Taqueria Cañonita at the Venetian

Wow, the Venetian was beautiful! This is inside the hotel:

It was mocked up to look like you were actually walking down the streets of Venice. Though the water was a little cleaner here, I assume. And, like, all the shops were high end jewelry and fashion shops, as opposed to, I dunno, bakeries, or St. Mark's Basilica or something. But yea, it was neat.

They even had some entertainment, some Venetian music (or a Stevie Nicks cover, I couldn't tell).

The Taqueria Cañonita had some great Mexican food. Yea, the scene by the waterfront was Italian, but I love Mexican food. Pam got the Pollo Con Mole Poblano - half roasted chicken, white rice, and jicama salad. I got the Zacatecas Chile Relleno - poblano chile stuffed with Mexican cheeses, dried fruits, almonds, guajillo sauce, jicama orange salad and seasonal vegetables. Yes, I copy and pasted from the Restaurant Week menus online.

I'm eating too much. My stomach is stretched to its limits.

OH YEA Sunrise YEA

As some of you might know, I'm not contracted with one specific hospital out here.  I'm contracted through my agency, and so basically I get a call at 5am (only on the days I've told them I could work that week) telling me that I'm booked at Hospital A today.  Hospital A could be around the corner, or it could be 30 minutes away.  And odds are that Hospital A has different ways of doing things than Hospital B.  Welp, that all changes starting tomorrow. Yep, as I was sitting through day 2 of my exhilarating computer charting training class I got a call from my recruiter telling me that I was offered a contract at Sunrise Hospital. Side note: they just have the most beautiful names for hospitals out here...Sunrise, Mountainview, Southern Hills, Spring Valley. Sounds like Paradise- hey! that's the street we live on...no, really...it is. Anywho, from now on I just get to go to Sunrise, which is definitely a relief. I mean as much as I love getting to know all new names and faces and codes to supply rooms and little things that each unit does differently EVERY SINGLE DAY, I am pretty pumped about Sunrise.  Here's a pic...

I haven't actually worked there yet, but tomorrow is the big day.  A huge plus is that it's around the corner from our place.  Also, they're a trauma center (not sure what level, I'll find that out), so I feel like this place means business. And they actually have a neuro ICU, but i'll be in the MICU, SICU and CCU. I guess they don't take agency nurses into the NICU, and hey I know how neuro nurses can be with outsiders (just kidding just kidding!), but I'm okay with those other ICUs.  And the biggest plus of all...no paper charting! Every hospital I've been to so far out here has these giant charts with every assessment and set of vital signs written somewhere inside that endless stack of wasteful paper.  Ahh to go back to computer charting will be a relief. And staying in one place will provide me with a little sense of normalcy again. The downside is that I may have to work some weekends. We shall see tomorrow.

For those of you worried at the sight of that little word "contract" (mom), it's 13 weeks. So that takes me and Joseph into early June here in sin city. After that is still up in the air, but don't worry, this contract doesn't mean that we're staying here for good or anything.

On another note, it's restaurant week here in Vegas! Woo hoo! So I'll be picking Joe up from work in about a half an hour (and I must say, he does look rather handsome in his shirt and tie work attire) and we'll be heading a to fancy mexican joint in The Venetian called Canonita. The menu looks awesome.

Odds and Sods

Some random thoughts as I sit here and wait for Pam to get home so I can cook her French Toast:

- Hey, they are finally done construction here at The Can on our floor. It used to look like this. Now it looks like any other hall in our building. More importantly, those loud noises that often occurred during regular business hours should finally cease and desist, so now Pam can get her beauty rest. Though I'm not sure, that may be a moot point itself, because Pam got a day shift today, and we're hoping for similar luck the rest of the week.

- I start my job tomorrow. It's that job I interviewed for last week, the one where I call people for a few hours a day to solicit money. Yes, a quasi-telemarketer, if you will. However, this is calling people that have worked with non-profits before, asking if they'd like to donate money to those same non-profits. It's a good gig at $9/hr, and the hours are great - three days during the week, 3.5 hours each shift, and every other Sunday for four hours. That means I have off every Friday and Saturday (hopefully every Thursday as well). It'll be a nice little job that can pay for groceries and beer any given week.

- We found our new go-to supermarket around here. It's called Food4Less, and they aren't lying. The food really does cost a lot less. I'm talking, the deals were freakin' awesome. And remember, supermarkets here sell alcohol too (damn you, PA Quaker laws!), so the beer and wine were cheap as well, relative to any other place that sells alcohol around here. The place around the corner sells 18-packs of Bud Light for $19. Rip-off. Compare this to Food4Less, which had 36-packs of Bud Light for $24 - and they threw in a free large bag of BBQ chips! YEA BUDDY.

- Hey, we made some friends here at The Can too. There's an engaged couple right down the hall that are also nurses. We had a good time at the Bahama Breeze happy hour the other night. And when our schedules align in the future (nurses' schedules are fickle, aren't they?), we hope to hang out again.

