My goal in writing Trip Reports is to break away from the norm by dismissing those ignoramuses who say “Bro, you have to stay in a country for at least a month to really appreciate the culture,” and the misguided who love to tell me that my quick trips are nothing more than a contrived effort to inflate my country count list at the expense of experiencing nothing.
To both sects, I would like to share ThePointsOfLife Travel Philosophy:
Stay in a city no longer than 2 days.*
Why? The day you arrive, you are too excited to rest because there is so much to explore. That momentum carries onto the evening when you proclaim, “I have to go out, it’s my first night here.” The next day, you can’t sleep in because you only have one day left to see everything. This makes you power through your hangover by heading to another UNESCO World Heritage site.
Understandably exhausted from burning the candle on both ends, you momentarily convince yourself that you deserve a break. Then something inside you screams, “It’s your last night here, you have to go out!” This forces you to tap into your energy reserves and abandon the sanctity of sleep.
The next day you encounter a new city, a new mission, a new gauntlet to run.
This sentiment is the foundation of my Trip Reports‘ mantra Guns and Butter which graphically illustrates the things you must see, the things you should see, and the things you could skip. For each city, I will clearly sketch out which is which.
*ThePointsOfLife encourages you to vacation responsibly. The 2 Day Philosophy is more of an ideology than a hard and fast rule. In reality, 3-4 days per city is ideal when factoring in the desire to relax, but not a day longer.
Europe in a sentence: A castle, a river, and a bridge; surely there must be more! (Bratislava Castle in Slovakia)
Another week of the Knockout Bracket is in the books and finally we are getting to the real match ups. Still, the second weekend wasn’t without some thrills.
Who can forget my time with Coolio at the Trump Hotel? Or the dog’s gambling issue at Early’s Apartment? What about free drinks and a hot bath at the Centurion Lounge? Yes, I know the Signature review was boring but they can’t all be winners, can they?
Anyhow, here’s the bracket as it stands headed into week 3, a week that will reveal more sin and less snooze.
(17) The Westin vs (16) The Signature at MGM Grand
I’ve stayed at the Skylofts and the Signature at MGM Grand but never the MGM Grand itself. The MGM Grand is one of the largest hotels in the world so its no wonder there are multiple properties located within this hotel.
The Signature is three prominent towers to the rear of the main hotel that serve both as a resort and as an apartment condominium for business professionals. Both the Westin and the Signature are located off the strip but, for me, it feels like the Signature is more isolated even though it is directly connected to the MGM Grand via a never ending moving walkway.
When I stayed at the Signature, I had a two bedroom balcony suite with more than enough space for a whole bachelor party to crash and a balcony that was stupidly big. As had been the case with all hotels in the Knockout Bracket, the quality of the room may make a Vegas hotel good but it doesn’t automatically make it great.
Instead, my bracket relies on a totality of the circumstances test to determine whether a hotel should move on:
1. The Location: Why didn’t I stay at the MGM Grand proper?
2. The Fun: Why didn’t I stay at the MGM Grand proper?
3. The Sportsbook: Id.
4. The Luxury: The rooms are typical luxury that you would find in any overbuilt condo community: granite counters, marble floors, whirlpool bathtub etc. Snooze.
5. The Value: For the size of the room, the value is great especially if you are bringing all your buddies with you for a special occasion.
6. The Food: Id at 2.
Overall, the Signature at MGM Grand is nothing more than a glorified Courtyard by Marriott that happens to be located in the backdrop of the MGM Grand. The hotel was not built to service people like myself but for those who want to be an arm’s length away from the mega MGM resort while getting away from the riff raff of Vegas.
If the lack of pizzazz of this post had you dozing off then the Signature is also not right for you. If you were intrigued by the post, then I thank you for paying attention.
But now it’s time to say goodbye, to Signature and all its friends.
iPhone recovered, bounty paid, Trent and Alvin have moved on with their lives. Apart from the entertainment value provided by this installment of the True Detective series, there are serious travel lessons to be learned from Trent’s misadventure.
