News From Vegas

Just an update to those who may still be checking in from time to time:

1. Work is super slow right now. The rodeo comes to town every December and dumps a good amount of cash into the local economy. But when it leaves, there's a void of about 7-10 days between the rodeo and Christmas when its dead as a doornail around here. The previous two years during this time, my parents were visiting here in Vegas. My mom's birthday is also during this time and it was nice celebrating an early Christmas with them while taking some time off work. Since they weren't in town this year, I actually worked through this time period and saw firsthand how bad things can get. To give you an idea.....tokes last Friday equaled a grand total of $58 for eight hours. Absolutely pathetic. Not only is it naturally slow, but the weather has been literally frightful lately, which also hurts business. The week of New Year's is usually pretty solid and then there's another lull during January until the Super Bowl gets here. Then it gets CRAZY during March and so forth.

2. Even though I'll be spending another Christmas Eve and Day at the casino this year, I really don't mind. That's because my "actual" Christmas will occur during the weekend of January 8th this year. My mom's side of the family always has a Christmas reunion every year. Because both Christmas and New Year's fall on the weekend this year, they are pushing the reunion back to the second Saturday of January. This kind of stinks for most since its so far removed from actual Christmas Day, but its awesome from where I stand since I can actually get that week off of work for once and not pay an arm and a leg in airfare!

The plan is to fly into Columbus on the 7th, join all the relatives for, what is essentially, a two-day reunion in Clyde, Ohio and then spend the majority of the week in Sandusky. I'm taking exactly one work-week off and only asked to be paid for three days of it. I figure the tokes will be bad that week, so I might as well eat some unpaid time off and actually use more of my vacation time when I'll be making some legitimate cash while off!

3. The short days are killing my motivation to do any hiking lately. My absolute favorite time of the day to hike is in the afternoon to early evening. Unfortunately, early evening at this point is 3pm! My work-days usually start well after 10am, so when I'm off, I usually can't drag myself out of bed early enough to drive out and get a hike in. My last hike was on the Arizona side of Hoover Dam (Liberty Arch hike that I wrote about last year). I still have yet to make it up to Red Rock.

4. As far as work goes, its becoming a grind. When I deal, its usually with a bunch of new dealers on craps where I have to turn into a babysitter for 8 hours. When I'm on the floor, its usually watching a bunch of new dealers where I have to turn into a babysitter for 8 hours! It sounds similar, but I would MUCH rather be on the floor everyday at this point. Dealing $5 blackjack and $5 craps got old a loooooong time ago!

5. If anyone reading this has ANY info on how the casinos in Ohio are progressing, please let me know. There's a very good chance that Danielle and I would like to relocate to Ohio sooner or later, and getting in at one of the new casinos in Ohio would be a convenient scenario!

This is my last day off before Christmas, so Happy Holidays everyone! Hope Santa brings you what you deserve!

Hilarious News Blooper

A friend pointed out this funny news blooper today.

At least 6 months....

...until we could make another trip back to Zion National Park. Just felt like posting this pic. Its the Kolob Canyon section of the park at sunset. Usually, to get a good view at sunset, you have to look toward the sun. In this case, the better view is to turn you back to the sun and watch it paint the sandstone cliffs!

8-Track Channel on DirecTV striked again

Discovered another good song. Enjoy.

Zion Pictures

Here's the link to my facebook album with 43 pictures of the trip to Zion last week. Enjoy!

Facebook Zion 2 Link

Pet Roll Call

Thought I'd let everyone know what the various animals look like who roam the halls of the condo on daily basis. Sadie and Calypso were with Danielle LONG before I met her. Sadie is the dog and Calypso the cat. Troy is the brand new cat that we just rescued in mid-September. He is completely black, so I guess its appropriate I introduce him on Halloween!

Here's a pic of Troy the day we brought him home. He had been stuck in the cage at the shelter for more than 3 weeks. In fact, he had been at the shelter longer than almost every other cat. We kept him in my bathroom for the first week, but the first two days pretty much saw him like this, a shell of a cat with the life sucked out of him. He's only one year old, but he didn't act like a cat at all the first couple of days.

Once he started getting some energy and acting like a cat again, I took this pic of him up on a cupboard where I don't think Calypso ever goes onto. See that his right ear has been clipped level at some point. The shelter people told us that was done by a charity group who goes out and fixes cats on the streets, clips their ears to signify that their fixed, and then lets them go.

Calypso the cat (about 9 years old) chillin' on the old cat feeder. We had to stop using that feeder when she figured out a way to make the turnstyle turn, thus gaining access to days of food all at once.

Sadie the dog. We're not sure how to describe her when people ask what breed she is. A golden mix is what I usually say, but I don't know if that's even close to accurate. She's an awesome dog!

So one day (way before we got Troy), I get up and take a shower. When I get back to the bedroom, this is what I find. I have to go to work while the pets have to toil away doing what you see here all day!

Zion here I come!

Today is my Friday. On a lark, I put myself down on the early-out list at work and I was number 4 on the list. Not even sure why I did it since hardly anyone on day shift ever gets sent home early and especially not number 4 or worse on the list!