- Speaking of Bahama Breeze happy hour, that is by far our new favorite happy hour. Not only is it right across the street (I think I could hit it with a rock from our window if I tried, though Pam doubts my rock-throwing ability), but the beers were cheap and better-than-crappy. We're talking $3 20oz. Blue Moon, Fat Tires, and others of similar quality, plus dirt cheap appetizers. The perfect place for a light, tipsy dinner, or maybe the perfect happy hour to start a hypothetical epic night in Las Vegas.

- I'm actually putting in some time at the gym downstairs. And why not? It's free, and it's in the same damn building that we live. And I often have 14 hours to myself with nothing to do. There's literally no reason I shouldn't be going every day. I usually rotate between days when I run on the treadmill for an hour (okay, 45 minutes (okay, I alternate 6 minutes running and one minute walking)) and days that I do... gulp... some weight lifting. I haven't lifted a single weight since I begrudgingly completed my Boy Scout Physical Fitness merit badge back when I was 17, so this is new to me, and frankly a little embarrassing. I am not a weight lifter. But, the equipment's all there, so I'm going to lift, gosh darn it. I mix in ab workouts on those days too. As long as I'm still drinking beer, I doubt I'll ever rid myself of the beer belly, but ya know, it would be nice to keep it where it's at now. It's manageable now. Hopefully all this fitness stuff will do the trick.

- Holy crap. It's raining in Las Vegas right now. This is a first for us. I tried taking a picture of the window and the rain droplets on it. See?

The Fremont Street Experience

It was a Saturday that begged for adventure and exploration, and Fremont Street seemed to fit the bill.

After a quick jaunt to the gym (I'm getting buff! And being sarcastic!), we took a bus ride with the RTC, a transportation we still don't quite fully understand. Despite a map that looks simple, one that says that the 109 will drop us off right at City Hall, somehow we ended up in the Vegas projects. Chalk it up to a learning experience, I suppose. Like our previous travels through the seedy underbelly of Vegas (this time minus the myriad of strip clubs), we thanked our higher power that it was daylight while there. We survived.

After a short (and really hot for February) walk, we ended at our destination.

This is the old school strip, the one you see in the movies with the flashing lights and the wedding chapels and the big lit-up cowboy that is beckoning you in.

Note that the video above is '93, and Fremont Street has changed a bit since then. They've renovated it into a big block party, almost. It isn't really a street anymore, as no cars can drive down it. It's a big walkway now, with a big roof that doubles as the world's largest video screen.

(A video of a shows they play at night on the roof, taken by someone else)

We were starving, so we went to an Irish Pub - where else? - to get sandwiches. True to the City of Excess, this pub featured the so-called "World's Largest Pint Glass" at 64 oz... and thirty dollars. And actual pint was $8. This is not where we started to drink.

Because the beginning of our impromptu Fremont Bar Crawl started at the place that Pam swore just two days ago she would never go because "this place is disgusting."

Yes, indeed, we went to the Heart Attack Grill. And though Pam ate her words, she did not eat their burgers, because we just went there for their $5 PBR 24oz.

A few more factoids about this restaurant, this God's gift to the gluttonous man:

• All the waitresses are dressed as nurses, the bartender as a doctor, and all the customers as "patients," meaning we had to put on hospital gowns before we sat down (see picture below)
• The "Quadruple Bypass Burger" has four large beef patties, eight slices of cheese, 20 slices of bacon, and if you eat the whole thing, they wheel you out in a wheelchair.
• The fries are deep fried in pure lard; the milkshakes are made with pure butterfat cream.
• If you are over 350 lbs., and get weighed in the middle of the restaurant to prove it, you get to eat for free.
• Free blood pressure machines were available for the "patients" as well.
• The beer prices were great. They even have pounders of Colt 45 and Old E ("Feeling Ghetto?" asks the menu).

The Heart Attack Grill is a tribute to the overindulgence of the American public, and it was wonderful. If there is ever an opportunity to get back there without Pam, a Double Bypass will be calling my name.

We continued through the Fremont Street Experience. They have a lot of neat stuff besides the usual casino nonsense. Take, for instance, the fact that you can ride a zip-line right over the street (for a cheap price!). I think we found what we'll be doing for Pam's birthday.

Street performers were in no short supply. The "Gold Guy" was pretty creepy, and wouldn't let go of Pam's hand until we gave him another dollar.

Yup, he's still less creepy than most of the Philadelphians you'd meet on the street back home.

We spent a decent amount of time going from one casino to the other, not for the slots or table games (though I did put five dollars in one slot and lost it in about 20 seconds and I SWEAR TO GOD THAT'S IT), but for the good drink prices. Our favorite was the Fremont Casino, that had $2 Heineken and Corona. We met some really nice people (seriously, is everyone from Texas the nicest person ever?) and drank a few more and walked around some more and just generally enjoyed each other's company.

We ended our Fremont experience by hitting up a so-called "hipster watering hole" called the Griffin.

I'm not sure what was so hipster about it. There were fireplaces everywhere, and lush couches, and curtains. Definitely not the dive bar I expected. Here's me looking debonair next to the fire with my Hamm's Draught (That's the cool, cheap beer around these parts, apparently).