1. Points Advice: In Act I, Alvin questioned why Trent didn’t use his Club Carlson points to stay for free at a legitimate hotel. Trent opted to split the cost of a cheap motel with his wookiee friends and almost ended up paying the price for it. Alternatively, he could’ve had his own upscale, private room with accountable security.
2. Insurance Advice:
A) Travel insurance: I’ve never paid for travel insurance because I’m short-sighted when I try to save money. Luckily, I’ve yet to be robbed abroad (apart from taxis), suffer any medical emergency, or encounter any event which would make having such insurance useful. For those that aren’t as ignorant or are less risk loving, I highly recommend paying the nominal premium to cover your ass[ets] while traveling, especially abroad.
B) Phone Insurance: Everyone hates paying their cellphone bill because the prices aren’t competitive in comparison to overseas markets. Add in the cost of monthly insurance if your phone is lost, stolen, or broken along with the deductible of $200+ of filing a claim and it is no wonder that so many people chose to forego this add on.
That all changes the second bad luck comes knocking and you find yourself on the phone with Verizon pleading that you had purchased the insurance and the morons at the store didn’t add it to your plan.
C) Renter’s Insurance: This is the best and most overlooked insurance premium that everyone should have whether they travel or not. Depending on the state you reside in and the amount you are insuring, you can get comprehensive coverage for pretty cheap to cover your personal belongings in the event someone robs your Lake Angelus apartment. On top of that protection, there is also an electronics premium that interestingly covers electronics stolen even when you are not at home e.g., Trent’s iPhone.
3. Friend Advice: Choose wisely when you travel with friends, especially for prolonged periods outside of the country. Trent’s friends were oblivious to the fact that someone had surreptitiously entered their room with the intent to commit a robbery. If they weren’t the biggest of wookiees, I would have presumed they were in on the heist.
Figuring out who is a good travel companion can be tough. The simplest way to find out who is a worthy travel companion is to spend a weekend with him or her in Las Vegas. The pandemonium of a Vegas weekend quickly reveals who is resilient enough to handle any situation and who is trustworthy enough to keep it in the locker room. Friends are either made in Vegas or lost forever. This is a necessary screening that must be completed before a big trip.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed and learned from the funny story of Trent and Alvin. Tune in next time for more misadventures.
Due process, innocent until proven guilty, trial by a jury of your peers: these legal principles used to mean something.
Now we might as well scrap the entire judicial system because everyone is guilty if enough people say so. Today, jackasses on Facebook and Twitter decide the consequences of any action whether it be an act that is illegal or something legal but socially unacceptable.
The mob mentality cloaked as outraged citizens has gone too far, leaving anyone disliked at risk of having his or her life ruined. Let me preface my argument by saying I do not condone any actions of violence, racism, sexism, or any other isms so I hope you read this first sentence carefully before orchestrating a social media witch hunt against me.
But enough is enough.
As a country of checks and balances, we used to “let justice run its course” before condemning anyone. The impatience from instant updates via social media has rendered this system useless. Now all it takes is a TMZ video clip, an unauthorized soundbite, or Tweet in bad taste to make someone a social outcast.
The worst part is that the witch-hunt is not led by those who are fighting for good. It is led by those fighting for attention. These people don’t care about justice and equality. They want to feel involved, feel powerful, believing they are making a difference. They are mistaken.
The effect of 24/7 social media monitoring will not eliminate domestic violence, reduce racism, and bring justice to the underrepresented. It will have the opposite effect. People will grow ever more conscious that they are being monitored and go to greater lengths to hide their misdeeds knowing that at any time their 4th amendment right to privacy could be violated, leaving them at the mercy of the social media mobsters.
There’s a slippery slope from the benefit of exposing a person’s disgusting views about race, gender, or class and the unanticipated effect that leads to such persons suppressing their views.
The latter creates hostility below the surface that will bubble up in an unforeseen way in the future, baffling the social media morons who thought that society was making progress.
What did Donald Sterling learn from losing his NBA team? Did he learn that racism is wrong?
No, he learned, as he is quoted as saying, that he should’ve paid the bribe to his extorter.
