October 17-21, 2005 :: Las Vegas, NV & Los Angeles, CA

Virtually in Vegas...
When last we left our traveler he was just getting back from Cincinnati, OH in anticipation of his next grand adventure out west to Las Vegas.  Hehe :-)  This trip was also related to work as it was the location of the 2005 VMWorld Conference (sponsored by VMWare®).  The conference was a symposium of classroom lectures, interactive sessions, and labs centered around the VMWare products and their partners' products.  We were in sessions for 9-10 hours a day learning about all the possibilities and directions we could take these products in.  It was very exciting! (in a somewhat geeky way :-)

A slight detour on the way...
A couple weeks before I left on my trip, I found out that a friend of mine, Nick, was going to be in Los Angeles, CA for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.  Since this particular friend hails from sunny London, I figured this was an opportune time to go see him while we were only a couple hundred miles away.  Due to a scheduling error on VMWare's part, I ended up getting to Las Vegas on Mon afternoon but didn't have any sessions until the kick off dinner on Tues night!  "What better time to hop a puddle jumper to LA", I thought to myself.

Coming and then going...always on the run!
I arrived on Mon (10/17) at the Mandalay Bay Resort where the conference, and my hotel room, were located.  It's at the very end of "the strip", so I got to see most of the hotels/casinos on the way from the airport in the little shuttle.  The resort was mammoth sized and I was impressed when I entered.  The casino was quite large taking up most of the first floor, but for some reason it didn't feel as imposing as some of the other hotels.  It felt like a hotel with a casino instead of a casino with a hotel above it.  I liked that...

Shortly after checking into the hotel, I packed a small overnight bag, made a reservation with the hotel shuttle company to go back to the airport, and was on my way to LAS again.  After a minor delay (and a gate change), our little plane was in the air heading west once more for LA. 

"What do you mean where is it?  We just passed the hotel AGAIN!"
After landing in LA and phoning Nick for details on where to meet him, I hopped into a cab and we sped off towards...well I had no idea where we were going.  Apparently the cabbie didn't have much of a clue either.  After asking me for the address, he then asked me for directions.  How in the Heavens was I supposed to know how to get there?!?!?  He then asked for the phone number of the hotel.  Luckily I had taken down all of that information before I left just in case.  He talked to the person at the front desk for a while and eventually knew where he was going. 

When we got to the intersection that was supposed to be home of our destination, the cabbie proceeded through and kept driving.  I said how we had passed the hotel and how it was on the corner. He shrugged and turned back around.  Down the street and around the corner again, the cabbie kept driving.  I once again pointed out that we over shot our destination and he made another U-turn to head back in the opposite direction.  Finally, after the third pass, I asked him to pull over and let me out so I could walk across the bloody street without having him take another couple passes at it thus jacking up my fair and wasting my time.  The cabbie sped off after I got out and I was there.

A fun evening and then back to reality...
I had a great night hanging out with Nick and a friend of his who traveled with him.  It was nice to just kick back, relax, talk, eat some Domino's pizza, and have a quiet night.  I knew that the rest of the week wasn't going to offer that level of comfort so I took it in and was happy.  My flight didn't leave until noon on Tues so it wasn't a terribly early day for waking up (thankfully) but soon enough I was off in another taxi (this time a little less disconcerting) back towards LAX.  I got back in plenty of time to meet up with my coworkers who also came out for the conference and attend the opening night Solutions Exchange vendor show and dinner.  The week had officially started.

Gigadot Warriors...Let the games begin!
On Wed night the company put on a huge celebration.  One of the conference rooms was built into a large arena with several small bars and tables of endless food setup along the sides.  They also had old arcade-style video games, PlayStation games, and board games on tables surrounded by big couches for the attendees to play.  Inside the arena they had teams of people competing in various challenges that took place while driving mini circular go-karts with radio remote controls called Gigadots.  They were constructed specifically for that night...how cool!  I was chosen at random the night before to be one of the "Dot Rangers" as they called us.  My team didn't make it very far in the tournament, but it was a lot of fun!  Afterward they had an open floor in which people got to drive them around bumper cars style.  It was an awesome celebration!

A tour of Las Vegas, old and new...
After we messed around at the celebration for a while, we took the car that one of our contractor friends had rented and went for a little tour of the area.  My buddy Mike, who's been to Vegas numerous times, pointed out all of the hotel/casinos, attractions, and good restaurants in the area to us.  He also led us downtown to where "old Las Vegas" is.  In my mind this is the part that you always see on TV in movies with the neon cowboy and cowgirl signs etc.  It was a cool adventure, but unfortunately we didn't get back to the hotel until 2a PST which didn't allow much time for sleep before hitting another full day of classes.  It was worth it though!

