Our annual vacation together almost slipped through because of other obligations (namely house/catsitting), work (Somara’s on a project, I’m trying for at least two promotions), Summer movies and whatever. We finally put plans into action which required some karma, aka begging for schedule exceptions…and we are now set for Las Vegas, what a shock, I know.
However, it is quite appropriate for us to go there. Today we made our last payment on the second timeshare deed! Somara and I now have a permanent place there for one week, every year! We must pay annual fees (NV property taxes, maintenance) but that’s a walk in the park compared to the loans, owning a house or worse, many timeshares are often indefinite leases. I must pat us on the back too. When we were there at this exact time last year (how I clearly remember constantly seeing clusters of Canucks, Bruins, Heat and Mavericks jerseys), Tahiti Village offered the new deed at half price right as the first was about to be paid off. I waffled, told the sales guys I needed to confer with Somara in private since I figured we’d stick to the plan I laid out weeks earlier; after the timeshare, the next debt to tackle was the car. Never mind the math/forecasting gears in my head churning away and stating this was doable: at best $200 every two weeks plus windfalls (tax refunds, escrow refunds) it could killed off in a year, at worst $100/month having this take about as long as the previous contract, about five years. Somara just turned her head and said, I’m sold. Once I gave the strategy to everybody at the table, we signed and we succeeded.
Did we really do it in a year? Yes, give or take a few days. I consider the 15% down payment we had to make before we leaving TV’s offices the starting point, not the first online transaction due in August 2011. If we were behind, I’d fudge it back to August though!
Moving along…
What’s on the agenda? Originally it was going to be Peter Gabriel at Planet Hollywood performing So in its entirety but with the track order reversed, “Red Rain” would be the opener yet the closer is debatable; he changed it for the 2002 remaster/re-issue. Peter also promised new material. The $260/ticket before Ticketmaster’s gouging for Row Q in section 103, good not great, was a bit too rich for our middle-class blood. We could swing it if we really wanted to, the vacation fund is pretty healthy this year. Instead we’re going to see another Eighties fave, Adam Ant at the Hard Rock. The artists are worlds apart and have radically different core audiences, the latter just has a stronger personal, very memorable connection for me. C’mon, how many people can say they went to a 1983 New Wave show with their high school principal? (Thumbs pointed to myself), this guy! With the money we’re saving, catching Hall & Oates is another possibility, all these artists had hit records out in 1982: Friend or Foe, Security (aka Peter Gabriel IV) and H2O.
Besides paying our respects to Prince Charming, we’ll be doing something different at the Las Vegas Gun Store. Somara wants to try out their Tommy Gun and I have two paper Cylon targets to blast. Now I must research which Terran firearms are the closest equivalents of Colonial weapons to kill Toasters with. The Pinball Hall of Fame is another repeat trip, prove the theories about each machine being different as I compare how their Star Trek 25th Anniversary and South Park handle compared to Pinballz’s.
As always, we’re open to reading your suggestions and taking your wagers.
The R-rated fun kicks off in 95 days.