TRIP REPORTS

I_Money

Moderator
So, now I am back home, and relaxing with my computer, I thought I would share my NJC experience.

Ed, and I originally were going to fly to LAS. However while taxing to the run-up the gear warning horn went off, and the right main green light went out - we decided we were not going to take this plane. As you can imagine Ed, and I were quite pissed off, I called Doug to give him the heads up and left a message stating 'Airplanes are GAY!'

We looked into taking another airplane, but there were no other multi engine aircraft, so we looked at the airlines, they were too expensive, so it came down to Ed's 1993 Sable.

We started driving - and came up with a great idea. We decided to tell Doug, and the JC posse that as the plane broke we would not be making it. Doug called me, and I apologized, and told him there was just no way for us to get there. Kristie called me, and tried to talk us into driving - it was really funny talking to them, telling them we were not coming when really we were on the 15 driving there.

We got to Vegas early, and kept on the down low. We went to try and find a short helicopter trip, neither of us had been on a helicopter and thought it would be cool. During the day it seems they only do $300 flights to the Grand Canyon - which was too much helicopter flying, and money for us. We ended up waiting till NJC started at Signature, watching Football.

Soon enough it was 4:00, and we left for Network JC. I took a picture of Ed outside Mandalay Bay, and sent it took Doug. As we were walking into Network JC, my phone rang – it was Doug, who had just realized HE GOT PUNKED!!

Seeing everyone at Network JC was awesome fun. As I no longer want to be a pilot, I was not networking much but more socializing and trying to get people to come to the strip club that night. The raffle was a really good touch; unfortunately I did not win (I think you needed to be a wife to win).

Omar, Ed, and I (who all knew each other outside JC) grabbed dinner at In N Out. Omar in his Playboy ways spotted the HOTTEST girl, who was very well endowed. After that we knew the plan, do some drinking, then off to the strip club.

After pounding a few beers, and a taxi ride with an awesome taxi driver, we arrived – we were at Little Darlings. Lots of people said they were going to come and live it up, made themselves to sound like Playboys, but when it came down to it they never showed up – most notable mentions include John, Llyod and a few others.

Little Darlings was awesome, the girls were smoking hot. I tested the waters – umm, it was mighty fine. When a few others rolled in, I organized some dances. Got KellyWolf, acting like a true playboy. This kid has real potential, I doubt he has ever lived it up like this; we got him smoking a cigar, and got him into the VIP room in the back. The other guys did really well, especially Ed who found himself a hottie!!!

I found myself this really awesome girl – she was great. I had a couple dances from her earlier but soon lost her. It did not slow me down, I got a few dances with some other girls. By the time I wanted her back I was well known, I was getting hugs and kisses from most girls, but I could not find her. I had only a couple hundred left, and this girl was awesome, and I wanted to take her into the champagne room! I found David the bouncer, and put him on the hunt, I did say that if she had gone home, he had to find me a really nice girl. I said that if he found her, or depending on the quality of the other girl, I would give him up to $20– but the girl he sent over would have to come to me and say ‘Err, I am a pirate’ in order to know it was from David. Soon enough the girl I really liked was found, and we were in the champagne room!! OH YEAH - I cannot say more then that on here, but DAMN best $$ I spent!!! David earned his $20.

I was out of money, but one of the other boys had seen 2 girls he wanted to dance with. I danced with one of the girls earlier in the evening. I saw our mate David again, snapped at him, and he came to attention. We sent him on the hunt, he found one of the girls but the other had gone home. I had a quite chat with the girl (after she gave me a kiss), and organized that as there was only one girl, she had to be twice as naughty – I did add something about him being a virgin too. The smile on my mates face when he came out, it seems she was.

We left there at about 4:00. I went back to the Hotel as we had to get up at 7:30 to get back to SNA for Ed’s lesson at 1:00. We woke up, got in the car, left, in the heart of the 909, we had to pull off the freeway, Ed’s Sable was having transmission problems. It just would not shift properly, Ed had this problem before and last time he just shut it down, and then it was fine. This time it didn’t – after shutting it down, and starting it again, when he put it into drive all that we got was vibration and a horrible sound. Doug got the message ‘Cars are GAY’. Later on that day, I got an text ‘ car broke down??? Yeap we had to be rescued by Ed’s Dad.

