MAGGI PICAYUNE

Last entry about our most recent trip to Las Vegas, promise. Above is a photo of the latest success with 27, the day we got married (and it’s Bugs Bunny’s birthday). As per tradition, we make one last bet at roulette the evening before we depart for home. It’s something we started in 2003 during our honeymoon. Good thing it won too, it wiped out most of my craps’ losses.

So the winnings get put away into a savings account with the remainder of our “walking around money,” to put toward the next vacation.

And for all you naysayers, 27 is 3-13 but when you put in the money, the score is now $1050 to $130. Roulette appears to have a better return rate than anything Wall Street has that remains legal.

It’s also the 20th anniversary of my first visit to this weird city in the desert. I always learn something new when I spend some time here too.

• Don’t rent a car from the airport facility, there’s an extra $75 fee charged by the city/county. We usually rent from Enterprise but now we can just hop a cab from the airport to the Enterprise facility near Orleans. However, taking the cab there and back on our final day? Seems to defeat the $75 savings and/or won’t be much in the end.
• Lyft isn’t as evil as Uber nor as evil as I felt. Ethan used them for our Saturday travels so we could both drink. I was impressed. We hopped in a nice lady’s VW Jetta from Tahiti Village to the Venetian, less than $10 on a Saturday night! It was a little more from Wynn back to TV, $13ish. You can pay them over the phone which made me glad. I have the app but only for Vegas, they’re not allowed in Austin. I’m good with this until they comply to what Austin asks, something that puts them on a level playing field with the cabs, aka, fingerprinting.
• Palms was acquired by the Station chain. Good. I always felt that Palms was run by a couple douchebags who took their reality show too seriously. The place was too hip for its own good.
• The people who run the MGM chain, especially on the Strip, must’ve worked in the airline industry. Charging for parking? Watering down mixed drinks? On top of their “resort fee” bullshit, it’s small wonder this chain has financial problems.
• Stratosphere is nicer than I recalled in 2003. We had a fantastic meal at their Top of the World, rotating restaurant. You can’t feel any give on the 106th floor too. I did have to avoid looking out the window for long periods to keep my acrophobia in check. The casino is fair yet better than the bulk of the Strip.
• Palace Station is doing a great job remodeling. I look forward to see its completion in the near future.
• Teen Titans Go! and We Bare Bears are much better shows than I thought or expected, namely in the latter. CN also rebooted Ben 10.
• Sadly, the Polaroid Store downsized its location and became Photo & Go. They just sell the film and some of the options to transfer photos onto unusual materials. Unusual to me because they’re not paper.
• I finally found a way to keep track of who’s playing at Brooklyn Bowl. One day, I’m going to see a concert there and somebody I dig. I need to stop bothering with other Vegas web sites too. They never get it right on who else is playing at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay too.
• Lastly, at Steely Dan, I learned that the song “Dirty Work” was one of theirs. I never made the connection due to vocalist David Palmer doing the lead and not one radio station ever identified the band whenever it was played. Plus I don’t hear any of the usual musical DNA I often associated Steely Dan with.