It had been a long day, and we were tired, so it was just about time to head home, screw up the bus system yet again and get lost (seriously, we did get lost again), order some pizza, and go to bed. But Fremont Street was freaking awesome.

It was infinitely better than what is now known as The Las Vegas Strip, in my opinion. It was more of my scene. You know me, I'm not the club kind of guy. So to be able to sit down with a cheap beer and just hang out, I was in heaven. We'll be coming back here soon.

Holy Crap This Is Actually Nursing!

My second assignment as a travel nurse proved to be a much bigger challenge than the first. My agency called me Thursday evening to tell me they had a dayshift (yay!) for me on Friday. So after our first of many happy hours at Bahama Breeze, a walk across the street from our place, we called it a night and went to bed. I think I woke up at least ten times before 5 am, which is when the agency is supposed to call me to confirm my shift. I finally got my call and was confirmed to work at Spring Valley Hospital...taking care of the ICU holds...IN THE ER. Dun dun dunnnnn. No, I've never worked in an ER, let alone an ER at an unfamiliar hospital. Crap. I was pretty nervous. But I made it there, everyone seemed nice and then walking with the charge nurse to meet one of my patients, I walked into every nurse's worst nightmare at 7am. I won't go into detail, but I'll just say that I'm glad my ACLS refresher was so recent.

A few hours later, and my two patients were no longer in the ER, so I was floated up to the ICU. The charge nurse in the ER made it seem like nurses in the ICU were tripling up on patients and waiting for my butt to get up there. But once I arrived, it was like they didn't even know I was coming. Oh well. It worked out nicely for me because the charge nurse in the ICU had an easy one patient assignment that he gave to me.  This gave me the opportunity to ask a buttload of questions to all the other nurses about pretty much anything I could think of in my narrow neuro nurse mind. Ok alliteration. This was their only ICU, so it was really a MICU (medical), SICU (surgical), NICU (neuro), and CCU (cardiac) all rolled into one. As I was investigating the numerous machines, tubes and drips one patient had, I asked the nurse, "So is this one of the sickest patients you've had?" to which she replied "Oh, he's not sick...this guy is stable!" I then proceeded to ask her every question imaginable about post-operative CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) patients, which it seems this ICU gets a whole lot of.  As we chatted, she equated this patient to one of our subarachnoid hemorrhage patients back home...after you've been working there for so many years, you kind of go into auto-pilot taking care of these guys.

This ICU was a great experience, with high acuity patients and nurses that really know their stuff. I hope I get to go there again. I have a lot to learn about these general ICU patients, and I'm excited for it.

Joe and I are off to Fremont Street today, to see some real Vegas (Elvis impersonators and wedding chapels and what-not), and to do our own research on coronary artery bypasses: I give you the heart attack grill. Just kidding, this place is disgusting.

Holdover Post

While Pam types away about her latest adventures in nursing, I figured I'd just put a little something in here. There's a lot to talk about, but I don't have much time to write today (I could've written yesterday, because I honestly had not a thing to do while Pam worked day shift, but then I found a website that was streaming Community episodes, so...). We're off to Fremont Street, which is the "old school Vegas," if you will. When you see in the movies people driving into Vegas for the first time, with all the neon lights, Fremont Street is what you are seeing. So yea, that's the plan for today. We'll be sure to write a up a big something tomorrow with pictures and what have you.

In the meantime, because apparently it's snowing back home in Philadelphia, here's a picture of our hotel's outside pool, and the accompany weather that would no doubt be perfect for a swim at this very moment:

An Introduction to Travel Nursing

I finally did what I came to Las Vegas to do. I finished my first few shifts as a Las Vegas travel nurse. “Become a travel nurse! See the world!,” ahh how exciting. This is how agencies portray travel nursing, when really they could cut the crap and say “Suck it up and deal with your okay nursing job so that you can enjoy the scenery on your days off!” I joke I joke, it’s pretty cool here and I get it…Vegas NEEDS nurses (including myself the ICU was staffed with five nurses last night, and TWO of us were agency).

So far, I’ve only worked in one community hospital, about twenty minutes from the Vegas strip. The hospital is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The grounds are surrounded by gorgeous palm trees and mountains that make my drive home in the morning a pleasant one (see my latest instagram pic on facebook, yep that’s the view from the third floor). The hospital itself is very clean and stocked with lots of new equipment. Healthcare itself in Nevada is probably behind the times compared to what I’m used to in Philly and the fact that I’ve only ever worked in a teaching hospital kind of rubs that in.

I shouldn’t complain though. Compared to JHN, these patients are cake. I almost want a subarachnoid to show up in the ER and come to ICU just so I can show them what I’m made of. Checking out the stock room, however, I’m not sure if they even have the right equipment to handle one. Of course this is not necessarily a bad thing. This particular hospital is very laid back. Get this- if my patient doesn’t have central access, I don’t have to draw labs. Phlebotomy draws them! After two nights working there, not one patient on the unit has needed a CT scan or MRI. And I actually took a full break – both nights. They have “break teams” there so that when you go on break you have anassigned person to watch your patients. I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself for a full half hour.

