Running, romping, roulette and roaring slots

Allright here it goes. I’m sitting in the Philadelphia Airport waiting for my connector to Sin City. This trip my wife and I are staying at Mandalay Bay for the 4th and 5th at Casino Rate and are comped at Wynn for 3 of the next 4 nights with $400 freeplay. I go to Vegas 3 or 4 times a year, even though the trip from Nova Scotia, Canada is a real bear. No direct flight here folks, just a hodgepodge of choices from barely palatable to downright awful. Ergo, here I am in Pennsylvania.

This trip is mainly for relaxation, after a long year. Saturday will be my toughest day because I won’t be able to Christen my trip the usual way. Normally I get a 6 pack of Heineken at the corner store from the car rental, we drive to the Venetian and open 4 of them up. We enter the casino double fisting, looking for the best cocktail waitress location. If we don’t get serviced quick enough P(wife) has the 2 reserves in her purse. By then I have lubed up the waitresses so that the liquor flows freely. Sigh....not this time.
After a lengthy layover we have an uneventful flight into Las Vegas. We flew over Hoover Dam and could see the new suspension bridge very clearly. Looks impressive from the sky. We saw it while under construction and it is an impressive construction project.

We land, pick up our bags and take the shuttle service to the rental building. We had a premium car rental, a Chrysler 300 for 7 days, rented at a total of $186 taxes in. They pushed the extra insurance and gas HARD. I actually had to tell the guy that I just wanted the keys and go. We eventually escaped and I dropped P off to Las Vegas Outlet Mall while I went down to the Sands Convention Center to pick up my race bib. It was very busy, with the Cowboys in town too. I had my first taste of Vegas at the Palazzo. I played Lord of the Rings and boom, bonus and a $50 win in about 5 minutes, nice.

Back to pick up P and a stop at Whole Foods for water, champagne, beer and other necessities.
We took the quick drive to Mandalay Bay and all they had left was a smoking room on the 10th floor. The girl practically laughed at me when I asked if an upgrade was available. I had booked really early knowing that 30,000 people were going to be racing down the strip in the morning, starting at Mandalay Bay. The casino rate was $119 for Saturday and $69 for Sunday, no resort fees. The hallways are starting to show some noticeable wear and tear but the room was fine. We don’t smoke and the room had only a whif of smoke in it. It bothered P more than me.

On to the good stuff. P got her first beer while I stuck with the H2O until after the race. We started playing WOZ, survivor, Bruce Lee, Sex in the City and Star Wars. I had budgeted $400 for the first day and kept taking out little wins. I then made it over to the sportsbook and laid my football bets for Sunday. Man, Vegas sober on your first night, especially a Saturday night is tough. P was having a great time and stayed out until about 2, while I gave up at 10pm. I was down about $40 while P lost $500. Sobriety has its advantages I guess and I left when I felt the machines turn against me. I’m certain that she had way more fun though. This trip was a total yawn so far as is the trip report. Sorry

Finally, race day. I’ve run the Vegas Half Marathon twice before. So I drink lots of water, have a bagel and a banana and I’m ready to go! Wait, it starts at 7, not 6. So P and I wander around. P isn’t running this year and with all the excitement she regrets it a bit in the moment. It is actually a very emotional time. You train for 5 months, running 5 times a week, near the end for over 2 hours once a week and here it is, finally. There are 30,000 other folks feeling the same way, some dressed as Elvis, some getting married on the run, others their own freaky self. It is AWESOME! Temperature is about 6C at race time. P leaves me in the corral and yes I do feel a little like a cow being led to slaughter. Pop, the flare gun goes off and.....nothing. With 30,000 cows it takes a little time to get going. About 10 minutes later I start under the start line with the Blues Brothers sending me off. This is one of the coolest runs that I can imagine. I love Vegas and being able to run down the strip, ON the strip is a dream come true. It is like the city stops for a few hours to honor the people who are crazy enough to do this. I ran Disney(full marathon) and it was cool to run through all the theme parks but running through a city built on sin, forcing it to take a back seat to the opposite is a cool thing to me. Funny thing is that I’m built on sin, not virtue.

