Day 6-All CA students must be vaccinated

B. and I saw Absinthe today…

10/6/21. Wednesday

7:30-8:00 – I’m up, but I lie in bed for transition time.

8:00-8:45 – Although I brought my Netbook to Vegas, I can’t seem to get WiFi so B. kindly set up his laptop for me the night before. Class starts at 8:30, so I log into College No. 2 to see if the Discussion Board and course content is ready. Over the weekend, I made sure everything was ready for my highschoolers [Wed. and Fri.] so all I should have to do is push buttons.

I make coffee, then “publish” the Discussion Board and today’s course content. I field a few emails and hang around until 8:45, when class starts rolling. Things are running smoothly so I break and take a shower.

8:45-9:30 – Shower. Lotion. Light make-up. I put on a dress today.

9:30-10:00 – I check in with my students and, thankfully, there are no complications. I check email at College No. 2, then respond, via email, to a few more students. The students finish their assignment and class is dismissed.

10:00-11:00 – It’s B.’s birthday today, so I make him a cup of coffee and hang out in the living room, reading Digital Minimalism, while he gets ready. I give B. a birthday card with a picture of the Van Gogh coffee table book that he liked at the Immersion exhibit inside the card. I say a “picture” of the book because it is not scheduled to arrive until November. Today is B.’s mandated timeshare tour – the reason why we’re staying at these great digs! – and he has to drive across town to make his 1:00 appointment.

11:00-12:30 – B. says he wants to go to Planet Hollywood for breakfast so I’m assuming he must know a cool restaurant there.  The Hilton flows right into the Planet Hollywood Miracle Mile – you just have to walk about 15 minutes – and, just like that, we’re in the Planet Hollywood casino. B. asks if we’re near Planet Hollywood and I explain that, yes, we’re in the Planet Hollywood casino. What restaurant were you thinking of? B., surprised, says he thought Planet Hollywood was a restaurant. Kind of funny! Nope – it’s a casino.

We backtrack and stop at Flights, a restaurant that looks like the Air Force Officers Club – there are actually fake planes hanging from the ceiling – and eat breakfast there. At Flights, most things are served in “flights” of three, ergo the name. I get chicken and waffles and a flight of three different mimosas - very tasty.  The chicken and waffles is really good and I have leftovers.  B. gets…something?

The staff are masked continuously but none of the patrons are because as soon as anyone sits down to eat, they take their masks off. The rules are you’re supposed to wear your mask when you’re walking through the restaurant, like if you’re being seated or you get up to go to the bathroom. HOWEVER, when seated at your own personal table and “actively eating and drinking” you can take your mask off. This translates into everyone taking their masks off as soon as they are seated, whether or not they are actively eating and drinking. In general, I don’t feel very safe in a restaurant because the patrons, myself included, aren’t masked.

As soon as we’re finished eating, we leave and return to our hotel room immediately. If B. is late to the timeshare, he forfeits the great deal he got on our 4-day/3-night reservation.

12:30-4:00 – B. leaves for the timeshare tour and I report immediately to the pool, where I’ll remain for the next 3.5 hours.  The weather is sunny, warm, and beautiful – I don’t bother with sunscreen – and I alternate between reading Digital Minimalism and sleeping. Halfway into my “pool party”, I order a glass of champagne from the bar.

4:30-5:30 – B. appears poolside and tells me that this was a high-pressured timeshare tour and the longest he has ever been on. It sounds like the salesmen were rude and aggressive when B. refused to purchase, but a timeshare costs $80,000!  They don’t call it a “timeshare” anymore – I think they refer to it as a points program, or something like that. I hate high-pressure sales, but B. doesn’t seem to mind. B. discusses the timeshare tour and then we leave the pool and go back to our room. We better motor if we’re going to make the 8:00 show at Absinthe. I bought the tickets for B.’s birthday [cha ching :-)]

5:30-6:30 – I change back into my dress and touch-up my hair and make-up.  While B. is getting ready, I have a “spritzer-in-a-can” and my leftover macaroni-and-cheese from Top of the World.

6:30 – 7:30 – B. and I go downstairs and he calls an Uber. It arrives within minutes and takes us to Caesars  Palace. Absinthe is a variety show inside a large, permanent “Spiegeltent”, constructed outdoors, within the Caesars Palace perimeter. We’re early, so B. buys us a round of drinks.

8:00-10:00 – We enter the circus tent and almost all of the patrons are masking. The “Ringmaster” and his female sidekick are filthy-dirty (verbally) and extremely sexually explicit – describing it as “burlesque” is too tame.  Going here on a first date would be a mistake. They take turns announcing the various acts, which take place on a tiny stage [9-feet in diameter], and are incredible!! Everything has a cabaret feel…

Some of the acts consist of a 2-member, male/female dance team, who perform a sexy, choreographed number on stage; the Green Fairy, who strips down to virtually nothing and engages with male members of the audience (they’re probably ‘plants’); a woman swinging and performing trapeze moves on a big hula hoop above the stage; and an amazing brother/sister team on roller skates!!  He grabs her ankles and swings her around the stage until her head is inches from hitting the platform – they are moving so fast, it’s dangerous.  If his grip accidentally slipped, she would be boomeranged through the audience and probably kill someone. I really enjoyed Absinthe!

10:00-11:30 – The show is over and B. calls an Uber back to our hotel. B. is hungry so we end up at Blondies Sports Bar & Grill at the Miracle Mile. This is a true sports bar – picture wait staff walking around in black-and-white striped referee shirts, booty shorts, and masks. I get the calamari and B. gets…something?? and a beer. My calamari is excellent and there’s a lot of it – more leftovers. The bill comes and I notice that B.’s beer cost $25!!!  It wasn’t even that big!!  What a rip off!!!  When we ask the waitress about it, she’s unapologetic, saying, “Uh…yeah…the beers are expensive here.”  OMG.

11:30-12:00 – B. and I report to our hotel room.

12:00-12:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed. A fun day.