I do miss JHN though. The stress of caring for some of the most challenging patients doesn’t seem so bad when surrounded by familiar, friendly faces and helpful coworkers. Don’t get me wrong, all the nurses in this particular Las Vegas facility are super nice. I guess it’s just lacking in that sense of teamwork and family that JHN has gotten me so used to over the years.

Three days/nights a week isn’t bad though. Being a nurse is pretty much the same everywhere. The charting is the toughest thing to get used to.

But on my days off in Vegas, Joe and I get to check out all the really cool stuff both off and on the strip. That’s what we’re here for. So far, we’ve been having a great time (see Joe’s other, way more exciting and entertaining posts)and I’m sure there will be much more fun to come. Hey, maybe you’ll make your way into one of our posts.

Jobs II, A Full Stomach, Etc.

Okay, so I called that Scotty's Beans place and told them there's no way in hell I'm going to schlepp to a coffee house three freaking hours away to take to a job. Well, okay, I said it a little more politely than that, but regardless, I didn't go my interview today.

But no worries! I made some strides with some applying today, I guess.

Morton's Steakhouse took my application but said they weren't hiring. McCormick and Schmick's had me come in not once, not twice, but three times, because of some nonsense with the hiring manager not being there, then that manager being in a manager's meeting, then her STILL being in the same manager's meeting; they told me to come back tomorrow. I'm not sure that I will. And Fogo de Chao is only open like two hours a day, apparently.

That pretty much exhausts the surprisingly decent amount of fancy restaurant that happen to be a stone's throw away from our apartment.

The best lead I have, surprisingly, comes from some random job I picked off of Las Vegas craigslist. I have an interview tomorrow for a phone-a-thon type place. They told me to dress real nice (khakis are too casual, apparently, and a tie is a must), and the hours and pay seem legit (just around 15 hours, and a bit more than minimum wage, exactly what I was looking for).

So there's that. Hopefully it works out. If not, it's okay. Like my dad nicely said in a comment to the last post, there's no need to get anxious. Plenty of time left here at Vegas.

Anyways, the job-hunt didn't take up my whole day. For Pam, sleeping didn't take up her whole day either, but that was mainly because the damn construction on the room next door sounded like one of those cars featured in The Fast and the Furious and shook the bedroom like we lived in a beehive. Luckily, she doesn't have work tonight, so we were able to go get a bite to eat.

There's a brewing company / restaurant right across the street, actually, that we had been meaning to check out, called Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, and it was, to put in a mannerly way, delightful. (Ahh, alright, I'm from Philly, I'm allowed to be crude. It was f***ing BANGIN').

We went for Happy Hour which meant, all things considered, good prices for the food and drink we got. Pam got an Asian Fusion Combo, with fried shrimp, southwest eggrolls, and teryaki dumplings; I, the Slider Combo, with sliders both of the BBQ Pork and Kobe Beef variety, and a basket of garlic fries. These, with five Hefeweizens between the two of us (yes, Pam had to help me finish my third beer; oh, the shame!), made for an excellent meal.

Seriously, I'm stuffed. I could barely make it across the street. Good thing I went for a run today (Lenten promise: Physical activity every day!).

Pam has a nursing class she has to attend tomorrow morning, so we're taking it easy tonight. I don't think I could go out and do anything if I tried anyway. Oh god, my stomach! It feels like a sack of oatmeal!

P.S. Pam is currently typing away at her computer too, which might just mean her authorial debut will be this very evening. "You should finish your blog post tonight." "I can't, I'm tipsy." "That's how I write all mine." "You're an idiot savant."

P.P.S. Even though this only applies for the next 45 minutes in the east coast, I'd like to give a big birthday shout-out to my Mom. Sorry I couldn't be there with ya. It's your birthday for four more hours here, so I'll have a few more drinks for you. Happy birthday Mom!

Jobs

I probably need a job while I'm out here, right? I mean, I can be comfortable for a while - I did work a ton of hours between graduation day and last week - but eventually I'm going to need something. Even 15 hours at minimum wage a week would suffice.

It looks like it's going to be tough, unfortunately. I've applied to a ton of places the past two days, both by walks-in, online applications, and emails to craigslist ads. I don't have much to show for it.

Well, okay, I finally got a call today about an interview at some place called Scotty's Beans. It was a craigslist thing, and they sound legit. However, it's nine miles away. It would take me two and a half hours to walk there at least. Or I could take three buses for a total of an hour and a half each way (the buses move really slow here).

I'm not crazy to turn this down, right? Getting to work at a crappy job for crappy pay should at least have the trade-off of being convenient to get there. Am I an idiot for turning this down?

Turning it down doesn't mean giving up on the job search, however. Actually, I may have to cut this short. Fogo de Chao around the corner said to stop in around 10 to pick up an application.

So, the search continues.

(P.S. Pam has started writing about her job, but give her another day or two, she has a lot on her plate.)

Poolside Purgatory

Hey All,

Not much to report of recently. Not every night can be a haze of fist pumps and nine dollar beers, apparently.

