Crunch Time

Me and my friend took a day trip to Vegas. Not much happened but we accomplished what we set out to do. If anything, I saw it as an opportunity to stretch out my legs. Our plan was to walk out of the airport to the strip and we were successful. We saved money on transport, but we were dead on our feet. With all the flying and walking that happened, I actually fell asleep early from sheer fatigue. That hardly ever happens.

The next day, I reaped the rewards of my weekly aerobic training. Despite the rigorous workout the day prior, my legs felt fresh. My preparation for Japan has paid off. There will be lots more walking in the future, and now I'm confident I can handle my ambitious itinerary.

Departure is less than a month away and this is where all preparations must be completed. Every detail must be vetted and vetted again. I can't overlook anything. I must consider every possible scenario to make this trip one to remember for the ages. No more slacking off. The clock is ticking. 

Getting Ready

Vegas was a prototype for my trip to Japan. You never know how something will happen until it happens. Aside from the usual concerns like where we're gonna stay or how we're gonna feed ourselves, Vegas was a test of endurance. Our plan was to stay up all night. We failed.

If we couldn't do it in Vegas, I doubt we could do it in Japan. Unlike America, night clubs live up to their name. The action starts at midnight and real dancers don't go home until the morning sun rises. I could barely keep my eyes open and all we did was lounge around bars. If I'd been dancing, I'd be dead on my feet.

I've been working on my stamina. You can call it light training. I've been running a couple miles a week and doing long walks along the riverbank. I'm trying to get a good mix of jogging and extended walking. It'll still be another couple months before the trip, but I should be in great shape by then.

It's been difficult to get back into the regimen since Vegas screwed up my sleep schedule. The lingering aftereffects are still being felt. To make things worse, the Uncharted 4 beta kept me up all night in the following weekend. I haven't had a chance to recover at all.

In that respect, the trip wasn't a waste. I've got a better handle on future trips now. At least I got one great memory out of it. Taking off from McCarran and seeing the Strip awash in morning light with the Mighty Rio Grande playing on my headphones was a transcendent moment that bordered on divine. First time seeing Vegas from above.

You don't get moments like those everyday.

Back in Vegas

This needs to be a good one.

My last few visits have been lackluster. I'm starting to think that Vegas is good for only one night. Any more and I get worn down. I'm obligated to stay an extra day because of the arduous journey. Driving over 300 miles ain't no joke.

With my upcoming trip, however, I get to skip that headache entirely. I'll be flying in for two nights and one day of action.

The most important part of a successful trip is the preparation. Knowing everything that can happen beforehand is paramount. I don't do spontaneity because that means unchecked losses. Bring an amount I'm comfortable with losing and cap it at that.

One weekend later...

Having come back from Vegas, I gotta say... I should've waited longer to return. I don't have much love for a place where everything is out to rip me off. Fortunately, I was able to exercise total cost control -- to a degree. Damage was limited at best. 

I also discovered something new: I hate gambling. I don't care if everyone around me is winning big time because I won't do it. It's blind luck. Sure, they might win big and leave me in the dust, but they're developing a pattern of behavior that has proven over the long run to be detrimental to all but the luckiest. 

There's no such thing as free money. I've spent my entire life budgeting and saving. Who do you think comes out positive at the end? The spendthrift or the gambler?

Maybe it's just sour grapes because the trip didn't start out on the right foot. My phone froze and I had to get a paper ticket. I spent ten minutes panicking because my touchscreen wouldn't respond. I had to manually go into the boot menu, which is tricky for my phone.

I got stopped at TSA because of oversized liquid containers and was forced to check my bag, and because of that checked bag, I couldn't relax in the Centurion lounge because my brain devised all manner of scenarios where my luggage would go missing inexplicably. 

This threw the whole schedule out of whack. Our ride to a certain club never materialized and we walked all over the Strip for overpriced drinks. We underestimated our stamina. There was no way we could stay up all night. We paid to check in early to get what little sleep we could. I only got a couple minutes because I had to go down and place bets on the morning games.  

Then my brother asks me to do a fourth parlay, eating into my bet on the Broncos, and basically robbed me of $10 extra dollars. Then my friend had to miss halftime bets that would gotten me an extra $30. Then, I wasn't able to get in my bet on the Saints at halftime because of the Chiefs, and that's another $10 I would've gotten, or perhaps $20. 

Basically, I went to Vegas and got teased with unrealized gains that amounted to $50. Of course, that's not money I lost. It's just money I didn't win. But the gambler's mentality says that money was meant for me. That's why I'd rather stay at home and not get pissed over not winning $50 when I spent so much more just going there in the first place! By not going, I would've been positive.

Sure, I could bet bigger and get everything back since the bets were good, but it only takes one loss to screw me over, and I'm not willing to lose big for fool's gold. 

If there's any lesson I learned from Vegas, it's that I need to be savvier at home, work harder, and find a new job that will cover any potential windfalls from gambling, because I don't need this uncertainty in my life. 

That said, if I'm going to be gambling, I'll only do parlays from now on. Low risk, big reward, and helluva lot less stressful.

Taking Charge

I can no longer defer to the will of many. I've known this for quite some time but I've refused to acknowledge it. I had trust in my brethren. Unfortunately, recent events have forced me to realize that the perfect society can only be run by a benevolent dictator.

It's no coincidence that the best times of my life are when everything has gone exactly according to plan. Freestyle ain't no style. My powers of improvisation have weakened considerably over the years. I can no longer forge ahead with blind optimism. My adventurous spirit has evaporated, and in its place, is the soul of the prepared.

If the devil's in the details, then call me Lucifer. If you don't get it right the first time, then you do it right the next time. I'll make sure of it.