Day 20
Tuesday January 5, 2010
Well today is moving day. Sadly it’s not to another hotel, it is home. We were up early to finish up packing our things and to head out. The first stop we made was to the airport to check in for the flight and to make sure there were no delays. Checking in was easy and there were no lines at the Continental area so this only took a few minutes.

Next up was a quick stop at Steve & Anne’s house to leave off a few items for storage and a few items for her to have. Steve always gets a kick out of all the goodies we leave for them.

We still had plenty of time before we had to be at the airport and we hungry. I suggested we go to the Silverton and have breakfast since we weren’t far from there. I had a sausage and cheddar omelet and Dee had a standard sausage and egg breakfast. The food here was tasty and our server was very good. It was a good way to end the trip by having a nice comped breakfast.

From here it was off to the gas station to gas up the car and then head to the rental car facility. Dropping off the rental car was quick but the computers were down at Avis and I wasn’t confident that things were going to be correct when my final bill was e-mailed. When I arrived home I did see that they didn’t enter the correct return time and I was dinged for an extra hour on my rental as well as taxes and customer facility fee. I’m NOT happy about this and along with a letter to Avis about the crap I dealt with in Newark a few weeks ago I will include this. I’m getting tired of big businesses effing the little guy and I’m not taking the crap anymore.

The shuttle bus ride back to the airport was entertaining as the driver was funny and made everyone laugh.

Security at the airport was the typical crap. I can’t understand how people don’t know they have to take off their shoes and can’t bring liquids thought security. The biggest hold up in security today was a lack of TSA agents. They had on agent checking ID’s for every two security lines. At times the metal detectors and x-ray machines were waiting for people but there were 100’s lined up waiting to get to that point.

We made it through security with no issues and headed to the monorail. While we were on there a lady in a wheel chair was brought in and when we arrived 2 ignorant people decided they were more important to get off the monorail first instead of letting her be wheeled off and proceeded to slam their luggage into her chair and force their way off the car. What assholes.

Our flight is scheduled to leave at 11:50am and arrive in Newark at 7:44pm. The meal on the flight was a cheeseburger by Pierre. It was really tasty for a pre made burger. The movie was Fame. We were both having some sinus issues most likely because of the smoke at Main Street Station. Dee wanted to get some Sudafed but it would have required another stop at a pharmacy so she got us some Benedry at the Silverton “gift shop”. This stuff is instant sleep for me and I slept almost the whole flight between the effect of the pill sand only getting a few hours of sleep the night before. The flight was smooth and uneventful for the little bit of it I was awake for.

The flight home is quite a bit faster than the flight out to Vegas which is fine with me. I’m the type of person that if vacation is over, then just get me the eff home! We landed in Newark early but our gate was blocked by 2 other flights so we had to wait to get into it. Dee had a connection in Terminal A back to Canada. I couldn’t wait too long with her because I had to go claim my luggage. This is the worst part of the trip for sure. Our gate was right next to the exit for her shuttle bus over to A terminal so we said our sad goodbyes and she went on her way to the bus and I went to baggage claim.

Baggage claim was bad tonight and it took 45 minutes before had my bag and headed to the monorail and to Avis. I reserved a full sized car with a discount code through my job for a price of $54. My name was up on the scoreboard and I was off to my car in space 296. This pisses me off that my car is out in the middle of nowhere when I’m preferred and there are no less than 20 empty paces in the preferred section. In my letter to them about the incorrect fees they will be hearing about this too. They assigned me a Nissan Rouge with 25,000 miles on it in decent shape considering it had so many miles on it shape. After loading in my bags and looking the car over, I was on my way. The ride home included a stop at McDonald’s where I loaded up on bad foods for the rest of the drive. At about 10:30 I pulled into my driveway as the 12th Annual Christmas/Birthday trip came to a close.

Shortly after I got a text from Dee saying she was back in Canada and a little while later I got one telling me she was back home safe and the trip was now officially over.

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total comps for the day $18

Final Thoughts

• Flying has become a major hassle between asshole passengers, security, and fees
• M is my new favorite hotel
• M has the friendliest staff of any hotel I’ve ever stayed in
• Two night hotel stays really suck
• It was good to see Gary again
• I get some amazing hits on penny slots
• It was good to see Ned the dealer over at Paris
• I like to spend a few days in Laughlin without the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas
• Ten Play video poker is a lot of fun
• The staff at Aquarius was quite friendly
• We ate like pigs this trip
• Main Street Station is still a favorite of mine even though things aren’t the same
• We didn’t get to as many things as we’d hoped to
• Coupons are still a great way to save money
• Match plays coupons are becoming more and more of a hassle to use
• We didn’t get to use nearly as many coupons as I’d hoped
• We went 14 for 35 on match plays and only won $15 and it wasn’t worth the effort and sweaty pit critters to play them
• Tony Orlando puts on a good show
• It was neat to go to a hockey game at midnight
• It was good to finally see Barry Manilow at the Hilton but I feel it’s VERY overpriced. He moves to Paris Las Vegas in March
• It was neat being able to watch the NYE fireworks from our room & on TV
• The Market Street Café at the California is still a favorite of mine
• I hate that the Baja Beach Café is now a Denny’s at Fiesta Henderson
• We played about 140,000 hands of video poker and only hit 2 royals
• The weather was really nice in the 60’s most days
• This trip brings my Las Vegas record to 24 – 15 – 1
• The next trip will be in June/July 2010

Eff Yous

• Eff you to Avis for yet again effing up my rate from Newburgh to Newark
• Eff you to Continental for luggage fees
• Eff you to the dummies that tried to bring all of their luggage through security
• Eff you to people that walk super slow & 4 across so no one can get by them
• Eff you to $30 breakfasts (even if they are comped)
• Eff you to Let’s Make a Deal for canceling all shows until December 28th
• Eff you to the lady at Fiesta Henderson the held her cigarette in Dee’s face
• Eff you to Orleans housekeeping for slamming dresser drawers in rooms
• Eff you to the guy that stole Dee’s chip at the roulette table
• Eff you to casinos that sweat coupon play
• Eff you to the people on the plane that forced their way past a wheel chair lady
• Eff you to the guy that clammed in napkin and threw it on the floor at Main Street Station
• Eff you to Stations for replacing their cafes with chain restaurants
• Eff you to McCarran airport for only having 1 TSA agent per 2 lines
• Eff you to casinos and restaurants that short staff their places and cause log lines and waits
• Eff you to the Cannery for advertising things that weren’t in effect yet
• Eff you to people that feel they are exempt from returning to their seats when the captain turns on the seatbelt sign
• Eff you to trips that fly by!
• Eff you to me for getting killed the last night

Total win/loss for the trip -$2700
Total comps for the trip $4455
Total comps without rooms $2646