All in all it was awesome – especially the strip club!!!
 
Seems like you had a wonderful time Iain.

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As I no longer want to be a pilot, I was not networking much...

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When did this happen? Aren't you a CFI?
 
tell me bout it.. didn't go to sleep till 7am this morning... got about 4 hrs, then drove home.. doug's already crashed on the couch with his voice loooong gone! i'm off to bed too... but man.. talk about being punk'd by a punk... that was SOO funny Iain/Ed!!! you two cracked us up! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Don't even start with me! It's 10:35 pm on Sunday, and I'm just going to sleep for the first time since yesterday at noon. Long story, short version. Missed first flight by three minutes, couldn't get on other two. Stuck at airport all day, rented car, drove home, just got in. Oh my beautiful bed.
 
Now I can't get off of Vegas time. I want to sleep, went to bed as soon as I got home and unpacked, but can't get to freaking sleep.

Maybe it's alcohol withdrawls. Maybe if I go and pound a few beers I'll be able to sleep. Yeah, that's it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Long story, short version. Missed first flight by three minutes

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That's cause you were tryin ta spit major game at that one "breezy" in the Mandalay as Doug,Kristie,Samantha and I left to go back to the Hawthorne at 6:30am. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spin2.gif


Matthew
 
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That's cause you were tryin ta spit major game at that one "breezy" in the Mandalay as Doug,Kristie,Samantha and I left to go back to the Hawthorne at 6:30am. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spin2.gif

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Can you blame him? JD's got some big time skills!
 
Tony man your not doing bad yourself....sorry you crashed and burned man better luck next time dude.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spin2.gif


Matthew
 
sorry JD, john and I made our flight by a min. had the full vegas experiance from the alarm clock not going off and JD called and woke us up, to having a HUGE security line that none of us anticipated and then sprinting to the gate and getting on the plane. lucky for us our gate wasn't too far down and we made it. It was an awful experiance thinking we were going to miss the plane. I didn't get to pee from the time i woke up until we got on that plane. was not fun. got home ok though.

vegas was awesome. people on here rock. props to kristie for putting it together! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
JD,


Did you get stuck in that HUGE security line for concorse D? We got our boarding passes, looked at the security line and said "we're screwed." Then we realized that it was for D and not C, and we managed to get through somehow and probably made our plane by about 3 minutes.
 
I did, but it moved pretty quickly. What killed me was the fact you have to take a tram from there to "D". I sprinted up to the gate just in time to see the prop on number 2 start to spin up. And the agent had my card in hand. I would have made it on as standby.
 
Okay, baby's asleep, and I finally got (a little bit of) rest..........

NJC was so much fun!

We got there Friday, after 2 hours of sleep and taking the 6am flight out of ORD to CVG, then on to LAS. Loads were good, got in just past 10. The hotel couldn't check us in, so we got some lunch and finally got into our room at 1. Had a nice nap, then headed up to the 'party room' (TonyW's room) where everyone was hanging out until it was time for dinner. Dinner at the sushi place was fantastic! (Yes, they did have cooked food too.) I only wish I could have had some of that Tuna! (It was only seared, and raw in the middle. Raw Fish = No-No for pregnant lady.) Friday night was drinks with the girls ( tons of fun! Great to meet you all!!), then met up with the guys and wandered over to Nine Fine Irishmen. Great atmosphere, loud music. It got to be midnight (which is 2am to me!) and I 'hit the wall', I had to call it a night or risk passing out! (No, not passing out from too much to drink, sadly.....)

Saturday was breakfast with all the hung over JC-ers in the lobby, hearing tales of the shananigans after we'd left the bar the previous night! Then it was off to Excalibur for some Craps (okay, I just watched, I'm not much of a gambler). Then the 'main event' Saturday afternoon. What a great turnout! No political fighting /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Everyone just wandered around talking to everyone else. A spectacularly organized event, and the goody bags & door prizes were really something special!

