Well I'm still sick and today started off with my 9am class. Classes have gone alright today and I've gotten some errands done as well. I finally got a copy of my taxes from last year (which were lost in the move) from H&R Block so that I can re-do my FAFSA stuff for school to try to get a loan to cover my six classes this fall. I started some laundry which I'll be picking up after class today. Right now I'm sitting in my class (Management Decision Making) without internet so I figured I'd write this so that I can upload it later. Hey, me rambling on is better than nothing right? Well, I think that should sum it up for now. Have a great day!

-Chris

I only wish I could have seen these guys in Vegas. I bet they'd have been a blast. Enjoy!

Well, I'm finally back in Tyler and my apartment is getting cleaned up and squared away. I got to do my laundry, see some friends, do some last minute registration for class. Now all that I have to worry about is my financial aid stuff. Pray for me!

Chris

Today started off slowly. I woke up at about 9-am and opened up my curtains on the 23rd floor of the Stratosphere hotel at the northern tip of the Strip to view my last glance south at the casinos that I had visited on the strip. After taking a bit of a shower, I packed up all of my belongings and went to the front desk to check out. After checking out we left our baggage at the front counter so that we could go to the buffet and have some breakfast / lunch. It was really pretty good and it definitely filled me up. After that we wandered through the casino over to the star-bucks where I used someone's free WIFI there to surf the internet while sitting on the sofa to wait for our shuttle to arrive at 1:45. Another hour or so passed and we went to the front of the hotel, acquired our checked baggage, and sat on the bench waiting for our shuttle to arrive. Once on the shuttle we went straight to the airport which was great. The driver took the highway so that sped things up a bit.
Arriving at the airport we did the self check-in and checked our bags (with the exception of my laptop). After having checked our bags we headed to our gate at terminal D. Security had a bit of a line and I set off the metal detector twice so I was the lucky winner of 'who gets searched' in Vegas. As expected they didn't find any contraband (such as that coke I had earlier). We got on the tram to the Terminal, had a Pretzel, and checked out some of the shops. Right now I'm sitting at my terminal, using power from the airport, on my laptop waiting until 5:55 local time (here it is 3:55). For now I think that I'll just be surfing the net and listening to some audio stuff before we go.
I really miss a lot of my friends and I'm dying to see the condition of my new apartment. I'm curious to see what my room-mates have been up to.

Until later,

Chris

Here's a little re-cap of an amazing day:

The day started out with some healthy (insert sarcasm here...) breakfast from McDonalds. After eating breakfast we hopped a taxi over to the Hilton to watch Leonard Nimoy, then William Shatter, and then both of them on stage at the same time. Later that afternoon after grabbing some pizza from a Pizza Hut Express we went back to watch James Darren speak. After that we picked up a few monorail tickets to save some walking and cab fare and went to the Southern part of the strip to the MGM Grand and walked up the strip to Paris, Balleys, The Venetian, The Wynn, and others. From the Wynn we caught a ride on the bus to the Las Vegas Convention Center where we got back on the Monorail and went back up to the Hilton to stand in line (after eating at Quarks Bar of course) to see Robert Pacardo and James Darren sing. While on our way there we ran into George Takei (Sulu from the original Star Trek) in the casino and chatted with him. He even let me get a picture with him. It was really cool to see how nice he really is in person and how open he is with fans. The show was amazing. Robert sang about 3 songs, one of which made fun of several things which gave everyone a laugh. After Robert was finished he handed it over to James Darren who sang songs from Frank Sinatra and others. It was a great show, with lots of humor and even an encore.
On the way back to the hotel and once we got back to the hotel I called my dad in Germany and talked with him for a while about what I had seen on this trip and chatted as well. For him it's about 9 hours ahead so he had just woken up. It was nice to talk with him and chat although it's also sad that he could not join me here in Vegas. The trip is almost at a close and it's been a blast. I saw a lot of things and did a lot of things but there will always be something for me to come back for in Vegas. I don't think there's any way you can do it all in one trip unless you move here.

Love,

Chris

From Friday Night:
Tonight we had tickets for a late night "desert party" with Connor Krinner and Dominique Keating from Enterprise. We had different types of deserts from cookies to chocolate fondue. There were to many rich chocolate things to sample that I had my fill in no time. We all had drinks and talked in groups to the two which were very open and real. They didn't filter themselves at all which I respect. Being able to carry an actual conversation is a great thing and in turn we heard a ton of fun and laughs.