So I break the run into 3 sections, 7km each. It is hard to run fast for the first 7km in Vegas because it is crowded which is a good thing. With the adrenaline coursing through you running fast early can kill you. I run an easy first 7km, pretty much past the Stratosphere . Now we are off to downtown. It is an ugly stretch but there are cheerleaders and bands to help me on. One cool moment is a beer station set up by a bar along the route. Very cool! Not official, the owner just thought it was a good idea. I loved it! I passed but knew that golden nectar was in my very near future. The second 7km was smooth and I hit a short sweet spot running wise. The last 7km is back up the strip and all of a sudden life sucks. My legs hurt, even TI is far away and I start wandering what the hell I was thinking. Who the hell wants to run in Vegas? What an idiot. I could have been hammered last night. I wasted a day in the best city on earth. Hey, there is Wynn, my destination tomorrow. I’m sure they serve beer at this time of day. Where is that beer station again? Oh, there is TI. I don’t like that place anymore. I took their last $200 freeplay offer and they didn’t send any more offers. Grrrr... Hey, I there is City Center. What a crappy vacation that was. Aria sucks. Weird bathrooms, frat vibe. Whoa, there is Mandalay Bay. I love that place. It has a cool pool and high ceilings. THE Hotel is the best. Too far away from the action but I like it anyway. What are my football bets again? Did I really bet on the Bills to cover? Oh, there is a cheering crowd. They love me, everyone loves me. I feel the finish nearby and am close. All of a sudden the strength returns and I give what is left in my legs, lungs, heart. I finish a little over 1:54 for the half marathon and I saw P in the crowd just before the finish.

This is a well organised race with water, bananas, bagels and best of all BEER. Finally, a beer. I looked for P but couldn’t find her so I made it back to the smokey room. There was my nectar of the gods. Moet et Chandon on ice. A beautiful POP and my trip has finally begun! P finds me in the room and a bit later we stroll out the elevator to the casino floor like champion fools. Drinking fools, happy, satisfied fools. Imagine the feeling of being a total winner, having an awesome wife and having a great drink in hand. Vegas, here we go! I have Mandalay Bay figured out. The slots are hit and miss, but when I’m hitting they really love me. I hit a good bonus on Sex and the City-$90, Starwars-$50, WOZ-$120, Arctic Fox-$80, and then the slots get blurry. I’m thinking about 4 hours on the slots and I’m ready for roulette. I have taken a combination of champagne with the waitresses and filled up at the room if they were too slow. I was weeeeellllllllll lubed. I buy in for $60 at the roulette table. My main number is 29 but I have a supporting cast. So I hit, bang 17, then 24, bang 17 again, 10, 5 because I felt it. They were all fully loaded from my perspective. I must have hit 8 of 14 numbers. I leave up about $500 later and decide that craps is my newest best game. Okay, let’s start with $100........whooosh the awesomeness that is me get’s KO’d. I lose it all in about 4 minutes. No more of that. Time for a nap.....more later..when I wake up..

 

It all sounds great except for the part where you actually run past casinos filled with gambling, drinking and woman - that I don't get but its your trip.

Too bad the run wasn't today - you could have done it in a motorcycle helmet and backpack with a bag of fake Bellagio chips.

 

Beer - lol. That is surely a Vegas thing - beer after a marathon.

Looking forward to the rest!

 

moving day

Hmmm…burgers……fries…..breakfast. I am woken up by the sweet aroma of grease. P has come to the room with food from RED WHITE and BLUE. I can’t tell you how long I was out but I do now remember that it was 9:30pm. The race and champagne must have been too much for me since I can’t remember going up to the room. I was starved and wolfed down the cheeseburger and fries. It tasted delicious to me although P, now to be known as T(she is lingering over my shoulder and has decided that she wants to be mysterious) gave them a failing grade. Too bad because she used to love their burgers. Now we will have to seek out a new burger joint(I know Burger Bar is nearby but it didn’t wow her either). After the burger I fall promptly back to sleep.

We understandably wake up very early. I check my stash and am up over $400 for the two days. T and I go to the coffee shop and both have excellent omelets. We played around for a while and I hobbled from machine to machine while T tried to see what we could get with our points at the holiday gift extravaganza. Together we got about 8000 points over the last couple of days. T is down about $1,000. I check at the players club and they comp the Saturday night and both meals. I only pay $69 for my two nights at Mandalay bay during a sold out weekend. AWESOME.