But I gotta tell ya'll, we're having a great time out here, even when nothing "exciting" is going on. Take Sunday for instance. We woke up late with a bit of a hangover, naturally. The rest of the day was devoted to just lounging around. We watched Friday Night Lights, ate leftovers, and explored the hotel. In the late afternoon, we took a test run to all the different hospitals Pammy could be working at on any given night. Some were farther than others, and all of them looked beautiful.

It was one of those days that wasn't particularly riveting or anything, but it was damn pleasant to just relax and hang with my babe.

Let's see, so that was Sunday. Today is Tuesday. What happened yesterday? Well, we finally got up off of our asses and hit the gym. The Can has a pretty nice fitness facility, on the house, so why not take advantage of it? I ran my usual forty minutes (those treadmills are fancy!), and Pammy ran for 30, then started pumping iron. She's a machine!

Seriously though, it was satisfying being active, because I feel like all we'd done the days prior was sleep, eat, drink, and sleep. This is what we told ourselves as we drove over to the fast food joint for dinner. Ever hear of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers? Apparently it hasn't really caught on along the east coast, but it's big out west. And it's BANGING. Despite the fact that they spell "Kain" wrong, they make a darn good chicken finger, with a unique and savory house dipping sauce. Why can't there be one of these in Rockledge? They even give you a slice of buttered Texas toast with every meal!

We were nice and full and fat and then it was time for Pam to go do what she came out here to do - tend to those sick Vegasians. She's an awesome nurse and the hospital is lucky to have her, but it was tough seeing her go. I was just getting used to spending every waking minute with her. But no worries! I'm sure she did just peachy, and I'm even more sure she'll blog about her first night soon (right? Right?!).

So it was my first night alone in Vegas. Carpe diem and all that good stuff, I went to some dive bar a few blocks away called the Double Down Saloon. It was neat, I met some people, the barkeep was nice and gave me a free shot of, and I quote "Trash Juice" (they refuse to tell you what's in it), and I hung out with some Texans who - get this - have never freakin' heard of Friday Night Lights. WHAT.

On the walk home, I stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel to check out another bar that I had read about online. Not check out like I needed another drink, just check out to know where it is so Pam and I could come back. And somehow, I got lost in the hotel. I have no idea how it happened. I took the elevator, and next thing I know, I'm in the pool area, and it's desolate. Like, ghost town freaky. All the lights were off, and it was just me and the pool and empty lounge chairs. I take the elevator to the 3rd floor, and it's another pool. I take the elevator to the Basement level, and it's another pool. I take the elevator to every floor in between, and it's all pools. And a bar. That's empty. And a big screen TV, that just said "Out of order." I was seriously freaking out until some helpful cleaning ladies said "What are you doing down here?!" and showed me to the exit.

So that was an adventure, I guess. I survived my night without Pam. She'll be headed to work again tonight. I think I'm gonna stay in.

On today's schedule? Walk around, apply for some jobs. Be extra quiet as to not wake Pam. Try to get Pam to type about her work experience last night when she does finally awake. I dunno, then watch FNL or something. It's too cold for the pool.

FIST PUMPING IN VEGAS OH YEA

So we finally had a typical Las Vegas Night, and I'll be the first to admit, I had a great time, despite a lot of things that I would not typically like about this type of night. While writing about it, inevitably it'll sound like an awful time, just because I hate clubs and everything to do with them. But let's call it being open to new experiences. Let's call it being positive. It's one thing to be in a situation, given the chance, you'd rather not be in. It's another to be a spoilsport and complain about it. So, this is Joe Kain, Optimistic Clubber.

We - being Pam, I, and some of Pam's friends that were in town for the night - went to a club in the Mirage called the Beatles Revolution Lounge. "Oh cool," you say, "you like the Beatles, so that sounds like the perfect place for you to go." Don't kid yourself. This club has about as much Beatles influence as LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It." I saw no Beatles references, heard no Beatles songs, nor swam in any Beatles Yellow Submarines. But that's okay! You shouldn't expect any of that at a club anyway.

And you know what else is okay? A cover charge of $20 for guys. Pam was a sweetheart and split it with me, because ya know, she's a girl and she gets in for free and all. It's all good. Females have to wait like 20 minutes to use a public bathroom, right? It's a fair trade-off.

And you know what else is okay? Absolutely absurd beer prices. Alright, not absurd for Vegas, but when you grew up paying $5 to drink all night from a red cup, it's painful to both my heart and my wallet when I have to pay $9 for one single bottle of Blue Moon. Seriously, it was okay though, because the two beers that were bought were beers number 16 and 17 for me, so it's not like I needed a lot anyway. And God bless the people who were drinking mix drinks. $14 for a red bull and vodka! Christ.

The music was typical club fare, lots of pumped-up pop hits, with a healthy dose of things that can't necessarily call music per se, like LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It." Seriously, why does this song exist? To further critique the DJ, he went overboard with the whole "Shout out to all my girls from [insert place here]!" schtick. We get it, yo, you like when All the Girls From California go WHOOO, but take it easy. (Christ, I sound pretentious.)