What did Ray Rice learn from his infamous elevator incident? Did he learn that the justice system that incarcerates far more minorities than whites is reliable? Did he learn that the policies and procedures of the NFL that govern player conduct are consistent?
No, he learned that the court of social media opinion is what counts. Indeed the tape in the elevator was shocking and appalling but let’s wait and see how long it takes for an investigation to prove that the NFL knew about the tape and why they chose to be complicit. Then the social media mongers will chase after Commissioner Goodell who will prove to be the ultimate hypocrite. Given the backlash, I’m surprised that the prosecution hasn’t found a loophole to undermine the double jeopardy provision and try Rice for aggravated assault (as they should have in the first place).
Today, there is no justice. If social media is unhappy with the outcome via the court system at the state level, they turn to the Attorney General for help. If that doesn’t command an indictment, they’ll keep exclaiming their outrage until the President himself usurps the judicial process by interjecting his opinion.
And on and on the charade of justice goes with no end in sight even after incarceration.
If someone has paid his debt to society and society still thinks he’s a ‘bad guy’, they turn to the employer to be the moral compass. Of course, that all goes away once he scores a few touchdowns on the road. Then he’s ‘grown as a person’ and is back in the good graces of social media- checkout the highlight reel!
The wheels of justice have been hijacked by those who want to pick and choose social causes with one underlying factor as to which cause is deemed “worthy”- attention.
Today the social media moralists are concerned why a Heisman trophy winner would ever stand on a table and say, “I’ll fuck her right in the pussy.” Yesterday that statement was deemed to be 1/2 a game’s worth inappropriate by the head coach. Today, it is a full game’s worth.
I wonder what has changed?
The ironic part is that his condemnors, social media, weren’t denouncing the same words months ago when someone else said it online. That clip was deemed hilarious. It went viral, garnering millions of hits on Youtube.
All rise. The court of social media is always in session.
Living Doesn’t Have to Suck…unless social media says so.
In June 2013, I was going to Vegas again, and I got to meet the President again. When I left Vegas, I had the chance to visit the newly opened American Express Centurion Lounge. The best thing about visiting the Centurion Lounge is the food! Now, since it was all free, and I wasn’t hungry but thirsty, I must’ve drank me fifteen Jack n Diets.
Actually, I did run through the buffet line a couple of times and the food was pretty good. Compared to lounges in the US, the Centurion Lounge Vegas is more on par with international lounges. There are real free drinks, not just domestic drafts and there is real food, not cheese and pretzels. (Come on United, how many packets of carrots and Ranch do you expect me to eat!)
However, one of the best features of the Centurion Lounge in comparison to so many I have been to (both domestic and abroad) is the monitor in the dining area with the flight departure times. I have serious anxiety when it comes to missing my flight and I always leave the lounge early to frequent with the commoners because I am scared of the gate closing. Having someone announce that a flight is boarding is wasted on me because I tune out the frequent pages. Perhaps it’s my subconscious telling me not to go but I don’t ever hear “Last call for Flight DL 2534 Las Vegas to Detroit”, electing to stay for another drink. At the same time, please don’t leave it to me to be aware of my boarding time, especially when I’m fat and full from food and exhaustion.
So now I hope you know why the Centurion lounge made the hotel Knockout Bracket. It truly is nicer than many of the Priceline Pretenders and if the TSA wasn’t such a hassle, I would consider commuting between here and the Strip if I only had a day [or two] of Vegas debauchery.
And if things did get a little too filthy, don’t fret, there is the added benefit of a shower spa.
We are in the final act of Trent’s iPhone saga. At our last juncture, Trent and Alvin were trying to decide if they should send a letter that would persuade the apparent thief to return Trent his iPhone. Before that decision could be made, Alvin had another breakthrough idea.
Alvin:whats the hotel phone #
Trent:Shit
Alvin:nm i got it
Trent:k
A few moments pass while Alvin is on the phone with the hotel.
