Odds and Ends

I’ve wanted to share some additional Las Vegas stories* for some time now and figured I would throw in a few links as well. Well, now is that time.

* When I checked into my Vegas hotel, I casually handed the person at the reception desk $20 and asked if they had a complimentary upgrade. The individual said yes, moved us from the South Tower to a nicer room in the North Tower and handed us a coupon book with buy one, get one free tickets to Penn & Teller and Jubilee, two free admissions up the Eiffel Tower and more.

* I did my good deed of the month by giving the Eiffel Tower coupon to a grandmother who was taking her two grandchildren up the Vegas version of Paris monument.

* If anyone is heading to Vegas soon and would like come coupons, please let me know. Although the coupons indicate that they are non-transferable or available for resale, how would they know?

* I attended my first and last timeshare presentation. The theme: vacation or die. Basically, life is short so you should take advantage of time away with family and friends as often as possible. What better way to do this than spending $5000 a year on a timeshare? Does anyone have a timeshare and want to explain how this makes sense financially?

* The timeshare presentation and tour ended up taking three hours instead of the two that the promised. During the presentation, they also said that they would not hard-sell. Naturally, at the end of everything, they brought in the closer, Fat Tony (his name was Tony and he was larger than The Simpsons character of the same name). He did a hard-sale.

Here are a few links for your Monday:

Pictures of Long Island native and now former Pittsburgh Penguin Rob Scuderi with the Stanley Cup (PSAMP)

Behind the Steel Curtain, one of the best Steelers blogs out there, interviewed Ross Ohlendorf of the, um, Pittsburgh Pirates. I just hope that BTSC doesn't expand to interviewing fake Brian St. Pierres, write stories about California Tortilla or create a Trivia Tuesday. If they do, I'm through. (Behind the Steel Curtain)

Justin Hartwig hurt his toe. One For The Other Thumb has a lead suspect. (OFTOT)

If there is a story about Peeps, there's a good chance that I'll link to it. (DCist)


Finally, I still need to share my thoughts from the Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick concert I attended last week. Look for that later this week.


* Yes, I know that I have been back from Las Vegas for about three weeks now. If you really want to read more, check out Part I and Part II of the trip.

Vegas Vacation - Part II

Now that I wrote about my gambling experience in Vegas, I thought I would share notes from the rest of my vacation.

- I spotted Alexander Ovechkin lying out at the Bally's pool with an attractive female companion. At least, the guy looked like Ovechkin. Naturally, this prompted a discussion among our group. A female member of our group didn't think it was him because she thought Ovie would be in better shape and that his guest would have bigger breasts. My opinion was that it couldn't have been Ovechkin since he would probably rent a cabana or be at Mandalay Bay or the Bellagio as opposed to Bally's. Unfortunately, we did not see whether or not he is missing any teeth, so this remains a mystery.

- Pushing the automatic revolving door at the casino entrances does not make the door move faster.

- When I was in Utah a few years ago, I wrote about a newscaster named Big Budah. Is there a rule that every Mountain West city must have a newscaster with an odd name? As Messiah correctly predicted, I discovered KTNV's Rikki Cheese in Las Vegas. Yes, this is a real person, and I have proof. She was arrested earlier this year and here is her picture:



- At a restaurant I do not want to name (since she or someone who works there may read this*), we had Angel from Greensburg as our waitress. Her breasts are likely not from Greensburg.

- The Planet Hollywood sports book had both the Penguins and Red Wings at 5-1 to win the 2010 Stanley Cup. At the Caesar’s sports book, Detroit was 4-1 while the Penguins were 6-1. I also remember seeing the Steelers as 6-1 to win the Super Bowl. The Pirates were not 6-1 to win the World Series (although that was before the team acquired Milledge & Hanrahan!).

- The local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates all show the national news at 5:30pm. That seems odd to me since they are either at 6:30 or 7:00 in Washington.

- I’m debating whether or not to share stories about the timeshare presentation. If I do, it deserves a separate post.

- We ate breakfast on Thursday morning at Harrah's buffet. They played a nice selection of 70s music followed by several Michael Jackson songs. During Billie Jean, a kitchen staff member danced near us, so naturally, we smiled and he started talking to us. We learned that loves Billie Jean since he recently discovered that a child that he supported for numerous years was not his son. He was happy about the fact that the kid was not his son and that now he is getting money back. He even showed us three paystubs in his hand. As everyone knows, Michael Jackson died several hours later.

- The highlight of my craps experience came courtesy of two guys at the table, Wayne and Jerry. Wayne was probably in his late 20s/early 30s, slightly intoxicated, and extremely social running around the table introducing himself to everyone. For some reason, he thought my name was Paul and continued to refer to me as Paul even though I corrected him several times. Wayne also revealed to everyone that he had a 2-inch penis, so I referred to him as Hal Gill (#2) for the rest of the evening. The casino staff was mortified. Meanwhile, Jerry was in his 50s or 60s, constantly smoked, had an impressive mustache and did not put up with Wayne’s shenanigans. He was there to drink, smoke and play craps. Naturally, Wayne wanted to become Jerry’s best friend. Oh, have I mentioned that Wayne thought Jerry’s name was Gary? At one point, Wayne had a big roll and went around the table to high-five everyone. Jerry/Gary ran away before Wayne could get to him. The entire Wayne/Jerry/Gary experience was highly entertaining. With Jon & Kate on the way out, Bravo should air Wayne & Jerry. It could be a ratings bonanza!


