First Day on the Job

Today was my first 'official' day as a professional poker player! I had played four times prior in the past two weeks, but my mind was not yet in the game as I had not yet found housing, transportation, or sustenance. Call it vacation, call it warm-up, call it minimum wage, but it was not Clio at her best.

This lovely day started with a visit to the sushi shop down on the corner. Last time I was there, I tipped the chef $5 on a $17 bill, and this time, he thanked me by giving me a huge pile of seaweed salad! Probably 3- to 4-times more than I used to get in Atlanta and Muncie! (Wakame is expensive, like $5 for a tiny plate full... so getting a big plate full is a big deal! Even if it is just ocean grass!) Whoo-hoo! The salmon and eel was cut so long and thick, each piece of nigiri gave two sensuous mouthfuls. Mmmm... sushi...

And since I live on Rainbow Blvd, and since I live with a gay roomie, I walked next door and got some Nat Sherman Rainbow fags. Tee-hee! Great smokes! If that wasn't enough... to get the condo from the strip, you take Tropicanna to Rainbow Blvd... and you'll never guess what's at that corner! A bright pink house! Haha, no kidding! I even remember seeing it a long time ago when last I was in Vegas (or maybe the time before). I always find it fascinating to realize that I now live so close to something I've seen before.

Anyway, speaking of gay, Bradly had a new boy toy stop by today, and he arrived just as I was leaving. OMG, yummy! He's a 'visual supervisor' for DKNY and totally looks the part. Italian models, eat your hearts out... total heart throb!

On a tip from Bradly's sis, I played at Mandalay Bay. Lots of young, well-off guys who weren't afraid to throw chips around. It was a slow game at first, but it livened up as the night went on. There were some fun highlights. I joined them from 4pm to 11pm, cashed in $200 and cashed out $400... all in all, a good day at the office!

Afterward, I savored the Vegas night, and on a whim, stopped at a grocery store I had not yet checked out. Ended up buying just about everything I loved from back home, which is a big deal, because it's the 5th grocery store I've been too looking for specific items and the only one that has just about everything. They even provide a channel for requesting the good stuff, and wouldn't you know it, the only fat-free tomato-based dressing in the store made without high-fructose corn syrup (evil) was the store brand! Yay Albertsons!

Oh yeah, also scheduled an interview with a company that specializes in health-care research. Someone's boss wants to meet me before they go on vacation. Not sure I want a day job, but I admired the work the company was doing, so I agreed to meet. (Why not?) Suspicious of this just being a ploy to find out if I'm really "living in Vegas" because the letter starts out, "I know this is short notice, but can you meet at 10AM tomorrow?"

It's nearly 2am now, and the water goes out tomorrow for "emergency repairs" from 8am to 2pm, so that means I gotta get up early if I'm going to look the part! Tomorrow's forecast? Light sleep, busy morning with a 50% chance of an afternoon nap. Models indicate that later in the evening there will be a strong influx of cash and a happy, thankful, peaceful night.