We pack, check out and go to Town Center. I need to reload on champagne and find 6 books at Borders while T(she has decided on Tara- nice hooker name, my excuses to all the nice girl Taras out there) goes browsing. We then go to Frys- OMG we have NOTHING like that in where I’m from. I find very cool stuff for my little guy and soon we are rolling down the strip in the Chrysler 300 on the way to Wynn. I can never say enough about the drive down the strip. It never gets old for me. All the glitz, extravagance and excess makes me feel great.

Soon we are at the Wynn. Now, I’ve never stayed at the Wynn. We are regulars at the Venetian but we got the offer for 3 free nights, fourth for $119 and $400 in freeplay. It beat the 4 nights at the Palazzo and $150 in freeplay they offered and I just really wanted to try it out. My general comparison of the two places is that staying at the Venetian is like trying to make it in life and doing really well while when you are at the Wynn you have confirmed that you HAVE made it and are finally home. We don’t belong there but I’m willing to suspend disbelief for four days. Our room is on the 28th floor overlooking the strip and is renovated in the new soft cream tones. I love the all on button that opens the drapes and turns on the lights, very dramatic. I know that we had this at Aria but that is just a cheap knock off compared to the real thing. After getting our bags and returning to our room a bottle of quality champagne is waiting on ice with a note. My company sent me a gentle thank you for a great hard working year. A kind and thoughtful gesture and much appreciated.

Oh yes! It smells good, feels good, tastes good, time to try this resort out and take it for a ride. We eat at the café and T has the chicken parmesan while I have the loaded sliders. Ok, I’m a little disappointed with the sliders. They are a bit soggy and bland but the large cut fries were awesome. The Parm was also so so.

Oh no, we have to leave! We have tickets to the ACAs(american country awards). I just realized that the show starts at 5pm not 8pm. It is on TV at 9pm but that is back home. So T and I dress up and take a cab to the MGM. We aren't big country fans but this was very cool. I had no way to know what I bought. We got to our seats loaded with a MEGA beer each at around 4:20pm. The strobe lights were being tested and people were filing in. The VIP's were on the red carpet and we had a live feed. The show was AMAZIMG. Most of the country stars don't take themselves too seriously and the awards were very casual. My personal highlights were Toby Keith, Reba MacIntyre and Alan Jackson. All the artists were amazing live, and seeing a TV show being made in the meanwhile was super cool too but watching Alan Jackson perform a medley and finishing with 'Where were You' was incredibly moving. The audience rose as one and we couldn't stop clapping. It just reached and reached some more. Four times the intensity increased, every time he asked or gestured(sincerely) for us to stop. Reba gave out the last award and you should YOUTUBE her boots. Awesome! Those are the best Hooker Boots I have ever seen. More on that later

Sorry for the mistake in timing but the trip got a little fuzzy after Saturday.

We took a cab back and wanted to hit the casino. I really wanted to play WOZ and Lord of the Rings(LOR). LOR was busy so we found ourselves in the Megabucks section. I started on Monopoly and lost a quick $60. I didn’t feel the vibe. I went behind it and played WOF for $2 a spin. Boom, a $200 hit, then bam the minor jackpot for $106. Aah, time to max out on Megabucks at something like $3 a spin. Bonus, and another $275. I made about $600 in a matter of 20 minutes. We were whooping it up and everyone around us felt the energy. It was like the whole section came alive. Even T started making money. I started ordering champagne and it flowed freely. The drink service was awesome. Yes I tipped the waitresses well but there is nothing close to this kind of service in my opinion. I have been on many casino floors and Wynn has more servers serving better drinks in better glasses than anywhere else I have experienced. The waitresses did think it was funny that I drank the champagne and my wife the Heineken- can’t blame them for that.

 

Just wanted to say an excellent read - keep it coming!

 

Enjoying your trip report, and looking forward to reading more.

 

Ongoing report, I forgot a bunch of stuff and added it up top.

T decides to go to Grande Luz while I keep playing. She buys Asian Nachos, some kind of salad and spring rolls from Grande Lux back from shopping. This was absolutely the most delicious meal of the trip. Those asian nachos are to die for. Think that the whole meal was less than $50 takeout but I can still recall the crunch of those nachos even now. Sleep comes again quickly.

