Greetings From Las Vegas

Good morning from seat 7F, cruising at 35,000 feet. I’m typing this aboard our non-stop Southwest flight to Las Vegas. Outside the plane, the Sun is shining. Puffy white clouds sit thousands of feet below. The ride is smooth.

As is customary on getaway day, we were up early. Very early. Outside, it was pouring. The Accuweather meteorologist on WCBS (they hide the fact that it’s Accuweather providing their forecasts since co-owned WINS has promoted Accuweather exclusivity for years) said there were thunderstorms and flooding in the area.

With a plethora of unused cell phone minutes, I transferred our home phone to my cell number. We’ll see how that works.

Instead of pulling the car out front, I loaded the bags in the garage. Farther to carry, but worth it to stay dry. If I needed to, I could have rearranging for more room, but with casual throws, the bags filled the rear of the Explorer.

It’s a holiday, so the traffic was light. Parking the car and the ride to the terminal were uneventful. Checking the bags was not.

We have locks on our bags. The locks are approved by the TSA and their employees are supposed to have master keys. The screener said he could get a key, but it would be easier if we’d unlock them and he’d see they were locked before hitting the log flume ride they take on their way to the plane.

As Helaine watched, they went through the X-Ray machine and then onto the belt without being relocked. By the time she told me, they were on their way downstairs – unlocked.

It’s not as if someone wants to steal my underwear, but there are some valuable items in there. It was out of the TSA’s control. If Southwest wanted to help, they could… and they did.

My hero is Jeanette, a counter agent at Southwest. She went downstairs and found my bags. And, when the lock wouldn’t work, she called the desk and asked me to help her on the phone.

There’s another reason to like Jeanette. This morning at 12:01 AM, I went on Southwest’s website to print boarding passes. Helaine and Steffie got into Group “A”. Because my ticket used a paper frequent flyer voucher, I couldn’t get a pass. When Jeanette saw our plight, she hand wrote a note on my boarding pass to let us go together.

Neither task was a big deal, but she did both with a smile, even though she was working at an ungodly hour on, what to most folks was, a holiday morning. She is part of the reason we have switched our allegiance to Southwest. There will be a note sent to Southwest commending her when we return.

The flight got off on time.

I like to sleep while flying, and did sleep a little, but this was a “Gus Souflas” flight. Gus is… or probably was a pilot for a major airline. One day, as my friend Howard flew coast-to-coast, Gus decided to note the crossing of every state boundary.

Today’s pilot was on the PA four or five times, always ending with the exact distance to Las Vegas.

From the air it’s astounding to see how much of the country looks empty. No disrespect to folks who live in the ‘great flyover’ but there does seem to be loads of unused space.

We flew south of Denver, over Colorado Springs. As we crossed the Rockies, there were still lots of snow covered peaks. No mountain was ‘capped’ with snow, like an idyllic picture of Mt. Fuji, but there were many veins of white.

We got to Las Vegas right on time. There’s construction in the baggage claim area and things were really jammed up. Thankfully, all our bags came – though the locks never were locked on one of the bags.

We went to Dollar to get our car. We had reserved a Dodge Intrepid, or similar. They were out of that class of car, so they said take a Pacifica – a car I’d never heard of, but turns out to be a six passenger, roomy cross between a van and SUV.

When we went to check out, the amount on our contract was different than what we were quoted. Unreal! It always happens. Is this a scam or what?

I had to go back to the office and work it out, which removes the advantage of being a Dollar Fast Lane member. But, things are now correct – and the car is nice.

My parents are seeing Mama Mia tonight at Mandalay Bay. The tickets were on Helaine’s name. So, we stopped there (and I double parked in what looked like a bus area) and she went to the box office. Then we stopped at Walgreen’s for a few cases of water.

I have never seen Las Vegas more crowded. It’s unreal. The sidewalks are jammed with people and Las Vegas Boulevard moved at a crawl. We turned in to the Mirage valet area and ended up in a long line of cars. Helaine got out while I made my way to the front of the line.

Helaine says nothing she asked for was here! Not a room near the elevator. Not two rooms nearby – one for us, one for Steffie and her friend Ali. Not a Strip view.

Still, the room is very nice. After all, it’s the Mirage – one of the most beautiful hotels in Las Vegas.

On the way to the room we ran into my folks and then my sister and brother-in-law. Only Cousin Michael, Melissa and Max are AWOL. I’m sure we’ll see them soon.

Meanwhile, a call to the Bell Desk says it will be at least 30 minutes until we get our bags! Helaine can’t wait. She’s showering. I’m writing.

More later from Fabulous Las Vegas.

Vacation Madness Begins

I’m not quite sure why, but I am looking forward to our vacation next week more than I usually do. I have literally been counting the days (as has my daughter – or so I’ve been told by those who see her IM away message).

I mentioned this fond anticipation to someone at work. It’s unusual. I always enjoy vacations but seldom look forward to them quite this much. I really enjoy my job and never mind going to work, so it’s not that. It’s not like I’m lifting boxes in a warehouse for a living.