We ended the night when our dancing shoes were all worn down, and with a quick pit stop at a pizza shop (seriously, all nights should end with a drunk slice of pizza), we journeyed back to the Can (as in, Candlewood Suites, I'm trying to get it to catch on). Arriving home at 3:30, we had ourselves a Vegas night.

So, I dressed nice and went to a club last night. I don't like clubs. It's just not my thing, ya know? When you're with friends though, and you're tipsy, and you're TRYING to have a good time, you usually have a good time. Last night, I had a good time.

Ron-Ron Juice, Episode 1: Candlewood Thoughts

Ron-Ron Juice is what the guys of the Jersey Shore drink when they wait approximately four hours for the girls to get ready to go out to the clubs. The basically sit on the couch and drink into oblivion, yelling random and probably obscene nonsense while the gals cake their makeup on and bathe in perfume. This is me, waiting for Pam. Not nearly as long, not even close, but long enough to blog. And this is me, drinking a little bit. Not nearly as much, not even close, but enough to be considered "pregaming." And this is me, blogging, during that time. Ron-Ron Juice Time. CABS ARE HEEYAH.

We've lived in this pretty sweet bungalow for a few hours now. It might be nice to share some thoughts with ya'll about the our set-up here. It might be easier for ya'll if I condense all my thoughts into a PRO and CON kinda thing. Here we go, the best and worst of living at Candlewood so far.

(Sorry about all the "ya'll" usage. Pam and I have been watching Friday Night Lights and I just can't help myself, ya'll.)

CON

- Walk into the parking lot, and see that 4/5ths of the parking spots are empty. We can assume that, because of this, not that many people are living at these suites currently. If we can assume this is the case, why in the world did they stick us in the only room on the floor that isn't being constructed on right now? Look to the right immediately outside our door, and see nothing but plastic covering, two-by-fours, and various tools. I don't give a darn now, but when my Pammy is trying to sleep after a 12-hour night shift, this might become a problem.

- No oven. This may be the most unexpected CON of our shacking up here. There's plenty of ways to cook here, don't get me wrong - hot plate counter tops, toaster, microwave - but an oven is conspicuously missing. Guess we have to throw out 3/4 of the cookbook we brought, and don't expect us to make you brownies when you come to visit.

- The shower has two settings: 1) Eskimo Shivers; 2) Fourth Degree Burns. I know that's such a cliche cheap-motel kinda problem, but this is the first time I've ever come across the phenomenon. And I gotta tell you, I don't like it. It's hot out here in the desert so far, but I can't imagine it ever being hot enough to warrant me jumping in what feels like the bottom of Antarctica's deepest fishing hole. Therefore, a few minutes ago, I psyched myself into hopping into Hephaestus's Fire, and it was horrible. This is the absolute primary reason I shall not allow myself to get sunburned this summer.

PRO

- The CONs are all malarkey, and easily overcome. The construction will be done soon. Screw it. We will find new and inventive ways to use the frying pan and the grilles around the pool area; who needs an oven? And the shower, well, I'll just man up and let those fiery pellets of wet anger rain upon my back. I'll take it! Because there's plenty of pros!

- The digs are free. Not free like someone just gave it to us. Pammy's earning it. But she's working and she's making a living and this room is icing on the cake and she is allowing me to live with her and I love her.

- We may not have an oven, but we have damn near everything else a young couple could ask for in a studio apartment. We have a fully-appliance'd kitchen. We have cooking tools in said kitchen. We have closets and cabinets and drawers. We have a TV with cable, including HBO so I can watch Luck and Pammy can watch Tru Blood. We have free wireless internet. Walk down the halls and we have a pool. And a hot tub. We have free laundry services. We have a free fitness center (where I can get, um, fit, I guess). We can be happy here. It's small, and it's cozy, but it's ours, and we're happy.

- Candlewood is in close proximity to a lot of cool Las Vegas-y things. We're a mile from the Strip (that's a five-minute bus ride, if you cross your fingers and pray for no horrible traffic). We're right next door to UNLV, which is good at basketball, apparently (hey, La Salle basketball is good too, right? Right?), and which I'm sure is surrounded by some good, cheap, fun college bars. We're right near all kinds of shops from the mundane (Target), to the exotically lame (JACK IN THE BOX!), to the cool-we'll-definitely-check-out (German beer garden right across the street?), to the lame and kitschy but still Las Vegas-y so it's gonna be awesome to visit (Terrible's Casino. Great name for a casino, I'd say), to places we'll never visit ever (best strip club name: "Librarian's Club." "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS cute librarians" reads the advertisement.).

- I'm with Pam. I've said this from the beginning, and I'll say it again. I don't give damn where the hell I am, as long as I'm with Pam. We could be in a cardboard box outside of Harrah's and I'll still be happily in love.

So yea, we're good here. Music is blaring and we're getting tipsy and we're about to have a Las Vegas-type night and life is good.

Pics of Our Suite at Candlewood

"Can't wait to clean up in here!"

"Wow, we get a chair!"

"OH YEA DISHWASHER YEA"

"We already need to buy matches."

More pics to come of the hotel itself, pool, etc.!

