Las Vegas: City on the go

The third annual, "Eric Johnson's Las Vegas Birthday Bash" had its biggest turn out, 5. Yeah, I know, people had to be beaten with sticks to be held back from it. Being that most of us are reporters, high school sports reporters no less, leaving for Las Vegas in January isn't the best time.

The weather doesn't help either. While, we do not get blasted with 110+ degree heat in the summer, we walk up and down the strip at night with temperatures in the 30s and a wind chill in the upper 20s.

We pressed on despite all that.

I picked up Eric on Tuesday and we hit the road in a rented red Chevy Colbat. The deal was when we began the bash, he would pick up the room and I would handle the transportation. That year, we stayed at the Stratosphere and stayed away from the windows. Last year, Eric stepped up to the Mandalay Bay and it came with a view that left me undeserving. This year we stayed at the "Five Diamond" Venetian, and I'll tell you, that is too luxurious for someone who can't be seen with out a baseball cap.

We were joined up in Las Vegas with Diamond Leung, Chris Paul (not the basketball player) and Michael Becker. We had dinner, then went up to Freemont Street. We gambled a little there, but the real reason was to see the Freemont Street Experience. It wasn't much of one. We then drove down to New York, New York and the MGM. On the way back to the car, some of us were hassled by a various club card pusher. I can't repeat what was said to one of our party in this forum, but it was the quote of the trip.

The next day, we split up for the first part of the day. I walked around for a little bit and found my "Atlantis" in the form of a 0 only roulette wheel on a computer game. For as long as I have gambled, I've been able to come up with a low-risk, low-reward system for roulette. Every time I play, it's usually on a 0-00 table, but a computer simulation game had the 0 wheel which increased my odds.

After that, I caught up with Eric and was unable to get into our room as it was being cleaned. We went down to the sports book where I made my first horse bet ever. As a kid, I was able to see Bay Meadows racing and could remember picking out winners on names alone most of the time. Had I gotten there sooner, I would have bet on this horse called Granny Franny. We watched that race and GF finished second. However, there was an announcement when the results became official that GF was declared the winner as the horse that won was penalized. So I put $5 on a horse called Sir Whimsey and as they made the turn for home it took the lead and I won $12.50. I tried again, but lost. Then saw an "expert" pick his trifecta and bet his recommendation. Had that race been 15 seconds shorter I would have won at least $200.

Eric and I moved to roulette and I sat out and saw him destroy my game strategy as he turned $20 into $300 in about 20 minutes.

On our way back to the room, Eric wanted to take pictures of the pool area so I went with him. While there he also took pictures of the hot tubs. With my feet hurting, I decided to let them soak and let the jets message them. At first he thought I was crazy, but I don't think my feet ever felt so good. After five minutes of hearing me say, this is the best thing ever; he gave it a try and realized it was. Later on that night, I jumped in the hot tub with no abandon. Yes it was cold, in the middle 30s, but it felt so good. And why not, it was free with the room, might as well use it.

Everyone met back at the room at 3 p.m. to get ready for dinner. We all dressed up, including me with no hat. Before we went to dinner we went to the top of the Stratosphere to take pictures, which came out great.

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Mirage. It was the best meat sauce rigatoni I've ever had. From there we walked to the Bellagio fountains, which was a little hard due to the cold weather. Again we took pictures.

On the final day, CP and Becker went home early, as they had to work. Diamond, Eric and I hung out for a bit longer. We went down to the Mandalay Bay to take pictures of the Lenin statue. We then went to Excalibur where, for the first time, I walked out with more money than I came in with. I won $10 at roulette, $20 at black jack and another $10 on the very complex, Casino War.

We then went to New York, New York across the street to ride the roller coaster. I was going to take video of me on it, but they confiscated my camera out side of the gate, but just before the first climb – yes I ruined it for everyone. And it was a good thing they took the camera, I just wish there was padding on the headrest. The ride is well worth the $14.

We then left Las Vegas, but on the way out, there was an accident. A bus carrying employees to a casino in Primm crashed and burned. It was horrific to drive by as you could see what was left of the guardrail, and it wasn't much. Twenty-five of the 30 passengers were hurt and fortunately, there were no fatalities. However, there was this one jerk that was honking his horn as this accident was holding him up.

I got home, after dropping everyone off, at 10 p.m. While I lost money, about $70, it was by far the best birthday bash. See everyone next year.

My day in (lower) court.

Almost four months to the day I got my ticket for making an illegal left turn I headed to court to ask for 12 hours of traffic school. I was told to arrive early for the 1:30 p.m. hearing and discovered there was really no need. I eventually found out they go by alphabetical order for the most part. I'll explain that later.

