The “Idea” of Las Vegas
Feb/101
by John Wilson
Me and Parker headed to Las Vegas
I was joking with my “any-day-now-hurry-up-and-deliver” pregnant wife about whether or not our unborn son would love Las Vegas as much as I do.
Her immediate reply (she’s pretty witty) was, “If he has to hear you talk about it as much as I do, then I’ll guess no.”
She has never understood why I enjoy it so much. I have only been there three times, twice with family and once for a job interview. I was a VP’s whim of reorganizing the department from moving there, and I’m currently gambling positive, thanks to a strong streak in the Poker Room at the Sahara. I also wrote a “mini-thesis” to complete my MBA on how the marketing campaign What happens is Vegas… positively impacted the Mandalay Bay Resort Group.
The reason I enjoy it so much is the “idea” of Las Vegas. The fact is, Las Vegas strives to be over the top. It is like Disney World for adults. There is a casino where elephants and lions walk behind you while you’re gambling. There are diagonally rising elevators, roller coasters on top of space needles and huge man-made waterfalls viewable just to the folks in the casino.
The “idea” of Las Vegas for me is that the hotel-casinos will do whatever it takes to get you in the door, and then take care of you in such a way to make it easy for you to come back. Stay in the Wynn Las Vegas. The rooms are nicer than your bedroom, the food is better than you can make, and the decor makes your $500 an hour interior decorator look silly. While you are here, they are monitoring all of your eating and spending habits so that they can target their marketing and promotions to your specific tastes, all with the goal of treating you like a king or queen so that you will come back next time, and tell all of your friends.
This glamorous “idea” caters to everyone. If I want to put on some shorts and a t-shirt, I’ll fit right in gambling at the Sahara or the Luxor. If I want to take my kids to Vegas we’ll have a blast at Excaliber or Circus Circus. Want to take some friends to see a UFC fight, or a boxing match, or a concert, you can be sure something is going on at MGM, Mandalay Bay or Caesar’s Palace. There are enough restaurants and enough restaurant turnover in Las Vegas to never eat at the same restaurant twice, ever.
The “idea” of Las Vegas for me, is that if you can get there, you are guaranteed to find something you enjoy, and you can guarantee that activity will be over the top. I think Carlos Parker will love Las Vegas.
Photowalk: 1 of 52
Jan/100
by John Wilson
I got a new camera for Christmas, and as I was learning about improving my photography skills I ran on a group of photographers who have challenged themselves to take at least one walk per week with the intention of taking pictures. My goal is to do as many of these weeks as possible, post them on my Flickr site, as well as putting the highlights here.
This set was taken down in Battery Park in Charleston, SC. You can see the whole set here.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Photos from Atlantis
Jan/100
by John Wilson
Here are some pictures I took last year on a Caribbean cruise I took with my wife. Our five day cruise stopped for one day at the mega-resort, Atlantis near Nassau. My main reason for posting these pictures displaying these older photos is to test the “Share Slideshow” functionality of my Flickr site.
I got a new camera for Christmas, and I was searching for a way to put travel photos on this blog (so you can see “WhereisJohnWilson”) and Flickr seems to be the best photo sharing website.
There are tons of interesting plugins available for Wordpress to post pictures on your blog, but none seem as simple and flexible as clicking “share slide show” on your flickr page. Here are just a few of the pictures I uploaded from our cruise last year:
This is my favorite picture from that set, and one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken:
Happy Thanksgiving from Parkersburg, WV!
Nov/090
by John Wilson
Happy Thanksgiving! It’s nice to be off the road for once, even when not traveling means traveling home.
Parkersburg, WV
Travel Clubs – My New Hobby
Nov/090
by John Wilson
I know I haven’t been keeping this up lately, and I apologize. It’s sad how I get good ideas for posts while I’m traveling (I’ve been traveling alot lately) but then I never get any of it written down…
Travel Clubs
My new favorite hobby is to track my travel club memberships and status. My company is nice enough to let us retain our own points as we travel. Since I recently moved into a position that requires a large amount of travel, I figured it would make sense to join some of these clubs.
