Our flight left an hour late due to the plane not getting in on time to Parson airport. No biggie. I admired the flight attendant’s attempt at getting everyone excited for the trip to Vegas. Two independent flight attendants asked over the PA who was excited to be going to Vegas. Both tries got minimal response. I would have thought you’d want everyone on the flight to be kept as calm as possible. Anyway…

The flight was four-and-a-half hours. The lights were down for the whole thing as it was night outside. I had thought I’d attempt to sleep but I was hungry when we got on the plane and was waiting for the snack cart to come around so I could eat something. It took FOREVER to get to us in row 22 and by then all the sandwiches had gone. I settled for a packet of Pringles, a KitKat, and a hummus and crackers thing…plus the snacks they hand out for free. All were bad food choices (except perhaps the hummus) but without any other options I was a bit stuffed.

So, while waiting for the snacks, instead of sleeping, I read The Rosie Effect, the sequel to The Rosie Project. Bec had lent me the book a couple of weeks ago and apart from getting through a few chapters since, I hadn’t made much of a dent in it so I had designated it my ‘holiday read’. I finished it before we landed so now I’ll have to read something else…or do work.

I thought the book was enjoyable, very similar to the first book. I had a visceral reaction to one episode in the book (mostly to do with the powerless individuals can feel in the face of authoritative powers, particularly psychiatric) and once again, Rosie annoyed the hell out of me because of her lack of insight (which I think is much worse than Don’s). Still, it was easy to read, fun and ended on a happy note.

One thing I really didn’t like – and this had nothing to do with the story – was the crap quality of the printed book itself. The paper felt very cheap, the edges of the pages looked and felt like they’d been chewed by snails, and in what was probably an attempt to save printing costs and reduce the number of pages provided, the kerning (spacing between letters) was all over the shop. Almost every page had a line that had all its letters squished together. It was noticeable and shoddy. Shame on you, HarperCollins.

We landed in Vegas at about 2am Toronto time, which was midnight Vegas time. We had to wait a little while to get off the plane as there was a medical (non) emergency on board and the woman had to be helped off first. Vegas airport was nice and clean and big. Our luggage came through promptly and we went outside to buy a ticket for the shuttle bus to the hotel ($8 per person one-way).

The airport is near to The Strip so it wasn’t a long ride but it was an eye-opening one. We saw a lot of the big flashy hotels such as the pyramid at Luxor (with its beam of light, used to possibly signal aliens or harvest souls), the Bellagio, the Venetian, Caesar’s Palace (with its colliseum) and all the bright ritziness of this city in the desert. It was an experience in itself.

Being midnight on Friday, the place was thumping. Cars were everywhere, people going from one bar or casino or show or nightclub to another. And talk about sensory overload. Flashing lights everywhere.

The shuttle pulled into our hotel – The Mirage – which had a queue of people out the front waiting for a taxi. We stumbled inside like country bumpkins who’d never been to the Big City and were directed to check-in. We joined a queue and then were served. There was a giant fish tank behind the counter. I wondered what the fish thought of all this.

Because we were a late check-in, there weren’t any of the room type we booked on higher floors so we were given one on the second floor and told we could move rooms the next day to a higher floor. The staff directed us where to go and off we went.

We had to walk through the casino to get to the elevators to the rooms. Smart move. Along the walk we also saw the restaurants. The casino area smells of stale smoke, though I didn’t see anyone smoking. Perhaps it’s just the stench that the patrons exude. I was disappointed that all the casino games are electronic – and not just the pokies.

Blackjack, poker, roulette are all handled electronically. There’s still the table that everyone sits around but it’s handled by a computer. I want to see a croupier, goddamnit.

I laughed at Glen’s quick processing of the experience in the hotel. He was wide-eyed and excited about all the lights and monuments, which continued when we got inside the hotel, but by the time we’d gotten to the elevators and passed all the people, his enthusiasm had waned and he was looking forward to a little downtime. I was right there with him.

We went up to our room, which was at the end of the corridor on the second floor. It was a nice suite with a king size bed and reasonably soundproof. The window looks out over a roof, which was a bit industrial but at least we didn’t have a whole lot of lights shining on us. We dumped our luggage and then went to get some food from the 24hr restaurant.

Even though outside Las Vegas I don’t expect there to be many 24-hour restaurants around, I found it strange that there was only one in the hotel. I’d already clicked into the expectation of round-the-clock service in Vegas.

We went to a place called Pantry and ate a quick late supper. Glen had a Caesar salad while I had a turkey club sandwich. We then went back to our room, passing all the people who’s night had only just begun. If we didn’t have to do a lot of driving the next day, perhaps we would have summoned the energy to go out. Perhaps. The bed was pretty comfortable.