Gah

Hands on training has stopped.

Today has been all day lecture.

In one ear, out the other.

Whoo boy, am I feelin’ fat today!

Been bloated, too. Took off my socks last night and had a deep impression of where my socks had formerly rested on my legs. I’m eating a lot of food that normally I only eat on occasion (red meat, in particular).

I’m trying my best not to feel bad about it. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to healthy living again next week.

Tonight – Super Geekery is in order. Dinner at Quark’s and then hitting the rides at the Star Trek Experience. Will probably get some souvenirs at the store as well.

Well, I was supposed to go hang out with some of the guys from class tonight, but they said they were going to call at 6:30 and had not done so by 7:30, so I ventured out on my own. I hadn’t been feeling really well at all, and almost considered just going to bed, but I figured I’d at least go get some dinner. Went to the Golden Gate Casino. It’s one of the oldest hotels in Vegas and home of the infamous $5.95 Prime Rib Dinner special. I did not end up getting that. They had a 12oz on the menu for 9.95 where you could get different sides (I wanted mashed potatoes) and a salad (which costs $1.50 more on the special). Got that and a bowl of chilli. The food, as the name of the place implies (Golden Gate Diner), is typical Diner fare. But at those prices it was pretty damned good. The Prime Rib was quite tasty, and I left happy and full. Came back to the Casino and threw some money in the slot machines. I started with about $6 and was about to be out of money when I scored about $90. I said I would quit at either 100 or 50, and walked away at 50. Went to the roulette table and put $10 on 28 black (minimum bet).

Sorry, Ross. We’re still poor.

Considered doing some blackjack after that, but decided to call it quits while I was ahead. Up $40 for the night.

I realize I’m not going to come home rich this way, but I’m keeping myself entertained and not losing money. I’m sure that after Star Trek tomorrow night Harrison and I will probably play some Blackjack. That’s his game.

Saw the same Freemont street show that I saw last night. Boo.

And with that I’m calling it a night.

Send me email! Keep me from falling asleep!

mcmcgreevyATgmailDOTcom

Nothing exciting to report today at all. Not so far, anyway. Woke up this morning and came straight to the course after my shower. Had breakfast and coffee here. Went to a place called Kancha Thai Express for lunch. Pretty decent, and not the fast food I was afraid it was going to be. They did something weird with the egg drop soup, though. There were peppers and tomatoes in it. Very strange.

There was a grocery store there, so I got some snacks and drinks to take back to the hotel room. Tired of paying $2 for a late night drink of water.

Not sure if I’m really going to go “out” tonight. I have some quarters that I’d like to drop into a slot machine, but I don’t know if I really feel like getting in my car and driving down to the strip. I think that, tomorrow, I’m going to hit the Star Trek Experience with the trainer. I dunno. The time difference is really kicking my ass here. By 9PM last night I was totally fried.

I think I am going to stop by Fry’s again today on the way back to the hotel. Maybe pick up a few toys. Dunno. Probably going to try the Buffet at The Plaza for dinner tonight.

Whee! I’m so exciting!

When I left the training center today I made a wrong turn and ended up at Fry’s Electronics. I swear. I wanted to go there, but not today. Ah well. The place is HUGE, but I didn’t buy anything. I wasn’t in the mindset to shop, and spending money in that state is no fun.

I came back to the hotel and finally got some of the real “Vegas Experience” in. Popped down to The Buffet and grabbed a bit to eat. Was $13 bucks, and pretty decent fare for the price. I managed to get full but didn’t overstuff myself. After I was done there I finally managed to figure out the slot machines and threw actorkat‘s quarter in.

Sorry, Kat. You’re still working next year.

I emptied out the rest of the change in my pocket ($1.75 if I’m not mistaken) and managed to make it last about an hour. I was up over $50 at one point, but when I finally walked away I was at $30. Not too terribly shabby, if I do say so myself.

I believe tomorrrow I shall be placing that wager for ross_winn. Of course, he never gave me the $5 so if I win giving any money to him is entirely optional. Heh.

Afterwards I wandered out on to Freemont street and did some more exploring. Got a fried twinkie. A little dissapointing, to be honest. Pretty much tasted like an eclair. Saw the light show, talked with some folks (even the damned tourists are friendly and chatty here) and made my way back here.

Now I’m going to chill out for a bit before bed.

Added a few new pictures.

So, according to the brochure that they gave us Applebee’s is “walking distance” from the training center. I’m assuming that they don’t figure on having Canadian’s in the class when they say that. It’s about 4 blocks away, in 105° heat. One of the poor guys was completely red by the time we got back.

Me? A bit of a sweat. Nothing much. Drinking lots of water, though, just to be safe.

