Vegas Day 3...

We were up fairly early this morning, 9 am. The original plan was to be at the Gun Shop at 9 am to beat the rush. It’s a shooting range and we were taking the package where we get to shoot a pistol, a semi-automatic riffle, a shotgun and an Uzi machine gone. Being Canadian, it’s not something that’s commonplace in Canada. I don’t even know if we allow machine guns in the Country.

We showed up yesterday and it was a minimum of a 90-minute wait, we decided to come back today. After a stop at In & Out Burger, that place is insanely busy; we got to the gun shop at noon. Even then it was a good hour wait. I’m not sure what makes more money, In & Out burger or the Gun Shop. I’d love to own either one and neither are franchises.

We got a late start as I had a phone call with Mixbook, a potential new client. I was very close to closing with the president-founder and he hired someone to take over the job. We had a good conversation and I got it back on track. This guy didn’t even know that we got through the sample stage, pricing, contract review and I was just waiting for the trigger to be pulled to get them going with integration. Now that he’s up to speed hopefully he’ll make a decision ASAP.

Prior to the phone call, I got a bothersome email from Rino; apparently Johnny was calling him and asking him about his role and compensation for being a support person in the Book Division that I’m in charge of. Before I left I had a discussion with him, told him the role and he was going to get back to me with questions and what compensation he was looking for. Him contacting Rino blindsided me and pissed me off. I was really clear and I don’t want to look like I have no control of the Book Division of which Rino and Wayne have no experience and are relying on my advice.

I called Johnny and had a cordial conversation and told him I wasn’t happy that he blindsided me and what part of our conversation last week wasn’t clear. I had him on his heels and I could tell, he was mumbling his words and said his intent wasn’t to through me under the bus and he f*cked up and after I review our conversation he agreed he didn’t follow the protocol. He was even trying to get in my good books after asking me about the race in Utah. I didn’t get into detail. Even though I said mid-conversation after I told him how I felt that I wasn’t going to beat a dead horse, he knew I was pissed. He’s my brother and I trust him, he just upset me. When I hung up I called him an Idiot.

I’ve realized I need to take control of the Book Division. Al is involved and he is sending stuff to Rino and Wayne and it’s disjointed. At first I thought, “who cares, my compensation is based on sales performance anyways and I’m really pumped to get back and start kicking some sales ass. Then I realized I need to show the value of the base pay and the title they’ve given me. If I don’t I’m sure they’ll wonder what I’m doing and frankly for selfish reasons I need to be in control. I want to make sure the systems and pricing are in line and competitive to drive sales.

In the end, I calmed myself down. It’s not the end of the world and again, my value is in the sales performance AND I’m dealing with two guys I trust and trust me. I was a little surprised when Johnny said he talked to Chris, my old partner and production director and still partner in Embassy, and gave me the impression that Chris encouraged him to call Rino directly. I don’t trust Chris and I don’t think he like or trusts me anymore. Chris frankly can be very negative and an A-hole at times if he doesn’t like you. I’m sure he thinks I’m a prick for the letter I sent my dad and the breakdown in communications with Embassy. He’s never brought it up with me and nor I to him. Frankly I don’t care. He’s a great production director and I no longer have to deal with him on client pricing or equipment acquisitons and recommendations. My life has been so much more positive since my departure from Embassy.

I got all the work stuff out of my head and enjoyed the shooting range. Alyssa did really good. She went for the big boy package and took all the recoil from the guns with no problem. I think she shoot better than me too. On the machine gun the guy had to stop me to tell me that I was shooting nowhere near the target. I was using the wrong aiming sight. Once I got on track I did much better.

Afterwards we hung around the strip and saw the Lion exhibit at the MGM Grand. I can’t believe they had people in there with those beasts. I would have loved to see some Siegfried and Roy action with the lion and one of trainers. I think they were trainers; they actually looked more like doorman that they put in the enclosure. To see a good mauling would have exciting.

