Hella Hold'em

Day 1 - Geisha!:

It has been so long since I've written a trip report! That means I haven't been spending enough time in Vegas. Must rectify that in 2011.

Back in the day, I'd have a notebook full of scribbles to draw up my trip report from, but alas - I am an irresponsible blogger these days. Maybe if I carried one of those trendy moleskin notebooks, I'd take notes. And a fancy pen - I would need a fancy pen. But I didn't equip myself with such luxuries, so you're stuck with my powers of recollection.

The trip started out pretty bad. I've already bitched about my poor decision in booking a Delta trip with connections (since I had to pack everything in a carry-on to avoid the baggage fees). It turns out that Delta just sucked all around, and I'll never fly them again if I can help it. The first leg of my outbound flight to Minnesota was delayed by over 4 hours due to a mechanical problem on the plane. It wasn't a problem they were trying to fix, however - they just couldn't find a mechanic to override the automatic grounding function when a plane only has 2 of 3 de-ice systems working. They finally found a mechanic to override the system, and we flew to MN on 2 de-icers.

I was rebooked on a new connecting flight to Vegas with what appeared like it would be a 3 hour layover in MN. However, my first leg was so late that I had to play out that stereotypical scene of the girl running through the airport, bags in tow. I got to the gate and literally got right onto the plane. It was nuts. Off to Vegas.

The only good thing about the flight was that my second leg was on a wi-fi plane. It was my first time using in-flight wifi, which was free thanks to Google's holiday promotion. Of course, the flight was delayed sitting at the gate upon arrival because no crew was ready to usher us into the airport. Oy. Never again.

(Wifi, by the way, was pretty sweet. I'd say it was just about DSL-quality broadband speed. The only annoyance was that it kept dropping out and I had to keep re-signing in).

Since I had already missed CA April and Maura at the airport, I txt'd them to see where they were. Luckily, I'd arrived just in time to meet them for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris. I had an awesome roasted veggie platter (though anything probably would have seemed awesome - I was ready to eat my arm off by that point).

After dinner, I headed to MGM and checked in, then headed over to the Geisha Bar at IP. Make new friends, but keep the old.... I was lapping the craps tables when I ran into CA April and Maura. It was definitely a warm welcome to meet Numbono and be treated to a tequila shot. He didn't believe me that I didn't know the rules on how to do a tequila shot. Truth, yo. Also met OhCaptain, and Dr Chako and the Mrs. (BTW, the MGM wanted $25 to use their treadmills! Gah!). Compared tattoos with Falstaff, and solidified my newfound status as the third member of his last-longer team. Greeted Kat and talked Canada. Was Joanada there? Or was that the next day?

The best part of the night, though, was yet to come. After letting Iggy think I was some Geisha n00b for a while (hey, April must have told him 48 times, "You know this is Shelly, right?!"), I won a bet regarding my age. (It is quite handy to look a decade younger than I actually am!) Iggy checked out my driver's license and proceeded through a series of mortified apologies. (It's all good, dude!) With that, Iggy proceeded to challenge me to rock paper scissors. Can I just say - EVERY WOMAN'S DREAM! To just have the opportunity to throw down RPS vs. Iggy was momentous in itself, but...

To WIN?!

FIVE BUCKS! Wheeeee! I think I deserve a trophy.

Later on, two of my favorite peeps ever arrived: Gracie and Sweet Sweet Pablo! Chatted save-the-earth concerns with Gracie and old school metal with Pablo. I still think that guy totally looked like Bret Michaels and am only mildly embarrassed at how many of the lyrics to Unskinny Bop I remember.

I made it back to the hotel room around 3am and got some zzz's.