May 7, 2002 – I am in Las Vegas. The flight was ok except for the pilot having learned how to land by hoping down the runway…jeez. I was scared shitless for a few seconds. I am about $30 down and will quit for the trip. I haven’t done much since check in except eat a meal at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, which was quite good. It had an all you can eat pasta meal and I grabbed some penne and tomato sauce. I made the mistake of thinking I could down a whole lot of it but…after the salad which was covered with strings of cheese and an in-house style Italian sauce…bah! I was bloated after just one dish of pasta. Oh the shame of it all…

Interop starts tomorrow. That is when I will be there. Since the hotel (Palace Station) had NO Internet access other than a phone I can use my modem with at a cost of $.75 per call…I am going to only be updating from Interop (assuming I can get my wireless link working there…have faith in me, people). So, no cam, no chat (other than at Interop) and not many pics since I just had to go and forget my damned digital camera. I will have to get a cheapy disposable camera and make scans. That will likely happen the second Tuesday of next week.

I do now know why there are no wireless networks in the casinos. The Nevada Gaming Commission says it is a no-no to have them insofar as casinos that offer gambling on sporting events can not allow access to any type of ‘electronic device’ that provides data on sporting events (other than what the casino offers to the customer via TV). This includes someone on his or her laptop hitting espn.com, I suppose.

Now, to figure what to do. There are a ton of shows but none that grab me by the, um, attention. I did notice Alanis Morissette is at the Hard Rock on Thursday. I could go but I have no idea if it is sold out, how much the tickets are or if I’d really like it (yeah, Sara will shoot me for saying that).

I may try to come back here in July for Defcon. It is kind of nice to get away from work for a week…kinda get away since I had one call today. The next time…I will try for a hotel with data ports – even if I have to stay at a Business Suites of America. But, I have to eat a week of PTO (maybe) for the late June training in San Diego. Hell, I forget when Defcon is but it is likely in the middle to end of July.

Well, off to sleep…