We wake up at a reasonable hour, like 6ish and go back to Grande Lux for Breakfast. I wanted to get to gold at the Venetian and was only 900 points away. T had an omelete and I had some kind of Mexican breakfast. Again, delicious! I love Grande Lux in a generic food purveying kind of way. We play for a little bit but don’t get a good vibe so we stroll back to Wynn. T informs me that she has a big shopping day ahead of her and leaves me all alone.

What to do? What to do? Oh, LOR might finally be available! I have played the Players Life parts online this trip. Yeah, I did Majong(sp), puzzles and multiple answer to get to Balrog. In short, I’d play a tiny bit at the casino, go online, play the silly online games for free to get the free miles and then return to the casino. It’s easy to do in Vegas with a laptop and a bit of will power. Those freaking puzzles were tough though.

So I get to the left LOR and sit down. I stick in a hunny and my red card. There is a gentleman on my right, who I think was there last night too. He is playing $4 per spin. I play for a couple of minutes and he pipes up. “Just so you know, the last guy took about $1200 out of the machine playing an 80 bet.” Kind, good information. Normally this would scare me off the machine but there is no other choice unless I leave WYNN. I can’t leave WYNN. I love WYNN like I love breathing. This place is running through my veins. I get a gentle question from the server, Champagne sir? Oh crap it is only 9am. To be fair, when you go to bed at 9pm, 9am is far away. I had also done an excellent job on water consumption. Still, I had to turn her down. Green tea instead.

I played and played and played. It was the most amazing slot machine experience of my life. The hundred went down to $47 pretty early but I had a bunch of spins saved up. I played them judiciously and got to around $80. Then I had a run of hits and got up to about $170. About that time I started ordering- champagnes- and Coronas for the guy on my right. He pumped about $1000 into that machine while I was on my original investment. He eventually admitted that he should have changed but he was spooked by what the last guy took out. We had an awesome time though. I must have been on that machine for 5 hours before I decided that blackjack was the bomb. I left up about $70 at that time and had played 80 cents to 120 cents most of the time.

I sat down at a $15, 2 shoe 6:5 table with some nice folks. They were playing $10 a hand and had been grandfathered in. I bought in for $200 and started $25-$50 a hand hoping to get rated on that amount. I don’t play a lot but that is high rolling for me and I really love this joint at this point. I want them to invite me back. We have wonderful dealers and a great pit boss. They really made me and the other low rollers feel welcomeand soon I was playing $10 a hand when things weren’t going my way. I was up and down and about 4 hours later I colored $300. I barely remember the rest.

I know that I had to see my mistress, Miss Roulette. I gave her $100 to start to see what I could get in return. Well , a 29 was not on the menu but 17, 10, 24 and 14 were. Every time I won I took some color and squirreled it away. Miss Roulette can be a harsh mistress and she will take it all given enough time and opportunity. I have an awesome time hitting my secondary numbers and leave with $450 in my pockets about an hour later.

Aaah, there is the buxom blonde from high school. You know the one who dated the hockey(sorry guys-Canada) captain. She never had time for me then but she is waving me over now. Hello miss Crabs, er Craps. I plunk down a black and want just reds. The longest run I had was 4 throws and out. Poof, the bitch didn’t have time for me in high school and she obviously hasn’t changed. Maybe next year, when I’m driving that fat BMW.

 

another day in a Vegas trip

Okay, it is becoming a trend. I couldn’t remember the elevator ride upstairs but I made it home. I have a brief recollection of T showing me some of her purchases when she came back. If my life depended on it I couldn’t remember any of them.

Now. I’m pretty sure that you shouldn’t do Vegas on one meal a day but I did it anyway. I had some of our snacks but it was no surprise that I was ravenous when I woke up. Shower, really, I mean reallllyy? No babe, you are super hot just the way you are. Let’s try the buffet again. It will be great. AAArgh, she needs to do hair, body and whatever. I have done all that with Mr. WYNN’s awesome soaps and stuff an hour ago. I need to EAT. T can’t understand why I’m agitated. Mensa is calling, it wants its scholarship back. Grrrrrrr.

We eventually stroll over to the buffet, T looking heavenly. The breakfast buffet was about $43 without tip. Now I was beyond but….it was a yawn. The omelet was good as expected but that was it. The Mexican was bad, the eggs benedict was runny, the potatoes were average. This was not a great buffet. Now, the stations were clean, the food looked appetizing, the waitress was attentive. The food didn’t pop…at all. You need to know that. This was the second time in a row that I have had average food at the buffet at the WYNN. Oh, and I was starved this time.