Certainly, I enjoy Vegas (we’re on a first name basis). We go every summer. This trip will be a little different. Not only will Helaine and I be going, so will Steffie. Our friends John and Cheryl and their daughter Ali will be flying out with us too.

There’s more! My folks, sister and brother-in-law, two cousins and their young son are also coming along.

With my diet a success (down 26 pounds and holding), I intend on indulging myself… partaking of Las Vegas’ particular form of excess in cuisine. Hey, it’s only a week. I can go back on the diet when we return.

No, I will go back on the diet when we return.

Helaine has started getting organized. Some people pack light for trips – not us. I will not complain or argue. If I did, Helaine would ask (and has asked) if I wanted to get us ready? No, I do not. She can pack as much as she pleases – it’s fine with me. I will carry each and every ounce and smile as I do it.

I have a few little things I’m doing. We needed an audio splitter for a portable DVD player to keep Ali and Steffie entertained on the flight. Got it. A car needs some service. Arranged that today. I also took an old pair of glasses had them updated with my current prescription, so I have a spare.

Batteries have been charged and organized. That’s a real pain. Every piece of electronic equipment from camera to camcorder to computer to DVD player uses a different battery! I might have to pack an extension cord to give me enough outlets to plug everything in!

And then, there’s the Sony laptop.

It’s still in the hospital. It seems like we might know what is wrong – a burned out bulb. This very special tube arrived today, FedEx’ed overnight from California. By the time it hit our front step, it was too late for me to bring it to the hospital, so Helaine drove it to Orange. She said the place was jammed.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, every other possible solution is too expensive to think about. Helaine reminded the ‘doctors’ that I must have the computer by Saturday – but who knows? Meanwhile, I have configured an older backup machine to make the trip, just in case.

Both Helaine and I have become totally dependent on having a PC at the ready. It hasn’t taken that many years for this to go from an interesting lug-a-long to a near necessity. Ditto for cell phones. Except for my folks and young cousin, everyone will be packing a phone.

We arrive in Las Vegas a week too early to try out the new monorail. We are, however, going in time to see the new light show downtown on Fremont Street.

I am looking forward, very much, to playing poker. On-line poker has been good training. I’ve played a lifetime of hands over the last year. How will I do in real brick and mortar casinos with regulars who used to wait all year to pocket my money? I don’t know. I want to win. More importantly, I want to play well.

Even before I had a blog, I filed trip reports while on vacation. This year will be no exception. Hopefully, it will all be good news with neat photos.

Blogger’s note: A neat part of having a blog is the ability to look back at what I wrote earlier. Last year’s Vegas vacation is just a click away.

Birthday Tradition

Every family has its traditions and ours is no exception. One of our more recent traditions started three years ago when Steffie decided she’d like to have her birthday dinner at Lenny’s in Branford. The fact that Steffie wasn’t a seafood lover and Lenny’s is a seafood place left us confused at first. But, it was her birthday and her decision.

This year we brought along Steffie’s friend Ali. They have known each other since grade school.

Helaine and I have been going to Lennie’s since we came to Connecticut. My impression is that Al Blinke (now news director at KDKA in Pittsburgh, but then our assignment editor) led the way and everyone else just followed.

There is probably a Lenny’s-like place in every community. It’s the kind of restaurant that has grown successful in an organic way, with little planning. No one could put up a restaurant and say, “Let’s make it like Lenny’s.” It is, for the most part, unchanged since I’ve been going.

They still don’t take credit cards, and never took checks. There’s now an ATM machine, allowing Lenny to ‘sort of’ accept credit cards, make money on them, and still be in an all cash business.

Adjacent to a salt marsh in the Indian Neck section of Branford, the parking lot is gravel. It used to be dirt and as I remember was quite nasty after a heavy rain. Now, for the first time, there are lines painted on the gravel. This is a major improvement.

During the summer, on the weekend, you just can’t get near the place. It is jammed without fail.

What makes Lenny’s is the seafood, especially shellfish – specifically lobster (the photo on the left shows live lobsters – even a box of 5 pounders – squirming around in the freezer). I don’t think I’ve ever ordered anything but the “Shore Dinner” which is corn on the cob, clam chowder (New England or Rhode Island), two clams on the half shell, steamers, a lobster, a huge slice of watermelon and coffee. Helaine gets bisque and fried shrimp. It’s always great.

Today, since Helaine had gotten a birthday cake for Steffie, I came off my diet. I’m down 25 pounds, my goal, and have been stuck for a while around 175 pounds. Still, I’ll be back on tomorrow.

Being off the diet allowed me to have birthday cake and corn (and some oyster crackers – what the hell).

Earlier, when Steffie had opened her presents, she was happy with every gift. Now, she and we were happy with dinner. It was a great day.

Stefanie’s turning 17 was a lot easier on me than I feared it would be.