Whenever things get a bit unusual, I like to say, “Life is an adventure.” Last Wednesday, the adventure began because I wanted to attend the Hospitality Design (HD) Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

I like the HD Expo, a Hospitality Design magazine and Emerald Expositions event. The expo is like being in an enormous furniture/fabric/kitchen & bath store with more to see than one has time. However, the idea of paying for parking (the newest thing in Las Vegas) when visiting the Mandalay Bay Convention Center was a turn-off. I had previously heard that if one signed up for an M Life Master Card, one would receive an M Life Pearl players card which would allow for free parking at MGM properties. I tried signing up for such a card online, but was told at the end of the ordeal that something was amiss. I used a four-letter word.

Not to be defeated, I looked at a Las Vegas Strip map and decided I could attend the show and not pay for parking by parking at the Tropicana (which does not charge for parking), walking across the overpass to the Excalibur, then taking the free tram to Mandalay Bay. I am fortunate to have decent knees and hips and a pair of sandals that somewhat miraculously keep my feet from hurting, so the long long walk was doable.

Upon reaching the show and picking up my press badge, I asked the woman who was working the badge desk if she received a free parking pass when working the convention. “No”, she said, “but we sign up for the MGM credit card and then parking is free.” OK, I vowed to visit the Mandalay Bay rewards center after the show, hoping I could correctly sign up for a card there.

Lo and behold, when I visited the rewards center and gave the gentleman an old M Life card, he looked in the computer and said, “You get a pearl card; do you want one or two?” I was shocked and thrilled. I was given two M Life Pearl cards and didn’t have to sign up for a credit card! Maybe it was because I was local or a “mature” gambler, who knows?!

The ride and walk back to my car was about twice as long as the walk to the trade show.

Friday, I picked up my mail and lo and behold (again), I opened an envelope to see I had received a new slick black M Life credit card. Apparently I had actually correctly completed that online stuff and a new credit card was mine. Fortunately, the card does not bring with it annual fees, and the card is great-looking.

Note: When I looked closely at my M Life Pearl card, I noticed a date, “Sep 2018”. My free parking might have an end date.

But for now, I’m in. And I had to laugh … another adventure.

As for the Hospitality Design Show? It was loaded with exhibitors, had more than 10,000 attendees and was very interesting. The show features all kinds of items that might be used by hotels, condos, resorts, restaurants, etc. Me? I haven’t traveled much and didn’t know that modern hotel rooms (many in Las Vegas) now have doorbells and remote controls that communicate electronic messages to all the right people in a hotel. Saw that demonstrated at the show.

My video is missing because I inadvertently deleted the videos. Trying to “find” the videos was another adventure…for another time.