_

Back again back again jiggity jig jig...
Thurs went by pretty fast and before we knew it, Mike and I were standing outside the Mandalay Bay Resort at 4:30a waiting for the airport shuttle to come and whisk us back to LAS.  The flight was uneventful and I got to read most of "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" (which I strongly recommend to everyone for a read...it's short but so touching that you'll most likely reevaluate your own life and how its lived).  (Note: sorry for the little diatribe here but I just wanted to mention also that on the way over to LAS from ATL I read a book called "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives" which is exactly like the sub-title describes.  This book was equally as amazing as the other one mentioned above and is a very recommended read!...OK now back to the show :)  After arriving in ATL, I met up with my friend Jason who had arrived just before I did to visit for the weekend.  He's one of my best friends from back home in NY who's since moved to New Zealand so I don't get to see him very often.  We had an awesome weekend...a great end to an awesome week.

Tune in next time kids!  That's all for now!

M@

October 2-9, 2005 :: Cincinnati & Columbus, OH

The Nasti...
Ever since my department in GE Energy merged with one based in Cincinnati, OH in the GE Aircraft Engines (now called GE Aviation) division, I've had to take several trips up there for various meetings and Work Outs (W/O!) (multi-day focused meetings driven to come up with a solution to a problem).  I never liked (nor minded really) going there only because I didn't relate to the city or to the state (especially after last year's presidential election!).  This trip, however, was a little more exciting because I got to stay the weekend after and hang out with my friend Clifton that just graduated from the IMLP program out of Aircraft Engines and bought a condo not too far from the office.  Clifton so affectionately refers to "Cincinnati" as "The Nasti" which I found amusing because those of us in Atlanta usually refer to "Evendale, OH" (where the Aircraft Engines office is) as "Evildale"...so this played into our mock Batman metaphor of the area.

What a week...
The week went by pretty quickly, but not for a lack of working our tales off!  We were sequestered into a room with a locked door (which was kind of odd to us) and no windows for the whole week.  The folks who run the office there even helped us kick all of the other regular meetings in that room out so we could stay the entire time without interruption.  They brought us in breakfast and lunch, so we literally were in there ALL day!  Most times we were tired enough after working that we went to the hotel, where they had free happy hour from 5-7p, and had a few there...possibly went out to eat...and then tucked in for the night to do it all again the next day.  Wednesday was the only real exception to that...

What a Wednesday it Was...
After work on Wednesday our group was invited to join another group of folks that are largely based in Cincinnati, but had out-of-town guests that week as well, to an after work happy hour.  Spirits were high (and I mean all kinds of spirits :-) and a lot of fun was had; it was a good break in the week.  The nicest thing was that my boss's wife, whom I affectionately refer to as my aunt since I sometimes refer to my boss as my uncle (long story), was also there after having come back from Florence, Italy where the two of them are living until March '06.  The happy "hour" stretched on from 5p till about 11:30p, with a lot of antics in between, before the M@ Express took some of the drunk folks back to their hotels and called it a night.  Boy!  Too bad for them the next day when the alarms started to chime that it was time to go back to work for another long day of meetings :-)

TGIFTFC! (Thank God It's Friday...Time For Columbus!)
Friday came before we knew it and while the majority of the folks that I was with all week were scattering across the four winds again back to their homes which literally spanned the United States, I was hanging tight waiting for Clifton to finish up some work so we could get the heck out of dodge and head up to Columbus, OH for the night.  I had heard a lot of stories about Columbus, especially in regards to how it had a much better night life than Cincinnati, so Clifton booked a one-night stay in a hotel there and we left a little early from work to hit the road before traffic became a nightmare. 

Where in the hell are the cabs in this bloody city!?
Clifton and I checked into our hotel room after having stopped up at this awesome outdoors mall / shopping area in Easton, OH for dinner and a walk around.  It was really an awesome atmosphere up there and I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like during the holidays with snow on the ground and the outdoors music playing Christmas carols.  Our hotel was right across the street from the Capitol building and had a great view of the surrounding city from the 15th floor.  After a quick nap, shower, and costume change, we were ready to hit the streets to begin the night.  We figured we'd play it safe, leave the car parked at the hotel, and take a cab into town and back later on.  While walking the streets, trying to find a cab, though, it seemed like we were hunting for the Holy Grail!  We'd be on one busy street and then see a cab go flying down another street.  We'd run over to that street thinking it was likely that another cab would whiz by and we'd be able to hail it, but then there would be one on the other street again!  Finally we ducked into a Marriott that we happened upon and asked the concierge if he would kindly call a cab for us.  At last the blue car with silver writing on it and a friendly taxi-driver lady pulled up and we were on our way (not that we hadn't already walked most of the way there...).

