Jason's Daily Notes

The forecast high for Los Angeles today is 107°F. When I left this morning around 8:30, it was already 75° in West LA.

Back from Vegas. Now what?
This is what: I'm suddenly INUNDATED with work. Everything.
Music: Every Avenue - Where Were You; Christina Aguilera - Dirrty
The owner of the Segway company died riding his segway off a cliff. WTF? Irony!

It's 11am and now 110°. W. T. F.!!?!?!

1pm. It's official - it's the hottest day of ALL TIME in LA. 113°F downtown.

The internet is down. ~2:30pm.
I want to just relax on the beach.
Meh. Work.
I am disqualified from yet another UK job. :(
- Searching for "American"-related jobs in London, maybe I'll have an advantage for those.

GUTEN ABEND. TANZ?!
Manschaft. Aka Team Manshaft.
I won $61.50. Gotta bet big to win big, I learned.

Friday night: Ross was at my apartment around 5:30. As soon as I met him, I tossed him my keys and told him to fill up my car with gas as I packed up my stuff. We drove to Pasadena (took an hour) to pick up Mickey at Del Taco. He was at Target, but instead of waiting Ross and I went to Target too. But he was already back at the Del Taco. Argh! We instead just went to Ralph's and bought some beer for the ride. In Victorville, we took a 6 mile detour off the freeway to get to Popeye's chicken (Ross, from St. Louis, simply HAD to have some). Turns out we got jipped, they gave us only 4 biscuits instead of six, but a large cole slaw (which I munched on the rest of the drive). It was 12:30am when we arrived in Vegas; dropped off Mickey to get picked up by his girlfriend at South Point. 1am, check into Circus Circus. Not that great of a hotel, and not a great location. You really do get what you pay for - we were staying in the "Manor" which is totally separate from the main hotel. Horrible location. The Germans (who came earlier with their rental car) soon arrived (~2am) with Denny's. We just hung out and drank at the hotel room til 4am. Oh, we had 2 rooms, btw, right across from each other - 2903 and 2904 - at the very end of the very last building. :/

Saturday. Woke up around 10:30. Got ready. I jumped on the trunk of my car.



We had brunch at Bellagio (I couldn't find a rear entrance to the parking garage). Bellissimo. Our server was Nigerian and friendly, hooking us up with extra champagne. Then, we walked around - Phil and I bought our Eiffel Tower sippy cups at Paris.



Then to Planet Hollywood, Walgreens, the M&M store (for Jan to withdraw cash), MGM Grand (where we played roulette, and I won $30), New York New York (the roller coaster was too expensive - $14), through Monte Carlo and Aria, and back to Bellagio. A nice hot September day in Vegas. Drove back to Circus Circus and swum in the pool for a few minutes as it closed.

That night everyone else went for a beer run while I rested for a little. We then soon left on a quest for food, around 8pm. We ended up in the Adventuredome and rode the Canyon Blaster roller coaster! Fun fun! Food was to-go but we had to sit at the table to order. Odd. Ate back at the rooms, drank, then left. Ross wanted to go to a club or strip club, so we left him behind to figure out for himself. The Germans and I then proceeded to gamble (or attempt to) at the cheap casino just next to Circus Circus's main hotel. Then we walked down the strip, checked out the Wynn and the Venetian before "settling" at the Mirage. I babysat Phil who was vomit-ish at a slot machine. Then everyone else was ready to leave, and they told me they all won like $30 each. I immediately got jealous and spontaneously threw down $40 at the nearby roulette table, betting on red. I won. I then bet $10 on the next spin and lost. Eh, $30 profit - not bad for 2 minutes' work. Back to Circus Circus via Treasure Island.

Sunday: Woke up at 10:15, check out was at 11. Ugh. Ulrike asked to sleep in our room so I gave her my side of the bed. Ross came back and luckily found his phone (which he had lost earlier). I checked out, just beating the worst of the 11am check-out rush, and kept one of the room keys in case we wanted access to the pool. We had brunch at Mandalay Bay (my tradition). Instead of walking through the Luxor, we drove the the Mirage for Felix to see Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden. I lay on a bench outside, soaking in the hot desert sun, and the other Germans gambled. I also had time to stroll across to Harrah's. I played video poker and won $1.50. I know statistics well enough to take whatever winnings I can, so I cashed out right there.
Then, we were off to the Hoover Dam! There was a 20-minute delay because of some pointless security screening stop. It was hot. The water level was much lower than it was the last time I visited (June 2008). Eh, I don't care too much for this damn dam.



Drove back to LA, leaving the dam around 5:30. Ross and Phil were in the car with me; we stopped at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign to take a couple pictures (I had never done that before!), after being separated from the other car. Darkness fell across the desert as we sped into California. Dinner was at Chipotle in Barstow (a much healthier option than all the other nearby fast food joints). We played 20 questions, and I couldn't guess what the dropper thingy was. I arrived back in West LA around 10:40, making pretty good time on the last leg.

Exhausting.