At first I thought these memberships were gimmicky and would never amount to anything – and I’m not convinced how much they are worth monetarily yet – but then I found the true value of these memberships – putting quantitative value to business travel.
It’s a scoreboard for the business suit type.
Unless you are Ryan Bingham, you probably don’t enjoy business travel. Hanging out in a flying tin can with recycled germ-laden air being hosed into your face for two hours, crammed between two folks who could use more deodorant and less donuts, it is probably not your idea of a good time. For me, however, something about racking up the travel segments* to get closer to the next step in the Delta travel caste system makes it all seem worthwhile. Silly I know, but it’s the small things that make not sleeping in your own bed a little easier to deal with.
It’s kind of like AA for business travelers… Hi, I’m John and I’ve been a Hertz Gold Member for 5 months, 4 days and 12,824 points.
Here are the current memberships that I’m doing time with:
- Delta SkyMiles – 2 segments* from Silver Elite (this one garners the most attention)
- Hertz Gold – a few rentals short of 5 star
- Hilton Honors – Silver VIP (woo hoo free newspapers and gym use)
- Marriott Rewards – we don’t really stay here, so no hope
- AMEX Rewards – this can fuel all the other memberships
Seems silly, but it’s all about quantifying that time in the flu-tube.
*I’m a “segment qualifier” or someone who doesn’t move up the ranks via miles flown but segments taken.
Picture by Wexdub via Flickr.
Travel Tip #6: Wrinkled Suit Coats
Oct/090
by John Wilson
This tip and picture comes from my friend Matt who travels way more than I do.
No more crumpled coats
If you aren’t riding in first class, and you’re on the way to your destination, chances are there is no where to put your suit coat. Your options are to either wear it, (try to) fold it neatly in your bag or the overhead compartment, or beg the flight attendant to take it. None of these are great options and have led to several embarrassing meetings with semi-wrinkled dress clothes… but with Matt’s tip, the whole game changes.
Assuming your coat has the tag intact on collar of the collar of the coat, use the hook (as shown in the picture) on the tray table in front of you. This prevents the coat from getting crammed in an overhead compartment, and makes it possible for you ride comfortably, coat-free.
Other ways to keep your suit looking fresh:
Rude – Nike Outlet Store
Sep/090
by John Wilson
I realize that XXXL is pretty big. I only wear XL and think I could drop an “lb” or two. Seriously though, do you think calling 3XL and 4XL “extreme” is any way to sell t-shirts?
My only thought was that they could mean “XTREEEEME” as in totally awesome, but I don’t think so.
You can find this sign and all the Extreme shirts you need at the Nike Store at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Special thanks to my friend Matt Brown for pointing this one out while I was shopping for socks.
Baltimore: Swine Flu and Stupid Cabbies
Sep/090
by John Wilson
I honestly don’t make this stuff up. I’m just the unluckiest traveler ever.
Swine-flu Spray
The goofiness started when I sat down in the window seat for my CHS to ATL flight. The lady who sat down beside me, probably in her late 50’s to early 60’s began by spraying her seat, and in turn me, with disinfectant. Yep, she sprayed the seat and (probably) unintentionally my leg and arm. She then took out a disinfectant wipe and wiped down the head rest and the tray table. She then asked me if I minded to move my arm while she wiped down the middle arm rest.
I couldn’t help myself, this is probably why I have such bad luck during travel, but I thanked the lady for wiping everything down because “I haven’t felt good for the last three days and am just getting over a cold (insert evil grin).” I said this, of course, while I breathed all over her.
To make matters worse, on my Delta flight from ATL to BWI (Baltimore) the seat I was in had a broken arm rest with a metal spike poking up through my arm. The streak continues.
Where is “John Wilson”
So I land in BWI and there are no cabs around. It’s basically a ghost town around the cab terminal. Near the cab stand was a line of sedans. One of the guys leaning on his asks me if I need a cab. I say yes but I’m looking for a cab. He tells me that his sedan is the same rate as a cab. So I get in.
When I get in the back seat, I hand the guy the address of the hotel I’m staying in. He tells me he knows exactly where it is. Twenty minutes later we pull up in front of the Hilton Garden Inn near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. I pay the guy ($40) and go to the desk to check in. No reservation.
