I purchased a new washing machine last week.

Not a huge deal, but I’ve never owned one that was brand new. This thing is way fancier than other machines I’ve owned.

The only problem was figuring out how to get it installed, which, is simple. But I didn’t get a manual when I purchased it from a local large hardware chain, as it was a floor model. I didn’t even get a drain hose.

Anyways, shipping bolts are very key to the operation of the washer. They must be removed. Or else the machine will shake and dance around the floor during a spin cycle.

The floor must also be level. Not something I’d ever considered when installing a washer, which I have done previously when I moved into a new home seven years ago.

Now that it’s working normally, it’s really nice. The front-loaders are supposed to be more efficient then top-loaders. It’s also pretty quiet, until it starts to spin, but I don’t think you can buy a machine for under $1300 that isn’t somewhat noisy during spin cycle.s

I like going to Las Vegas. The poker is good there, and it’s usually a good bet for finding a good meal and ridiculous late-night fun at a random craps table.

This past weekend Laura and myself flew out for a quick 48-hour fandango.

The recent global economic slide is something that I haven’t particularly noticed in my daily life, but it was quite evident that Vegas is definitely feeling it.

Usually in the middle of the strip, it’s packed. People, crowds of them, everywhere. It’s a pain to walk around on every previous trip.

Not this time. I would say it was about half the amount of people around and about, and this was a Saturday night, with a huge UFC title fight taking place at the MGM. Even getting a table at a restaurant was easy at 7pm, when at the same time back in March, it was an hour-long wait.

This didn’t prevent us from having a great time. We played poker at the MGM and Caesar’s. I attempted counting at blackjack, only to run into terrible luck — which won’t deter me from trying again next time. Good food was to be had at Nine Fine Irishmen, Craftsteak, Mon Ami’s.

I’m already looking ahead to next year’s trip in March for hoops.

November football in 80-degree weather is horrible.

I say this after the Dolphins beat the Broncos (26-17), but I generally don’t like attending sporting events where exposure to sun and warm weather is more than a few minutes. Today it was about six hours, and that it’s early November makes it all the worse.

But we made the most of it. My co-worker Zach tagged along for the day, which included an Avalanche hockey game immediately after the barf-fest at Invesco. The hockey game was courtesy of some free tickets given to us from our manager at the office. And it was mostly a blur, since I’d drank quite a bit already at the football game, and wasn’t in a great mood.

The best part of the day were the hilarious group of Dolphin fans seated in the row behind us, mostly female, who had no idea what they were cheering for. Chanting “DE-FENSE” on kickoffs, going nuts on the coin toss, and repeatedly shouting “HOLD’EM!!!” while the Dolphins had the ball. I need to bring my camera to games for that shit in the future.