I am stressed over Vegas. 3 people have pulled out. No ride. Fuck. Felix ended up booking a car rental. Hrmm.
Went to TJ's and BevMo to stock up. Watched lots of TV - 3 episodes of Chuck, new Big Bang Theory, The Office, Outsourced. Whew.
Looking for rideshares via Craigslist (of course).
Dream: I was snowboarding in Santa Monica with AF and PC. We took the lift up and ended up in a Japanese town/village (near the Santa Monica DMV). We walked back through the alpine town at night, just past a Ben & Jerry's.
Felix was awakened by a passing fire truck, made him dream he was in the US.
dearblankpleaseblank.com

Planning my trip to DC/Philly!



I have a sore ass. From sitting and watching all that TV last night.
Lunch: Leftover chicken chaufa. Not so fresh.

IT'S HOT OUTSIDE TODAY! I love it.

But I miss London. :(

Watched Whip It last night. I found it incredibly similar in plot to Bend It Like Beckham.
Phil and I went for Bool BBQ.
It's Felix's first day of classes!
Lunch: Chicken chaufa. Nom nomming on and off.
Facebook is down!
I'm excited for Vegas! And for DC/Philly!!!
Music: Alanis Morrisette - Head over Feet; Vengaboys - Boom Boom Boom Boom; Modest Mouse - Float On; DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'
Trying to fix a problem with Palm Desktop.

Vegas Vegas Vegas. I can feel it!

Saskia was at the apt last night - ended up staying over. Fred (apt manager) called and demanded that I remove the traffic cones from my balcony. I felt ambushed and like I was in big trouble. This pissed me off. Also, I felt in trouble at work - I don't know if my days off for my east coast trip will be approved. I know things will work out, but right now they don't seem like they are.
We went for Thai food last night. Rushed back to catch the Glee season premiere.

Spent two hours searching and stressing over the best hotel for us in Vegas. Everything was expensive. I booked two rooms at Circus Circus. Stupid Priceline.
I ended up laying in bed for two hours unable to sleep. This stress has really been getting to me.

Traffic is officially bad every day morning and night. Even at 7pm. This sucks.

SO MANY SHAREHOLDERS TO RESPOND TO AT WORK. I'm really buried in it today.

Music: Eagles - Desperado; Rx Bandits - Anyone But You; Teddybears - Cobrastyle

Never say no to Panda!

Inconvenience. And anxiety. I'm feeling both today.

A guy in the mall bathroom though I worked there. Must be the red shirt I'm wearing.
My wrists are sore - great, now I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome too.

It's done. I bought my flights to the east coast.

Ready to go home, and GUESS WHAT! I get a new project dumped on me at 4:45pm. Parsing through resumes (people have horrible grammar!).
So I'm at work til 6:30.

Chilled last night w/ Felix and Phile - watched the premiers of HIMYM, some DWTS (Hasselhoff!), Rules of Engagement.
Drove Steffen back to his apartment.
It's a chilly/cloudy day. Yet again.
Planning DC/Philly and Vegas trips! Hotels are expensive!

Lunch: Leftover Panda Express.
Suddenly I have no more couchsurfing requests.
Got new employee handbook. Hmmm.

After last night, today is going to be interesting. Getting through work.
I'm slightly freaked out, haha. Stupid.
It's a well-rested Monday! :)

I SET MY DATES FOR DC AND PHILLY! October 6-9, 9-11!

Music: Loggins & Messina - Danny's Song; Passion Pit

Friday night: Laser tag in Sherman Oaks. Fun, though our performance in the maze was disappointing. Stupid kids, especially that fat Jonah Hill-esque one, running around without having fun, coldly gunning down our hopes and dreams.
Also, went for food and drinks. I didn't like the sushi place, so Felix, Phil and I ditched the lame others for drinks at Mad Bull's, which was nice. Then one last game of laser tag, slightly tipsy and more fun.

Saturday: Day in, stayed at my apartment. Woke up early, despite getting back late the night before. Took the recycling to the center - it only took less than a minute and we were done! Fastest recycling trip ever! Later, shopped at Ross for some socks. Then went with Phil to the Westside Pavillion. Strolled around and shopped but didn't get anything. Then stopped at BevMo to buy some booze for the party that night.
James B. stopped by to pick up his mail; he gave me advice on things to see in Philly; I invited him to Kevin's that evening. Later, I got a confusing text from him but just laughed it off.
Three girls from Göttingen (Ulrike, Britta, and Katrin) joined us for the "party" at Kevin's new place. It basically consisted of us (the Germans) walking in on Kevin and Crystal's family playing Puerto Rico and drinking the night away. Crystal's dad was cool - kinda like Mr. Johnson at Loyola. I spent a good amount of time trying to convince Crystal's sister to spend her year abroad in London, not Barcelona.

Sunday: Stayed in. Phil took my bike to the beach. I rested. Phil was invited to a BBQ by a German couchsurfing friend he met in Long Beach who is now in LA for a couple months (Saskia). So we drove to Burbank. Hung out in the car drinking beers for an hour or so, while waiting for John to get there. He arrived with two Russian girls staying in Santa Monica. And there's a Nigerian Danish guy staying with him too. I'm not making this up. So it was the seven of us essentially, with his three dogs. But, damn he barbecued up some delicious carne asada or whatever it was! We were gonna go out to a bar, but they were closed. John drove us to Universal, but I began to freak out that I wouldn't be back in time. So John dropped us back off at my car and I drove everyone home. It was such a long and harrowing drive! I was so disoriented (not a usual feeling for me), trying to get to the beachside part of Santa Monica near the Palisades and back to my apartment. Whew.