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A Timeline of 32 Hours in Las Vegas with Brett
by
Last week, I gave some insight into my mindset when it came to going on a brief business trip with our business development guy, Brett. You probably know him by now. You can read it here.
But now that I’m finally fully recovered and back in the swing of things, I knew it was time to sit down and map out everything that happened.
Here, my friends, is our entire itinerary for the trip that was.
Thursday
11:07 am — Our plane lands in the sketchiest way possible due to those desert winds. Was almost like they knew Brett was arriving.
11:27 am — We finally make it to the Uber zone where I struggle to figure out how it works, mainly because every major airport has made Uber pick-ups a damn nightmare.
12:03 pm — Check in at Fontainebleau; each receive separate keys which allows us to breathe a sigh of relief that we aren’t rooming together.
12:12 pm — Unpack my suitcase so I can charge my phone for all of 4 minutes, getting about 2% extra battery.
1:30 pm — [Redacted Business Lunch]
2:11 pm — [Redacted Tour of Fontainebleau Las Vegas]
2:34 pm — “Yeah so I think I’m going to pop open my lappy at the sportsbook and grind for the rest of the afternoon.”
3:31 pm — “Should we bet this Clemson game?”
3:32 pm — I go place a $50 bet on Clemson +7, $25 on the over for vibes. Brett follows suit.
4:03 pm — Clemson takes an immediate 9-point lead that feels comfortable for the entirety of the first half.
4:07 pm — Brett finishes his old fashioned, I finish my first Guinness. I order another, but Brett pivots to Michelob Ultra that he refers to by “Mickey Bang-Bangs” to our waitress. She was justifiably confused. Brett mutters “Michelob Ultra” under his breath.
4:37 pm — A third Guinness is ordered.
5:01 pm — A fourth Guinness is ordered.
5:27 pm — Brett shuts his laptop and says, “Hey, you wanna go get a cocktail at that Azul bar they told us about? Place looks sick.”
5:35 pm — We begin talking to one of the most engaging bartenders we’ve ever met. I told him I wanted to record him making a drink and he immediately locked in like Davis Clarke. He tells us you can fly with marijuana as long as its under a certain amount; we know that’s factually incorrect.
6:17 pm — “Cool if we rip some ‘spresso ‘teens before dinner?”
6:18 pm — Brett explains to our new bartender friend that he means “Espresso Martinis.”
7:01 pm — We sit down for a nice Italian dinner. Because I always forget that I simply cannot keep up with Brett, I decline the drink menu. Brett gets sold by the sommelier on a bottle of barolo.
7:13 pm — “Holy shit, that barolo is so fucking good.”
7:24 pm — “Yeah, we’ll do the short rib meatballs, an order of the carbonara, and this lumanche dish too.”
7:59 pm — Things become a bit fuzzy. Not because we were too drunk, but because we were so fired up from that barolo that we could barely let the other person speak. I can barely eat any of the carbonara because I’ve already had about 1,400 worth of calories on cocktails in the last few hours. When in Vegas.
8:47 pm — We sign the bill and make the most pivotal decision of the night: whether or not to hit the tables that I said I absolutely would not be hitting earlier that day.
8:51 pm — I put $200 down on the blackjack table in front of me. Yes, I used my Clemson winnings.
9:01 pm — I get up from the table with $200 less attached to my net worth than before.
9:06 pm — I set down a half-drank bottle of Pacifico on my bedside table and consider seeing if any websites that are blocked in Texas aren’t blocked in Nevada. I fall asleep watching soccer highlights.
Friday
6:01 am — “Holy hell, I feel awful.” I close my eyes again.
7:01 am — I open my eyes and realize I never plugged my phone in the night before. That’s okay, we’ve got time. I text Brett, “I’m hungover” just to let him know that I won’t be sprinting down for croissants any time soon. I also remember I never put together the week’s “Slams Laptop Shut” post for Scaries. I consider snagging the $22 bottle of Fiji from the hotel fridge but remember I still have my reusable water bottle full from the airport. I pat my self on the back.
7:39 am — I remember it’s the anniversary of Branford Marsalis’s first performance with The Grateful Dead. I vibe to that for a bit.
8:12 am — A text from Brett: “Dude this gym is sick.” I tell him, “You’re a dog for working out” and ask him to snag me a robe from the spa.
9:01 am — “You cool with a noon lunch at LIV Beach Club?” Brett asks me in another text. While I didn’t have a day club on my mental docket for the day, I accept the invite because I know our Fontainebleau contingent will take care of us.
9:02 am — Work.
11:37 am — I buy an $8 Fiji from the general store near check-in. It was the best $8 I had ever spent until I forgot the bottle on the checkout counter of a store I wander into. I then remember I lost $200 at the tables the night before. I’m down bad.
