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Our Vegas experience in some photos ... you know you wanna see ... link

Vegas. It's faaantastic. In lieu of a daily blog over the weekend, my approximate Vegas journal:

Thursday, March 17
1.30p Leave San Diego
5.30p Curse the traffic as my expected arrival time passes
8.45p Finally say hi to Breslin in person, third beer in hand (buying walking beers on the street rules)
10.30p Continue smiling on the strip
2.00a Give up on craps (lost $140)
3.00a Back at room(with just Jeremy at this point) , knocking on door to no avail
4.00a Settle in to (not) sleep in Jeep in parking garage

Friday, March 18
7.00a Get call from Breslin, go back to room to sleep for real
8.30a Wake up for Jeremy's stupid conference call
10.00a Luxor breakfast buffet ... Jeremy and I stuff ourselves silly for $12
11.30a Meet Jeremy's friends at Mandalay Bay sports book
1.00p Place first ever sports bet, Duke-Delaware St on the over at 126
3.30p Lose first ever sports bet when Duke and DE St combine for friggin 103 points
4.10p Place second and third ever sports bets, on Stanford over Miss St, and GA Tech over GW
7.30p Split those bets, losing on stupid Stanford, winning on GA Tech (down $20 on the day)
10.00p Dinner
11.00p Craps
1.00a Give up on craps (lost $100)
2.00a Sleep

Saturday, March 19
9.00a Wakey wakey
9.30a Stop at Aladdin to place bet on Kentucky (by 1 at half, $30; by 2.5 for game, $30)
9.35a First drink of day - free vodka tonic with bet
9.45a Meet Jeremy's friends at Mandalay bookie
11.00a Luxor buffet (got there at the right time to eat breakfast and lunch food), eat till near dead
1.30p Back at Mandalay, put $50 on Washington to cover the 9 point spread against Pacific
2.00p Settle in at Nefertiti's Lounge in Luxor for some basketball!
3.30p Lose my Kentucky-at-the-half bet by one god damn point
5.00p Win my Kentucky-for-the-game bet, win my Washington bet handily (so up $50 on the day)
7.30p Leave Nefertiti's Lounge during the ridiculously-exciting Wake-WV game, back to room
8.00p Run to Aladdin in the pouring rain
8.15p Run around Aladdin to leave tickets for Breslin, Herb, and Leon who are still watching Wake-WV
8.30p Settle in to Amos Lee, opening act - really pretty folksy James Taylor-ish stuff
9.00p Bob friggin' Dylan goes on
9.30p Realize Bob Dylan does a good Bob Dylan impression - "Mreh buh mreh mmrreeah"
10.30p Dylan encore - All Along the Watchtower - only song I knew
11.15p Dinner in Bellagio - i had mediocre spaghetti and meatballs and a Funky Monkey with a shot of espresso (don't ask)
2.00a Go to sleep

Sunday, March 20
9.30a Get up, stand up
11.00a Drive to Freemont St for some better odds
11.45a Sit down to ghetto $8 buffet, eat 'til it hurts
1.00p Golden Nugget craps table, baby ... our good luck charm!
2.30p Give up on craps (lost $200)
3.00p Drop Jeremy back on The Strip, hit the road
3.30p Drop the top, speedin through the desert
6.00p Fucking traffic!!!!
11.00p Arrive home, pet a very needy kitty

I can't say "Vegas" without the "Baby!" ...

Anyway, leaving work soon, and then it's no internet until Monday. In the meantime, I'll be watching about 900 hours of basketball, losing more money than I'd really care to part with, and then winning it back at the craps table. Then promptly losing it at the blackjack table.

I didn't want to post anything after my last post for a little bit, but Southwest is running some sick deals on flights to San Diego, as we're their "Featured Destination".

So I would like to tell you all why Southwest Airlines rules.

1. They're inexpensive.
The usually show up as the cheapest alternative for almost any flight I look up, especially ...

2. They are amazing in/around California.
So I can fly to San Francisco for friggin $39? Or L.A., or Sacramento, or Vegas, or Phoenix...

3. The rewards. Oh the rewards.
So I signed up for Rapid Rewards. They gave me two credits to start. Each time you book online - 1 credit. For each flight - 1 credit. So that's 3 for each flight I book online, no matter how far (or short, or cheap) it is. 16 credits buys you a flight anywhere. So after a few cheap $80 round-trip flights, I'll get a free $360 flight all the way back east.

4. Down with class stratification!
There aren't "classes" of seating. You get a letter. Get an A - board in the first group. Get a B, go second. Get a C, go third. End. Find a seat whereever you want (wait until the end of the group to avoid sitting with that giant, shower-phobic, endlessly hungry mouth-breather with the inflamed skin-flaking rash and thick-haired chin mole).

5. So flexible.
I had to change my flight from Thursday back to Wednesday. I called them Wednesday at like 2:30pm to tell them this. They said "What's your name? Okay. When do you want to fly? Okay. Which of these flights would you prefer? [lists 4 flight options] Okay, you're set."

6. So nice.
I think the stewardess chicks (I'm sorry, "flight attendant" is a shallow attempt at glorifying the job) are nicer, perhaps because the passengers are nicer because they didn't have to deal with a shitty airline.

7. Constant flights.
None of this would matter if they didn't fly when you wanted. That doesn't seem to be a problem, though.

So what the fuck is wrong with all these other airlines that keep needing government bail-outs? Losers.

(If you're gonna book a SW flight and don't fly it enough to be worth it, lemme know and you can help me out by using my Rapid Rewards number. And I'll give you a cookie.)