[SG Steelhead]

So a couple months ago my boss asks me if I want to go to the World of Concrete Expo in Vegas to help him pick out some pre-cast forms we're in need of. Well, it took me about 30 seconds to say...um, yeah, of course.

So departure day (Tuesday) arrives and we head out. We get to Pitt airport in plenty of time and have no problem with security. Then we board the sardine can Southwest put us on and all four of us get stuck in middle seats, between two strangers, and NO room at all...tight quarters. We lay over in Phoenix and board the flight to Vegas which is more of the same.

Once we arrive in Vegas though, things start getting better. We check in at Treasure Island and head out for the evening. We spend a little time at the Mirage and Caesars, then end up at our would-be final destination....Diablos Cantina. We proceed to get ungodly shitfaced and somehow stagger back to the room.

The next day I find out that Motley Crue's Vince Neil has a tattoo shop on the strip. Well, you know damn well that I can't pass that up, so I get me some fresh new ink from a young artist named "Bumper". He did an outstanding job and I couldn't be happier with my incredible souvenir.

Over the next couple of days we make plenty of time for the Expo during the days, finding several forms that are looking to be a good fit for our needs. Then at night, we did our thing...bar hopping and eating like Vikings. The food was awesome every single day. We ate at places like Johnny Rockets, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, Carnegie Deli, Yolies Brazilian Steakhouse, Vegas Hard Rock Cafe, etc. Too much good food, not enough time.

So departure is set for Saturday morning. We wake up and hail a cab for the airport. When we get there we are told that the first leg of our flight (to Chicago) would be fine but Pittsburgh was closed due to a nasty ass snowstorm. We reschedule for the following morning and head back to Treasure Island. We get to keep our room, so we unpack again and head out. About halfway through the day we get an automated call telling us that our rescheduled flight had been canceled.

Unhappy, we pick up a couple bottles of Crown and head back to the room. We sit on hold for Southwest for THREE AND A HALF HOURS. When they finally do pick up, we find out that the next available flight is Tuesday. Out of frustration, we book it.

Well, after thinking about our wives at home...snowed in with no electricity...we decided to try something else. We search other airlines and find a flight for Sunday ...yeah, Super Bowl Sunday...with Frontier. Not direct, of course...it was a flight to Denver, then to Canton, OH, then rental car drive to Pittsburgh. We call Southwest again....only on hold for 90 minutes this time...and cancel the Tuesday flight, then we book Frontier.

The two frontier flights go off without a hitch. Beautiful, new planes, nice stewardesses, etc. The first leg even had TVs in the headrests and for $6, we got to see the first half of SB44. I now loves me some Frontier Air.

Then we land in Canton and the fun begins. We hop in our AWD rental crossover and head towards Pitt. We have to go to the airport to turn in the rental and pick up the boss's truck from long-term parking. The roads are a fucking disaster and come close to several wipe outs. We get back to Pittsburgh airport and the long term lot hasn,'t been plowed. There's snow 3' deep around the boss's truck and there we stand...no shovel, no anything. So we cruise the parking lots until we find a guy on a skid-loader. We slip him a tip and he comes to our rescue, digging us out.

It's around 4am now and we head towards the rental car place to turn in the crossover. It needs to be full of gas or you get ass raped. We know there's a gas station right there inside the airport so we head that way. We get there and find EVERY single pump taped off...out of everything except diesel. Fuck. Now we have to backtrack about 15 miles up the road to find a gas station. We do so, then head back again to turn the bitch in. We finally get it turned in and head home. Well, not really home...home still has no fucking power so I head to my brother-in-law's place. It's now about 6am and Patty's up waiting for me. We talk for a couple hours then head out to the house to see how bad it is.

I spend the next 6 hours cleaning the driveway and porch roof, then head back to my brother-in-laws. I've now been up for approx 37 hours straight and what comes on the TV? Yep...a fucking winter storm warning. Expecting another 8-10" overnight tonight. The estimated time of repair for our power was already set at February 12th....who the fuck knows how much worse it will get after another blast.

So basically, I have no heat, internet or xbox at home. I do have internet at my BIL's but won't bother bringing my box in. I have HFL maps and gametypes that I was supposed to take care of, sub draft to participate in, and a multitude of other shit to take care of....and here I sit with no fucking power for at least another 4 days.