I take stock. Where am I at? I start counting and get to about $2500. Holy crap, I’m up after 4 days in Vegas. This hasn’t happened before. I give $300 to T and ask her to buy something she would never normally buy. I also give her $400 to shore up her bank roll. We jump in the car and go to the Premium Outlets. I spend about $800 on Brooks Brothers, shoes, athletic ware and casual ware. I decide to pay cash because I have so much cash. Normally, at this stage of a trip I’m scrambling for leftovers. This time I can’t get rid of it. I shop with the boss for about 8 hours.

I do want to give a quick plug to a place called- ‘The Athete’s Foot’ on Sahara. If you are a runner and want to get the right shoe this is the place. I save about 35% from Canadian prices and the James is excellent. He knows shoes and he will fit you without upselling you.

We make it back to Wynn around 6pm. The self park garage is so easy. Mr. Wynn even has the number of available spots highlighted per level. How cool. Ok, just on this little item he can’t count. Too bad he couldn’t do math this bad on the casino floor. Anyway, plenty of parking for all.

We take the haul of stuff up to the room and T shows me her pride and joy. The best boots ever. Every guy dreams of them. High, black, leather with flash. This is only going to get better….

 

Awesome - I assume with the 5 hour stretch on LOTR you easily got your 900 points?

 

Yes, I started the morning with a little over 200 points and was over 1200 when I left LOR. The guy next to me had over 14000 points on his card.

Over the whole stay we had about 2500 points at WYNN and some table play. Low rollers. Don't know if they will invite us back. Time will tell.

 

nearing the end of the line....

Cocktail hour is here. I fill a goblet with Perrier Champagne and head down to the floor. We decide that this is the $400 freeplay time for us at the triple play JOB machine and play 15 credits at a time. We start slow and I’m getting a little worried but T hits a number of smaller hits and a four of a kind. We cash out $345 from our free play. Thank you Mr. Wynn!

We split the winnings and split up for a bit. Service is exceptional again, although I do go for one refill from the room. I think that they serve Freixenet on the floor. My mother’s mantra was always, if the bottle isn’t full- then it’s empty. Long live this mantra and tradition must be followed. Now, I stroll all over the casino and play all the games. I’m not feeling it and drop about $400 in a hurry. T and I take stock and decide to meet at the Palazzo in a bit, she wants to freshen up.

I still need to get to 30,000 points and am feeling the P/V. I don’t think that I have that much time so as soon as I enter the Palazzo I see a reel Deal or NO Deal with maximum $3 spin. I launch into my quest with vigor. In goes a hundred and but 3 spins later I get the briefcase bonus. Awesome! I pick my case and the machine takes away 3 more. My first Banker’s offer is $289. Do I want it? Hell YES! Maximum win is $1000. I held a $50 case. I made a VERY good deal.

Feeling low on champagne, there is not a waitress in sight. There is a very noticeable difference in service between the P/V and WYNN. Shocking actually. I wonder over to the champagne bar and sit at a bartop. The waiter is great, looks after me. I tip good and he predicts that I will hit 4A. Not 5 minutes later it actually happens. No kicker but another $200 for me. I have also accomplished my 30,000 points and get 3 shiny new gold cards. I go to the gold lounge, a real disappointment if that was your goal but have a couple of snacks to tie me over.

I wonder over to the Venetian and have mixed luck. I resort to buying Heinekens at the convenience store until I get a decent waitress to look after me. The next few hours are spent in a hazy wonderful gambling and drinking zone. I play ‘spot the hooker’ for a while and have little luck. Oh well, this trip had only yielded two pros so far- a fat one at Mandalay Bay working the morning shift and a gorgeous thing at WYNN pacing back and forth at the sports bar in WYNN. I gamble a bit more but it is getting late. T has texted me to meet at Grande Lux to get an order to go. I’m weary, hungry, and more than a little drunk at this time.