* It could happen!

Vegas Vacation - Part I

The first question many people ask when you return from Vegas is how did you do? Well, I lost playing blackjack. I lost playing craps. I lost playing Pai Gow. I lost playing three-card poker. I also lost $2 playing slots. (I hate slots, but I couldn’t pass up the Press Your Luck slot machine. I really, really, really wanted to yell big bucks, no whammies, stop! I didn't have that opportunity.) My gambling victories were minor. I bet $2 on a horse named Baseball Card Kid racing at Charles Town Races & Slots. Yes, I traveled thousands of miles to bet on a horse race that took place about 50 miles from my home. When I made the wager, the horse was at 7-1 but by race time, he/she was 3-1. Therefore, when the horse finished second, I won a whopping 80 cents.

My other victory was courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Knowing that the Pirates usually play well against excellent starting pitchers (though usually terribly against below average pitching), I put $5 on the Bucs and Ross Ohlendorf against the Cleveland Indians and reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. When the Pirates won, I earned $7.25! The sports book was clearly the highlight of my personal gambling week.

However, my wife represented the family proudly. In her blackjack debut, she was dealt an 8-8 with the dealer showing an ace. The dealer did not have a blackjack, so after splitting the eights, she received a third 8. On that 8, she got a 7 and then a 5 for a 20. On the second 8, she was dealt a 2. We contemplated doubling down, but decided just to hit. She got a 10. On the third 8, she was dealt a 3. We did double-down this time, meaning that there were four separate bets on the table. The dealer handed her a 9. I don’t remember the dealer's cards, but I know that she busted meaning that my wife won all four bets. Greatest blackjack hand ever!

I promise to have much more about my Las Vegas vacation including the joys of a timeshare presentation, seeing Alexander Ovechkin, meeting Angel, and I'll present one of the greatest names in local news history over the next few days. Please click here for part 2.

Banking Center

I’m home from Vegas and will share many stories over the next few days. As a preview, I want to start with one observation from Harrah’s (or at least I think it was Harrah’s). The casino shows a responsible side by having a “Banking Center” sign. I was impressed by their initiative to have representatives right there in the heart of the casino. If you win some money, you can talk to someone about opening a CD or savings account. Perhaps you could discuss mortgage options as well. Of course, when I got to the banking center, there was nothing there except an ATM. So much for the responsible side.



(When I typed banking center into Google images, this was one of the options. Looks nice. If you want a "banking center" visit this Gardner Bank in Gardner, Kansas. It's only a 1345 mile drive from Las Vegas!)

Vegas Contest

I am proud to announce a contest that has never been done at Sean’s Ramblings. I am hoping to take a vacation to Las Vegas in late June, approximately Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26, but I may be flexible by a day or two on either side. Your challenge is to help me find the cheapest flight from Washington Dulles airport (IAD) to Las Vegas (LAS). A few ground rules. Since I’m flying across the country, the trip must be at least 3 nights. You may find a great deal for flights leaving Washington on Wednesday and returning on Thursday, but that doesn’t quite work well. In addition, the flight must have one or less stops, and I prefer not to take the red-eye back.

Please leave your best results, including the price and airline, in the comments section or e-mail me at seanramblings[at]yahoo(dot)com.

The winner, and in fact all contestants, will receive a free burger at Red Robin on your birthday! All you have to do is sign up for the Red Robin e-club. Did you really think I was going to pay for you to fly to Vegas? I doubt that you would you read this far if my headline was “Help Sean Find a Cheap Flight.” Think about it this way. You would love to read a blog post or two about my experiences in Vegas!

On that note, thanks for your help!

Deception in New Mexico

I am writing live from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Yesterday, I arrived at the Albuquerque airport and traveled north on Interstate 25 towards Santa Fe. A few miles north of Albuquerque (I like typing Albuquerque – is there another large city with two Qs in its name?), I saw a sign that stated 101 miles to Las Vegas. I did not realize that Santa Fe was so close to Las Vegas, so I immediately started to think of an excuse to leave Santa Fe for a few hours to go to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, as most people familiar with U.S. geography already have figured out, the sign referenced the number of miles to Las Vegas, New Mexico, not Las Vegas, Nevada. I wonder how many people have seen the mileage signs and visited Las Vegas, New Mexico thinking that they were going to Nevada. Is it so much to ask the fine folks at the New Mexico Department of Transportation (and I really do mean the fine folks since the speed limit here is 70 or 75 in some places) to put Las Vegas, NM on the signs? I guess that most people driving in New Mexico already know that the sign means Las Vegas, NM, and it may offend the residents of this historic town.

It really is an historic town. According to New Mexico Las Vegas website, "Las Vegas was founded in 1835 by Mexican settlers, whose family roots went back to the early 1600's when the Spanish arrived, Las Vegas was the first town wagon trains on the Santa Fe Trail, which went through the heart of town, hit after 600 miles of tough travel from the last town in Kansas. General Kearney in 1846 announced to the residents that they were no longer citizens of Mexico but under the "protection" of the Army of the United States of America. Located on the edge of the eastern plains at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the town became a key stop on the Santa Fe Trail and later host to outlaws, Rough Riders, and silent screen stars. Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Teddy Roosevelt, and Tom Mix all strolled these streets. The town's history is preserved in the city of Las Vegas Museum & Rough Riders collection."

Who knew that there was a museum for DMX? Despite the interesting description, I am not going to try to leave Santa Fe for a few hours to visit this Las Vegas, especially since I do not have a car.