Forgetful Dewey

The hard part about being old in Vegas is that I forget everything and eventually it overwhelms my calm.

I get pissed.

The edge this time was the first morning in Red Rock when I realized I had left my camera battery charger plugged in the wall at Eastside Cannery.

I had bought the camera in Vegas because in California the week before I had forgotten to take my point and shoot out of my cargo pant pocket when I washed the pants.

The small zippered bag holding SD cards and a mechanism for loading them into the computer went missing after California, stayed missing the 20 days in Las Vegas, and was finally found under a liner of my large suitcase three days into the Denver stay.

I lost my electric toothbrush and looked so many places multiple times until I was convinced I had left it at Eastside Cannery. As security answered I saw it right on the bed stool.

I lost my way, even with an old GPS from home and the one on my phone.

I muted the voice on the phone GPS by accident and did not know how to turn it back on.

I lost the time on my phone having again by accident switched it to military time.

In the Air Force military time made instant sense. Now I have lost that ability and have to so the math and that is difficult because I've lost the skill of subtraction.

I put my seltzer on the fine slap edge of the tub, but forgot and knocked it over when I got out.

I remembered to swipe for the coupon for the Ellis Island steak special, but I forgot to play $5 and swipe to take another $2 off the price.

I forgot where in my wallet I put my American Casino Guide ID.

I confused my nephew Chris who lives in Cheektowaga with his nephew Chris who lives in Vegas, getting the family stories confused by generations.

I forgot how long it takes to ride the 202 to Maryland and then the 109 to the airport and was late meeting one son to rent the car.

At the Budget Car Rental office I forgot my Fastlane membership card and forgot that I could beat the line by going down to the garage level. Luckily, the woman was very helpful and let me get my rental.

She also called me handsome and told me when I signed the paperwork that in Vegas that meant the two of us were married.

I did not forget I have a wife.

Nor did I forget to remind my very handsome son of what she said, that I was the handsome one.

I reminded him often in case he had forgotten.

I misplaced a MyVegas number for a two for one buffet at Red Rock. MGM has it all on file, but for the Stations rewards we must sometimes have the number. They can look it up, but they forget.

At MGM I did remember to ask the clerk if he could cancel the dinner 2 for 1 for Aria as I redeemed the lunch 2 for 1. I did not know how long it might take for my son Frank and I to get from the airport to Aria.

However, I forgot to check to see if this had happened. When I got to Denver, MyVegas reminded me that I had three outstanding vouchers and one was the Aria dinner and another the Sunset Station matchplay which I had tried to redeem, but had forgotten the numbered code. I managed to cancel those two.

I forgot that the buffet at the Eastside Cannery opens at 11 am and went down at 8 for breakfast.

I forgot I put my best wine opening corkscrew in a container I use for soap, but I remembered my swiss army knife and used that cork screw and other blades for other tasks. I find it very handy.

I did remember always to pack it in the checked luggage.

I forgot to turn off the touchpad on the little, ancient computer I carry just for writing, and forgot that it caused havoc in the typing because every time it is brushed by my thumb, it jumps the courser. I use an external mouse to avoid that frustration, but the mouse pad needs to be disabled.

I forgot to look carefully when shopping Walmarts at a box of what looked like seltzer but was actually soda using aspertane for sweetener.

I forgot numerous times where I put my small pockets of Tuvia, a great natural sweeter.

I left my foot cream home. This is the only thing that keeps the blisters away. I bought some just outside of Red Rock.

I remembered to buy some distilled water for my sleep apnea machine and put the water in the machine. I forgot to turn on the heater, so I got very little hydration for two nights, until it dawned on me. By then my throat was a mess.

In Laughlin I was on my way to the car to get money from a nearby ATM I had found on my phone. I left the phone and so the source of directions in the room.

I left my small flashlight home, forgot to shop for one at Walmart, and did not remember that my phone could be a flashlight until I was ten days into my trip.

I constantly left my glasses on some counter in the room and had to search and search to find where I had put them. I forgot to bring a backup pair. I can get by without them, but views of television and all the wonderful sights of Vegas, especially those with lights, would be a bit blurry.

Finally, I lost the distance glasses at the Orleans. They just were not there when I organized after check in. The case was empty. Probably I had set them down to read something and not taken them up again. Security did not have them. They let me come in and check the box of glasses they had. Security at Luxor had not gotten them either.

I cashed out from my machine at the Orleans to go to the drawing. I did not have my name drawn. When I got back my seventeen dollar slip was not in my wallet nor was any evidence I had cashed it out. The same woman played next to me and said that no one had been there. On the other hand these machines don't beep after cashout.

Ironically, looking all around for it and retracing my steps had me lose my seat. I sat on the other side, put $20, played three hands and caught four to the royal in spaces, needing a jack. I caught the jack twice for two royals, played a couple hands and caught 4 queens and then decided to take a break, cashing out with a profit of $815 because the one progressive royal had progressed from the normal $200 to $485. and the other one was high as well.

Somehow by the time I got downtown I had lost the spoon, knife and fork I was carrying, so I had to eat my can of oysters with a serrated knife and my can of smoked salmon with my fingers.

I later put the serrated knife in my carry on suitcase, and so it was checked in detail until she found it. Another thing lost.

In Denver I could not find my pull over winter hat that I had brought just for the cold until I was there for five days, when I located it in the pocket of a jacket. The day I found it, it was 60 degrees in Denver.

When I put together this trip report I changed the settings for readers so that only I could access it until I was completely done with it.  When I put it up on Facebook, I forgot to change the settings so that anyone had permission to read it.  Luckily my Facebook friends are not as dysfunctional as I am.

When I started this post, I was laughing, but as I finish I am just unnerved by how old I am.

I am very much relieved that there is the blog to record these trips. It is an extention of my memory. Often the notes and photos jog my memory, and I can then recall almost everything, or so it seems anyway.