Where the next Vegas Vacation will be, fingers crossed.
From now on you will probably think I’m an idiot. If you read about the previous day, I was grousing over having to sit through the timeshare spiel just so the wife could have cheap Mystère tickets. We went, it was amusing and to make this story shorter, the math and price were actually pretty good. You guessed it, I bought into it; Tahiti Village. Here are my reasons, or rationalizations if you prefer. We got the smallest and cheapest offering they had which was equal to the price of a cheap, compact car, more than an Aveo but less than a Yaris. It’s on South Las Vegas Boulevard putting the Strip a couple miles north of the place. One thing I really learned from the last Vegas trip, location matters, especially on foot. However, I didn’t need the presentation to convince me on how the hotel prices are still rising. I was here in 1997 when the vets complained about it being expensive then. Having a permanent spot at least every other year will be cheaper in the long run so the savings can be expended on a rental car if we don’t want to depend upon the shuttle bus. The place has a mini-kitchen, thus saving on overpriced meals such as breakfast.
Was I bullied or pressured? I’d say a bit because that “oh this offer is only good now, you can’t reconsider six months later.” They were still very upfront on how much money this would really run annually and monthly. We were accidently shrewd negotiators through our honesty. “We like it but we’re conservative with money,” was what we stuck by (and it’s true). I’m sure they’re still getting paid and making a profit but I’m not that cold. I discussed it with Somara about how this was feasible and would be better after we ditch some other luxuries (cable TV and D&D minis namely).
Thankfully my friend Nelson was available to talk me down from the buyer’s remorse I began to feel. He works for JP Morgan-Chase-etc, etc (as those banks keep merging). From my crude understanding of his job, he oversees business loans and in his years of experience, if a bad investment idea has appeared, he has seen it. When I asked about all the horror stories and those TV commercials (sell your timeshare to them), Nelson bluntly said that timeshares are only a waste of money if they’re not used. He stated how I love coming to Vegas and I’m pretty likely to utilize at every interval. What a relief!
With the investment portion of the day ended courtesy of a limo ride back to TI, I know, I’m an easily impressed bumpkin; we got bitchin’ seats to Mystère; seventh row on the left side. The French-speaking lady to my left and I panicked when one of the trapeze guys came close to swooping over our heads off (they don’t, it’s all calculated). I saw this show nine years ago and as I predicted, they changed it up some while keeping key features; the two strongmen from Portugal, the baby routines and the dream theme. That jerk with his ‘Five Hundy by Midnight’ podcast talked smack about Cirque long ago, saying they were weird and pretentious. I don’t think he gets it is his problem. There’s many elements of old Vaudeville in Cirque’s antics in addition to the traditional circus routines. Mystère is a great starter show for the uninitiated, namely for the comedy of the Baby and Usher characters. In 1997, they didn’t have the Usher. I think he’s an update to the show as a response to their critics through his bits poking fun at the program’s characters and usage of Cocteau Twins gibberish.
On the gambling front, I think I covered the hockey pretty well with the Week Eight update. We used the remainder of my $25 of free play joining the MGM-Mirage Players (Losing) club. I burned up half of it and won nine bucks. I gave the rest to Somara who won 14.75 thanks to her second four-of-a-kind hand. Second? I loaned her five to play while I played the free stuff. She was down to a buck until she nailed the first four-of-a-kind to gain back what I loaned her and then some, four bucks profit. I’ve tapped out everyone on the roulette front, not one winner I’m sorry to say. I’ll post all the results later. We took a shot on our number (27) before bed as an omen with the timeshare, I mean, pre-paid vacation plan. As you recall, our number is our wedding day. The result was 10. “Big deal!” you’re thinking. On the actual wheel, 10 is next to 27 so we were off by a fraction of a centimeter!
Finally, we got dressed up to see Cirque and forgot to get a photo. I clean up well if you’ve seen me. As guests of TI, we had free admission to their nightclub Tangerine. It’s one of those places that entices people to come over through cheesecake ads mainly aimed at desperate, horny men. “Hey, come here, you’ll see bare butts and breasts. You may even score.” Somara wrote her take on it being pretentious. I would only go with it being overpriced; $26 for two cosmopolitans but I did insist on them using Stoli vodka. I’ve been to more of the Strip’s clubs than Somara so to me Tangerine was a standard, expensive place peddling potential sex (fat chance guys), filled with drunk people who can’t dance. I should talk though, being a white male pushing 40 whose skill is limited to DDR. However, I do know one key element to any successful dancing: picking your feet up off the floor! Otherwise you’re imitating the Frankenstein monster running away from the villagers. Do the Herman Munster!
Day Four promises to be really impressive. That’s the evening of Somara’s big surprise. Some of you already know about it. We also hope to hook up with my co-worker Tony for at least one meal and fun.
GAMBLING REPORT
Somara: $17.75
Steve: -$16
I’ve got a nice bridge in New York you may be interested in buying…