“Sir, do you have a confirmation number?” – I hand him my paper and he says, “Sir, you’re not even close, you’re hotel is out near the airport, about 20 minutes from here. Your cab dropped you off at the wrong hotel.” I look down at the receipt the cab driver handed me and obviously it had no address, no phone number, no cab company, just a rate…
What kind of horrible luck is this? $40 later (not including tip) and I’m not even in the right city. The desk guy calls me a cab that takes an additional 25 minutes to arrive (yes, I should have just went outside and grabbed one) and the cab ride back took an additional 25 minutes (driving right past the airport) and $48 bucks.
Disputing Charges with American Express
Because I don’t want to have to explain all of this to the finance and travel departments at work, I call American Express to dispute the charges. I was under the impression that they take their card holder’s word (for the most part) and block charges what were inappropriate or fraudulent. I consider intentionally driving someone to the wrong hotel fraudulent.
The gentleman from AMEX tells me that I will need to wait until the charge clears and then file a formal dispute. This entails:
- Calling them for a case number
- Faxing all of my information, including plane ticket, receipt and hotel address to AMEX
- Possibly waiting up to 60 days for a ruling
AMEX stated that if there wasn’t enough information to rule one way or another, that I would unfortunately have to eat the charges. Sigh…
Don’t Outsource Your Signs
Aug/092
by John Wilson
I get a great deal of enjoyment out of goofy signs. Remember the “Disabled Viewing Area” sign? As much as I travel, I run into some pretty funny ones. Here’s one I ran into recently:
Chik-fil-a proves it’s best not to outsource your signage
Main Disconect?
I go to this Chik-fil-a on North Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant, SC way too often. As I was sitting there the other night, just before you come to the window, I saw the sign to the right. Now, I think Chik-fil-a is the best fast food restaurant around. The food is great, the service is impeccable, and it’s way better than the alternatives.
This Chik-fil-a in particular gets tons of traffic because it is so new and it’s placed in a nice section of town (where people may look down their noses at McDonalds).
So, approximately a zillion people have seen this sign. My questions are:
- Has the manager?
- Where is the District Manager?
- The owner?
- Has anyone other than me?
- Can someone buy me a better camera?
Aerosmith Tampa Cancelled
Jul/095
by John Wilson
I probably should have known. A 7.5 hour road trip to see a band of 60 year olds is a bad idea. Not to mention it was on the same night as UFC 100, arguably the best UFC card in the history of the sport.
There was no way I could say no – it was on my wife’s bucket list, and she rarely asks for anything.
As I was closing up shop at work, a co-worker who knew I was going to the show pointed out that Aerosmith had canceled several of the last shows because of an “undisclosed injury to a band member.” I surfed the web before we left and found several sites that said, “Aerosmith confirms they will definitely have the Tampa show.”
I left work early, set my new GPS for Tampa, FL and started the 7.5 hour road trip. Of all the trips on the whereisjohnwilson.com Summer Tour, this was one I was looking forward to.
Upon arriving at the Holiday Inn Express in Tampa, the desk attendant guy says, “Hey, you guys going to the Aerosmith Concert? They canceled about two hours ago (insert evil laugh).” Mind you, they said, “we are definitely playing tomorrow night.” After doing a little research from the hotel room, Joe Perry called into some random local radio show and announced the cancellation. Nice. Don’t you think they probably knew early that morning. Wouldn’t you think they’d imagine people would be traveling to see them?
We did get to visit the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino where neither of us gambled a dime (the place was packed and the lowest blackjack table was $25 a hand). We didn’t really find much to do in Tampa, though we didn’t look very hard. We drove back the 7.5 hour trip to Charleston just in time for UFC 100.
Update: Three weeks later and Live Nation still hasn’t refunded our tickets. They state they can’t give us our money back until the band reschedules the show. This makes no sense to me. No service, no pay. The way I see it, Live Nation is sitting on an interest free loan from the Bank of Wilson.
Update: see here for instructions on how to get a refund
Lessons learned:
- Never trust a rock star over 55
- Never travel more than four hours for a concert
- Tampa does a bad job of being appealing on the Internet
- Live Nation will hold your money hostage