Vegas-ed out!

Wow, that was quite an interesting trip. The idea to go to Vegas had been floated around for awhile, but the fact that it actually came together, and with the people that actually went, it was bound to be ridiculous. And it delivered.

There were 2 distinct groups: 1) me, and 5 of my former co-workers from Dallas and 2) my co-worker's friend in DC and 4 of her friends.

Ethnically, it was white people, black people, and me.

Let's break it down day-by-day.

Day 1 (Friday): Got to the hotel around 11:30pm. My flight was delayed about an hour and a half from DC, so from leaving work at around 5 until I actually got to Vegas, it was about a good 10 hours of traveling. The bright spot about waiting in the airport for 3 hours was that I was sitting across from this ridiculously hot Brazilian girl. I was worried that everyone would already be out and about, and I'd have to wait for someone in the hotel, but it turns out that they had basically been waiting in the hotel lobby for most of the night for people to arrive.

Once I got there, we went to Planet Hollywood and played poker for about 3-4 hours. I lost a good amount of money on one hand. The most annoying thing is that I played the hand all wrong. If I had gone all-in instead of called on the turn, OR folded instead of calling on the river, I'd have been a lot better off. Ugh. The casino was pretty nice, and I liked that the poker tables were in front of the clubs. Anytime a group of hot girls walked by, the game basically stopped.

On the way back from the hotel, we were planning on going to another place for karaoke. One guy didn't want to go, so he proceeded to cross the street to go back to the hotel. Right in front of a cop car. Ten seconds later, we look across the street, and he has his hands on the hood of the cop car! To make a long story short, two of the black guys in our group were violently patted down in plain sight of everyone and then abruptly let go - with no ticket, no arrest, nothing. Everyone in our group was convinced that it was because they were black and that if any white guys in our group had done the same thing, nothing would have happened. End night 1.

Day 2 (Saturday) - I couldn't sleep at all the first night. I'm not sure why. The day wasn't nearly as exciting as Friday night. We went to eat (and witnessed an old man pass out) and then walked around a bunch of casinos, before joining group 2 for dinner. Due to a number of factors (women in the group, bad organization, long wait at the restaurant), we didn't have dinner until almost 11:30pm. On the cab ride over to Fremont Street, there was more racial drama as one person made the remark that Obama wasn't "black enough." After everyone finally calmed down, we found what's probably the best game in Las Vegas if you just want to chill and get free drinks: Pai Gow. Basically, you get 7 cards and have to make 2 poker hands - one with 5 cards, and one with 2. In order to win, you have to beat both of the dealer's hands. 75% of the time, it's a push. End night 2.

Day 3 (Sunday) - Most everyone left in the afternoon, so we basically only had time to eat lunch. I and my Vegas roommate walked around to the other casinos for the afternoon and then met up with the other group for dinner again at this frantic sushi/Brazilian/Peruvian restaurant. We went to the Hard Rock casino afterwards (I swear, I could watch the go-go dancers all night), and then back to Fremont Street - minus the drama this time. I had never seen the light show on Fremont before, and it was bizarre to say the least.

Overall, a great trip. I've been to Vegas 4 of the last 5 years, and it's always a different experience depending on the people. I think that 11 people is probably too big of a group, but somehow it worked out with this group, even with the drama and awkwardness of not knowing everyone. If anything, I would have liked to play a little more poker, but we definitely did everything one should do in Vegas.

Digital TV Transition

I really don't understand how our government works.

First, the House defeated the bill to delay the digital transition under some crazy rules that the Republicans created last week which required a 2/3 majority to pass.
- Several issues with this: since when does the minority party get to invent new rules? why was this rule created in the first place? does the rule apply to every bill presented, or just this one?

Now, the House passed the bill after removing the ridiculous 2/3 majority rule. The votes were more or less the same, with Democrats overwhelmingly voting for it, and most Republicans voting against it.
- So, the rule just went away? How did the bill come back on the House floor? Can bills just come back for votes after creating and then revoking rules at will?

(I'd love to provide links, so you don't think I'm making this up, but I can't find the articles online... the ones I read were off my iphone..)

I'm sure there are major repercussions to all TV networks and providers for this delay since the schedule date was only a week or so away.