More Random Pics from our Morning

"A nice view of the Excalibur from across the street. It's like Disney World but with beer and prostitutes!"

"The Excalibur is freaking huge. If you squint, you can see Pam in one of the windows."

"For real - New York smells so bad, even a replication of it at 'New York, New York' Hotel stunk like hell. It was like they paid people to fart hot dogs."

"A great view of the strip over a walkway. Or did David Copperfield teach me how to float in the air?"

We had a nice morning walking around the strip, being the only people not hungover.

More pics to come!

Day Two

Sleeping in was awesome. We slept for about ten hours each in our King sized bed (are King sized as wide as they are long?) and woke without an alarm. On our agenda today were two things: 1) Get Pam a car, 2) stuff ourselves at the complimentary lunch buffet.

So, there's not much to write about today. There's only so much you can write about being at a car dealership for six hours to get a car. But, jeez, this car is so nice. Congrats, Pam!

It's a 2012 Toyota Corrolla. She hasn't named it yet, but I feel like those things come in time.

So we drove it home (three cheers for no more cab rides!!), and it rode perfectly. Pammy is scared for her life driving a brand new car.

We didn't break the speed limit going back to the Excalibur, but if it was up to our stomachs we would have, because we hadn't eaten all day and it was already 3 pm. The lunch buffet was awesome. It's only because I hate when people take pictures of their food and put it online that I didn't take a picture of the epic, hodgepodge lunch we put together. Tacos, pizza, fried chicken, salad, potatoes, pork, bananas, cookies, ice cream, anything you can imagine you could eat for lunch, we ate for lunch.

And we were stuffed and once again collapsed in our hotel room.

We tried getting drunk, and drank a bottle of wine each, but it was no use. The lunch just soaked it all up. We were still stone cold sober. So we hung out and watched TV for a while, walked around the casino for a bit, and called it a night.

It wasn't that eventful a day, besides the fact that Pam got a brand new freakin' car, which I still don't think has sunk in. But otherwise, we just took it easy. I'll repeat what I said yesterday, that we really didn't have to go all-out Vegas these last two days. We have so much time to that. We're not tourists.

So while I'm sure I'll be posting here about wild and crazy nights in the future, it was so satisfying to get through all of our errands the past two days. We did what we needed to do to prepare for our stay in Vegas.

Tomorrow we move into Candlewood Suites, where we'll be staying for the rest of our time here. When we unpack our bags, I think, we'll be the first time we can finally breath, look around, and realize, holy crap, we're in Vegas! Until then, it's time for bed.

The fun starts tomorrow.

COLD BEER

YES.

Day One

My alarm was set for 3:45 a.m., which was 12:45 am Pacific Standard Time, or Vegas Time. This was going to be a long day.

We said our goodbyes back in Rockledge, which was sad, and set out to the Philadelphia International Airport. Our flight was scheduled for 7 am, but of course it's imperative we get there 2 hours early, both because the security is absolutely ridiculous (shouldn't have worn my bomb-shaped shoes, I guess), but also because we wanted to get one last taste of Philly before we left for a while.

I wanted beer too, but the bar wasn't open at 6 am, apparently. Lightweights.

The first flight to Chicago (our layover destination) was nice because we had Economy Plus seats, which means we just had more leg room. This is nice because I am a freak with long limbs, and am usually cramped in any vehicle I step in. Not to Chicago.

They have a nice airport, complete with duty free hot dogs, and dinosaurs.

Our flight to Las Vegas was longer and more cramped without the extra leg room, but we survived. The plane didn't crash, either, so that was nice too.

Stepping foot in Vegas for the first time, you'll never guess what the first thing we saw was.

I guess it's true there are slots everywhere. Pam and I decided we needed to get all our gambling out of the way, so we sat down at the slots, and promptly lost a dollar each. THAT'S IT. NO MORE GAMBLING

She does look cute when she gambles though.

Here's the view from the airport. I guess that's the strip? I'm not sure. Big buildings, let's say.

We had a bunch of errands to run today, so we didn't go wild and crazy just yet. We did check into our room in a castle, though, which was neat. The Excalibur looks exactly what you'd expect the Vegas interpretation of a Medieval Castle to look like: Huge, glitzy, cheesy. But it was neat. Here's a view from our room's window.

Here's the bed that King Arthur, and now Pam and I, sleep in, apparently

Like I said, we had some errands to run that day to prepare for Pam's nursing job, and her job is kind of the reason we're here at all, so this stuff was kind of a priority. We took a cab to get her fingerprints done. Holy crap, cabs are expensive down here. So, to save money, before we went to our next destination, we ate Little Caesar's pizza (5 dollars for a large pie?!) on the side of the road, and then decided to take the bus, which moved slower that walking but was infinitely cheaper than those damn cabs.

The double-decker only took us half way, so we still had to take a cab to the Nevada Nursing Board's office, and it still cost a hefty fee, but at least we got her licence, which was a great relief to Pam. We were pretty far off the strip at this point, and our wallets were kind of light, so we decided to walk. Here's a picture of the strip from where we were.