Good times in the COL...
The rest of the night was pretty standard without much out of the ordinary happening.  We met up with two of Clifton's friends from the area and went to three different places, the last of which was a dance club much smaller than what I'm used to in Atlanta, but more in line with what I'm used to back home in Albany.  The places close by 2a (except the dance club which can stay open until 4a), so most people were over there by the end of the night.  The place had two levels (the second of which was more of a balcony that went around the place with a room in the back for shows).  The first floor had a bar when you walked in, but then you could go a couple stairs onto a platform where there was a box and another bar.  Down another couple stairs was the dance floor with a large stage up front.  They played pretty good music; it was fun! 

OMG!  He's from that movie I love!
One of Clifton's friends led us upstairs after we got a drink or two to show us the little room they have up there for drag shows etc.  As it turned out, we walked in just in time for the host to introduce a special celebrity guest that was at the club that night.  It was Jim Verraros who was on American Idol as well as co-starred in the movie Eating Out.  The host asked who had ever seen the latter and I think my hand was the only one that went straight for the ceiling.  I love that movie!  It's hilarious and I definitely suggest watching it whatever your sexual orientation is.  Jim sang a couple songs before heading out for the night.  I was so jazzed up that I got to see someone famous from a movie I loved (even if he was much shorter in person than I had expected...).  After that we went to get something to eat for breakfast with Clifton's friends before they dropped us off back at the hotel (saving us from yet another crusade to find the sacred store of taxis)...a good end to a good night.

"Who are we?  PENN STATE!"
The next day we checked out of our hotel, went back to the cool outside mall to get some things for Clifton's condo, and then back down to Cincinnati to relax before going to see the Penn State vs Ohio State football game.  Clifton was so jazzed up and nervous about this football game I thought I was going to have to get him a Valium just to make it through the day. 

Apparently these two school are particularly nasty towards each other when it comes to football, and as luck would have it, they were both meeting in the same bar to watch the game.  There was a separate room roped off (probably for security reasons more than anything) where the PSU fans were headquartered.  I wore a plan, gray shirt so that people wouldn't think I affiliated with either team, and hence wouldn't feel the need to cause any bodily harm while traversing from the front door to our little room (and back afterwards).  I thought the stories Clifton told me about football rivalry and violence were exaggerations, but quickly learned that they're true all right!  I thought I was back in the south! (which just reaffirmed my belief that Cincinnati is more southern than Atlanta even though it's 400 miles due north). 

Penn State won the game, much to the elation of the folks in that little bar.  Clifton was on cloud nine for the rest of the weekend...in his words, "I feel like I just had sex!" after his alma mater took the win.  I just had to capture that moment and promised him that his quote would show up here :-)

Card Games, Alcohol, and White Castle?
Neither Clifton nor I were wholely excited about going out again that night (especially with the complications that would have ensued for reasons I won't get into here).  However, he invited his friends Nick, Clair, and Tony (who are all siblings) over and we played @$$hole and drank the rest of the night away.  It was a good time...better than if we had gone out I'm betting. 

As all true drinking nights in Clifton's book go, it wasn't finished until we took a trip to White Castle (which was a first time experience for most of us including myself).  As if it was unfair that we had such a great night, when we got there we were heckled by the primarily African American clientele that were in there because we were white.  Then when we left, Clifton (who is of Chinese decent) was racially assaulted by another couple of Black folks leaving the restaurant.  The most disappointing part about the whole experience was that we were keeping to ourselves, were in a generally jovial mood, and weren't bothering anyone yet there are some people, no matter what minority they belong to, that just can't deal with that (and trust me, I'm by no means fingering Black folks...I know gay, Asian, Hispanic, and white people who do the same thing...shame on all of them!). 

What the heck is that you're eating!?
The next day we got up fairly early (going on 11a :-) in order to go get Dim Sum and get me off to the airport.  We met up again with Nick, Clair, and Tony and headed over to this place near where Clifton lives.  For those of you who don't know what Dim Sum is (and didn't read the little hot link I put in above :-), it's a Chinese custom brunch in which people come around with little carts full of small plates of food that you order and then share as a table...basically a buffet that comes to you!  Clifton did the ordering and most of the stuff looked and sounded tasty, although some things, like the whole shrimps that you eat shell, head, and all, were a little out there for some of the folks in our group :-)  I however, dived into everything whole heartedly and without caution...it was good :-)

Back to the ATL...
After Dim Sum we brought our other companions to their car and Clifton scurried me off to the airport.  We made great time (especially since my flight was delayed due to some air traffic control issues) and before I knew it I was sandwiching in between a couple other folks on the airplane back home.  Frankie picked me up at the airport and took me back to his place to see the paint job he and Erin had done that weekend and to get something to eat.  Another trip was down and I had a week to go till I was on the road again...but that's another story so far unwritten (since I leave tomorrow ;-).  Stay tuned!

M@

October 12, 2005 :: Matthew Shepard

 

...so this isn't a "travel" entry per se, but I just wanted to put a quick reminder to "Erase Hate" and remember one of our fallen brothers.  Today's the 7th anniversary of Matthew's murder.  May he be resting in peace!

http://www.matthewshepard.org/