Day 10
Well this is it, time to go home. I was up bright and early this morning at 8am. After getting ready and packing my final items I tried to check out but the TV system was down. It didn’t really matter though since I actually had this room for today too. I was on my way to the valet to pick up my car and it seemed kind of slow, but it was a busy Monday morning. I actually left the hotel at 9:30am and my flight is at 12:57pm. I had to run a few errands before heading home and if time permits I will stop at the Hard Rock to use a free bet coupon and a $20 food coupon.
I had plenty of time to stop at the Hard Rock for lunch. I needed something quick and easy so I got chicken tenders and an iced tea. I didn’t come anywhere near the $20 the coupon was good for but that was ok since I was heading home. Normally I would have ordered something else to take with me.
When I was done with lunch I played my $25 free bet on blackjack. I was dealt ace, nine against a dealer 6. I was already counting my money on this one when the dealer turned over a 10 but then he hit it with a 4 for a 20 and a push. The next hand I was dealt 10, 3 against a dealer 10. Figuring I was going to bust I took a hit and drew an 8 for 21. This was a good thing because the dealer was sitting on a 20. I took my chip and cashed out at the cage for another winning day, as small as it was and it was off to the airport.
I dropped the car at Avis and reported that the car had a shake. The guy said he’d have the shop take a look at it but somehow I’m doubtful. The shuttle was there waiting for me and in a few minutes I was in the terminal. The lines weren’t too bad to check in. Security was another story. The security line for A & B terminal were through the winding ropes, out into the area all of the way past the escalator. It moved pretty well though despite passengers trying to bring water with them. Are these people living under rocks that they don’t know liquids aren’t allowed anymore? I guess the over flowing trash cans of water bottles weren’t enough of a hint and the TV monitor showing no liquids wasn’t enough of a hint either. Then there are the people that bitch about taking off their shoes. Just do it so the line keeps moving you turds.
After getting through security I made it through the terminal to my gate. This wing of the terminal was packed as there were 3 flights departing at the same time. Today I’m on flight 418 with America West. This flight connects in Phoenix. I don’t usually take connecting flights but for a free ticket with miles I’ll suffer through it.
I had about a 1 hour lay over and my connecting flight is on America West flight 683 and is scheduled to depart at 3:08pm. From Phoenix it’ll take me all of the way to Newark. Again there was a slight delay for this flight and we left almost 2 hours later than planned. This flight was delayed because of high air traffic in the Newark area. The flight itself was uneventful. The only problems were the kid in the back row that would randomly scream at the top of her lungs. There was also an asshole sitting behind me that had to repeatedly tap his foot on the floor the whole way home. Just so you know the floors in planes are pretty thin and his tapping was going right up through my seat. When he wasn’t doing this he was either kicking my seat or pulling on it every time he needed to adjust himself.
When I got to Newark I made a pit stop. When I got the baggage claim my small bag was out already. But then I waited, and waited, and waited for my larger bag. It never showed up. An agent asked if I was still waiting for a bag and I said yes. She told me to go into the office because there were no more. This was about 45 minutes after my first bag came out. In the office they started taking my information when another agent had my bag. She said it was on the belt the whole time. I looked at her in a pretty stern voice said “The f*ck it was”. Then she changed her story and said it was on the floor next to the belt. Apparently someone took it off thinking it was theirs and didn’t put it back. This also told me that this bag was out and taken off the conveyor before I even got there because I never saw it go by me. After I finally got my bags and wasted an hour I hopped on the monorail to Avis.
I have a full sized car reserved for $72. I also have some $25 coupons that will save me some money. I saw my name and space number on the screen and saw they reserved me a Chevy Trail Blazer. This is quite an upgrade (which I’m supposed to get for being Preferred Select – when available). It was a little beat and had 15,000 miles it. It also sounded like a toy airplane winding up when you stepped on the gas. It rode smooth though and all I needed it for was to go 75 miles.
Traffic was clear the whole way home and I pulled into the driveway at about 2am as this, my greatest winning trip ever came to an end. Getting home at 2am wouldn’t have been so bad but I had to work in the morning and I star at 5:45am. Fortunately for me I only had to work ½ a day.
Total win/loss for the day $25
Final Thoughts
Eff Yous
Total win/loss for the trip $9075
Monday October 23, 2006
Total comps for the day $ 395
Total comps for the trip $5158
Total comps for the trip without rooms $989