Las Vegas and the World of Concrete

Week before last, I traveled with work to Las Vegas for "The World of Concrete". Before you make fun of me (believe me, Rachel already has), let me explain. The World of Concrete is actually the second largest trade show held annually in Las Vegas. Number 1 is the Consumer Electronics Show, which is held two weeks earlier. Ironically, the Adult Video Association convention is held between the two. Bus drivers and cab drivers will willingly share some interesting stories with you regarding the clientelle. 80,000 architects, contractors, heavy equipment salesmen, and a few chemical company sales and marketing types descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the week. There were heavy trucks with tires 8' tall, boom trucks that can pump concrete several hundred feet into the air for skyscraper construction, a monster truck (pictured), and hundreds of vendor booths. The Hilti Tool booth, pictured above, was one of the more impressive, as they constructed a 3 story platform where attendees could try various Hilti tools. My week was spent accompanying Sale Reps. to meals with customers. I got to eat at a lot of really good restaurants - N9ne Steakhouse, Emeril's, Smith and Wolinski, and Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio were a few of the highlights. I have been dieting; proudly, I maintained my weight on this trip by eating reasonably and working out. It was a very productive week, as I had the opportunity to meet a couple of our sales reps in person, who I had only spoken to on the phone. I also got to meet several new customers as well as socialize with some customers that I had met previously.


Reflections - Luck and Vegas Hotel List Vegas is a place where some people live and die by luck. I am someone who has always been somewhat superstitious, not so much in the sense of old wives tales, but more of the good kharma/bad kharma variety. For instance, I had pregame rituals that I went through before any baseball or basketball game I played in high school. I though I had left my superstitions behind with any athletic prowess that I once possessed. Enter Vegas - Thursday night 9:00 PM. Steve leaves dinner and has an hour or so to kill before turning in. He heads for the Blackjack table and wins $50 in an hour and a half. He quits while he is ahead and goes to bed. Friday afternoon after the conclusion of the World of Concrete, Steve has an hour or so to kill while waiting on Rachel to arrive from the airport. Steve once again plays Blackjack, this time winning $100. He is 2 for 2. Rachel arrives and the happy couple enjoy a nice early afternoon lunch at Casa Margarita at the Luxor. Steve has surprised Rachel with tickets to Cirque du Soleil - Beatles Love for Valentine's Day. Rachel decides that since it is 3 hours later on the east coast, she had better get a nap. Steve has time to kill and heads back to play Blackjack. This time he wins $150. Steve is happily up $300 on his trip. Fast forward - Saturday night. Rachel, impressed by Steve's obvious Blackjack skills, has asked for a quick demonstration after dinner. Remarkably, Steve loses $100 in less than 5 minutes. He goes 0-6-1 in Blackjack over the stretch. For those mathemeticians at home, Steve's odds of performing this poorly are approximately 64 to 1. Moral of the Story: Rachel is bad luck. Do not play cards when she is around!

I conclude with my Top 10 places to stay in Vegas. This list is my personal preference and is based simply on how nice the place looked, not on overall value or any other criteria. Disclaimer: I did not go to Mandalay Bay, which I have heard is very nice, nor Hooters, which I have heard is "not". 10) The Luxor - this hotel is shaped like a Pyramid and has an Egyptian motif. This is actually the hotel where Rachel and I stayed. It is nice enough, but the rooms are a bit older and outdated. Club LAX and the Cathouse Steakhouse are some of the bigger draws. 9) MGM Grand - you can't miss it; it is the bright green hotel. The main benefit of this hotel is that it has some kickin restaurants in the lower level, including Emeril's. It also has the glass cage housing live lions. There are actually 34 of them, and they are rotated in and out in 6-8 hour shifts. 8) New York New York - it has a roller coaster outside. Seems nice enough. 7) The Palms - houses N9ne Steakhouse, which is trendy and delicious. It is also the home of the Playboy Club... or so I am told. A nice hotel with a pretty nice casino. 5) No, I did not skip a number. There is a tie for #5 between the Mirage and Hotel Paris. The Mirage is chic and trendy. It is where we saw Cirque du Soleil - Beatles Love. The show was amazing. We had not seen any of the other Cirque du Soleil shows, but this one was awesome. The acrobats are amazing!!! Hotel Paris is modeled after... you guessed it... Paris. Complete with an Eiffel Tower with a restaurant in the top, Hotel Paris is fun to walk through. 4) Caesar's Palace - the place to be when I was 10 years old. It seems like every major boxing match when I was a kid took place at Caesar's. I was actually surprised at how nice the place was. Like Hotel Paris, it comes with plenty of props, including the Coliseum. 3) Bellagio - the Bellagio is an extremely nice hotel and may actually be my favorite. The indoor courtyards are immaculately decorated. The shopping area has the largest chocolate fountain I have ever seen, and the restaurants at the hotel are very good. However, the best part of the Bellagio is the fountain in front. Although it has been commoditized by movies, there is just something about watching the fountain show at the Bellagio. I think Rachel and I could have stood there all night. 2) The Wynn - The second wing of the Wynn is almost complete. It is the epitome of style. Wynn and Roger Penske have a Ferrari/Maserati dealership on the site. Steve Wynn may be the only person in the world with an ego bigger than Donald Trump. He may also be the only man in real estate with more power, too, as he has prevented Trump Towers from obtaining a casino license. He essentially runs Vegas. And Bill and Erin - go somewhere else - "No Strollers Allowed". 1) The Palazzo at the Venetian - the Palazzo is the newest wing at already the nicest hotel in Vegas. The Venetian is beautiful inside and out. Some of the more "traveled" customers that I met with in Vegas swear that the Venetian has the nicest rooms on the Strip. I'll take their word for it. I can attest that it has good restaurants and nice shops. It is also cool to see the painted sky inside, as couples ride in Gandolas down the man-made river.