12:01 pm — [Redacted Lunch Meeting]
1:30 pm — We’re done talking official business so we decide to crack into the buckets of Liquid Death and Modelos that were brought over. We people watch — bachelor parties doing shots in the sun, dudes trying to figure out how to get the numbers of waitresses and bachelorette parties alike, James Kennedy from Vanderpump Rules takes the stage for his DJ set.
1:58 pm — The Modelos begin to do their job. I’m feeling back to normal besides the fact that I’m so dehydrated from traveling and drinking that I can’t muster up the might to pee.
2:12 pm — I go to the bathroom to pee. There’s a dude yucking it up with the bathroom attendants while full-blown smoking a cigar inside the bathroom. Viva Las Vegas.
2:21 pm — Modelo, the best poolside skewers I’ve ever had, fries, and another Modelo.
2:44 pm — We can feel our flight beginning to weigh on us. It’s out of Vegas at 7 pm sharp which means we’re going to need to collect our stuff, check out, and head to the airport before 6.
3:28 pm — Return to our respective rooms and pack our 24 hours worth of clothes up. I packed too much but somehow wore nearly everything. I check “Slams Laptop Shut” and see that it’s cooking. Shouts to Beyonce.
4:01 pm — I send a text I don’t want to send: “Alright, I’m going to rip a quick nap and then meet you downstairs at the lobby bar.”
5:00 pm — I wake up in a stupor to my alarm and see a text from Brett: “Just got my lappy open down here” despite the fact that it’s like 8 o’clock on the east coast. Grinders grind.
5:09 pm — “Yeah, I’ll do a glass of the pinot from Pasa Robles.” This glass of wine gets me insanely cozy for the flight. Yet despite being a couple Modelos deep with a glass of wine to boot, I still feel off. Those Vegas hangovers, man.
6:09 pm — We arrive at the airport and shoot through TSA Pre-Check. We see two spots at the Heineken Lounge after realizing the PGA Tour Lounge is too packed. This ends up being a great decision because we sit down with two people in their 50s who connect while discussing 80s hair metal.
6:38 pm — The guy at our gate begins talking into the speaker system. I can’t wait to be home as I clutch my phone that has my A6 boarding pass queued up. He then utters the words you never want to hear: “We’re just waiting on a couple pilots…” Oh no.
7:22 pm — The pilots finally arrive. We’ve lost our stronghold at the Heineken Lounge and I decide I’m not having another drink for the rest of the night. I count the hours and realize I’ll be lucky to be home by 1 am.
7:23 pm — “Despite the delay, some good news about the flight: There are about 55 open seats which means almost everyone will have only two to a row.” The respite I needed.
7:30 pm — We begin boarding the flight. I sit down on an aisle seat hoping to clock the row so Brett can sit in the window.
7:31 pm — A short blonde girl in her 20s asks if she can have the window seat. She’s wearing AirPod Max headphones, New Balance collab sneakers, and a matching set from Sporty & Rich. Despite my distaste for Sporty & Rich, I realize this walking Scaries post will be a good seat mate. We look at each other with the shared knowledge that we’re in this together.
7:40 pm — The plane is almost entirely boarded at this point. A few stragglers. Flight attendants are doing what they need to do to get our asses in the air.
7:41 pm — A woman walks on the plane and looks directly at me. I try to divert my eyes but she’s walking straight to me. “Anyone sitting there?” she inquires. I look around the plane at all the empty seats to signal she needs to leave immediately. She doesn’t pick up on it. I smile and say, “All you!” as the remnants of my spirit die inside. She sits down and coughs.
7:54 pm — We take off and I purchase full internet for $8 out of not want, but need. I open Twitter and see that a tweet of mine is going viral. I order a ginger ale to celebrate before falling asleep to “Eyes of the World” from 3/29/90. We made it.
Y’all Have To Stop Trolling The Postgrad Problems Subreddit
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To the “bring back the forums” brigade who want a place to share your thoughts relating to our podcast or are maybe looking for a community of like-minded young adults with whom to mix it up a bit, may I suggest perusing the Circling Back subreddit?
It provides you the opportunity to discuss your Weekends in Fun™, your favorite podcast bits, things to do in new cities, or the platform on which to air your grievances or talk shit about one of the hosts. It’s all there for you.
Before we were forced to rebrand to Circling Back due to the unfortunate cancellation of our last podcast, there was a previous subreddit by a different name. That one is called r/PostGradProblem, and despite the correlating podcast being defunct since November of 2018, the subreddit is still very much active.
