Next stop, Las Vegas, Nevada!

Well, it has been some time since I have posted. I had planned to update before I left for Vegas, but never got a chance. There is a lot of stuff to write about, so be patient when reading. Here it goes.

I went to Lake Tenkiller with some friends to watch the fireworks. We were getting ready to load up on the boat when some comotion from a few docks down caught our attention. There were a couple of guys that had a little too much liquid courage and a fight broke out. It was only a one punch fight and a guy being thrown into one of the boat docks. We finally figured out why and it was because one guy called the other guy a name. So, we got pre-fireworks entertainment. That was cool, but that wasn't our only entertainment of that night. After we finished watching the fireworks show(nothing really spectacular; you've seen one, you've seen them all; that's a whole other blog.) Anyways, we (and I mean 18 people on a pontoon boat when I say "we") started to head back to the docks. And there was a lot of commotion on the water with hundreds of boats and the fact that it is dark didn't help our situation. At one point, we almost submerged the boat. The fishing seats on the front of the boat were under water. Yeah, we were getting a bit scared but made it back finally. So the moral of this story is:
Good Idea: Going out on a boat with some friends
Bad Idea: Going out on a boat with all of your friends at night

Well, here is a couple of minor topics that I want to throw in here because I want to. First of all, the NHL has come to an agreement so they can play again. I was so excited to hear it that I shot myself. WHO CARES!!!!! Next, OU has been so greedy about wanting money by allowing TV stations to air their games at 11:00am that the fans are becoming very hacked off. They give you these crap excuses that that time slot gets more viewers. Yeah, I'm sure they do because all of the ticket holders are still in bed watching the game and not at the game. I am thinking about not showing up to any OU games until 1:00pm. It's not only hurting the fans (such as me that has to get up at 7:00am for these early games), but it is also hurting the merchants in Norman. Who the heck wants to get up and go buy things such as shirts, hats, or beer at 8:00 in the morning. OU is so popular they should have all their games 2:30 or later. I would rather say screw TV and their money and have a night game rather than wake my butt up at 6:00am to do the drywall at the new McDonalds or go to an OU game at 11:00 and die in the August heat. So, if somehow we could get everyone to not show up until halftime of the 11:00 am games, Castiglione and OU might rethink their scheduling. Castiglione has been a good Athletic director but he is not making the fans happy. (Side note: OU finally found a new head coach for their baseball team. Congrats to the 8 people who go to their games). Finally, I should begin my full time job on the 25th. So yeah.

Onto my Vegas Experience. I probably wore out Josh and Ben for wanting to see a bunch of stuff and I apologize if I wore them out. I wanted to make it a personal visit to see the Parker Family, but also wanted to make it a vacation at the same time. I pretty much chilled with Ben on Thursday when I arrived. He took me straight to the strip club, I mean The Strip when I got off the plane. We then picked up Christina from work and headed to band practice. When Josh arrived the next day, I got my first glimpse of the strip at night. Josh wore a great shirt that everyone in Vegas loved (I "heart" HC).Yeah!! We checked out Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville for dinner one night. It was good food with great atmosphere, but their credit card systems were down for the weekend and that turned out to be a bad experience for me. So when you go somewhere and they tell you their systems are down, whether it's Strongbad or not, pay with cash. The best part was the girl who danced during "Margaritaville". She ended up stripping down to a bikini and sliding down a volcano into a big margarita glass. Yeah!! One night while Ben, Josh and, I was walking around in the Bellagio, a girl of foreign descent tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I knew karate. I laughed and told her no. But what I should have told her is, yes but I can't show you because my dojo won't allow it. Anyways, onto the gambling. We walked around for a while trying to find the right table. Josh was looking for Roulette and I was looking for Blackjack. At the time we couldn't find one, so we sat down at a video blackjack slot and played for quite sometime. I think we all learned that, once you get up (no matter how much), quit and cash out. I was up $8 at one point and ended up losing $20, Josh finished $2 up, and Ben (who said he wasn't going to gamble) was up $10 before breaking even. We had enough with the slots and headed to a Roulette table. And about an hour later, Josh was finished and we headed home. It was the funnest night I had there. We did alot that I'm not going to write about. So onto my Blackjack experience. I went to go get some money for blackjack and I didn't have enough money. Turns out Jimmy Buffetts had charged me an extra $80 on my account. But being the great friends that Josh and Ben are whipped out, without hesitating, some cash so I could play blackjack. (I will get your money ASAP, Ben) I ended up losing $30, but I had fun. His church is awesome. A lot of people with new and fresh ideas to reach people. And once they move in to their new facilities, it's going to be even sweeter. Josie is cute as ever, but she can talk and sing now. So we had to be careful what we were listening to, especially Weezers' "We Are All On Drugs." It's funny, but not cool. Well, the plane rides were not that bad. Allegiant Air is good and America West wasn't bad, but when I got to ride on AmericaWest Express I changed my mind. When you hear "Express" after an airlines name doesn't mean that it's faster or better. It means that it is a smaller more compact plane with less amenities. I appreciate Ben and Christina for putting up with me while I was out there. Thanks for the great hospitality. You are always great to hang out with. I will be back.

P.S. Oh, I would like to say thanks to the Las Vegas airport for frisking and searching me all because my gum set off the metal detector. Yeah!!