Vegas Memories
It's Saturday morning here...and you know what means don't you?...that means it's time for "Let's Re-Visit BlogPosts From the Past!"
"Come on down....Sara... err...Lisa..uh...*flips card over*...yeah it was Sara back then...*ahem*...COME ON DOWN SARA!!"
*the crowd goes wild*
ok, so the crowd didn't really go wild. and anyone that wasn't around to read the change in my name a few months ago will have no idea what I'm going on about. Besides, is it such a bad thing to have a small element of mystery about me?
This is a post I published back in February this year....it's one of three that I wrote...all on the same day. Imagine that? Me posting 3 times in one day? The two readers I had way back then must've been beside themselves with joy about it. (Now, now, H&B and Bella don't look like that...I AM a joy to behold...admit it. *pokes tongue and grins*)
Oh dear, there I go doing all that digressing shit again...right....with a few tweaks here and there, let's just get on with it shall we?
*clears throat*
*****
Before I arrived in Canada last October, I stopped off in Vegas for 4 days first. My best friend has always wanted to go to Vegas, so we went.
I found it a loud, bright city that never goes to sleep but it was fun, and quite the experience. All those chandeliers in the lobby, the smiling croupieres, the swiftness of the card dealers, the cocktail waitresses wearing next to nothing (bonus no. 1); scantily dressed waitresses (bonus no. 1); said waitresses offering up free...yep FREE....cocktails (bonus no. 2); getting lost amongst the aisles of slot machines; going down to reception dressed in my pjamas to ask for another key because I'd locked myself out of my room; being ALLOWED to smoke indoors (bonus no.3); cocktail waitresses...oh.
My best friend had a 'thing' about the craps table. She spent most of the time we were in Vegas, propped up against it. Eventually, I pulled myself off thecocktail waitress roulette table and turned up beside her. Me: "Wha's sshup?!" Her: "Have you been drinking??" Me: "Well...Duhh!"
First time I’ve ever had a go at craps and oh my god... I had an amazing roll of luck. I continued to throw 7’s to the point where strangers were calling me “baby” and applauding! I threw the dice so many times I could feel my right bicep growing and I was working up a sweat. (I only hit my friend twice with them bouncing off the table...serves her right for standing at the opposite end of the table I reckon). The dealer continued to place the dice in front of me, just out of reach until I finally realised that each time I picked up the dice I was leaning forward just the right amount for him. One very intense look of "stop-perving-at-my-tits-you-wanker" aimed at him, was enough to have him start placing them in the right position for me, not for him.
My girlfriend spent that evening standing beside a member of the FBI, apparently there was a conference in town. Actually I’m not sure “standing beside” is the right phrase...she was batting her eyelashes, leaning against him, making innocent comments about handcuffs, and he was lapping it all up to the point where he was still there at the craps table at 8am the following morning. I know this because we had arranged to go to the Grand Canyon and the bus was picking us up at 6.15am. I basically swept passed the table enroute to the bus gathering her up along the way.
There really is no way to describe seeing the Grand Canyon. An absolutely spectacular sight. We could’ve quite happily sat there for hours just staring and taking it all in. The sun was shining brightly through the clouds, illuminating various parts of the canyon. Here I was, looking upon one of the 7 wonders of the natural world being highlighted by mother nature...it was breathtaking.
Back to Vegas...the streets were so very clean...do they have some special little elves hiding around every corner with brush and shovel? Do said elves leap out and sweep up cigarette butts and dropped candy wrappers, rushing back to their respective hidey holes again? We could’ve walked anywhere on Las Vegas Boulevard barefooted and returned to the hotel without anything but dust attached to the bottom of our feet.
I actually felt very secure in Vegas, the city has a certain feeling of safety that made me comfortable about walking around by myself and not clutching my valuables to my chest - all the time looking over my shoulder and glaring at anyone nearby. Before I’d arrived, I’d had major visions about harming strangers that even accidentally brushed alongside me, immediately and with great enthusiasm. I was pleased I didn’t have to bring that into reality.
Did you know you can’t hail a taxi in Vegas? Now I've seen this done on tv, so I knew all the right ways to throw my arm out and yell "Oi Taxi!" Penny and I were both hanging off the side of the curb outside the Bellargio (that's apparently where Oceans 11 was filmed, bit of trivia for you) trying our luck. Penny even tried pulling up the leg of my pants to see if that worked while we were yelling (that's probably the reason they didn't stop). Anyway, no luck whatsoever.
The following day, my best mate and I went back to Old Vegas...after shopping and me picking up an 18 pack of some special beer you can't get in Vancouver for Penny's husband...I tried my luck again at hanging off the curb and hailing down a cab. The cabbie that shot passed actually yelled back at me "Can't pick you up here Lady!" blah.
More walking to find the nearest taxi stand (my beer carrying arm felt like it was now scraping along the ground). And lo and behold, we get the cabbie that yelled back at me. He was actually rather lovely. And the fact of the matter is....noone is allowed to hail cabs in Vegas. In fact, it's illegal for the taxi drivers to pick up anyone trying to flag them down. You can only be picked up at the designated taxi stands...mainly outside the hotels.
All these taxi stands are under video surveillance, which is certainly a good security measure for the patrons of Vegas. This is to stop cabbies picking up little old ladies that may have just struck gold at the casino and run off with their money I guess. And ok, if I'd actually won a decent sum of money, I really wouldn't have wanted someone, who I expected to deliver me safely to my hotel, to knock me on the head and take off with it. (This is where my earlier vision of paranoia would come in handy I suppose).
