Mc Luxury

So I can't help being awake at 7am... why not get some exercise? Hey, I could blade down to McD's and get some bfast too! Feeding two birds with one egg biscuit, as it were.

There are three Mc'Ds equidistant from me. One is to the right, about a mile down, on is a few blocks past Oren's (right turn, right turn), and still another is also a mile away, but straight to the left. All three are unlike any McD's I've ever seen. The Camby location was pretty nice, and even had free WiFi, but these... are like restaurants. Warm dark hues have replaced the kiddy yellow, soft, abstract paintings cover the walls, slow curves replaced the straight lines, little barriers with glass windows that rise near to the ceiling help to really add a sense of separate rooms with awesome fung-shuai, and soft, plush seats have replaced the hard plastic. Here's some more images:



It's not your childhood McDonald's... it's grown up... like me. Or not, since I'm the only one I've ever seen in McD's rolling around on inline skates, posing as the spitting image of the girl in blades who used to adorn their cups. Maybe there is something to that advertising thing...

Anyway, figuring that the left McD's keeps me on the sidewalks the whole way there, I go with that option.

Lots of people have wondered what death looks like. I was holding hands with him the entire time on the way there. Death looks like pretty, shiny metal boxes cruising along an 8-lane road (sometimes a 4-lane each way boulavard) at 50+ miles an hour. Vegas was never about being for the faint-hearted. One small trip on the sidewalk could send me toppling into oncomming traffic.

These thoughts are in my mind as I'm working my way to McD's, but fear not gentle reader, for I'm quite comfortable on wheels. I can even do like, tricks and stuff. So don't worry. I'll drive everywhere once the car is back from the shop.

Did I mention Vegas is flat? The roads are laid out mostly in a grid system, meaning that if you stand in the middle of one, you can see all the way to mountains on each side. In all directions if you stand in the middle of an intersection (which I don't advise, but instead, swing your head round 360 while in the passenger seat)!

But... I'm working harder than I expected; about a quarter mile in, I'm wondering why it's so hard? I feel like I'm going uphill; I can't get any momentum going. I look behind me: flat. I look in front of me: flat. Hmm... maybe my wheels are gunked up? I keep going. I figure it's for the best, as this is new terrain and although Vegas is reknown (to me) for having rollerblade-able sidewalks with no bumps, one can never be too careful!

Half-way in... I'm breathing harder and in danger of breaking a sweat. I look behind me again: flat. I study in front again: flat. I press on.

Finally I arrive at McD's breathing as if I had just jaunted up 4 flights of stairs. Not panting, but unable to keep a conversation going with occasional gasps for air. Just in time too; I could feel moisture on my skin evaporating (cause it's cold - the body's natural cooling system works in spades here). I didn't expect to sweat for moving so slowly. I look behind one more time: flat as a pancake.

Inside I get my food and notice a newspaper lying on a table. Awesome! When I pick it up, it feels like there's something heavy inside. It's a magazine titled, "Luxury Las Vegas" and has a photo of a personal jet by Icon, about the size of a Geo Metro on the front, laid out in grays and blacks. A boy-toy mag, I figure, but what the hey, let's see what's inside.

Inside was ... luxury. (online version) Multi-million dollar homes, expensive jewelery, and sexy cars adorn every page. And then... there's an interview with Annie Duke. A role-model for the poker world if there ever was one. She's a pretty amazing woman and I can't help but feel a connection with her, as if she was a sister living out my dream, challenging me to rise up and inspire even more.

She's raised millions for aid to Africa. I just donated $0.19 to the Ronald McDonald house. Hmm...

Her biggest regret is leaving school just before getting her PhD, mine was coming back (from a year of playing poker) and finishing. Hmm...

She's one of the most well-known, respected, and professional players in the world. I'm one of the most unknown. Hmm...

Her two weaknesses are having an overdeveloped sense of fairness and suffering fools poorly. She's working on both these things late in life. Well, at least we have that in common!

Oh, and she teaches too! We both thought we'd be college professors by now. LOL!

Her commitment to charity is quite inspiring, and I have only dreamed of being able to do the kind of work she does, both in life and in poker.

She also thinks poker is a great tool for learning to deal with life. Suddenly I feel vindicated for teaching my discrete math students how to play poker! Even though they got higher grades than any class before I taught it, people still looked at me with that, "what are you doing, teaching kids poker and bookie odds?" look. Now I can say, I was teaching them about the lottery so they could make proper life decisions... just like Annie does!

I keep reading... more stunningly beautiful homes greet my eyes. More pretty cars. I flip back to the front and notice the editor is a woman. Hmm... then I notice on the front cover, at the top, "CAUTION > > > > > THIS ISSUE IS TESTOSTERONE-INJECTED." I nearly snort out my diet coke. One could say that of nearly half the women here, fresh off a Saturday night.

I wonder if I should feel bad for thinking about sex while sitting in the McD's playground area. I notice it has a built in Dance, Dance, Revolution machine. That's awesome! I'd be on it were I not on blades. It also had a pop-a-shot and a few other toys along with a colossally huge (even to an adult) climbing thing with all sorts of tubes, nets, baskets, windows, and perches. My mind temporally overloads. How did I get in the kids section again? Oh yeah, all the old people were looking at me funny in the grown up section, and there weren't any empty booths.

It's time to go, and here's the funny part. From the moment I stepped out of McDs I did not make one stride. My wheels instantly started rolling towards home, sometimes with such velocity I was forced to use the foot brake (something I don't often use). I make it all the way home, right to the steps upstairs, a mile away, without making ONE stride! Hmm...