Then it was off to the Luxor to see the Titanic exhibit. I got there and couldn’t find the tickets I bought yesterday. Doh, I thought I must have left them at the hotel. Later, when we got back to the hotel I realized I had them in one of my pockets all along. Doh. It all worked out okay, Alyssa and I were tired and had an afternoon nap and went back to the exhibit around 7:00 pm before dinner.

I must say I highly, highly, highly recommend everyone to see the Titanic exhibit. It is really cool and is going to be at the Luxor for the next 10-years. I loved it much more than Bodies and even listened to the Adult portion of the audio. Seeing how life was in the early 1900’s was amazing and it blew me away that First Class deck was over $100,000 per person in today’s money.

For dinner our plan was to go to Ellis Island Brew Pub, I got an email from John Barclay saying it was worth the trip for the BBQ ribs. Unfortunately we got there and they ran out of food and were closing shortly. The smell of the place was awesome and the food looked even better, it was a disappointment and next time I’m in Vegas I’m definitely going there.

It was probably for the best, we were tight for time to get to a comedy show at 10:30 pm. Alyssa has never been to one, or at least remember being to one. We did take her to one when she was about 2 or 3 years old in Palm Springs. It was a damn dirty show and I remember one of the comedians feeling uncomfortable that we had a small kid at the late show with all the swear words. I can’t remember if he took a shot at our parenting or not, I think he did.

The comedy show as okay, I’d say a 6 on 10 at best. Alyssa did like it that much, much of the topics were marriage relationship based, and not something she could identify with. After the show we went out for a late dinner at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, one of the newest on the strip and ultra-modern. We were across from a bar with nightclub music, Alyssa likes it, and I don’t get it. She was educating me on what a DJ is and to me it’s just noise with a loud beat. I don’t get it. She loves it and seems to be a connoisseur of it.

It was then to bed, I was tired and a 6:30 am wake up call tomorrow. This was the first time I’ve been to Vegas and didn’t hang around hotel bars drinking or being intoxicated for much of the trip. I only had 4-beers at the comedy club only because comedy is a little funnier with a drink or two. Other than that I was dry. It was also weird watching all the drunks on the street or in the hotels, male and female. They are loud, stumbling, doing crazy stuff or ready to puke. You got to love a City that doesn’t cut anyone off and allows you to walk around with booze in your hand on the streets. It’s definitely Sin City, it even feels more sinful than I remember it and you can tell people let their alter ego go.

Physically I feel fine, other than feeling bloated (another word for fat) from eating out at restaurants for the last week. I did have a late night snack for the first time in a long time, a Snickers bar and this week I also had a couple of frozen yogurt in a cone. Other than that, I was a good boy. However I am looking forward to getting back to eating even cleaner.

As I look back on IMSG I have only good memories. The swim was scary and I’m already forgetting all the details. The course now doesn’t seem that hard to me like it did. The bike I crushed this year and had it not been hot my run would have been much faster. It was weird that my running and swimming was strong leading up to the race was strong and my biking really week and then I have such a strong bike and week swim and run. With that said, it was a suffer free race and I finished under 12 hours which were my goals. If my swim and run was to par I had the physical ability to beat last years race. That’s all good to me.

The best part was I had a good time with Alyssa. We sure did a lot. Not much down time. We both liked the hiking and she’s going to look into some world-class hikes we can do together, like El Captain. I like hiking if it’s strenuous or to me it’s not hiking, it’s only a nature walk. I’d rather nature run.

On the family front, Reid got his braces off today. I called home and heard the news and had him email me a couple of pictures. Alice is not yet used to it. I must say when I call Reid he drives me crazy, he only uses speaker phone like he’s some big shot. It’s tough to hear him and he always seems distracted, which he is, he’s probably on YouTube or something. Alice also took him to get his graduation suit. He’s going with the all black suit and shirt and white sneakers.

Alyssa also got her marks from University and kicked butt, she got a 3.7 GPA average which is the equivalent of an A average. Good enough to put her on the Dean's list, which stays on your permanent record. I’m amazed and she loves learning. She’s already missing it. The TV is always on Nation Geographic or some learning channel and when we went through the exhibits she’s right into it and I’d be waiting for her. She looks at everything so closely. Definitely her own person.

No Training – IMSG Recovery.