Alvin:got his name. Jonnie [redacted]
Trent:lol no way
Alvin: he’s a day employee there
Trent:ahahaha
Alvin: the night manager is a moron
Trent:And he lives at that address??
Alvin:told him that a guy with that address lost his wallet. and i got it
Trent:ahahahahaha
Alvin:and want to return it to him. i gave him my phone #. we are getting closer
Trent:Should I turn the lock screen on the phone to say “Jonnie, I want my phone back”??
Alvin:now we have to be smart
Trent:what do we do now. What do we doooo! Ahhh, he doesn’t have fb. Unless that last name is spelled wrong
Alvin:the last name is spelled right, the first name is not, he says they just call him jonnie but it’s like judnat and he doesnt know how to spell it.
Trent:Motherf@!ker
Alvin: well we know he works there and we know he has your phone
Trent:It was that c*!@sucker that let me into the f@cking room!
Alvin:so tomorrow i call and tell the manager. tell them i have bad news about an employee. i dont want to get law enforcement involved. we don’t press charges or blow up yelp
Trent:i like the yelp angle
Alvin:just want the phone returned. do we give your name? i think jonnie is going to come kill you.
Trent:hmmm, my fb is locked up!
Alvin: add a phony name to your address. and we will have him send it there. simon bolivar?
Trent.yes. My name is fine tho. I don’t care
Alvin: yeah i think your name is fine too
Trent: cant wait for tomorrow! this is great
Alvin:hope u got that finder’s fee. i expect at least $100
Trent:I’ll give u a cut if phone comes back
Alvin: haha ok, go zzzz
Trent: jonnie, Oh Jonnie. He hasn’t turned it on since 9:27pm. I want my cable back too!! lol
October 24, 2013 8:53 am
Alvin: youre phone is in the mail on the way to your home!
Trent:How’d it go down??
Alvin: well, they claim it was found in the parking lot
Trent:It’s been at Jonnie’s house!!
Alvin: she confirmed hte case
Trent: why did Jonnie steal it?!?! And where is cable??
Alvin: he probably found it. and brought it home. then brought it back to work
Trent: lol Jonnie such a nice guy
Alvin:and i want my $
Trent:Yup. He turned it on last night! Had it all week. turned it off when i called
Alvin:poor Jonnie
Trent:hmmm
Alvin:well maybe i spooked him into turning it in
Trent: still don’t get why he took it home on Sunday night, turned it on, turned it off immediately, sat on it all week, turned it on last night, when I called he immediately turned it off, then brought it in this morning
Alvin:because i claled yesterday. and i bet u his boy was like they after u. and he was like oh shit i go turn it in
Trent:hows the manager know so quickly where jonnie stay. like he went into the file cabinet and pulled his info?? theyve been running this scam forever!
Alvin: whatever send me my reward
Trent:Dead phone my ass
Alvin:otherwise im coming to mi and smashing your phone. and then me and jonnie will go take shots
Trent: lol
Alvin: man u shouldve heard me talking. not making any sense. it was hilarious. because how could i say i had his wallet, and then ask where i should turn it in.
Trent:And it would’ve had his name and address lol.
Alvin:im like no i want to turn it in at his work
Trent:yeah and how to spell his name
Alvin:but i was mumbling, guy couldnt understand. “where does he work” the guy asked. i said he worked where i call u
Trent:lol
Alvin:and i got his wallet and i want to give it to him, but i wanna make sure his name matches up. and im not going to his house!
So there you have it folks! Trent did get his iPhone back thanks to the creativity of Alvin. Alvin did get his finder’s fee. And Jonnie, well who knows if Jonnnie was a saint or sinner. Tomorrow, we will cover the many mistakes that Trent made and how you can spare yourself the hassle of going through what he went through. Alternatively, I could give you Alvin’s contact info if you do get into this same situation.
Oh Jonnie!
Trent’s wookiee friends who almost cost him his $600 phone.
Today is the 6 month anniversary I’ve been alive as ThePointsOfLife. To date, I have had 27,606 views which has to be more than auto-refresh. I continue to try to differentiate myself from every single blog, travel or otherwise, by producing fresh content.
