I’ve just recently returned from the Microsoft Management Summit 2009 in Las Vegas. It was my first time to this convention and my second trip to Vegas. I also stayed in the same hotel as for the VMWorld 2008 convention back in September, the Venetian. I had a good time, but not too good of a time, if you know what I mean. It’s Sin City and what happens in Vegas comes back to haunt you later as a periodic festering outbreak. Or at least so you should assume. Vegas is home to more hookers than I could have imagined. I wouldn’t have been surprised in the end to have found them hanging out in the MMS conference, listening to lectures.
I learned a lot about hookers on this trip. It is important to play the “spot the hooker” game to avoid any unwanted attention. They’re not the shy type. I also learned a lot about System Center Operations Manager and System Center Configuration Manager. I have pages and pages of notes to review over the next couple of weeks…about the technologies, not the hookers.
A new friend of mine noted, with surprising lucidity despite his inebriation, that Las Vegas was a fake place filled entirely with fake people. People come to Vegas to be someone they aren’t. To maintain my preservation of self, I did things that only I would do. I sought out a percussion lesson (hoping for a drum circle) and sat in on a Brazilian conga class with Thamar Vijent, a former djembe player for Cirque Du Soleil’s “O” show. It was a fantastic opportunity, though only the one day and disappointing for that reason alone. I also took a 2-mile+ jog (which I had to take in segments) down Las Vegas Boulevard at a late hour. I ran the gauntlet from the Luxor back to the Venetian. It was an interesting experience made difficult by the groups of “working girls” looking to close some deals. The vertically-challenged drunks were easy targets. I don’t have to be fast, just faster than you! I got called a ‘cracker’ near the end, so I didn’t go completely unnoticed.
I didn’t get many pictures – hardly any, in fact. I had already shot some nice ones on my previous trip, and I didn’t really see anything new. Perhaps I just wasn’t as inspired by the audacity of the city as I was the first time. I also didn’t lose much money. More than last time, but I’m still no gambler! I did, however, get robbed on water. Bars will charge you as much as $7.00 for a small bottle of water. It’s cheaper than beer, but it should’ve been free.