I’m like a bird

So how do I celebrate/relax/whatever now that the Olympics are over? How about racking up more than 5,000 miles on Delta in a week. It was a wild travel week that really only came together after I had come back from my NJ-DC double shot just a month ago.

The first part of the trip was to talk to some people at a company near a large Otis elevator shaft and Lake Compounce theme park (where I ended up for that company’s picnic by some fluke). Those who can put it together will have an idea of where I went. I’ll have more updates on the actual business part of that trip later on when events warrant.

I got to that part of the trip by flying Song, Delta’s “low fare” offshoot airline. After that trip, I felt ripped off having to fly the mother ship home (and on the second half of my frequent flyer week). The no first-class thing was cool, mainly because everyone gets those leather-type seats.

But the real kicker is the Dish Network at each seat (rivaling JetBlue's offering of DirecTV). While I did watch a little TV on the flight (although no USA Network to catch up on the US Open), I spent most of my time dominating an NTN-like music trivia game -- multiple choice, touch screen to select answers, your seat number is listed alongside your score/answer/etc. I was waiting for one of my fellow passengers to come over and see who was going Ken Jennings on him or her.

Song also had a bunch of streaming audio channels, which were slightly better than the prepackaged music selections on your favorite airlines, if only because the playlists were longer, not necessarily better. In some cases, the music channels played full albums, which was nice; other times, it was just a mishmash sorta under one umbrella (for instance, the rock channel somehow included AC/DC, Hole, Warrant and Creed all in the same mix). The ‘80s channel had three albums streamed: Born in the USA, Night and Day, and Colour by Numbers. Guess which one I actually own? Sad, ain’t it.

Part 2: Vegas, baby, Vegas

The second trip of the week had me flying out to Las Vegas for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference. Somehow because of schedules, I have now attended it on an every-other-year basis. Instead of it being in Chicago as in years past, it went out to Sin City, partly because it coincided with another event run by the organizers. But, heck, it was in Vegas, that’ll bring people out there, and it attracted a record number of companies, including one that stuck to the Vegas theme by trotting out a bunch of girls to sell itself (unfortunately, I have zero idea of what they do, but the thought was nice).

I got into Vegas in the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, and avoided the temptation to lose money at the slots in the airport. However, I did take advantage of another amenity at McCarran -- the ability to check into my hotel room at the Flamingo from their desks in the baggage claim area. It also got me access to the airport shuttle to get me to the hotel in just a few minutes (as opposed to the hour or so it took one of my colleagues because it stopped everywhere on the Strip).

Once I walked seemingly a mile across the sixth floor of the hotel to get to my room, it was on to exploring the area before the conference started. I hadn’t been in Vegas in more than 15 years (to put it into perspective, the Mirage was still being built when I was there), so it was a lot different than I remembered, but I also knew there was plenty to keep me occupied.

I ended up walking the Strip north from the Flamingo to Circus Circus in 105-degree heat (which honestly didn’t seem anywhere as uncomfortable walking the 6-7 blocks from the Washington Plaza to the Washington Convention Center in icky DC humidity last month). I stopped at a few casinos here and there, doing well at video poker at Caesar’s Palace and breaking even for the most part on the slots and such everywhere else. I also partook in the ¾-pound hot dog at Westward Ho (Total cost with a soda: $2.50), which was worth every nickel, meaning it was cheap and tasted that way. Just imagine fusing together the contents of a few cans of Vienna sausages together and you got this hot dog.

The dinner to open the conference was fine (dang hot dog killed some of the appetite), and it was interesting to hear special guest Napoleon McCallum talk about his career and the gruesome injury that ended it.

After dinner, it was off to go bond with some of the other folks from the conference in a place that has to be seen to be believed (there is some stuff that stays in Vegas).

Most of Thursday was spent doing conference stuff, attending panels, etc. However, I was able to steal a few minutes to cash in my winnings at Caesar’s from the day before (and then win another $9 on video poker for good measure). And since it was the season opener for Northwestern and BC, of course I was going to put some money down for the heck of it. Now I know why I don’t usually bet on sports.

Both bets were more from the heart since I’m an NU alum and my brother is a BC alum. I didn’t realize BC was on the road at Ball State until it was too late, and by then, well, they didn’t cover the spread and they barely scored what the spread actually wasy.

As for NU-TCU, I missed most of the game because I was doing a fantasy draft (and putting together a really good team in the process -- which means I’ll go 4-9 or something like that), but I saw a few glimpses of early in the second half before going to the Hard Rock for dinner. I jumped over to the bar to check out the score, figuring I had lost for sure. Instead, I was floored to see the game go into overtime, and Brian Huffman mimicking NCAA 2005 Brian Huffman by missing short field goals all over the place. What made it worse was that I only had the money line on NU. So not only did my team lose, I didn’t even cash in on them covering the spread.

After deciding not to go partying again with some of the guys from the night before, I ended up doing a little walking down by some of the places I didn’t see the day before like the Bellagio, Paris and Bally’s. Eventually, I ended back at the Flamingo opting to play black jack instead of trying to get a couple of hours of sleep before having to catch a really early shuttle back to the airport. It paid off at the end as I won $150, more than making up for the botched football bets earlier in the evening. Sleep? That’s what the plane was for, and I think I did well on that end on my way home.

I’ve got a few pictures from the trip that may get posted one of these days. However, after that trip, I know I’ll be back in Vegas sooner rather than later. I still have the south part of the Strip, not to mention downtown, left to see.

A couple of other Vegas thoughts and observations:
-- I’ve never been on a flight that had as much energy as the one I took to Vegas, especially compared to the ones I’ve taken recently to places not Vegas.
-- It’s weird to see the dress code just go all over the place, even among some of the folks I was with. While most of us weren’t overly dressed up, a bunch of us did have the business casual going (at least at night) or casual business (replace the khakis with shorts or jeans, depending on your comfort with the heat). And then there were the t-shirts and workout shorts on some. And honestly, no one looked out of place, it just depended on where you went.
-- Maybe because I wasn’t in any hurry to get anywhere, but the Strip wasn’t too bad from a walking perspective. Vegas isn’t a New York in terms of walkability, but it serves a decent purpose, although I guess withstanding afternoon temperatures in the 90s and 100s isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
-- Did I mention that I want to go back?