Ah. Vegas. I would never pick the city for a vacation getaway, but I'm glad I went there once. The view from The MIX, the 64th floor of Mandalay Bay hotel, made it look almost pretty.
It was hot and dry. I was getting over a cold when I arrived on Thursday evening and had time only to meet Adam at the hotel and change out of travel wear before we headed out to two parties. The first was at Mandalay Bay and the second (Microsoft) was at Pure nightclub.
Blackhat was already over (except for the parties) after I had landed. I wish I could say that I enjoyed the talks at Defcon... I probably would have because there were plenty of interesting speakers, but, I just didn't sit in on any. Instead, I spent my time there walking between rooms (so many rooms and such long hallways) and really just socializing. It was great to see so many people—In fact, there are some people who live in San Francisco whom we never see except at cons across the country.
And, of course, I paid my dues... When I got tired of wandering around, I dragged Adam to join some friends with yards of margaritas... It was pretty ridiculous, really. Afterwards, they taught me how to play some nickel slots. I even won some money!
The next day, we went to the Star Trek Experience and The Gun Store. We had lunch at Quarks Bar. Their menu is cute: Flaming Ribs of Targ, Deanna Troi's Chocolate Obsession. The Star Trek museum was NERD-tastic. I could have spent hours reading their time-line. It was so much fun to see how they sorted out all the different shows and events. As you can see, I spent alot of time ogling their costumes and props. I also bought Starfleet Academy t-shirts for myself and my sister. Adam stopped me from getting the sweat pants and sweatshirt—Hey, of all the things people wear emblazoned across their asses, I thought "Starfleet Academy" would be rather awesome. Maybe next year.
The Borg Invasion was fun; but, we kind of felt tricked into going on the ride. Lunch at Quark's Bar gives you discounts for the museum and rides, but not for just the museum. I'm not complaining, though. The ride was worth it. As the story goes, you're test subjects at Copernicus Station for Operation Resistance, which is lead by Voyager's doctor and works to find a cure/resistance for Borg assimilation. Of course, the Borg attack and you have to run around the station to avoid them and get to the shuttlepod. The shuttlepod is then dragged into the Borg Cube where you meet the Queen and a bunch of flying insectoid Borgs. But, before you can be assimilated, Voyager and the doctor save the day. Yay!
There was a young child with our group... I thought the 3D would have been a bit traumatizing for a kid. I know I would have been a wreck at the point where the Borg Queen is about to assimilate us all. Everybody jumped. I almost fell out of my chair laughing afterwards. Too bad we didn't have time for the Klingon Encounter. (I think that's what it was called...)
Later that afternoon, with time on our hands, Adam dragged us to the Gun Store to shoot some AK-74s. I don't understand the fascination with guns, really. And I can't say that I had a great time. It was different. I did not enjoy my glasses slipping down my nose each time I tried to sight and aim. It was loud.
The next couple of days passed in a blur. I was ready to come back home. We had a great dinner in the Venetian with two friends from our hometown of Philadelphia. And, though we planned on going to Quark's Bar for that Warp Core Breach, it was too late after dinner.
Very little knitting was done. I even attempted to sit by the pool one afternoon. But, after ten minutes, my skin cells were protesting. Seriously, I could hear them screaming. I went inside and changed and discovered tan lines. TEN MINUTES and I had some wicked (not cool) tan lines.
I'm very glad to be home and back to knitting. Current project: Waterlily tank. Halfway done. Updates soon!
