It's much larger in person, the camera subtracts this case and makes Excalibur appear nicer than it actually is.
My first trip to Las Vegas began on this day in 1997. Oddly, I was going there for my employer and not on a vacation.
Quick back story…
By now, PowerComputing’s business and call volume had grown so the wise executive caste decided to outsource some of it. They managed to convince founder/big boss Kahng that this would be cheaper (an outright lie) and never mind that the decision makers were former employees of SoftBank, the winning bidder for PCC’s lucrative business. Could’ve been worse since SoftBank had a larger operation in Buffalo, NY.
This tiger isn't Montecore, the one who hurt Roy.
I was the lucky employee chosen to live out of a hotel room in Vegas for a month. During the first two weeks, my assignment was to assist the trainers get the initial batch of technical agents ready with co-workers Torrance and Mel. The last two weeks had me and my immediate boss Larry stick around as an onsite help desk. We would also give our assessments of Softbank to Kris of vendor management.
“Excited to go,” was an understatement. I had never been to Las Vegas and it was my first work trip in five years. When my brother was an Systems Engineer at Apple, he got to travel pretty often and I was jealous. He always told me how much he hated it and said all hotel rooms look the same. Not me, I jump at any chance to break the routine.
It wasn’t a perfect situation due to two ugly factors creating a cloud of apprehension. Firstly, my grandfather had been diagnosed with terminal cancer since May but there was no clear assessment on how much longer he’d live. There was a chance he could have died in the middle of this project. Secondly was the ongoing battle over outsourcing. Nobody wants to help train the replacements if they’re going to take away jobs from coworkers or yourself. Rob (Head of Training) addressed this by saying these agents would be handed the legacy products and they’d pitch in when we were too busy. I didn’t believe it because all incoming calls after 6 PM and during weekends were outsourced regardless of the situation.
If those two sources of anguish weren’t enough, PowerComputing’s bright future was starting to dim. People in non-essential roles (HR, IT, administrative, etc.) were being silently canned every week to make the bottom line look better for the potential IPO. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Gil Amelio was struggling with Steve Jobs trying take command. Jobs publicly stated his hatred of licensing earlier so we knew he’d do everything possible to hurt PCC, Umax and everyone else manufacturing Mac OS-compatible computers. Those arrangements were made by his predecessors, I think Spindler and maybe Scully thought about it.
Vegas Vic, one of the icons of the city.
Still I flew out to Las Vegas full of anticipation. I had never been there and the recent movie Swingers made it sound awesome despite the main characters’ segment ending on a sour note; practically everybody has seen it. The three of us (Torrance, Mel and I) arrived on a Sunday night so we got to see the Strip in all its neon glory. It’s much, much larger than it appears on TV and film. We were all too excited and famished to unwind properly from the long flight. As soon as we secured our stuff at the hotel (the Howard Johnson’s on Tropicana what a dump!), we bolted on foot to see the Strip. It was amazing with all the lights, the traffic, the sound and how immense each casino was. We only made it as far north as Monte Carlo due to jet lag and hunger.
The next two weeks were very memorable, especially after Rob convinced our superiors to let us have a rental car. The executives’ cheap-ass strategy of hitching rides from Softbank employees was insulting. Kris was my main guide one evening and she demonstrated how she’s the luckiest person I know at gambling. After having dinner at Treasure Island, where we received a funny peek into the future on what her 10-year-old daughter Kelly would be like at 13, Kris won $100 at video poker in Caesar’s Palace! I remember the machine running out of quarters too. The nice attendant helped us, then left his pass-key. We panicked and flagged him back—there’s cameras everywhere and I think we naively believed the Outfit still ran things. Besides gambling, everybody took in as much of the Strip and Fremont they could after work. Torrance was the only one bold enough to risk his own money gambling. Back then, I was somewhat intimidated and I hadn’t learned the maxim of gambling I live by now: take out a set amount of money you can afford and classify it as “lost” no matter what happens. The two times I actually did try, I lost a grand total of 30 bucks and I knew immediately I would never have a gambling problem; I was so pissed at losing.
What happened to PCC in Vegas was rather unpleasant and I’ll save it for the story on how Apple put the knife to them in September. I want to focus on the awesome time I had as my initial experience.
Tom Jones still packs them in.
When the Strip grew stale (I never liked Fremont, especially after Glitter Gulch), I tried to get my life into a better routine. Dining out constantly wore thin; doing laundry was a hassle, especially with SoftBank’s insulting dress code; I was more Internet dependent than most people at the time so I was jonsin’ for my weekly online chat with Helen. Kris managed to get me a modem later on to help (wireless with broadband was a few years away). She wasn’t the only lucky person in Vegas though, I got to see Tom Jones at the MGM, the Simpsons’ replica/prize house in nearby Henderson and Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere. My entire diet and exercise routine went down the tubes thanks to jet lag, buffets and no safe places to jog. I did walk and swim whenever I had the chance.
A Japanese rock band making a video on Fremont.
It grew to be an odd place by the third week. There’s coin-operated gambling everywhere: the laundromat, the Denny’s near SoftBank, every gas/convenience store I stopped at, the airport, etc. Residents said these machines used to be in the bathrooms. I think they were kidding. The only location I recall being gambling-free was McDonald’s. Vegas’ other oddity was the music being piped in anywhere you go and most of it was good a variety. The 10,000 Maniacs cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This” remains a Vegas association.
I was more than ready to come home to Austin when my four weeks ended. PCC was pretty punctual in reimbursing me the five grand I had to cover in food, housing and transportation. I bought a suitcase to bring back a small haul of gifts for friends; I know there were at least two additional Tom Jones T-shirts my coworkers wanted. The recovery was short lived with PCC’s fate decided after Labor Day, the Princess Diana Death Circus and Grandpa’s impending passing. At least I had my fill of Las Vegas for about several years. I had tons of stories to tell my friends about the place along with all the enticing I continued to pitch to make them accompany me next time. I know Jose was interested and by the time I returned in 2003, all the ugliness of the past was purged. I’ve had a great time there ever since yet I never regretted my weird four-week immersion.