Most Likely My Last Post

Unless I have a change of heart, this may be my last post on the blog......as least for a while. For anyone still reading this blog, its obvious that it has taken a nosedive down my ladder of priorities in the past year or so. My main motivation for the longest time with the blog was to update and convey stories to both my buddies back home as well as anyone interested on the Travel 2 Vegas message board. However, I now post most of my would-be blog topics directly on the message board itself and as for my buddies back home, that's what facebook is now used for.

The blog never had a real direction. I just used it for random thoughts about whats going on for the most part. If I ever do resuscitate the blog in the future, I will try to pinpoint a definite direction for it and try to put some quality time into it on a regular basis....two things I'm unwilling to do at this time.

For the time being, I'll still keep the blog up and running just in case anyone happens to want to read some archived posts or for anyone still getting here due to a google search.

For old time's sake, here are a few links to some of my favorite posts in the past:

The story of my trek out to Vegas with Chris

Pictures of the Trek

A story of a couple road trips that involved a bigger than average burger!

A favorite post of my T2Vers......about my favorite casino game

The most difficult hike that I've accomplished so far

Most Nerdy Video EVER!!!

I've always thought the Leeroy Jenkins internet viral video was probably the most nerdy thing I've ever seen. This one takes the cake though!

Random Updates

1. Just saw True Grit at the Green Valley movie theater the other day. Excellent movie!!! If you haven't seen it yet, don't be turned off on the fact that its a remake. The Coen brothers rarely disappoint!

2. I finally made full-time status at work this week. It only took me 2 years and 9 months from the first date of my orientation! The big positive is that it appears that I'm staying on day shift. I would have bet the farm that they'd move me to swing shift for at least a few months or so.

The other positives is that I will have a consistent weekend every week so that I can actually plan my life more than a week in advance. Also, I will be picking up the company's health insurance. I don't think its the best in the world, but its gotta be better than the independent catastrophic insurance I'm paying for now. I do know it includes vision and dental. So hopefully I'll be visiting the dentist for the first time in 2.5 years soon and the eye doctor for the first time in FIVE years!

3. Because I know I'll have Wednesdays and Thursdays off now, I'm planning another one-night staycation downtown Vegas for next Wednesday night. It's something I do about twice a year and have a blast each time. Sometimes its a solo trip (Danielle has to work the next morning) but sometimes I get some buddies to join me. At any rate, a visit to the brewpub at Main Street Station is definitely in the cards next Wednesday night!

4. Going back to the full-time deal, its not really as awesome news as you might think. As a part-timer, I think I worked less than 40 hours maybe four total weeks last year. So the amount of hours won't really be different. However, my base pay drops down to the true minimum wage as opposed to the slightly increased part-time minimum wage. The company pays part-timers a little more per hour to "help make up for the lack of insurance"......or so they claim.

Anyway, I'll be paying less for health insurance now but will be making less per hour. I guess I also can't look past the job security aspect as well. There are SO MANY part-time dealers at my place that they'd have to layoff a HUGE amount of dealers to get close to me.

5. Pittsbugh's goin' to the Super Bowl!!!!

I hope they can get Pouncey back for the game though. Legursky didn't look too bad and I'm sure they can hammer out those snap issues during the next two weeks, but I think Pouncey is a much better run blocker. I noticed Legursky completely whiffed on a couple of blocks about 5 yards downfield. Apparently he has the athletisism to get down there quick enough, but not enough to get a good block on the inside linebackers.

I still don't think Troy was playing full tilt either. Hopefully, he'll get over what ails him. I'm not accostumed to the Steelers being the underdog in the Super Bowl, but I can completely see why they are. Looking back at the season though, it is so sweet that they have another chance in the big game when everybody pretty much counted them out before the season even started!!

6. Today, while I was floor supervisor, I saw the biggest tippers I've ever seen at a craps table at my casino! They had the dealers up for $5 on the passline with at least double odds EVERY ROLL! They bought in for about 2 grand between the three of them and played for over 4 hours. Every single time a point was hit, the dealers dropped AT LEAST $50. When it was all over, they all lost their buy-ins. However, the casino still lost money when accounting for the huge amount of green chips in the toke box. I can safely say there was at least $2500-$3000 in that box at the end of my shift! Unfortunately, since I was on the floor, I will see NONE of it. It was still great fun watching my fellow dealers drop that cash though. That's a once in a year type of situation!