Lunch ended up being free. I have managed to stay relatively “good” eating wise today. Had a bagel with cream cheese and ONE doughnut this morning (even though the tray, which is still out there, beckoned to me often to return). Got a Thai Pizza and an order of Onion Peels at Applebee’s (which, as those who have dined with me know, would usually have been a Thai Pizza Appetizer with some entree on top of it). Only drank water, and turned down the free dessert that was offered to me because there was a RAW chicken tender at the bottom of my onion peel basket. I laughed it off, though. No big deal. I’ve worked in the service industry before and I know accidents happen. The manager comped my lunch, though, even though I didn’t complain.

Now if only that stuff would happen when I was actually footing the bill.

netgoth – sorry I didn’t call. I didn’t have time to before we had to be back in class.

Oh, BTW…my mail server port is blocked from here, so if for some reason any of you want to email me during the day you can use my gmail address – mcmcgreevy.

Just found out that my trainer plays WoW.

Alliance.

Things could get ugly.

Links to remember –

http://www.fabforce.net/dbdesigner4/

http://www.mysql.com/products/query-browser/ (I think D. might really benefit from this one)

You can automatically search the mysql manual by going to mysql.com/search criteria. Handy.

I found the training center, and am currently waiting for the class to begin. I guess it starts at 8:30. Oops. I was a bit early. Regardless, I can’t get to my email from here (they have the port blocked), and I wanted to get notice out to my boss that I was here.

Heh…just told one of the other attendees about where I am staying. He’s jealous. Muwahahaha.

Mmmm…Doughnuts (and yes, actorkat, there is indeed a gym in the hotel).

Turns out the guy who is running the training facility is from Tampa. We just had a conversation about it. Believe it or not, he came here to get out of the heat. Go figure.

Whee. Class still hasn’t started. Just registered for my science classes at SPC for the Fall. Need to go ahead and get those finished and get my AA out of the way.

So my big, bad day of exploring Las Vegas was a total bust. After I made my last post I went ahead and took a nap, having every intention to get up around 5:30 PM and go exploring. I ended up sleeping until almost 11:00 PM. I didn’t even shower. Just put on the same clothes I had worn all day and stumbled downstairs to get something to eat. The Buffet was closed and I didn’t want overpriced Italian or Japanese, so I ended up eating at the Carson St. Cafe. Not too bad. Had some Spring Rolls and a Reuben Sandwich with fries. The spring rolls were kind of boring, but the spicy mustard had an interesting twist. There was wasabi in it. A lot of it. I’ve never had that before. The Reuben was yummy. Just the right amount of greasy goodness. Thick and spicy steak fries topped it off. Twenty-two bucks with tip. Certainly not one of the infamous “cheap Vegas” dinners, but not too bad. I still came well below my &75 daily food allowance.

After I ate I went over to the casino and got a drink. Gambled at the bar while I drank it. Spent $1. Lost it pretty quickly. I still need to find a place where I can just drop a quarter in a slot machine for actorkat. Most of the machines I’ve seen haven’t been clear on if they take quarters, and I’m embarassed to ask. I so don’t want to look like an “easy mark.” Which, obviously, I am…but still…

I wandered out on to Freemont Street after that. Didn’t take any pictures, but I will tonight. I’m staying on the street you see in all the classic Vegas movies. The one with the big, glowing Cowboy on it. Thing is you don’t drive down that street any more. They have it closed off and do this huge light show on ceiling that stretches 5 blocks over the street. There was no show that I saw last night. There is a place across the street that sells fried twinkies and oreos, but the greasy reuben and booze gave me a stomach ache and I didn’t risk it last night.

So I went back to my room.

Yep. That was my big adventure. I’m so cool.

There is no coffee machine in this hotel room. Boo.

My back already hurts from the bed. Heh. Should be in fine shape by the end of the week.

One of my initial thoughts is that everyone here, from a service perspective, has been REALLY nice. I suppose that’s probabaly something I should have expected, but I guess I figured that with the number of tourists they deal with they wouldn’t be so friendly. Totally not the case. From the rental car agent and the guy who drove the shuttle to the hotel and wait staff everyone has been very open and chatty. It’s pretty cool.

Oh, and my new “No, I will not fix your computer” shirt? Total hit. I had people stopping me all day yesterday to comment on it. Geek Attire FTW!

Alex remembered to call me yesterday just to wish me Happy Father’s Day. That totally made my day. I probably have his Mother and Step-Father to thank for that.

I do think I needed the sleep, though. Badly. All told I slept for 14 hours.

Tonight I think I’m going to hit the local Todai. There is a coupon for $5 off in a magazine that was in my room. All you can eat sushi! Whoo hoo! I’ll try to remember to take some pictures today, too.

I miss my family a lot. Especially netgoth. It was very, very hard to get comfortable without her next to me.

Oh well. Off to get cleaned up and find some coffee and breakfast before I go to class. Will report back when I get to the room again. Which will be even later than I thought. This isn’t central time. It’s Pacific. I’m 3 hours behind what I’m used to. Yay jet lag!