retrospect

I'm here in Vegas for a conference, so all of my current "Thursday Thirteen" thoughts seem to be about this town...

1. I know people love this place, but there's something I just find so sad about it.  There are plenty of people who are having fun, but there's just as many sitting alone at game tables or slot machine looking sad and desperate.
2. I'm at the Flamingo, which is one of the older hotels.  It's perfectly fine for my purposes, but my window overlooks Caesar's and Celine Dion's singing head is running on the big video screen in front every time I look out the window - I fear it will give me nightmares!
3. Of all the shows to go see, my boss bought us tickets to see Gladys Knight (and the "pip") last night.  I mean it when I say "the pip".  The one living pip (her big brother Bubba Knight) is a silly part of her show.
4. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I really enjoyed myself.  Who knew that I knew that many Gladys Knight songs?
5. Most of the people in the crowd were stereotypically what you would expect from a crowd at a Gladys Knight show.  Lots of people over 40.  However, there was one table that was an exception.  There was a table of black-dyed-mohawk-wearing twenty-somethings that were grooving and singing and clapping and yelling and having a great time.  I'm still trying to figure that one out.  The tickets were expensive, so they had to really want to be there.
6. Something that totally caught me off guard was all of the indoor smoking.  I live in an area that limits indoor smoking pretty much everywhere, so all of the cigs surprises and quite honestly, annoys me.
7. There are waaaaaaay too many restaurants to choose from when you're only here for a few days.  If anyone has any good ideas for a nice restaurant tonight, please offer it up in my comments.  I'll check it after my conference ends and before we hit the streets to figure out what we're going to do.
8. I  keep expecting to see famous people.  I know that's stupid.  But, I do.  I always feel the same way when I'm in NYC, but I never do.
9. I left my camera home and I'm mad at myself about that (sorry, J. Star)!
10. Spending the next two days at a conference about employment law makes me want to cry and it hasn't even started yet.   Just not my idea of a good time.
11. I've never seen a taxi line at an airport as long as the one we stood in yesterday.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it took us an hour in a long amusement-park-style line before it was finally our turn.
12. Any time my flight is over four hours long, it is a guarantee that I will sit next to a child, a talker, or a smelly large man.  Never fails.  This trip, it was the smelly large man who was a mix of bad cologne, morning breath, and the three gin and tonics he drank.  Plus, he was also a talker, so I got to hear about every trip to Vegas he and his wife have ever taken.  I also got to hear about professional bull riding tournaments (which was the reason for this particular trip to Vegas).  Ah, good times.
13. Off to take a shower to head over to the monstrosity and confusion that is Caesar's Palace.
14. Bonus #14 - does it make me a bad person and unamerican that I just don't really like this place very much?

Go see Leanne for her Thirteen.  She is the matriarch of this fun Thursday activity and her lists never fail to be more interesting than my own.  Plus, she links to lots of other fun sites that play along.  To all of my normal linkees - sorry I won't be around to link back to you today!