Here are some highlights of the new additions:
In the Hotel Reviews section, I have set up a tourney where all the Vegas hotels I’ve stayed at fight to not get Knocked Out.
In the Pulse section, I write my own op-eds about current events. Check out my UK saving post on Scotland.
In the Trip Reports section, I use the economic framework of Guns And Butter to tell you what you absolutely must do when visiting a new place, a creative idea that breaks up the repetition of reading the same review of Angkor Wat.
In the Press section, I use my collection of espresso pictures from cities all over the world to provide a unique insight on local life.
(19) Early’s Apartment (14) Artisan Hotel Boutique
The Vegas urge could strike at any time leaving me no choice but to hit the road. Living in Scottsdale, it wasn’t out of the question to pack the chariot at the last second and set off for Sin City. The drive realistically takes around 5 hours though there are tall tales of people making it in four. There aren’t many advantages for driving over flying Southwest unless one of the following applies:
1. I didn’t speculatively book a points trip to Vegas that weekend and a last minute booking would be 20,000+ points instead of the usual 6800.
2. I don’t know when or if I’m returning home and can’t or don’t feel like booking a flight for Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Monday morning.
3. Chimney has a craving for 3 card poker after being banned again from online play.
In this instance, #3 was applicable so I loaded the car around 7PM for an expected arrival at 11PM (factoring in the one hour time difference).
Chimney dreaming of slot machines
The drive to Vegas from Arizona is extremely unpleasant regardless of my great Spotify playlists. Most of it is one lane service roads with no cell service. Even if you do manage to avoid all the police out of sheer luck, the good time will be lost if you encounter traffic on the Hoover Dam. (They have since added a new direct road that bypasses the dam but it wasn’t in service during most of my trips.)
Lake Mead Hoover Dam, Damn delay
Along the way, I call my buddy Early to let him know that I will be crashing at his apartment and that I will need a caffeine infused alcoholic drink upon my arrival. The advantage of staying at your friend’s apartment in Vegas is obvious; it’s free, it’s fun, and it doesn’t require advanced booking. Furthermore, it is pet friendly. The drawback is that he didn’t live right on the Strip so we always had to cab it back and forth. Even still, that ride was no more than $10-15. All things considered, it is a much better bargain than having to pay for a Priceline Pretender far from the Strip.
So why isn’t Early’s Apartment moving on in the tourney? The answer is simple: you don’t go to Vegas to look for a bargain. You go there to act recklessly in all regards and the only way that is possible is by being right in the center of the action. And even if you are bringing your dog, he shouldn’t have to sacrifice by staying in your friend’s apartment. Resorts like THEhotel and Caesars are pet friendly but prepare to pay a premium for your best friend to come along.
Chim won big that weekend so we only stayed in Early’s Apartment for one night, affording me the opportunity to review another hotel for the Knockout Bracket.
All in all it was a good time until Tuesday came and I had to physically remove Chim from the casino so we could go home. Apparently he owes some wise guys some money which is why he hasn’t returned to Vegas since.
Last time Chim overplayed his hand, some miscreants held him for ransom.
Yesterday we learned that our victim, Trent, lost his phone in Virginia. What was not made clear is that the potential hero, Alvin, was not with Trent when this occurred. He was in his loft in sunny Arizona. Furthermore, it was unclear from the dialogue that Trent and his idiot wook friends had made the journey from frozen Michigan to Virginia to stay at a rat infested motel for a steep price which excluded the unforeseen cost of a stolen $600 iPhone.
We now resume the dialogue with Trent corresponding from Michigan via the only means necessary, Facebook messenger, and Alvin plotting his next detective move from Arizona, starting with a call to the hotel.