I saunter over to Palazzo and boom, there’s my third hooker, playing a minimum bet on a slot. She eyes me and I decide to play. No harm in that. So I sit down next to her and check her out. Pretty hot, well dressed, well spoken. Asked me the usual. What was I doing in Vegas, business or pleasure. Ok, pleasure. We make small talk for a bit and I’m starting to think that this might not be my best idea ever. But she seems sweet and asks me if I would like to go on a date. Yikes, new territory here. Well what would a date cost with her I ask. Tells me that for $1000 I would be completely satisfied. Really, I was thinking more in the $300 range would make me happy. She easily responds that quality costs more. Well actually, I’m more of a quantity guy. She laughs it off with an “aren’t you all.â€

Well, it is Vegas after all and soon she on my arm looking super hot. I’m getting more than my share of stares but who cares. I follow her into the elevatorand my final comment was “nice boots baby.â€

 

Very good read, and very good trip report. We need pics of the boots please.

 

Think of the Reba MacIntyre boots at the ACA's. I do have some ACA pics on my Torch and will try to download them when I figure out how to do that.

 

the end of the trip

The last day in Vegas has arrived too quickly. We’ve had a blast and I’m not ready to go home yet. I check my stash and it is still solid. T still has some shopping to do so we head out in the 300 after breakfast in the café(nothing special). I’m totally feeling the pressure of the last day. Going shopping was the last thing I wanted to do. To T’s credit we just did a Toys R Us and Target and were back at the Wynn by lunch time. T went to the Fashion Show Mall and Caesar’s Mall while I worked on cramming it all in.

One more day of hitting it hard. I wondered around a little bit and made it as far as the Mirage. I played all our MGM freeplay there, at the Venetian and of course back at the Wynn. It was about $150 and I stayed about even playing JOB. By suppertime I was done.

It is an interesting sensation to have money on the last day in Vegas because we normally lose. At the end of it I gave about $700 to my wife, about $1000 to shops, $300 to groceries and good champagne and another $300 to restaurants yet I still had $1200 of my original $2000 bankroll left. It was time to ‘ship it’ home. I was up $1500 for the trip and didn’t want to give any of it back.

We spent the night packing, trying to fit all our purchases into 2 suitcases and 2 carryons while staying under weight. We had overpriced room service, I had Kung Pow Chicken while T had spaghetti. Both were piping hot and excellent.

In the morning we checked out and I didn’t bother trying to get anything from the RED CARD folks. I was sure that my 2500 odd points were not going to impress them. I felt that they were more than generous with me. I’d love to come back to Wynn but I don’t think that I will be on their radar.

I can tell you that now in January I haven’t gotten anything from Wynn. Mandalay Bay just sent me 2 free nights, while the Venetian has cut me off completely, even after reaching gold.

The trip was awesome, I can’t believe that I have a stash of cash, my first winning trip after all these years. The key was taking the win and walking away, and taking the loss and not chasing it. I’m okay to take a break from Vegas, the next vacation will be with the kids but Vegas is never far from my mind. Maybe May…..yes that might work.

 

Wow! What an amazing TR! I normally don't read through these entirely, but you keep me hanging on every word! I live here in Las Vegas and I can't remember the last time that I've had as much fun as you've seemed to! If you ever decide to write a book or something please let me know! I want to buy the first copy. Have a great day brother...

As a side note, I am thrilled to hear that you left home a winner. 2010 was my personal worst year ever gambling and I was just about ready to throw in the towel. I have taken a beating on slots...BJ....VP...and even Pai Gow which is SUPPOSED to be a slow burn game lol. Anyway, I must say that I have noticed in my 10 years of living here that that slots have DEFINATELY tightened up over time. I probably shouldn't say this since I live here and tourist dollars support our economy, but....many of my friends, co-workers and family members have noticed the same thing. Oh well..... fortunately I have friends in the casino industry and I often get comped shows, meals, ect. That sort of offsets my monetary losses.

Lastly, for all of you sports bettors out there....my lock football pick is New England -9 (and I'm a Vikings fan).

 

Thanks Dale 5050. I really appreciate the compliment and I'm very happy that you enjoyed the read. I'd love to make Vegas my winter home but that is 10 years away. I hope that 2011 treats you better!

 

wait what - did you say you went somewhere with a hooker while you were in Vegas with your wife?

 

Lol, all part of the master plan to make sure that you were paying attention and not drunk reading, just follow the boots. My wife is awesome.

 

That was a great "boots" story! So nice to hear men say their wives are awesome. Fun TR!

 

Thanks for trip report. I'm glad you made some cash. Very funny hooker boots story, lol.