Friday, December 26, 2008

Friday Night Restlessness

Here it is, Friday evening in Vegas, and my system is so effed up I'm not quite sure what to do... I worked the graveyard shift the past two nights, as usual, but tomorrow I have to work at 9:00 am--right about the time I'm usually winding down and going to sleep. Now, I got a bit of a nap today, but I'll need to force myself to sleep tonight or else I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow.

And it's not like it's gonna be a big money day, either--I'm dealing a big freeroll tournament where we don't make shiat for money. The only redeeming factor is that it will be a fun day because everyone in the department will be working, and my co-workers are a great group of people for the most part. Even though it'll be a miserable tournament, I'll have company. Working the graveyard shift, I don't really get to see too many people. There are maybe three dealers there when I get in every night, and by the time my shift is over, I'm the last of the Mohicans. So working a middle-of-the-day shift will be a bit more social.

So tonight, I've got to force myself to sleep when I'm normally working, and tomorrow, I've got to force myself to stay awake when I'm normally sleeping. I'm sure I'll be a zombie by Sunday night.

Adding to my potential exhaustion is the fact that Jen wants to go out tomorrow night after work, too. We'll probably find some place to hole up and drink for awhile, but I'm guessing that it'll be an early night for me.

Last night wasn't nearly as lucrative as Christmas morning was. I worked two hours longer and made about thirty bucks less--that's never fun. The game was full of drunks, two of which we had to cut off, and if it wasn't obnoxious drunks, it was newbies that had no idea what they were doing, acting out of turn, repeatedly asking how much they could bet, etc. Not a fun night at all. Luckily it ended around 6:30 or so and I got out before the old farts showed up.

After my shift, I hung out for a bit talking to the graveyard floorman and the morning dealer--I didn't want to come home too early because my roommate's brother is here for the holidays and sleeping on the couch, and I didn't want to come sneaking in and give him the blast of cold air when I opened the front door, much less set the dogs off barking and waking everyone up. So I stuck around shootin' the shiat with the fellers there in the poker room, while the cocktail waitress brought us drinks and hung out with us too, as she had no customers to tend to. Hell, to walk by and see us sitting there in the corner around an empty poker table, you'd think you would've walked in to our own life-sized version of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Eventually, the old guys started shuffling in, as did the day-shift floorman, so our party broke up. The floorman, who I worked with all summer, told me he had a card for me, so I stuck around while he ran back out to his car to get it. He came back a few minutes later with my Christmas card, and I was shocked to see that inside, there was a $50 gift card to Outback Steakhouse. That was really nice!

I thanked him, said goodbye to everyone, and finally headed out. When I got outside, I was amazed at what a beautiful day it was out here in Vegas--it was one of those 100-mile blue sky days that is so clear that you can see forever. When I got to work the night before, it was rainy, cold, and overcast, and this morning, it was just awesome outside. Clear and cold, and all of the mountains surrounding he valley were covered in snow. I wish I would've had my camera with me, because it was a gorgeous day.

I was hungry, so of course I headed back over to the Omelet House. I was seated immediately, at my usual table (Been there five times now, each time I've sat at the exact same table). Unfortunately, my gal Marcie wasn't around, and some dude was my server. I ordered a cup of coffee and looked over the menu for a bit. I decided to have pancakes and bacon, with a glass of juice. Just after I ordered, my waiter told me that Marcie had just shown up, and a few minutes later, she was out there at my table visiting with me before her shift started. She told me all about her Christmas and we had a nice conversation. And she made me memorize her schedule so that I could plan my meals around when she was working.

Breakfast was very good, and of course I could come close to finishing it--the pancakes were huge, and three of them were more than enough. It was slow enough that I was able to linger and visit for a bit, but once the crowds started making their way in, I said goodbye, paid my tab, and headed back to the house.

I tried to stay awake as long as possible, but it was a losing battle. I *really* wanted to go outside and take advantage of the beautiful day--maybe check out one of those hiking trails out at Lake Mead, but damn, as willing as the spirit was, the flesh was just too weak. I lasted about an hour before passing out in bed and getting my snooze on.

I didn't get as much sleep as needed--once I woke up a couple hours later, I forced myself to stay awake, just so that I'd sleep tonight. This mixed-up schedule is hell on my system...

Anyhow, that's the news from here. I wish I had more interesting stuff to report, but things are kind of mellow.

Y'all have a good weekend!

Mikey

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