Can't wait to get my Wait! Wait!

To fans of the NPR's hilarious weekly news quiz show, weep your hearts out, especially this weekend's edition.

The supreme Chicago U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the man and his staff who are responsible for bringing down the mob, Conrad Black, and most notably, Scooter Libby, was the guest at Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me this week live at Millenium Park. http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=114&sid=1194755

Try to catch the show this weekend on your local NPR station if you can. He is quite a sport and the joking jabs are always right on.

Here's a blurry proof of the man walking by:


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Jeremy: Lord, if he can only get Dick Cheney (I'm surprised said assface didn't launch an ICBM at Teheran this morning while W was getting a camera-hose up his hooter).

Tacky can be fun

I can't believe I would join the throngs of losers, literally, who gush about their trip to Vegas. Not that I swore not to enjoy the trip, but I wasn't expecting to like it THAT MUCH!

Is it tacky? Not that much. If the newer hotels continue with the tone they are setting for how future hotels are to look on the Strip, the amount of tackiness will soon be a thing of the past, like Freemont Street. But I would hate for that day when those earlier icons like Flamingo, Circus Circus, Excalibur (uglyyyy), New York (tacky) and Luxor are bulldozed. It won't be Vegas without them, just like it won't be Vegas without the Ratpack, Liberace, the impersonators, the strippers.

Anyway, for the snobs out there who think they can do better than going to Vegas, trust me when I say you just gotta give it a shot at least once in your lifetime. I don't gamble (well, I did a little; and between M and me, lost quite a bit. But it's all relative right?) and thought I wouldn't enjoy myself half as much. Not so.

Being a hotel gawker, this is my slice of heaven. We didn't go to all the hotels on the Strip. We wanted to save some for future visits. Tops on my list are:

Paris: Where we stayed. Our room is circled in red. What a view. We can even hear the cannons and see the Bellagio water show from our room. For my review, see http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=l2xCVVInBHnHjj2YrL5vig

Bellagio: No surprise. The corporation that owns the Bellagio also manages the MGM Grand, and the Mirage. The lobby is magnificent. The glass chandelier sculpture on the ceiling is created by the great glass artist Dan Chihuly, the same fella who crafted the other chandeliers in the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas, and other parts of the world. Breathtaking. Equally breathtaking is the water show. I've seen plenty of these shows and didn't expected to be wowed. But I was blown away. The designers maintained the elegance of the white spot lights on the water without going overboard with lasers and colors. We stayed for 2 more shows, 15 minutes apart. And you have to see them with the music.

Bellagio chandelier

MGM Grand, Mirage, Caesar's Palace: Like the Bellagio, the MGM casino floor is expansive. Not to mention, high stakes! Caesar's was truly the most surprising to me. I thought it was going to be tacky to the highest degree. Sure, there's kitsch, but done so right! There's even a Trojan horse. LOL.

Along the line of doing something tacky, we did the roller coaster at New York, New York. While the hotel and casino is nothing to write home about -- cramped and claustrophobic, the coaster was a thrill. I did a day and a night ride. Re-rides are only half priced and you get to the front of the line, just like at DisneyWorld.

Another thing you got to do in Vegas is EAT. Of course, we did the requisite buffet, but we weren't too fastidous as to which one to do since we were not that famished. We made reservations at Joel Rubochon's French bistro only to bail out later when we saw the price on the tasting menu. Then we tried Bravo's Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak, but was distracted by Michael Mina's Seablue down the path. We ended up at Seablue, for its price and offerings. While Mina is not as huge a celebrity chef like Colicchio and Joel Rubochon, his menu is fantastic, and I was craving a good sea bass. Another great meal I had was at La Burger Brasserie in the Paris hotel. You can build your own burger (like some other burger places in Vegas) and I had my medium-well burger (mmmm, so moist) on a parmesan bread and loaded with arugula, mozzarella and had a fried egg instead of proscuitto. Delish.

But the most surprising thing we found ourselves doing is attending the World Series of Poker Tournament that's going on at the Rio hotel. OMG. We've been watching it on TV all this time, and now's our chance to maybe run into some hot players like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negranu, Phil "unibomber" Laak etc. We didn't see them but I caught the back of the head of that ugly, greasy Scotty Nguyen. Ewwww. And Gus Hansen, he's so handsome. And these 3:

That's Tobey Maguire & a famous Costa Rica player

... and that funny commentator on TV.

And we even got to sit in the ring with the final poker players while the cameras swarm around them. We were there on July 13, 2007. See if you can spot us on TV.

So, there's our Vegas trip in a medium nutshell. I can't wait to return.

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Karen: Oh I knew you would have a good time :) I can't imagine anyone not to... it's fun just to see the women parading their new boobies (you can tell) and half their tops hanging out. Hey, we don't get many of those here in TN and if I do, they're probably real and I'm in the wrong area of town :) Actually, I do see a lot of them at the gym... scary.

But back to Vegas... now you can understand why we've been back twice in two months :) Christmas is fun here... the strip is filled with the Asian and Jewish community while it's gotta' be a ghost town in some other cities :)

I can't wait to go back. My favorite hotel (especially for non-gamblers) is The Signature @ the MGM Grand. You come down to the lobby to a real lobby and you have a small but much quieter pool to hang out at. NO KIDS! No casino... and it's a short walk (on a walkalator) to the casino @ the MGM - and yes you get to use ALL the pools they own too.