Roll is called and you are seated by your last name. You are forced to listen to a recorded message about what to expect today. The first people to appear in front of the judge are those that are already locked up. One guy had been hiding from the justice system for 17 years. The judge was actually pretty good to those that have missed court dates and had fines that stacked up by cutting most of them.

The judge was also entertaining by showing the ignorance of some people pleading in front of him. One guy rolled through a camera light and said he made a full stop before making his turn and pleaded innocent. The judge was ok with that, but said, "Do you want to see the evidence first?" The guy did and they set up a computer and the judge said he would allow him to interrupt the proceedings if the video showed he was innocent. The guy didn't and came back to plead guilty.

As for me, he called me up and told me what I was charged with and what my plea was. "Guilty." He than said, would you like 12 hours of traffic school? "Yes." He then ordered me to pay the cashier and told me good luck.

That was it. That was all. Four months of wondering how hard it was to ask for 12 hours of traffic school was all for naught. Then again, he may have been cool about it.

So what I have I learned about this? The simple answer is: Don't get cited for anything. But if you do get cited, make sure it's the only one within 18 months. And if it is, enjoy the show and don't make it harder than it has to be.

An NHL game and all I can eat; how can I go wrong?

Happy New Year!

My friend Damian and I have wanted to go to a hockey game but could never find a good time. It's hard since I work nights and he travels a lot for his job. But we finally went to a Kings game on Thursday night.

We found more than we bargained for, however. While looking for tickets, I discovered they have an all you can eat section at the 300 level – basically in the rafters. A hockey game and all you can eat for $45 dollars.

At first, I thought, that's absurd. I passed the information on to my friend and he felt it more of a bargain. His thought was, the all you can eat was only an extra $9 so why not with concession prices they way they are.

So we got to the Staples Center and neither of us had much to eat all day. We made the trip to the all you can eat area. As we were going there, we read the rules. It's a four-item minimum and the items include soda, hot dog, popcorn, nachos and peanuts. He began with two hot dogs, Dr. Pepper and nachos. I countered with a hot dog, nachos, popcorn and Dr. Pepper.

After powering that down, we collected another hot dog, nachos and soda on our way to the seats. Now, the Los Angeles Kings vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs would have been a great game 15 years ago. Currently, both teams are two of the worse teams in the NHL and are coming off blow out losses.

We got another bonus, the Canadian National Anthem along with the U.S.

While we didn't expect much, the Kings made their home fans happy by scoring four goals in the first period, that's rare for any team. Sitting at the 300 level wasn't bad either. You get to see the entire ice and how the players position themselves.

During the period, we were almost trying to hurry with our food to make another run during first intermission. We realized it wasn't going to happen.

So we sat out getting more food and waited until the second intermission and got one more soda and nachos. The person working concessions kind of laughed when she saw us again.

We figured that the hot dogs would have cost $4 and sodas, nachos and popcorn $3. It's safe to say we got our money's worth.

I would definitely go to another hockey game (BTW the Kings won 5-2) and as for the all you can eat, I'd see it more as a dare.

I’m trying again

I think I am being set up for a fall again. The responses to my last blog gave me hope.

… Tell me if this took too long; it took me 3 hours to wrap 24 presents. That is eight presents an hour for those that can't divide.

Before you answer that, keep this in mind. I made specialty name cards that I had to cut out. The name cards are in the shape of talk boxes that you would find in comic strips. I got the idea when I wrapped a friend's birthday present with pug dog wrapping paper and left different sayings on a few dogs. It took about a minute to cut out one of those things, so there is almost a half hour.

But all my wrapping is complete. Now is this a problem: It took me longer to wrap my presents than to pick out my presents by a half hour.

… While wrapping, I was also watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 on my computer. I ended up watching two movies since it took so long. I thought it would take me 90 minutes, the length of one episode, but it took two.

If you are wondering what MST3K is, it is a guy and two robots watching bad – and that really doesn't describe how bad – movies and making wisecrack remarks during the show. It's no surprise that I like it, I know. You can find shows, in parts, on YouTube. If you want any episode recommendations let me know.

… Not everything is happy news; one of my sisters, who shall remain nameless, informed me that my parents' vow renewal ceremony is postponed. Talking to my dad (who was at the dentist at the time with a chipped tooth), he told me that the priest was unavailable due to a move from his congregation.

But once he settles in on his new congregation, he will perform the ceremony. So there is no date set. I'll keep you posted on any news.

… Finally, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year if I don't talk to everyone again.