Trent:(757) 555-2300, was in rooms 337 and 339, the suite, which was under Chewbacca’s name. lost it between 7:25pm and 11:30pm on sunday night. black iphone 5, black case with RINGKE Slim on the back of it. haha. and it popped up at 2am about 3 miles from the hotel for a second or two. i was with the only kid with us who had a car the whole night. never went anywhere near where it showed up
Alvin:They say thave a 3G iPhone. doesnt sound like yours
Trent:not mine tho
Alvin:i dont know i think someone is playing u. or maybe u were so cracked out u dont remember. phones dont disappear
Trent:i wasnt even cracked out, just drunk. we start drinking rumpelminz and fireball at like 2pm
Alvin:then u took your phone somewhereeee
Trent:but i had it in the rooooooom at 7:25pm. no usage on AT&T since 5mb data at 2:04am
Alvin:then one of the people in the room took it or stole it. nobody just walks into a room. from 3 miles away from the hotel. and says oh hers trents phone. unless gps was fucked. prob laying in a bush with a dead battery
Trent: but why were cable and plug missing? it was a huge cable. cable and phone were plugged into same outlet entire weekend. i never pull the little cube plug either, because i use it for my lil recharger battery pack too
October 24, 2013 12:55 am
Trent:people turned my phone back on. Same place. I can see their front door on google maps. Ahhjjjjj
Alvin: cant u send the police there
Trent:I called! There’s a police station 2 blocks away!!
Alvin: oh no shit and what they say
Trent:They’re like “we only retrieve phones if u go with. Oh wait, it was stolen in Hampton? This is Newport News. U have to report it there first”
Alvin:id go back to Virginia and get that damn thing
Trent:I have work and job!
Alvin: so ur gonna let them get away with it!
Trent:The address that pops up is [redacted] Newport News, VA! I should mail them a self addressed stamped envelope lol. With main apt building address, not mine
Alvin: why dont u get reverse pohne number look up
Trent:And when I called Hampton police they wouldn’t even file a report, just a tracking number for if i had insurance. I’m like “I know right where it is!!” And they said “even if we did find it, we can’t send it back to u”
Alvin:idea!
At this point, Alvin goes to whitepages.com and inputs the address given to him by Trent.
Alvin:we have to be smart enough to figure this out. I think we should mail a letter to the address and say you will not pursue charges if the phone is returned promptly to the police station. Here’s the criminal code for theft! in college one of my roommates stole my sidekick. so i wrote a letter to the house advising them that i would get the authorities involved if it was not placed in my room by saturday and that i would be gone all weekened. came back, and sure enough, it was returned
Trent:thats a great story actually
Alvin:check email.
Alvin emails this letter to Trent:
To: Inhabitants or guests of the property [redacted], Newport News VA 23605.
This request is intended to the aforementioned parties above along with other residents, inhabitants or guests of the property [redacted], Newport News VA 23605.
We have reason to believe that you are in possession of an iPhone 5 that was taken from the owner on either October 20, 2013 or October 21 2013.
The owner has subsequently filed a police report indicating that the phone was stolen. This letter is to serve as notice that you are in receipt of stolen goods and can be prosecuted accordingly if the phone is not returned immediately.
It can be mailed anonymously to the address below and the owner will not follow up with any charges. I have included the Virginia criminal statute below for you to review.
18.2-108. Receiving, etc., stolen goods.
If any person buys or receives from another person, or aids in concealing, any stolen goods or other thing, knowing the same to have been stolen, he shall be deemed guilty of larceny thereof, and may be proceeded against, although the principal offender is not convicted.
If any person buys or receives any goods or other thing, used in the course of a criminal investigation by law enforcement that such person believes to have been stolen, he shall be deemed guilty of larceny thereof.
(Code 1950, § 18.1-107; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 2008, c. 578.)
Will Trent mail the letter to the alleged thief? Would you put your home address as the return address? How great was the letter written by Alvin? Should Trent chalk up his loss to bad luck for his own safety?
Tune in tomorrow for the dramatic conclusion of True Detective: The Case of the Stolen Iphone [Act 3]
![True Detective: The Case of the Stolen iPhone [Act III]](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/cimg0746-768x576.jpg "True Detective: The Case of the Stolen iPhone [Act III]")
![True Detective: The Case of the Stolen iPhone [Act II]](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/img_20140918_204000-768x768.jpg "True Detective: The Case of the Stolen iPhone [Act II]")