Me: Ooh, Christmas. Quieter and definitely cooler. I like the sound of that. And of the Signature. I noticed that the MGM has better room deodorant piped through its casinos compared to some, like Bally's. Ech!

Be Responsible

Good news since I so seldom start with those: I got a renter! Yay! And it's an MCG student with her husband. Only 1 week of empty space and the house is going to be occupied next week. Couldn't ask for better since we are hit with a heavy rent in Illinois, we couldn't afford to have 2 "house payments."

I'm soooo glad to be rid of my previous renters. Let's hope the new ones will be better. Without going into much detail, it's enough to say being a landlord is not easy. Those of you who know M and me, know that I'm usually the nitpicking one, and M is willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, to a fault.

Anyway, we have rented in multiple places and always treat the place with respect and care. Can't say the same with our previous renters. It's costing us more to have them around. So I am beseeching those of you who are renting, please, please, please:

1. Pay your rent on time
2. Admit your tardiness and pay the late fees accordingly
3. Take care of damage you caused right away
4. Keep a perpetually clean house so that you don't have much to clean on your last harried days
5. Water the yard
6. Do it when you say you would
7. Respect the house
8. Bathe your pets. Pet stink are disgusting and attract fleas, etc
9. Answer your phone or e-mail

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Christina: I so agree with you on this one! I was proud to have been told by my previous landlords at the beach that I was an EXCELLENT renter. even if Snow did claw up the furniture a few times. I should copy your guidelines, tweak them for the "temporary" condo renters and send them out!

Me: Of course there will be mishaps other than regular wear and tear. As long as the renters are responsible towards it, I have no qualms. I like to think we are fair. We even paid for Merry Maids to get the house ready for the new renters cuz we have word that our old renters left the place not clean (to our standards) and smelling like wet-dog high heaven, and with fleas nonetheless.

Sadly, I'm no sage

I thought I'd kill plenty of birds with one stone by sharing that one year older does not translate to one year wiser for me.

It's difficult to have a good birthday, even on a weekend, if a pessimistic person like me is surrounded by family and friends, consisting of an ADD child, a constantly ailing and repetitive family member-in-law, and headaches of an empty house in Georgia reeking of wet dog.

So, that, in a nutshell is how my birthday went.

I really shouldn't be making a big deal out of a birthay, and more so, shouldn't let others affect my perspective of how a special day should be celebrated. I suppose if I were to employ psychology to why my expectations of this day is high at all, it would harken to my childhood when my mom would make a fuss of helping me plan a small party, to which my good friends would be invited, and mom would make me a fab cake, and I was loaded with tons of presents from all.

But being 36 now, I should be wiser. I really don't seek gifts. I have enough crap given to me and I can't wait to bring my house to the Minimalist standard(OK, not that drastic, but you know what I mean).

I just don't want to spend my days taking care of others. Instead, I want someone tend to MY needs for JUST ONE DAY. Alas, that was not to be. The husband did promise to make it up to me next week in Vegas. I already guessed the gift he was getting me and I can't change his mind not to do it.

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Christina: I can identify with your entire post. I guess the only thing worse than what you experienced on a birthday is what happened on mine...my two oldest friends who I have known since high school BOTH forgot. But I'm sorry yours wasn't good. Birthdays can be difficult. I also can identify with the my needs problem. It seems to me I've spent about the past three weeks worrying about pleasing everybody else and not one person has asked if there's anything I personally need or would enjoy. Oh well...I hope you feel better! And I'm sorry I didn't know it was your birthday. I suck.

Where to eat?!

OK, I'm at a loss. I'm headed to Vegas in three weeks, and I need some more suggestions on where to graze.

We'll be there, officially, for 2 days, so that's at least 4 meals. Am considering dinner at Tom Colicchio (Top Chef judge) craftsteak $$$$. Ouch! But I adore Colicchio and since we aren't springing for the hotel (but bear in mind also I've plenty of expenses coming up, living in Chicago, and living off one income), that maybe we can afford to splurge at one nice restaurant.

There's also the off-the-strip Thai place - Lotus of Siam $. I've read in various forums that the Parisian buffet is better than the Wynn's and Bellagio's. The latter 2 tend to be costly and overrated.

So what other good, cheap eats are there?

A new perspective on an old subject

I spent about 2 hours at the VW dealership today getting my car's 70k mile oil change and am one of 2 passing time in the waiting room.

Normally, I would have my reading material with me. But, in my haste, I forgot.

I typically don't strike up conversation with stranger but this lady around late 30s to early 40s started to ask me what car I drive.

When we found out we both drove the same make, model and year car, we naturally launched into an easy conversation.

What I found out about her in the 2 hours was quite revealing. She told me she used to be a boat salesperson until an accident in downtown Chicago almost killed her. She was actually in a coma for days and had brain trauma from the direct impact of the truck. She was thrown into the air and landed on her head. Because of her near-death experience and lasting injury (brain damage), she cannot resume her job, and worse yet, cannot learn new skills. And the infuriating part is that the driver does not own the truck and he does not have insurance. Which means, she is left to handle the million-dollar surgery bills. Talk about a strain on a family's finances.

Of course, all this is really sobering to me, who constantly complains about not having enough money to buy this, do that. There are always others worse off, maybe not financially constantly, but in other aspects of life. Then there are always others who are way better off. I suppose this chance meeting with her will be a constant reminder to me to quit looking at the negative slide of my life, and focus on making life more productive, and gripe-free.

I love corgis

For posterity sake, I'm posting this video here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VWDc9oyBj5Q