I Said I Wouldn't Go Back

I know that at some point in time I mentioned that I would not be spending time at the Imperial Palace any time in the near future. I was incorrect in that statement. TG stayed at the IP, so that's where we ended up hanging out. At the old favorite IP bar---and if I have any advice for you, it is DO NOT drink the rail vodka there. Luckily, the hole in the wall Tiki-type bar was able to provide a little entertainment this time.
When we sat down, there were two girls seated at the end of the bar. There was also a guy in a white hat, who appeared to be hitting on one or both of the girls. We sat down at the bar, with me on the end closest to the two girls. I was just sitting in my chair pondering the wonder of ending up at IP AGAIN, when all of a sudden a chair came flying into me. I turned to see White Hat Guy (WHG) stumbling over the fallen chair. I then noticed that he appeared to have been recently shoved or hit by one of two guys nearby. The action dissipated pretty quickly after that. The two other guys ran off, and WHG sat down, muttering over his bad luck under his breath. One of the girls could be seen shoving one of the fighters out on the main casino floor. He also appeared to be receiving a verbal lashing, but I couldn't hear it from my seat. After a few minutes, WHG turned to me.
WHG: "Excuse me, but, can I ask you a question?"
Me: "Ummm...okay."
WHG: "I'm hotter than those guys, right?"
Me: "I really only saw one of them, but yeah, you were definitely hotter than him. And I think the other guy too."
(He was better looking than them anyway, but even if he wasn't, what would be the point in me saying anything but that?)
WHG: "Well, that's one out of two anyway."
WHG: "Vegas. I swear. People are crazy here. I mean that wouldn't happen in Europe..."
He continued muttering for a little while but I couldn't really tell if he was talking to me or not.

Tornado Survival

On Friday night I went to the Stratosphere with P&AF and his friend, who we'll call "That Guy," of course, TG for our purposes. We wanted to go on one of the rides, so we bought the ticket up the elevator to the observation deck. We went on the X-Scream ride, which was very cold, but pretty fun. The ride is designed to make you think that you are about to go hurtling from the top of the Stratosphere with a dozen other unlucky people. I definitely screamed, but it didn't end up being the bad idea that I thought it was before the ride began. P&AF and I liked it; TG seemed pretty much unaffected by the whole thing. I swear that when we looked at the pictures they take while you're on the ride at the scariest part, he appeared to be sitting on a park bench. Surprisingly neither P&AF nor TG got sick---even after the half frozen blue Mermaids drinks they had consumed beforehand. Afterwards we had to take the elevator back down. The elevator attendant was discussing the lack of customers he had seen that evening. He figured that it was because it was rather windy, and only one ride was open. He then went into a little tale about a Las Vegas Tornado Warning.
Elevator Attendant: "Yeah, so one day, I came into work, and they told us there was a tornado warning."
Skeptical Passenger: "A tornado in Vegas?"
Elevator Attendant: "Yeah. It was weird. I mean, the sky was completely clear and blue. They just told us that we needed to watch out for the tornado."
Seriously?

Just In Case

If you were worried that I would not be getting my toll violations since leaving the Bay Area, don't be! Nearly five months after my departure, I managed to receive yet another toll violation for the Bay Bridge yesterday. If my car didn't have completely new plates on it from Nevada, I'd think that it was taking joy rides when I wasn't around.

A Worthy Profession

On Saturday P&AF and I went to the Hard Rock to give blood. We try to make giving blood a habit, and I think we went to the Hard Rock hoping for some food vouchers or something better. We only ended up with these weird T-shirts though. They never actually order the shirts in different sizes, so they never have anything close to fitting me. Great, another XL...maybe I could sleep in it? Or try to shrink it? The whole donation experience started off on a high note. P&AF was taken back for qualification first. He was flirting with the technician and making quite the show of it. I got called back next. As we were going through my questions, a loud whoop of excitement came from P&AF's little fabric partitioned area. My technician paused in his questions and said, "Has he been drinking?" I just started laughing and said, "Actually no. He just has a...flamboyant personality..." I think there would have been better words to use, but I couldn't come up with them just then.
So this time, P&AF did a double donation. Supposedly double donations are better for everyone involved. It costs the blood bank less processing time and it gives the donor back some plasma. I wasn't allowed to do a double donation because they have weight restrictions on it, and I didn't make the cut. So I ended up finishing quite a bit before P&AF. I was sitting in the canteen area, making faces at P&AF across the room, when a guy carrying a few carafes of juice walked by. He looked at me and offered some juice.
Juice Guy: "Would you like some juice."
Maryse: "Yes, please."
JG: "Orange?"
M: "Orange sounds good."
(JG heads over to the beverage station, pours a glass of orange juice, and returns it to me.)
JG: "Here you go. Thanks for saving lives today. Your donation really means a lot."
(Keep in mind that JG is not employed by UBS, he is a hotel employee.)
M: "Thanks."
JG: "So what blood type are you?"
M: "O+"
JG: "O+? Me too. I mean how is blood type determined anyway? I mean, I know it comes from your parents, but how? Yeah, of course it comes from your parents."
M (pondering a basic explanation of blood typing genetics, but ultimately giving up): "Yeah, you're right it's genetic it comes from your parents...O is recessive..."
JG: "Oh yeah, sure. So did you do that machine thing?"
M (looking helplessly at P&AF who appears to be amused at the whole thing.): "A double donation? No, there are weight restrictions, and I didn't meet them."
JG: "That's good. I mean, that machine sucks. You just feel all full when it puts the fluid back into you. So then you can't go out drinking later that night. You feel all full. I mean, not that I'm an alcoholic or anything."
M (thinking--next time I'm lying about my weight.): "Oh. Yeah, I can see how that would happen."
JG: "I want them to give me a break to give blood. Then I can just lay there."
M: "They'd probably give you a break to give blood."
JG: "You know what I'm doing today? I'm just making sure that juice stays full. And polishing silverware."
M: "Sounds fun."
JG then introduced himself and left. It was bizarre.
All in all though, a good blood-giving experience. My phlebotomist was awesome. The needle didn't hurt at all going in, and even more amazingly, I didn't feel it coming out! I'd meet a weirdo for that any day.

Drunk As A Fish

This fish was on the outside of the Rock'nFish Restaurant in Manhattan Beach. It was a pretty good restaurant, but I think I like the fish picture more than I actually liked the food. I'd like a T-Shirt with this fish on it. Other than that Manhattan Beach was wonderful. The water was so warm!
I did end up with a couple baby crabs in my swimsuit top, however. It's scary when those things fall off you when you're undressing!!!