"Its been...
 One week since you l looked at me
 Threw your arms in the air and said, 'You're crazy'
 Five days since you tackled me
 I've still got those rug-burns on both my knees"

Ugh... averaging one entry per week is pretty... well, weak. Not that there hasn't been anything worth noting. Its just hard to take time to make time I guess.

First off, Happy Birthday to Lisa! We've been dating the better part of four months now, and I confess to having enjoyed every minute of it. In fact I've never been happier. :-) Dinner and dancing tonight!

My business unit had its holiday party this past weekend at Safeco Field (where the Mariner's play). It was actually really cool. There are some pretty posh parts of that stadium that most people never get to see. Lisa and I demonstrated what hard core dancers we are by Lindy-Hopping to 80s retro music ON CARPET!

And finally, I say Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers this morning. It was another Office Rents an entire Movie Theater for a few hours event. The movie was incredible, but it was THREE HOURS LONG! So while I definitly recommend seeing it: make sure you're wearing adult diapers.

That's the news. I'll be leaving for Lancaster tomorrow morning. Peace!

"What am I worried about Otho you can't even change a tire."
    Lydia Deets, Beetljuice

Wow, I got a bit behind. Partially because so much has happened. A brief chronological summary:

• 12/5 - 11:55pm
  Realizing that we're not close enough to hit our goal any time soon I consume a large amount of coffee
  
• 12/6 - 12:10am
  Our dev lead decides that we did a good job and should call it a night.
  
• 12/6 - 4:00am
  The caffine wears off and I fall asleep
  
• 12/6 - 7:15am
  Lisa calls me with a flat tire that she can't change.
  
• 12/16 - 7:45am
  I arrive at Lisa's place (downtown), change the tire, and fall asleep in her apartment.
  
• 12/16 - 8:45am
  I get up and go to work
  
  Work wasn't so bad. My lead was sympathetic and even insisted that I leave early and get some rest
  
• 12/6 - 6:30pm Arrive back at Lisa's so we can go to her office Christmas Party. A good time. Best gag gift was the 'Fart Phone' that farts instead of ringing.
  
  
• 12/6 - 11:00pm SLEEP
  
  
• 12/7 - whenever am
  Get taken or roadtrip to points unknown by Lisa for early Christmas present
  
• 12/7 - whenever pm
  Arrive in Bellingham (Washington's answer top Deleware)
  
• 12/7 - 4:00pm
  Gift revealed: Tickets to see RENT in the Mt. Baker Theater!
  
• 12/7 - 6:30pm
  Bonus gift revealed: we're staying in a super-cool bed and breakfast!
  
  At this point things slow down to a nice relaxed place. We have a nice evening in Bellingham, and go christmas shopping the next day for ourselves, each other, and The Giving Tree. Fast forward to:
  
• 12/8 - 11:30pm
  Tired and happy after a great weekend with Lisa I decide to slip down to Jack-In-The-Box for a late night burger before going to bed
  
• 12/9 - 7:15am
  Recieve phone call from Mom about something I can't remember
  
• 12/9 - 7:20am
  realize that I'm covered in cold sweat, have a fever, and feel like I'm going to puke.
  
• 12/9 - 9:30am
  Crawl out of bed into freezing cold hall, turn thermostat from 50 to 75, crawl into bathroom, and collapse on the floor
  
• 12/9 - 9:30am to 1:00pm
  Alternate between sleeping on the bathroom floor and hurling into the toilet
  
• 12/9 - 1:00pm
  Heave my last heave, go from cold sweat to hot sweat, crawl back into bed, vow to never eat at Jack-In-The-Box ever again, and fall asleep

"Winner, winner, chicken dinner!"
    Some fat guy in the "Casino Royal" (a.k.a. Royal with Cheese)

So yes... Las Vegas.

Everyone else who's already been to Las Vegas has said the same thing about spending time there: its very exciting when you get there, but after three days you could do with a long break from the place. How true.

We had an amazing time. The Casino's themselves are mind-blowing. The fountains at The Belagio, the canals at The Venician, the rides at The Stratosphere... all just larger than life. I spent the larger part of each day just exploring the strip.

However, the gambling is a lot of fun. We stuck with low stakes most of the time ($1-$5 blackjack or $10 Pai Gao), but we played a little $10 here and there. Matt wound up the big winner for the weekend finishing over a grand ahead. He celebrated by putting $100 on black at 4:00am in The Belagio. He lost... and then immediately won it back at blackjack.

Unfortunately for Tiger we never did take him to a strip club. I guess everyone on the trip either felt they didn't know him well enough or just had never been themselves so it just never happened.

The best night we definitly Saturday. We went to freemont street (old Las Vegas) and took in the light show. Won a little money and then settled down in a little dingy casino call the Casino Royal for some serious drinking and blackjack. It was awsome. All six of us a one table with one hell of a lively dealer. We all got completly drunk, but still managed to will more than $100 each ($178 myself :-). Six hours later we wandered to The Belagio so Matt could bet on black and then spent another hour chatting with the blackjack dealers about the largest bets they'd seen, celebrities they'd dealt to, etc. We really should have made a pass through some of the larger casinos earlier in the night because it sounds like that's the time to see famous people. Mike Myers had been there just a few hours before.

In the end I wound up down over $200 and more than ready to get back to Seattle. Would I go again? Sure, but not for at least six months. I probably wouldn't stay at Ceaser's Palace again. Its really nice (we had a jacuzzi in our room) and well located (center of the strip), but too pricey considering how little time we actually spent in our rooms.

So after four days in sunny Las Vegas I come back to find winter has arrived in Seattle. Bummer. I'm going to miss the sun for the next six months.

"And there's a concrete sky
 Falling from the trees again
 And I don't know why
 It's not coming 'roud too soon
 It's harder than a heartbreak too."
       Beth Orton, Concrete Sky

Its Thanksgiving day 2002, and I'm eating a turkey sandwitch on a plane from Seattle to Las Vegas. Not the worst Thanksgiving ever, but certainly a break from tradition.

I'm on this plane with three friends There should have been four, but sadly the fourth booked his flight on National Airlines which folded a few weeks ago leaving all its customers in the lurch.

Tiger is sitting a few rows ahead of me and he is now officially getting married next month. His folks had arranged a marraige between him and a girl from his hometown in China. This arrangement didn't exist when we originally planned this trip, and he just decided to go through with it in the last two weeks.

Can you imagine this? Maybe I'm just too western, but if my folks called me up and said they wanted me to marry Suzy Q from back in elementary school and that the wedding is in two months if I agree I think I might go ballistic.

A few other people I work with had arranged marriages. I guess thing have progressed over the years: either party can just say no in most cases I think. However, I still think that's really awkward. I don't want my family tinkering with my love life anymore thatn they want me tinkering with theirs. I hope.

Anyay, I got some really good picture of Mt. Rainier as we took off from SeaTac. I'll get those posted when I get a chance.