In the absence of a link from Ham I will start to put my thoughts down as a way of soothing my soul and gaining some sort of order.
The flight: is really a horror flight because not only are you in the air for 16 hours, but your also going backwards so it is dark all the way. Very discombobulating. You arrive before you left so you are really all over the place. My stick worked wonders in terms of pre boarding but the airports are extraordinarily gigormous so you’re walking for hours. For example to even pick up your luggage and get to the baggage claim in Vegas you have to walk miles, get on a train and then walk more miles. All through pokie machines of course. People tell you this but it still hits you between the eyes. The flights were very full of Americans returning home, including a very large and loud contingent of Mormon Missionaries, feeling over confident and telling everyone within earshot that they had been doing missionary work in Australia. Fuck me !!
Border control was not at all the shit show anticipaed. They didnt even look at my phone for fucks sake. Just asked me what I was doing here and told me to have a good time!
Anyway, long story short, I felt pretty good that I’d got to Vegas. I got a taxi from the airport which was advertised as $25 flat rate which very quickly turned into $35 US with a service charge and then a tip.
I was exhausted when I finally got to New York -New York which I thought was fully paid. Only to find that there was a resort tax of $45/day adding $408 US ($650 AUD) to my bill. By this time I was worn out and very upset by the additional charge. I sent an email to the travel agent, wanting an explanation for this. We’ll see what happens there. I must say that at this point my great support team in Melbourne came to the rescue and told me to just get on with it which sent me off to get a cocktail and a chat with two American women who just love Vegas and come here around 3 times a year. They gave me some tips and I actually felt better. I explored this site and went across to MGM Grand. Its over 100F outside so there is no way I’d be walking too far.
It’s a mind blowing affair this place. Its one big Casino. And its all electronic gambling. The bars have gambling installed at each seat and as long as you are gambling they give you free drinks. (I’m not gambling), I asked the women where the Casino was and they laughed hysterically telling me I was in it! There are some blackjack tables but the roulette is now just electronic machines. No temptation for me there.I also saw some poker tables but am far too intimidated to go there.
I have to process all this some more, its beyond my tired old brain today.