****
Ok that's enough reminiscing for now. I've gotta dash...I have to pick up some new contact lenses...go collect my chicken and white wine pie - which I left behind at work yesterday...and I have an 18 month old to chase around the sidelines of a softball field.
Have a great weekend all!
"Come on down....Sara... err...Lisa..uh...*flips card over*...yeah it was Sara back then...*ahem*...COME ON DOWN SARA!!"
*the crowd goes wild*
ok, so the crowd didn't really go wild. and anyone that wasn't around to read the change in my name a few months ago will have no idea what I'm going on about. Besides, is it such a bad thing to have a small element of mystery about me?
This is a post I published back in February this year....it's one of three that I wrote...all on the same day. Imagine that? Me posting 3 times in one day? The two readers I had way back then must've been beside themselves with joy about it. (Now, now, H&B and Bella don't look like that...I AM a joy to behold...admit it. *pokes tongue and grins*)
Oh dear, there I go doing all that digressing shit again...right....with a few tweaks here and there, let's just get on with it shall we?
*clears throat*
*****
Before I arrived in Canada last October, I stopped off in Vegas for 4 days first. My best friend has always wanted to go to Vegas, so we went.
I found it a loud, bright city that never goes to sleep but it was fun, and quite the experience. All those chandeliers in the lobby, the smiling croupieres, the swiftness of the card dealers, the cocktail waitresses wearing next to nothing (bonus no. 1); scantily dressed waitresses (bonus no. 1); said waitresses offering up free...yep FREE....cocktails (bonus no. 2); getting lost amongst the aisles of slot machines; going down to reception dressed in my pjamas to ask for another key because I'd locked myself out of my room; being ALLOWED to smoke indoors (bonus no.3); cocktail waitresses...oh.
My best friend had a 'thing' about the craps table. She spent most of the time we were in Vegas, propped up against it. Eventually, I pulled myself off the
First time I’ve ever had a go at craps and oh my god... I had an amazing roll of luck. I continued to throw 7’s to the point where strangers were calling me “baby” and applauding! I threw the dice so many times I could feel my right bicep growing and I was working up a sweat. (I only hit my friend twice with them bouncing off the table...serves her right for standing at the opposite end of the table I reckon). The dealer continued to place the dice in front of me, just out of reach until I finally realised that each time I picked up the dice I was leaning forward just the right amount for him. One very intense look of "stop-perving-at-my-tits-you-wanker" aimed at him, was enough to have him start placing them in the right position for me, not for him.
My girlfriend spent that evening standing beside a member of the FBI, apparently there was a conference in town. Actually I’m not sure “standing beside” is the right phrase...she was batting her eyelashes, leaning against him, making innocent comments about handcuffs, and he was lapping it all up to the point where he was still there at the craps table at 8am the following morning. I know this because we had arranged to go to the Grand Canyon and the bus was picking us up at 6.15am. I basically swept passed the table enroute to the bus gathering her up along the way.
There really is no way to describe seeing the Grand Canyon. An absolutely spectacular sight. We could’ve quite happily sat there for hours just staring and taking it all in. The sun was shining brightly through the clouds, illuminating various parts of the canyon. Here I was, looking upon one of the 7 wonders of the natural world being highlighted by mother nature...it was breathtaking.
Back to Vegas...the streets were so very clean...do they have some special little elves hiding around every corner with brush and shovel? Do said elves leap out and sweep up cigarette butts and dropped candy wrappers, rushing back to their respective hidey holes again? We could’ve walked anywhere on Las Vegas Boulevard barefooted and returned to the hotel without anything but dust attached to the bottom of our feet.
I actually felt very secure in Vegas, the city has a certain feeling of safety that made me comfortable about walking around by myself and not clutching my valuables to my chest - all the time looking over my shoulder and glaring at anyone nearby. Before I’d arrived, I’d had major visions about harming strangers that even accidentally brushed alongside me, immediately and with great enthusiasm. I was pleased I didn’t have to bring that into reality.
Did you know you can’t hail a taxi in Vegas? Now I've seen this done on tv, so I knew all the right ways to throw my arm out and yell "Oi Taxi!" Penny and I were both hanging off the side of the curb outside the Bellargio (that's apparently where Oceans 11 was filmed, bit of trivia for you) trying our luck. Penny even tried pulling up the leg of my pants to see if that worked while we were yelling (that's probably the reason they didn't stop). Anyway, no luck whatsoever.
The following day, my best mate and I went back to Old Vegas...after shopping and me picking up an 18 pack of some special beer you can't get in Vancouver for Penny's husband...I tried my luck again at hanging off the curb and hailing down a cab. The cabbie that shot passed actually yelled back at me "Can't pick you up here Lady!" blah.
More walking to find the nearest taxi stand (my beer carrying arm felt like it was now scraping along the ground). And lo and behold, we get the cabbie that yelled back at me. He was actually rather lovely. And the fact of the matter is....noone is allowed to hail cabs in Vegas. In fact, it's illegal for the taxi drivers to pick up anyone trying to flag them down. You can only be picked up at the designated taxi stands...mainly outside the hotels.
All these taxi stands are under video surveillance, which is certainly a good security measure for the patrons of Vegas. This is to stop cabbies picking up little old ladies that may have just struck gold at the casino and run off with their money I guess. And ok, if I'd actually won a decent sum of money, I really wouldn't have wanted someone, who I expected to deliver me safely to my hotel, to knock me on the head and take off with it. (This is where my earlier vision of paranoia would come in handy I suppose).
****
Ok that's enough reminiscing for now. I've gotta dash...I have to pick up some new contact lenses...go collect my chicken and white wine pie - which I left behind at work yesterday...and I have an 18 month old to chase around the sidelines of a softball field.
Have a great weekend all!
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