payin' the price of livin' life at the legal limit
i suppose i should recap my trip to vegas whilst it's still (relatively) fresh in my mind...

sunday:
-leave los angeles at five p.m. encounter mad traffic soon after barstow and crawl into vegas around ten.
-check into harrahs and get upgraded to a suite 'cos they didn't have our room preference (really? a big hotel like this doesn't have one single room with two queen beds? who knew so many people spent christmas in vegas). unfortunately, we only get to stay one night in the suite.
-hit the streets. las vegas is about 10 degrees colder than la, 'tho i really like the cold and enjoy bundling up. walked down to the aladdin, popped 20 dollars into a slot machine and let the good times roll. i was up about 40 bucks after a half hour, but got greedy and kept feeding money into a dry machine. cut my losses and walked out up 7 after an hour.
-playing the slot machines didn't really do much for me, 'cos i really wanted to try my hand at a table game. i wanted to learn how to play roulette and craps and stuff, but it just looked too involving and complicated, so i opted to play the only game i kinda sorta knew something about (blackjack). i stood behind a few people to get a feel for how it went and to see how they were faring against the house. it was really scary to see the dealer getting blackjack after blackjack and taking peoples money away, but i came to have fun, so i took a seat at the 5 dollar table and hoped for the best. i came in willing to lose a maximum of $200, but i didn't want to lose everything that first night, so i cashed $100 into chips and saved the rest for later. i also promised myself that if at any point i was up $100, i'd do the smart thing and walk away. it was tough going at first, i was down $40 after 30 minutes, but at $5 a hand, you can't lose too much too fast. and you can't win too much too quickly either. after playing for what seemed like days, i finally made my first hundred in vegas. so at four a.m., i went up to my hotel room after doubling my money and called it a night.

monday:
-woke up around 11, but didn't get any quality sleep at all. by the time i got ready and left the room, it was almost 2. i decided that it was still too early to gamble and drink, so i went across the street to the forum shops inside caesars palace to do some shopping with the winnings. found most everything i wanted to be priced well out of my range, 'tho i did pick up a fabulous scarf and a couple sweaters.
-that night i was treated to the most fabulous dinner i have had in quite a long time. went to the mgm and ate at their high-class chinese restaurant called pearl. ohmygod was the food good. first class all the way. i ate crab, fish, duck, shark-fin soup and green tea ice-cream, the best of the best. i just couldn't get enough. just absolutely exquisite.
-walked to the mirage (this helped greatly in digesting dinner) to meet some girls my friend had arranged to come out to visit him. we talked and had some drinks (oh, and i should mention that in las vegas they mix their drinks a little differently than the ones i've had here in la. their alcohol to juice ratio is something like, 90% alcohol, 10% juice. basically, i had one cosmopolitan (but you shoulda seen it! it was huuuuge!) and had to go hurl in the bathroom afterwards. nice.
-stumbled back across the street at 1:30 and into my room and passed out.

tuesday:
-woke up early to meet the very lovely, and very wonderful jenna at 9 am outside the virgin megastore at the forum shops. truly, it was a major highlight of my trip to have been able to spend a few hours with quite possibly the prettiest girl in all of las vegas. we had breakfast and talked and then we went walking around and talked some more. man, we did a lot of walking. when we got back to the virgin megastore (where she works) jenna was even nice enough to let me take advantage of her 33% employee discount. finally, i have the digitally remastered version of abba's greatest hits! woo! thank you, jenna! =)
-i go back to my hotel room to pack and get ready for the trip home that evening. unfortunately, i notice that i'm starting to get sick. we don't leave vegas until around midnight, and don't make it back to la until a little after 4. i get to bed at 5 and try to wake up two hours later for work, but i can't. my body flips me off and says, 'screw you' and so i have to miss work on wednesday. i've only missed two days of work in 25 months. and one of those was 'cos i was in the hospital.

if my trip had ended tuesday at 1pm, i would've called it the best six days of my entire life. as it is, it was a wonderful trip and i had a lot of fun. and that's what's important when going to vegas; that you have a lot of fun.