Re:Inventing the Vegas Getaway (Weeknotes #23-48)

We traveled to Las Vegas “for work” reasons.

This was the view from our hotel room at The Cosmopolitan just after we arrived on Monday evening.

Here are the highlights from the week of November 27th to December 3rd, 2023.

We flew to Las Vegas for the annual AWS super mega giga conference, re:Invent. I didn’t actually attend, but my wife did so I took my remote gig on the road and worked from the hotel. I stayed on Eastern time, so I was able to wrap it up between 1 and 2 PM local time every day. Plenty of time to walk, shop, drink, eat, and people watch.
On day two of our stay at the Cosmopolitan, I was looking for a pen (I hadn’t brought one of my own) so I opened the drawer of the bedside table. I was surprised to find that instead of a Bible there was this other tome. Oh my. (And yes, I did also find a pen.)
Slot machines are a lousy bet (and they’re addictive) but I play them anyway. I like the old-style machines with reels that actually spin, but they’re becoming increasingly rare in the age of cheap digital displays. I did find a few though, and finished the week up 16 bucks. High roller!
Everyone who goes to Vegas has their favorite places to eat, drink, gamble, and whatever. Mine is Alexxa’s . I always get good food, great cocktails, excellent service, and a nice perch from which to observe the local color. And in case you’re wondering, I got the meatballs with burrata and an Old Fashioned .
I signed up for an account on MelonLand. I love the idea of restoring the web to its original connected, human formulation. Maybe it’s nostalgia fueled by old age, but then again I’m old and nostalgic. I admit I haven’t spent much time with the site yet, so that’s on my to do list.
Even though I was not an official conference attendee I did manage to score entry into the conference after party, re:Play. There was lots of tasty food, an open bar, and fun games, and a host of performances on two stages. The headliners were Portugal. The Man (good music, but just so-so on stage) and Major Lazer (very energetic, very loud, and lots of actual lasers).

You made it to the dessert course! I baked a Jamaican Rum Cake. New recipe I found on the Internet someplace. I had to rewrite it because the original was hard to follow. I was happy with how it turned out, but I forgot to take a picture! Anyway, you should try it.