I'm fucking going to bed. Don't wake me until tomorrow morning.

[dinologic]

I don't think I can say anything else but BAAAAALLLLLLS. That really sucks. I can't believe you were shoveling snow after being awake for that long. I hope this passes quickly for you, bud. Get some sleep and take it easy the next couple of days!

[AScreamingLemon]

WOW - I love Houston

[Ace McKilty]

I know what Artie Lange would say, "Waaaaaaaah, I had to go to Las Vegas!" Totally kidding Steel, I'm glad your night mare is over and I hope the new snow misses you.

[Septimus]

This story is a LIE of cake-like proportions!!

Okay, probably not - the roads in Pittsburgh SUCKED and they did a crappy job plowing - but there's no forecast for more snow tonight... it's tomorrow night.

[SG Xcaliber]

You shoulda flew the family out to Vegas instead! Hope things turn around for you soon.

[SG Noodles]

dinologic, on 08 February 2010 - 06:48 PM, said:

I don't think I can say anything else but BAAAAALLLLLLS. That really sucks. I can't believe you were shoveling snow after being awake for that long. I hope this passes quickly for you, bud. Get some sleep and take it easy the next couple of days!

This ^^^

But hey, at least you got to go to Vegas. I got to drop Liam off at a birthday party, and they didn't even invite me in for fucking cake... and my hip hurts

[Uncle Ubb]

What? No picture of the new tattoo?

Bummer of a backside trip. I always hate leaving a nice place and then hitting colder weather. Always happens coming home from Hawaii. Oregon just can't compete with that tropical place. Glad you got home safe. I avoid driving in the snow at all costs.

[Shift Gorden]

Oh mate, sorry to hear that. That is truly sucky. That's too long to go out with electricity

Hope you don't go to nuts at your BILs. I know I would be stir crazy after a few hours.

[electricpirate]

Man, I understand why my dad left Pittsburgh.

Seriously though that sucks, but you're an awesome husband to come back through that.

[Anti Snake Man]

Does this cheer you up at all? Because when I see it I laugh my ass off.

[SG Steelhead]

Septimus, on 08 February 2010 - 06:16 PM, said:

there's no forecast for more snow tonight... it's tomorrow night.

Hey, don't expect me to have my shit together for at least a day or so You're right though, I guess tonight is when the next one is supposed to move through. Hopefully they get the power back up before that but I'm not very hopeful. Allegheny Power has crews from VA and New York here helping out and they're making good progress. They initially had 180k customers without power and they've whittled it down to a little over 50k so far.

JCP1976, on 08 February 2010 - 10:44 PM, said:

Does this cheer you up at all? Because when I see it I laugh my ass off.

[ColdSteel1028]

He's not kidding about getting shitfaced at Diablos....got some classic text msgs from his that night

[codered33]

ColdSteel1028, on 09 February 2010 - 09:43 AM, said:

He's not kidding about getting shitfaced at Diablos....got some classic text msgs from his that night

Yes that night was epic for all involved in the text and drinking!!!

[corndog]

JCP1976, on 08 February 2010 - 09:44 PM, said:

Does this cheer you up at all? Because when I see it I laugh my ass off.

That picture is awesome!

Steel, once you get a good nights sleep you'll wake up and realize that your life really sucks as much as it appears to right now . All of this snow is crazy. I've got a friend that lives in DC, and she says it's insane over there.

This post has been edited by corndog: 09 February 2010 - 03:25 PM

[SG Noodles]

I went outside at lunch. It is currently a few degrees above 0, sunny, no wind... I had my jacket undone and everything. Fucking beautiful I tells ya!

[D I C O M]

Goodness Steel, that's a story and a half. And here I thought the worst part about going to a concrete convention would have been the concrete convention.

[TheEvilDonut]

You guys need to pack all that snow and sell it to Vancouver. The Olympics start Friday and they fear that there will not be enough snow.

You'd make a fortune.

[Ark Malmeida]

Good call on getting that loader to dig you out. That would have been the last straw for me right there.

[SG CORE]

Sorry to hear all of that Steely. I bet your glad it is over. I know I would be. At least the Vegas part was good, right?