Stratosphere- next stay part one

Here I sit, right now, at the Stratosphere again.  Yes, I DO remember this disaster before, here, I blogged about it then miserable blog post here.  And several weeks ago, MSNBC posted a story about blogging your way to better customer service and quoted me, linked to my blog story here.  Then, some Hungarian news agency took that story, and published it too, made me popular in Hungary here.  (still never got a good translation of the story, so if you know Hungarian, let me know what they're saying about me, k?)

 

So, here I am, again.  While not the bad experience of before, I am still far from impressed.  Here's my list, good, bad and ugly so far, and I'm here til Monday, so look for another post to follow with more details after that.

 

  • get here to checkin after good dinner with friends and family at Rio buffet.  Yum.  Was 10pm-ish when we arrive, stupid insane long line to checkin, no more self serve kiosk either.  Sister stands in line with bag, I take my letter from manager to the VIP line, asking if they can help me.  What did I have to lose, right?  So, yes, they were wonderful.  No line, no waiting, here have some bottled water while you do wait the 3 minutes here instead of 30 over there.  Told we're in a nice "suite", elevators we need are close and easy, no maze.  So far so good.
  • Apparently, all the good rooms here have a view of the HVAC system.  I am sure they must be quite proud of this HVAC system to show it off so much, much more than other "resorts" in Vegas.  We have another view of the HVAC system here in our "suite".
  • I put "suite" in quotes since their definition and mine are totally different.  Suite to me means more than one room, like separate living space and sleeping space.  This is simply an oversized hotel room with couch, bed and dining table in one room.  Not a suite.  It's about the size of my master bedroom at home.  So, while nice, certainly not some posh Vegas suite.  I've seen those, stayed in some, this is not one.
  • The bathroom is big.  Fairly nice.  Note to Stratosphere folks, you would get loads of points for building some walls around that toilet to allow 2 people to make use of the bathroom at once, instead of having it totally exposed in the big ole bathroom.  No hair conditioner (did you not see my feedback before, no conditioner makes you less of a hotel than most Motel 6's.  So if that's your goal, good job, if not, fix it).  Someone else's hair was in the floor of the shower, so we had to clean it before we could use it.  Several of our plastic DISPOSABLE cups were actually reused and placed back in plastic bags.  GROSS.
  • And, if you were trying to impress me and convince me this place was different, then maybe, just maybe, you could have put me in a room that was not directly attached to the bank of elevators.  Makes for weird noises all night long, thanks.

High school basketball games, I think I grew up in the movie Hoosiers

So, I grew up in Indiana.  Was not BIG city, was not SMALL town, was semi-typical suburbia.  Our high school was pretty big, even by today's standards, big.  And yes, we loved basketball.  I got my own hoop in the driveway for my 35th birthday and next to some shiny things from Dave, it's probably one of the best gifts I've gotten.  I assembled and installed it personally.

 

We had the gym full on game nights.  We had busses and caravans for big games, playoffs, etc.  We had TALL players (2 guys over 7ft tall) we had kick ass three point shooters (one of the best in the state, if not best, he made all American in high school), we had a typical Indiana high school team.

 

But when I watch the movie Hoosiers (yes, I own it, get over it) I did not see my high school experience in it.  Until tonight.

 

I went to my first high school basketball game tonight at our high school in Colorado Springs.  I would be generous to say that the gym was 30% full.  The crowd was quiet ('cept that ONE really loud mom that doesn't really know what she's yelling about).  So quiet in fact that during a time out we could not only hear, but could clearly understand the coach's talks (yells?)with the team.  There was no roaring crowd.

 

Suddenly I realized it really is different in Indiana.  I had just assumed it was exaggerated over the years, especially since the movie, but it's not.  I was quite surprised and disappointed.  However, I went to listen to our kids play pep band.  It was their first time ever performing together.  It was great.  Am a proud band mom.


Get fit in February Challenge- Day 1

There it is, my tootsies on my VERY dusty scale.  I have been looking at the other postings and already feel like I don't belong here.  But I have thought it out and realize that fitness is more than a number and everyone's number and comfort zone are different.  I am not here to win the contest, no way that I can (it's ok, really, not here to win).  But I am putting myself out there for the public accountability.  So here I am.

 

For me, this is the most I've weighed.  Even more than I weighed on the days I gave birth, by 10 pounds.  I know my weight is a healthy number, but I don't feel fit.  I tire too quickly.  I would love more energy.  I have too many aches and pains for someone my age, even though 40 is fast approaching.  I eat junk.  I enjoy food that is good for me, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE junk food and the crap that will cause a heart attack at age 50.  All those signs that I am not in good shape, regardless of the number on the scale.

 

I have hired a personal trainer to come to my house starting Tuesday, for a few weeks, couple of times a day.  This is by far the snobbiest thing I've ever done.  I have tried the gym route.  I have dusty exercise equipment in my house.  It's just not getting me off my ass to do anything.  So my hope is that Ronda will hold me accountable, teach me the habits I need, then maybe I will be more fit.  Additionally, I am looking at knee surgery in April and have started physical therapy now to make sure my recovery is faster and easier, since things like that only get worse as we get older.

 

Yes, I know for my height, my weight is fine (for the record I am 5'7" tall).  I know that doing some exercise and reducing my junk food will cause me to drop a few pounds and that if I am not careful, I am the type that could lose too much and no be healthy.

 

So, today's breakfast was half a cinnamon roll, 2 pieces of breakfast sausage, a big bowl of fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries, pineapple and bananas) and half a cup of coffee.  Not too bad, got to eat the stuff I think is yummy, but didn't eat too much of the bad stuff.

 

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