I’m in Las Vegas on a quasi vacation while my wife has business here. We’re staying at the Venetian, which is probably best described as Disneyland for those who wish to part with their money. (Not that Disneyland is a cheap day, but this is a different scale.) Yes, there are canals (much smaller than I expected, and not outside [Ha! See what gets written when you don’t leave the hotel? I ventured out today, and there are canals outside.]).
But a few other things strike me about the Venetian: you have to walk for freakin’ ever to get anywhere. We’re in a Venezia suite (all the rooms here are suites, which is, well, sweet), which means that from the main lobby you have to take an elevator to the 10th floor; then you check in and, in our case, walk for hundreds of yards through three or four turns to an unmarked (!!) elevator that takes you up to the fifth floor. Yes, the fifth. So are we on the 15th floor? Who knows? When you find your room, you’re so happy to have found it that you need to wait a while before venturing back into the maze. This place is huge. I talked to a bellman who said that since working here a few years ago, he’s lost 40 pounds and probably walks 20 miles a day.
The canals really aren’t so bad, but what got me is the artificial sky that moves and changes color. Around 7:30, the “sky” was appropriately dusk-ish, with streaks of pink and burgundy among wisps of clouds. I just went back there to get some coffee (the Food Court is located in the same area, and I’m up late working on the book and TidBITS), and was thrown for a loop: it was daylight, at 10 p.m.! Of course I know why: on a Friday night with lots of people milling around, taking pictures, and headed to the casino, it’s best to keep people nice and wide awake. Let them sleep it off tomorrow during that pesky natural day. Still, it’s jarring. (Maybe more so because I’ve just started reading Cory Doctorow’s so-far-excellent Eastern Standard Tribe, where one’s circadian rhythms play a part of the story. Side note: I’m reading the book on my Palm. You can download the book for free in a variety of formats. I read his first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, on my Palm, but then purchased the hardcover book anyway to make sure Cory gets some cash and the important support that a publisher looks for – see the FAQ item number 3.)
Another thing to note about Vegas: I just did my first bit of gambling, tossing three quarters into three pulls of a one-armed bandit and getting fleeced. Okay, maybe “fleeced” is a harsh word for knowingly putting money into a device that’s basically a receptacle for money. I bring this up not because it heralds a new gambling career, but because I lived in Nevada for about five years when I was a young lad (in Elko, if you’re curious). So I know what it’s like to have a few slot machines in the grocery store, the gas station… well, heck, everywhere. I remember playing with a toy slot machine when I was probably 6 or 7, but I’d never been of age to actually play a real one until tonight.
Tomorrow, we’ll see what the blackjack tables are like and gamble some real money. Very little real money, probably, but real money just the same. I also have to bet red-22 for a friend of mine on a roulette table.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 