That's actually a picture of the north end of the strip. The Excalibur is on the south end. Overall, it was about a five mile trip. So we started walking. We passed by a lot of... interesting... places. First was when we were trying to find our way to the strip, when we ended up on some seedy back roads, mostly populated by "Gentleman's Clubs." (The best name for one was The Spearmint Rhino. Our theory is that Spearmint and Rhino are the two strippers that founded the place, though we didn't have the cajones to ask the bouncer if that was the case).

We walked very quickly past these establishments of questionable repute (I think it would have been a bit scary if we were walking the same roads had the sun not been up), and finally crossed a long pedestrian walkway over the expressway to the Strip. This was my first experience in The Las Vegas.

The Strip was, suffice it to say, extravagant. Buildings were tall, streets were crowded, lights and sounds and alcohol were everywhere. On every corner was a casino, in every casino two bars and three restaurants. The hotels all had fancy exteriors. Some had fountain shows, some had more. Here's Pam in front of a REAL pirate ship.

Even the homeless men were out of this world. Whereas the homeless in Philly are just angry and/or lie to you about wanting money for "food," the homeless in Vegas dress up in Halloween costumes and ask for money. It's cute when you turn the corner to see Buzz and Woody asking for spare change, and a little less so when you come down the escalator to find Chuckie wielding a knife asking for a dollar or two. I was too freaked out to take a picture...

So, after finding the only place on the strip that sells dollar beers, and after finally completing the five mile journey that left our feet blistered and sore, we collapsed in our hotel room. Jet lagged, we hung out in the room for a while, and were generally just being lame, but that's okay! Because we're here for six months, and there's no need to rush out and do the tourist-y things rights away. It was our first night. We needed a break.

We did finally drag ourselves out of bed to get dinner at a place called "Nine Fine Irishmen." It was a neat atmosphere. An Irish band played while we ate our shepherd's pie. Beers were seven dollars, though, so we drank authentic Irish tap water. And then it was time for bed.

A great first day. We got some stuff done, checked out the lay of the land, and made it to our bed safe and sound.

Many more great days to come.

Time to Go, Already

That's Pam packing up her bag for the big trip. No picture of me is available because, well, I haven't started packing yet.

NEVERTHELESS, we leave tomorrow. The flight leaves at 7 a.m. I'm glad Pam believes on being on time just like me, but this unfortunately means we'll probably be on the road by 4 a.m. That's 1 a.m. in Vegas time.

We're in for a long day.

But an exciting day! I'm thinking beer and crab fries for breakfast at the airport. One last taste of Philly before we say goodbye.

Goodbyes are tough. We had a few Going Away gatherings this past weekend. Most friends were in attendance at one or the other. And though I don't quite remember saying the actual goodbyes at the end of the night (people kept buying us drinks, what can I say?), one can assume that each and every goodbye was a sad one.

Looking at this pup, Chloe, and it's all finally starting to sink in. I'm not going to see her for six whole months. I'm really going away. This is it. We're outta here.

Again, though, despite some homesickness, this trip is going to be.... just freaking awesome.

And so, with a mixture of excitement, nerves, and numbness, we hop on the plane tomorrow, and hope for good things down the road.

Expect pictures of our traveling, our hotel room, and some cute pictures of Pam's face tomorrow night.

Joe

Philadelphia: A Prologue

So when are you leaving for your trip?"

A question I've heard a thousand times. I've answered so many times in the past year with Maybes and Mights, it's hard to comprehend the fact that we actually, finally, affirmatively have a destination set in stone.

A week from now, Pam and I will be headed to the airport for a flight to Las Vegas.

I'm nervous. I mean, Jesus, I've never been away from home this far, this long. Everything will be new and strange. The comfort of my life here in Philly will be temporarily stripped away. It's going to be a wild six months of my life.

This is all a good thing. I think I need to be challenged this way. I can't go my whole life knowing nothing besides Philadelphia. There has to be more out there. I need to experience a different culture, a different way of life. It will hopefully help me grow as a person.

Of course, if it ends up being more trouble than I can handle, at least I'll have my Pammy by my side.

She's a great girl, isn't she? I can't think of many people that would allow me to tag along with them for six months on a work trip. She's a genuine trooper for putting up with me. Ha.

So here we go. One week. I'm gonna try to soak up all the family, friend, and work time that I can manage of the next seven days (maybe try to pack a little, too). It's going to fly by, and next thing I know, we'll be on that flight across the country. This is scary!

I love it here in Philly. It's home. But sometimes you can't truly appreciate what you have until you know what else is out there. So I'm going to take a deep breath, hold Pam's hand real tight, and take the leap. The next six months are going to be... something else. I'm excited.

And please, come visit us. It's Vegas, for Christ's sake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll be hopefully updating this blog regularly, mostly with pictures but hopefully with some stories too. I hate when people post all their crap about their trips on Facebook, so this will be my outlet where I dump all of our experiences. Granted, it will probably mostly be my and Pam's parents following along, but anyone is welcome to visit this here blog and keep tabs on us.

I'm gonna force Pam to write on here too, don't worry.