to be a pretty important person, it was kind of nice of United to think so too.
I took the bus to the rental car mecca, and that’s where it all started getting interesting. Imagine a mall food court, but instead of restaurants it’s car rental companies. They were all there… Avis, Budget, Enterprise, even some I hadn’t heard of (Firefly??) - and Thrifty (mine who I’d happened to rent from this time around) had signified their booth not with a permanent light-up sign like all the other ones, but a plastic sign hung over a painting with zip ties.
Classy.
I must have hit the jackpot because I was in a line of about 20 people that didn’t seem to move…at all…. I stood there for a good 15 minutes before I moved up a few feet… and it seemed to take the people working the counter 20 minutes to get through each customer… which meant the two people working the counter were going to make me wait upwards of an hour to get my car. I was happy when two more people showed up, which increased the line speed only marginally. I finally got my car from a very friendly woman working there who apologized for the wait, and offered me a discount if I got the insurance on the car. Either zero financial responsibility if there was any problem, or full responsibility. I’m on vacation I didn’t want to worry, I took the insurance. Say what you will, but I like peace of mind.
Driving in Las Vegas… think New York city volume, but everything is fairly spread out so it doesn’t feel as congested, but it’s not always obvious where to go to turn for certain entrances. After 8 U-Turns (yes, 8) I made it to the Luxor, where I’m staying for this trip.
It’s a giant black pyramid with white LED lights on the side, and a bright white beacon shooting up into the sky. It’s a cool-looking building for sure. It’s all like, Egyptian…
The friendly front desk attendant was kind enough to offer me a suite upgrade at half off what it normally would be… I was like… I’m on vacation, why the hell not… So what if I only make it to Vegas once this year, since I’ll be spending the rest of the year paying it off, I might as well do it right. I’m not in the super-deluxe-ridiculous high roller suite… but I have aspirations. One can dream, right? :) But I’ve got a huge hot tub right next to a big window (on a giant slant… ), a separate sitting room area (with its own slanty window), and a massive bathroom. This feels like an apartment, but its my “home” for the next week.
In order to get up here, I’m on the 27th floor, I took an elevator that went…get ready for this… sideways. I kid you not… Luxor, in Las Vegas, has a SIDEWAYS elevator. I intend to learn more about this… but that was the most trippy thing I’ve experienced, especially after being exhausted from my traveling. I can only imagine what that sideways bit feels like after a few glasses of vino… Perhaps that’ll be the subject of tomorrow night’s entry.
I’m going to try to write one of these every night… key word is “Try”…after all, I’m on vacation.
