Landed yesterday around 11:30 local time. Flying first class is the shit - got drunk on Chilian wine and shot the shit with a guy from Toronto who bought a 3-bed condo just NW of the Strip... for 98k. He tells me there's 1-bed units going for 35k. Grand Canyon Village, built in 2004. Will check it out this week.
First impressions of the city (and general area - keep in mind, me Montrealer who had never gone farther South than Atlantic City before) :
Pros
Cons
All in all, very impressed with the area, not so much with what little I've seen of the Strip so far.
Which ones of you clowns are in town at the moment? Let's get drunk and lose our ass together.
First impressions of the city (and general area - keep in mind, me Montrealer who had never gone farther South than Atlantic City before) :
Pros
- Look Ma, no clouds! The weather is absolutely unbelievable. I could easily get used to this shit.
- Dry heat - sweat that evaporates instead of dripping all over and burning your eyes! Uncanny! Was walking around running errands off the strip and I was completely comfortable... thinking that it was a rather cool day by Aug. standards, I check out the temp. on my phone - holy ****, it's 108!
- Girls that I'd normally consider out of my league are giving me the look. Oh hell yeah. Too bad I got zero game - while my English flows much better than I thought, there's still too much lag between the thought and the verbalizing to be any clever and/or smooth. More alcohol needed.
- Everyone is upbeat, smily and approachable. Even the girl at the car rental place was all lively and charming, which is unheard of where I live. Small town atmosphere in a chaotic urban setting. Pleasantly odd.
Cons
- Luxor is caca. Completely worn-down and dusty. Doesn't meet my very low standards, even at the silly prices I got ($30 a night). Glad I'm checking out of this dump tomorrow.
- The whole MGM area of the strip is tacky as hell. Not at all what I was expecting. Hitting the smaller properties today, probably Binion's and 4 Queens, hoping to catch some of that old school Vegas flavor. I've probably seen too many movies.
- Gambling at the MGM/Mirage properties is utterly depressing. After walking around the floor a couple times checking out the VP machines paytables, I realize that there is a single $1 full-pay Jacks or Better machine at the Luxor, and the same guy has been hogging the machine for a couple hours. First time I check out the machine next to his, I tap on the paytable button and find out yet another 8/5 screwjob - he gives me an apologetic smile when I glance over on his screen and see the coveted 9/6. Meh.
I end up finding a 9/6 in the high limit area of the MGM Grand - $5 machine/$25 a hand, which is out of my comfort zone. The room is completely deserted. That seat looks very comfy. Oh, what the hell. I feed the machine $250 and make it last all of 5 minutes, about 40 hands. I look at my players card balance - 182 points. 18 more gets me a free t-shirt. I'm done with MGM/Mirage. - Looking at the board in the sportsbook is a complete mess. Odds displayed twice and mixed with livescores in a very confusing manner. Ugh. Did not get a single bet in. Will try to check out Caesar's today.
- Ugly girls trying to dress sexy 'cause it's Vegas and you're supposed to look sexy. Some of them are in hordes of 5-6. In the same vein, meatheads walking around shirtless and showing off elaborate, matching tattoos... wtf is this? Gay couple? Gang members?
All in all, very impressed with the area, not so much with what little I've seen of the Strip so far.
Which ones of you clowns are in town at the moment? Let's get drunk and lose our ass together.
, and try to pick up a civilian. 
