Viva Las Vegas: Part 1

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless of course you're with a mixed group that has a lot of cameras, in which case, I think the only solution is to blog about it.

Originally, I was supposed to get in to Las Vegas around 6:15 local time. My flight left the gate at Laguardia pretty much on time. Unfortunately because of this cluster fuck I proceeded to spend the next 2 hours IN THE PLANE, ON THE RUNWAY. It's never a good sign when the captain comes on the speaker and says something to the effect of "I can't tell how many planes are in front of us." F-ing fantastic. Since it was pretty obvious we weren't going anywhere for a while we were allowed to use cell phones. After about an hour, I decided to call my friends and let them know I may not make it to Vegas on time, or maybe at all. I also tried to call the airline to see if I could put myself at the top of the standby list for when I got to Midway. I tried to start with "I'm delayed coming out of New York, and I don't think I'm going to make my next flight." To this I got the response "You're flight has only been delayed 8 minutes." No, sorry honey, I've been sitting on the runway for an hour already with no end in sight, this flight is delayed a lot more than 8 minutes. Anyway after reaching the "They'll take care of you in Chicago" point of the conversation (not really what i was looking for, but it was a futile conversation from start to finish anyway), I moved on to call everyone I knew who would be traveling and let them know they're pretty much screwed.

Anyway, eventually I did make it to Midway, where I discovered my connecting flight had also been delayed, which considered good news. Now, when I arrived (5ish local time) the flight was supposed to leave at 9:30. More time than I really need, but it's nice to have time to eat some dinner, and leaving at that time should still get me to my destination around midnight, which is fine for Vegas. Well, after dinner and finishing my remaining reading material, and power walking around the terminal, I recheck my flight since it seems like it should be near boarding time, only to discover it has been pushed back an hour. Grr... So, I go to the bar, have another beer, buy a book of crossword puzzles, and around what seems like it should be boarding time, I recheck the monitor and discover the flight as been pushed back another hour.

This process more or less repeats itself until a plane arrives at midnight that we can use. Just one little problem, apparently there is no flight crew for this. ::Bangs head against the wall:: After ANOTHER hour we finally get a flight crew. I end up arriving in Vegas around 3am local time. I get to the Palms where my friends were partying and they go out for some drunken munchies. After said meal the boys and I head to the MGM Grand, and go to sleep about 6 am local time. With the exception of some dozing on the plane, I've been up for 25 hours.

Ok, I should think about going to bed. Part 2 will come later this week.