Well, miracles happen and for the first time in over a year, I was voluntarily sent home early from work. So to celebrate the extra four hours added to my weekend, I'm now hitting the internet and booking a couple nights up north for an impromptu trip to Zion.

I think my plan is to use these next couple hours of unexpected freedom to pack, grab a bite and plan the trip. I'll most probably head up to Mesquite and stay at the Virgin River Casino tonight for about $30 total. Then head to Hurricane early tomorrow morning and check in at the Super 8 (usually around $45). From there, I'll make the last 25 minute trip to the park itself and probably get in one or two hikes, with at least one being a hike I've never done before. I also want to stop at the back-country desk at the visitor's center and inquire about two hikes I've been thinking about. One is the east rim trail and the other is the La Verkin trail in the Kolob Canyon area, both of which would take my ENTIRE Thursday to do and still leave me with the 3.5 hour drive back to Vegas. So I kind of doubt if I'll try either, but I at least want to inquire about them for future trips.

Assuming I don't do either of those back-country hikes, the hikes I want to look into this trip will be the Hidden Canyon and Angel's Landing hikes. The Narrows is also one I haven't done yet, but that's weather dependant. It involves wading through a river practically the entire hike and with the drop in temperatures lately, I'm not sure I want to risk hypothermia.

Anyway, wish me luck during the "weekend"!

$6 six and eight

Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight.

Craps is, by far, the most difficult and complicated table game to deal in the entire casino. Even the most novice player can usually tell that its a damn hard skill to master and most people don't even realize most of the complicated intricacies that go with being a dice dealer from day-to-day.

A $216 place bet on the six or eight pays $252.

I didn't have to think about that....I just know. I know because I've had to pay it before and I've remembered ever since.

Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight.

I'm officially sick of dealing dice at my current casino. The trouble with dealing craps on the Strip is that the huge majority of players on the Strip are just there to have a little fun and get as many "free" drinks from the cocktail service as they can. They're not there to actually win money! So instead of getting smart players who will press their bets either fully or a unit or two at a time on a hot roll, I'll get idiots every single day who will refuse to press their bets AT ALL, even on an hour long roll!! I'll even try to sell the players on the press sometimes and will actually hear "oh, every time I try to do that they roll a 7". Good grief. So instead of easily making a grand or more on an hour long roll, most players will be up a couple hundred, and then stick around for more free drinks and lose it all back! That's why, instead of getting presses up to a $210 place bet on the six or eight, I will get.........

Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight. Six dollars on the six and eight.

Rant over!

Vacation is Over.....back in Vegas.

Just got back into Vegas last night after a fun-filled trip to Ohio. I'm still a little groggy this morning since I'm actually awake at 9:30am Pacific time after only 3 hours of sleep due to my body still thinking its 12:30pm Ohio time! I'll run down a quick list of activities during my time off:
- Hiked Bristlecone Loop at Mt. Charleston before going to Ohio since my "weekend" just happened to occur the two days before my vacation actually started.
- Went to the Ohio State vs. Eastern Michigan game with my sister.
- Went to the Roger Waters concert in Cleveland with my friend Matt who drove up from Columbus.
- Got together with a few high school friends in Sandusky for dinner/drinks.
- Road-tripped with the Columbus Gang to Champaign for the Ohio State vs. Illinois game. It was a 3-day, 2-night stay in Illinois but still went lightning quick!
- Over the course of the trip I was able to make it to two Sandusky stapled that I NEVER miss.....Cameo Pizza downtown and Toft's Dairy on route 6. I also played a TON of Scrabble with my mom including a rare tie! We both had the same score at the end and we both had the same one unplayable letter in our rack (it was a 'u').

I did take a few pictures of the hike and I'd say about 20 pictures during the Illinios trip, but I didn't really go nuts with the pictures. Maybe I can get a few on here if I find the time during the next couple of days.

My cell phone has given me a very solid 3.5 years of service, but its time to officially retire it. It started acting a bit funny in Illinois and I've noticed the sound quality of people I talk to taking a nosedive. So I promised Danielle that at my earliest convenience I'd get online and order a new phone. With an online discount and a new 2-year contract, I should get a pretty decent phone for free.....as long as I can figure out how to activate it on my own and transfer my contact list over.

I work 1-9pm today on the floor at the casino, but I don't know ANY of my schedule after that. I'll look at it when I go in today, but I'm almost certain I'll be working 8 days in a row! It's just the oddity of taking a vacation. Hopefully I'll get good news today about a week off that I requested for January. The Christmas family reunion this year just happens to fall on the 2nd Saturday of January, so hopefully I'll be able to make it back to Ohio and celebrate Christmas for the first time since moving to Vegas. Fingers crossed!

A New Cat

Believe it or not, I have relented and have decided that a new cat to the household will be a welcome addition. We have an awesome dog and a cat already, but I don't think one more kitty will be too bad. Danielle and I will be travleing to the animal shelter around 11am Sunday to pick up the new addition, although she'll have the fun part of bringing kitty home while I have to go to work! We've got the cat's safe room all worked out. It'll be my bathroom......so we'll be sharing a bathroom for the foreseeable future until the new kitty settles in and is eventually introduced to the existing animals.

Wish us luck in our decision making!