We Learn From Failure

Day 7 October 31, 2014 - Hallowe'en - part 1

I'd beaten the crap out of my pillow the night before trying to flatten it down from Super Ultra Mega Jumbo size to just Super Ultra Jumbo size.

It had worked somewhat, I only fractured one vertebrae, as opposed to two the night before. I think I was on the success path but it was my last uber stylin' chic night at Delano. A celebration was in order - coffee in the room, made with some k-cups I'd liberated from Mrs. Flusher's fancy-pants Gold Club Snobby-room. Heh heh, that'd show BOTH of 'em.

Today, 'Delano' meant free stolen k-cup coffee AND an avoidance of a coffee charge. Double-win!!!

There was still some dough left on my resort credit, so I decided to eat buffet for breakfast at Mandalay Bay. I'd enjoyed it before and I figured they would have put out new food by now - it had been a few months, after all.

On my way down through the real Delano lobby, I noticed the new daily catchphrase they'd posted. We Learn From Failure. Not From Success.

I pondered this bit of wisdom from a moment and then said, "That's such bullshit. Bram Stroker can suck it!!!". I flipped off the mirror (noticing I couldn't quite see my reflection - odd, that) and made real tracks across the real carpet toward the real buffet.

Strolling past my multi-play machines on the way to the buffet, I felt light on my feet, and chipper. It had been a successful stay at MandaBayDelano thingy. Cheap suite. Got lots of play in, didn't cost much gambling money. Quad Queen got a Royal. No need to play any more, just enjoy the feeling and head back downtown.

Grabbing a quiet table near the window, I enjoyed a delicious and healthy buffet-style breakfast which included the usual joint lubricating cholesterol laden meat sticks and cackleberries. I topped that with heart-dangerous fruit, lightening it up with some cheese cubes. Because salt and fat.

On the way back to my room, I thought, 'I'm such a winner, I'll just play a quick hundred. For fun.' So I did. I played $100 in multi-play.

It didn't really go that well. In fact it was awful. Very unsatisfying.

I thought, 'I'll just play a second hundred. It's fun!'. So I did. I played a second $100. And it didn't go well.

I thought, 'Well, now I have to win back $200. I haven't had any quads. So... I know how these things play, I'll just play a third hundred.' So I did. I played a third $100.

And a fourth.

And a fifth.

I went totally on tilt trying to win back my money. I did get some quads but it wasn't near enough. I tore myself away $500 in the hole, cursing my stupidity for going on complete stupid tilt. I felt so fucking stupid. I didn't have to do it. I shouldn't have done it.

It happens. It also happens that I heard the machine laughing at me as I walked away. Now I had to leave with a bad feeling instead of a good one.

It would be asking too much to expect a fifth Royal on this trip.

Meanwhile, the report from the Quad Queen was that she was down $600 already and she was pissed off. What was happening to us???

And now we had to face the dollar jacks play.

My voice recording says, "Losing sucks. I hate it. She hates it. It makes you wonder why you look forward to this so much, why you can't have the vacation you want... but its always part of the trip, and if and when it turns around, it's that much nicer. Hopefully it will turn around soon... we just need some dollar royals."

I did the video check-out at Delano - my room charges had not disappeared. There were a couple of things that really pissed me off.

The resort fee - which is purportedly a fee to cover internet, spa access, elevator usage, drinking water, electricity in many of the outlets and so on - was $25 a night. To add insult to injury, 12% room tax is charged on this. Huh??? I thought it was a resort fee, not a room rental...

The second thing which was really outrageous was a $20 fee for using valet parking. Talk about real!

There was never any information ever that I came across - not a sign did I read, not a notice, not a word from the check-in girl, not a sign at the valet stand, not a word from the valet guy other than 'are you a guest of the hotel? room number?' - nothing. On top of that I was tipping these guys two or three bucks a throw. Not very goddamned savvy on my part. Or is it bad communication on Delano's part? Maybe everyone knows about this but me.

Next time I'm at Delano I'm going to fill one of their cement pillows with Steve Wynn's ice swans and shove them up some valet manager's parking spot.

After all, that was $20 I could have pissed away in multi-play Double Double bonus!

How much is valet when you are paying max room rate???

I hauled my shit out to the valet, got the car, loaded my shit, slammed the door, flipped off the boulders in the lobby, and floored it. I must have roared out of the parking structure in my underpowered rental car at a good 8 or 10 miles per hour.

Downtown, I self-parked at the Four Queens, and hauled my shit into my 70s stag film suite. I'd spend a few nights there just for the hell of it.