We had to leave Sat night on the red-eye back through CVG (the fun of non-revving, you leave when you can, not necessarily when you want to!). Loads were good, we even got FC to CVG. Though I still didn't sleep and arrived home babbling incoherently and barely able to keep my eyes open. Sorry we missed all the fun Sat night!

Meeting everyone was great, it's nice to have faces & 'real' names to put with screen names now! You all are an amazing bunch, and it was a pleasure meeting all of you!
 
Those of you who didn't make it missed out on a GREAT time!

Got in Thursday night and met my new roomie, Montanapilot, at the terminal. We check in, get changed, and there's a text message for me -- Doug and Kristie are at the craps tables at the Excalibur. When we get there, they're up like $200 each -- sweet!

We grab some late night chow, and then head back to the craps tables. Thanks to Kristie and Doug for teaching me the ropes. I think I understand the game now. Maybe.

Friday rolls around, and everyone starts getting in. Montanapilot and I head out and pick up FL270, and we head up to what I guess we could call the unofficial hospitality suite. Intros go all around and I'm not going to even try to figure out who was and wasn't there.

Things break up, we go to Nobu, and the dinner is great. We're told, oh, to keep things in your budget, I'm not going to be able to do much. If that's not much, I'd like to see what is, cause all the food is terrific and there's plenty of it. Everyone walks away full! Of course I think it's hilarious when the waitress walks over to me to ask me what we should get -- like I should know anything about sushi and Japanese food?

Initial plans are to head to Studio 54 but we decide to bail. We end up at the unofficial JC bar in Vegas, Nine Fine Irishmen. Bumblebee negotiates the cover down from $10 a head to $100 for all 25 of us. We go in, and we go from not being able to get any seats to getting seats at the patio to getting seats in what is normally reserved for private functions. Everyone's talking, having a good time, and from all the heat the lav/arguepolitics generates, not one single political discussion occurs.

And then the main event rolls around. So cool to put faces with all of the names. The goody bags were awesome, and so were the door prizes! Big time props to mpenguin for getting all that stuff from Alteon. And whoever thought up that idea of trying to land that "plane" on that "carrier" was a genius. Funniest thing is that the person with zero hours, Cristl, nails the landing!

After that, it's pre-party time, and then off to the Bourbon Street for karaoke. Bumblebee can really sing! And if you think Lloyd's avatar is disturbing, wait until you see him do it in person.

After shutting down the karaoke place, we head down the strip to sample the various hotels and their bars. We end up at the Mandalay Bay at like 5:30 AM and we're in their island bar, which is still semi-hopping!

As much fun as Vegas is, it is the people who make this so cool. I can say that if I end up working with anyone at the event, I'd have a great time even if it was a four day trip through the armpit of America.

To sum up:

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandit.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandit.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandit.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandit.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandit.gif
 
Oh man...so much goodness. the people there f'ing ruled. Ok got my pics up, no captions though so you can guess. and there a couple of videos from Kareoke but you gotta view them in IE.

my trip report is basically tony's minus the first day of shenanigans cause we werent' there yet.

Pics!
 
Ok, back home in Kalamazoo now so I can make a little more sizeable of a post.

Vegas was an absolute blast. While I had met a few people already (Kellwolf, FL270, montanapilot, Amber/Bill, and whoever I'm forgetting), it was great to see them again and put some more names and faces together. Had an absolute blast hanging out with everyone, learning how to play craps (or at least loose money playing craps), and generally BSing with everyone. I don't think you could get much of a better group of people together for the trip, and I'm always amazed with the people that show up to these events. I don't think I can explain how much fun we had there to the folks that didn't make it; but everyone that was able to get to Vegas knows exactly what I'm talking about.

And I'm also gonna throw down a vote for JDFlight to win the Szluka award. If it wasn't for him and MissedApproach giving a ride out to the airport, we coulda been REALLY stuck in Vegas. I'm really sorry that you missed your flight dude, 'cause if you had just left when you called us you would made it. When you get out to Kalamazoo in December, I'm buying you a case of beer!

One final note; check out the video's on Emily's pics page. They are hilarious!
 
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