Unknowing passersby will pop in looking for career advice or tips on budgeting on a modest salary. Maybe they want others’ thoughts on going to grad school or what to do about their seemingly insurmountable student debt, or how to make friends while balancing work and personal life. They go there in earnest, hoping for other young professionals to share some of their wisdom or relate to their similar experiences.
The problem is the majority of responses they get are from the old guard, and the old guard is not exactly…helpful. These people clearly still listen to Circling Back. They know all the jokes and running bits, but more to the point, they wield this knowledge and this power with pure evil.
Some examples:
Here we have a recent graduate struggling with where to go from here. The postgrad funk is certainly a relatable one, so hopefully this person receives sage advice or even some motivation. Should they go back to school to perhaps pursue a different career, or should they stick to their current path?
Yeah I just don’t see how throwing in a fat hog helps the situation here.
Seems like a fairly straightforward question, no? This person wants to listen to scientific papers as opposed to reading them. Let’s see if they receive a good recommendation.
Best of both worlds.
Here we have another young person struggling with going back to school versus staying on their current career path. Many people have faced similar decisions, so surely they got some solid intel from the commenters.
Nope.
This is one of the most common thread topics for young professionals. It’s the classic moving-to-a-new-city-where-you-don’t-know-anyone-but-want-to-get-plugged-into-the-social-scene scenario. So many people go through this. Hopefully at least one of those people has a good tip for them.
Just find a local frat, idiot.
This one has a more serious tone. This new Reddit user is feeling the weight of starting on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder. She’s stressed and overwhelmed. Is this the right career for her? What is she missing out on? Are her peers doing bigger and better things and passing her by? It’s just a lot.
Shoutout Timon.
This new dentist isn’t sure if this career is right for them. Not quite fulfilling enough, it seems. Switching careers at this point is a tough call considering all the student debt they’ve amassed, not to mention the years of school invested in becoming a dentist. Where should they go from here?
Okay, maybe, but how do podcast hosts even make money?
What I’m Cooking, Drinking, And Watching This Weekend
by Dave
What I’m Cooking
I’m probably very late on this, but I’m becoming a big Cooking with Darryl guy. He’s just a dad who cooks great dishes and isn’t annoying about it. He’s also a Rhoback guy (use code backer20) and looks like he might disappear to play a quick nine at any moment. I find his work to be approachable in a world of unapproachable Instagram food influencers. I think I’m adding his skirt steak burrito bowls to the docket this weekend:
See what I mean? Tell me you don’t want to drink exactly one (1) beer and go chat-up your butcher for 30 minutes after that. I feel like I’d be letting him down if I didn’t attempt to replicate a Darryl meal this weekend, so that is what I’ll do. Darryl also tosses cottage cheese in his scrambled eggs, and that blew my mind so hard that I’ll be trying that too. Cottage cheese: objectively good.
What I’m Drinking
Can I interest anyone in an inexpensive fruit-forward Montepulciano? I’ve been going hard on the Umani Ronchi Podere. If you’re an elitist, the sub-15-dollar bottle would be easy to ignore. But don’t let it fool ya about what’s inside. It is quite deliziosa. I’m going to grab a few bottles for my little wine fridge because that’s what a certified winey boy would do. It’s already stocked with some of my favorite higher-end bottles: the Renieri Rosso that taps-in at around 22 dollars. Oooof Madone!
Now juxtapose my personal collection with the 4 Red Stripes that have been sitting in my fridge. I want Cooking With Darryl to walk me through his kitchen secrets as I guzzle cold beers. My Sunday is rounding into form.
What I’m Watching
Masters
I’m on record stating that ESPN Plus is well worth the money. Not only will you need it to satisfy your primal urges with UFC, but the Masters catalog they have is great. I’ll be doing my pre-PRE-Masters prep by watching the condensed 2019 Masters. I don’t need to tell you how that ended. I shed big tears every time, and frankly, it’s weird if you don’t. Closing out a Friday and Saturday night with Augusta National is incredibly relaxing and a great way to get dialed for next week.
Generation Kill
I’m doing a rewatch. I have no clue what triggered this, but it’s one of HBO’s best and most underrated products. I’m having a lot of fun playing “where do I know that guy from” each episode. If you haven’t watched, I think there’s a consensus that it’s one of the best depictions of the War in Iraq of that era. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Ripped Fuel to pop.
Shogun
Fine. Leave me alone. I’ll watch. I finished 1923 (pretty good), so I need to roll that momentum into something new. Every podcast, twitter account, and local news anchor is watching this thing, so I guess I’ll hop on board. Subtitles don’t scare me. I’m doing my best to know as little about this show as possible, so please hold your tweets of encouragement until next week.
Have a great one.
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I was laughing at the PGP subreddit posts, had no idea Timon was that shredded
The boys are in their bag