Chris

I woke up at about 9am this morning after a good night sleep. After eating some 'health' food (interpret as you will... lol) we hopped a taxi over to the Hilton. At the Hilton we had tickets for the Italian Buffet with Robert Picardo and Ethan Philips. It was a lot of fun and the food was alright although they did not show up until about thirty minutes after it started. After everyone got to meet them at their tables and after the food we headed out into the main convention room where they presented a fan written play /skit which made the audience laugh to no end. It was well performed and quite comical. After that i wet up to the cafe that i was at earlier to get some power for my laptop, edit some pictures, and just surf the net. I got a call from Josh to go do dinner at a 50's style diner where the people that worked there even sing. The food was good and we talked about a few things. Right now I'm sitting on my bed in my hotel room listening to some music and relaxing before my 9:00 event at the Hilton again. It's about 8 bucks each way by taxi but I'm getting tired of walking and it's getting dark in Vegas. The taxi is probably the best option for me right now. I'm about to go down and catch one so that I can make it on time (keep in mind it's 2 hours earlier in Las Vegas than is noted in my blog as I'm central time at home and in Vegas it's Pacific).

I'm off to see what this all night party will entail...

Chris

This morning we went over to the Star Trek Hilton again. We went up there to see what was going on with the convention, see who else showed up, and what new booths there are. Autographs pretty much START at 20.00 so to my friends who wanted autographs, sorry, I'm far from being made out of money. We got to see 'Data' and 'Riker' from the Next Generation as well as 'Quark' from Deep Space Nine. They were all great public speakers. They all have great senses of humor. We got some lunch at Pizza Hut (much cheaper than the other places...).

We then came back to the hotel to relax a bit and see what's going on with Josh and his friends. At the hotel Josh and I grabbed a quick bite and he went out with his friends and I went and started walking the strip. Today, I got to see the entire strip on foot from the Stratosphere to the new Mandalay Bay just south of the Luxor. While walking we got to see the show's at the hotels along the way from Treasure Island to the Belagio (which is amazing). We made it to Mandalay Bay at about 12:30 and took a taxi from the Luxor back to the hotel for about 20 bucks. It was totally worth not walking home.

Once back in the hotel and after putting a good 20oz of caffeine in me, I was so sore I could barely move. I figured, I'm paying an extra 15 bucks for a bigger room with a jacuzzi so I filled it up and used it. It's great. I feel great. Right now I'm relaxing on the bed tinkering on my laptop. I hope this post wasn't to boring. There's no way it can capture what all I saw today. Vegas is a cool and amazing place with interesting architecture and very interesting people. The city is probably the most diverse in the world.

Good night & good luck!

Chris

I arrived in Las Vegas at 10:30 local (Pacific) time on Wednesday. We made it back to our hotel (Stratosphere) in once piece to meet my friend Josh Hughey whom I had not seen in over a year. We met up with him and his girl friend along with her friends. The room wasn't ready yet (we upgraded to get a Jacuzzi) so we put our things in his suite on the 24th floor (top) and chatted for a bit before we all went to the outdoor pool / cabana on the 8th floor of the adjacent building. We had some drinks, talked, tanned, relaxed, and swam.

Later in the evening I wandered over to the Star Trek Hilton to go on the rides (Borg 4d / Klingon Encounter) and check the place out again as it's been so many years since I've been here. It's an amazing place and brings back memories from past trips and conventions that I had been to. I geeked out when I ran into "Jaws" from the James Bond movies. I got an autograph and a couple of pictures of him with me. I'll be posting those soon to the pictures section of my site. It was so cool. I also Bob May (the guy who was in the robot on 'Lost in Space.') "Danger Will Robinson, DANGER!" lol. It's been a blast. We went and ate at Quarks bar where the service was weak but the food was alright. I was invited to go out and go clubbing but it was late (for me anyway) so I decided to go back to the room, relax, and get some sleep.

Over all it was a cool day. I still can't believe that I'm in Vegas right now. This is a much needed get-away from my responsibilities, etc.

More to come!

Love,

Chris

Life lately has been on my side for the most part. I've become exempt on my final for my Managerial Strategies and Policies class (thank GOD!). I'm looking forward to moving into my new place on my birthday (Aug. 12) and having a bigger room and some space to spread out. A change of scenery would be great too along with out noisy neighbors. I've made a few great new friends too. Work's been going pretty well also. I have a vacation to Vegas coming up on the 16th too.

My parents are moving around the same time that I am so that keeps things very interesting in our lives. I received a raise at work which will help aid in the expenses for moving, and life in general. I can say it's been a long time since I've been this happy. I really need to get off of my butt in regards to several things like getting all of my financial aid for school and making sure that I'm registered for all of my classes for the fall. I'm still looking into moving to London in the spring to live, work, and study. Things are going well for me over all.

One of my best friends will soon be going into the Air Force in September and I'm really going to miss her. She and I have become close friends but I know that she's doing what's right for her and that she will be happy. If you care about someone you just want them to be happy too even if it means missing them (although I know she's going to write a lot...). As I said I've been making new friends which is really great. It's given me things to look forward to, etc.

I'll try to update my blog a bit more and add some more details as they happen. Right now I'm sitting on my parents sofa listening to some music and just relaxing. It's my day off and so far it's going well. I hope that all of you have a great weekend as well.

-Chris