Archive for May 2005

Our final day in Vegas was short.  We had a noon plane to catch and Katie was overly concerned about getting there in time.  We’d seen a long line at Security on the way out of the terminal on Sunday morning and we were eager not to miss our flight because of it.  We went down to the Sahara poker room about 7am and started playing $2/$4.

Wynn Resort Casino
Day three was a day of hubris.  I woke up at 7am, checked e-mail, downloaded the latest version of a document for the new super-staffer in our Boston office, and headed to breakfast with Katie.  We ate the sausage omelettes again, I spoke to my Boston colleague about the document, and we then headed out to the Wynn.  We had committed to seeing some other casinos, but had been so emboldened by our wins that we intended to head back to the Wynn right away.  Katie, having won several hundred dollars, decided to move up limits and play $8/$16, while I intended to stick to $4/$8.

Day Two of my birthday Vegas trip started with me setting off the alarm at the Sahara pool complex at 8am.  I’d been up since 7am, editing a document that a new and talented employee in our Boston office had been writing for a client.  The document was awesome, and I called her and told her so.  I wanted to get some exercise before the day started, and since the Sahara didn’t have a health club, I headed out to go for a swim.  Apparently in all the money to be made from the slots and other things at the Sahara, they can’t afford a couple of bucks for a Stairmaster. 

I turn 38 this month. Birthdays are not a big deal for me. I don’t freak out marking time, nor do I have special rituals that I
have to do on my birthday. Even the
actual day isn’t a momentous event. I
have breezed right through the actual day many years, and in most cases
attempts at parties have proven occasionally disastrous, with a recent birthday
that had me staring at more empty chairs at a Japanese restaurant than filled
ones. Whether it was organized too last
minute or that I simply don’t have the circle of friends I thought I did, I
found it horribly depressing. Even today
the recall of that dinner makes me somewhat melancholy. As my birthday approached this year, I swore
not to leave my birthday plans in anyone else’s hands.