I arrived at the Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay about an hour after Wife Camper had checked in. I sat in the lobby, and waited for her to come down and collect me. We greeted each other, surely with a certain level of awkwardness (surely for some sort of odd comedic value), and a gent came striding towards me.
“Mr Downie, you must tell me about 2econd Friday.”
The gent was Austin. We'd not met, until that moment. He worked at Four Seasons. I happened to mention 2econd Friday in an email to the hotel. Wowser, isn’t that customer service to the max. I was sooooo impressed. Later, Wife Camper and I discussed where else this would’ve happened. Hmm, we reckoned Mandarin Oriental. That’s no more, but surely its replacement, Waldorf Astoria would also have that level of customer service. Would Wynn and Encore? Hmm, maybe not.
We’d chosen to go to Four Seasons because, again, we wanted somewhere we would feel safe from the virus. We actually went for an extended 2econd Friday, and stayed an extra night either side. And we’re delighted we did. 2005 was the last time we’d stayed at Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay. We’re definitely not going to be waiting 15 years before returning, next time.
There was a prize-winner in attendance, this month. Beth got lucky when the tombola turned in her favour, in the Delano Comments Tourney. She was entitled to invite a Plus 1. She was emboldened to invite a Plus 2. And we’re delighted for that emboldening, for it meant 2econd Friday got to meet Megan. It turned out Husband Downie had met her briefly, before, in an airport-pickup situation, one Friday evening during Safe Car Zone Club. Megan very kindly played host in a one-off 2econd Friday feature called “British or not British”. You can see the result, in this month’s vlog.
“British or not British” was the “brain-child” of Husband Downie. Earlier in the day he’d been speaking to Iain, over in Scotland. Wow, it had been over four years since we’d seen each other. Iain asked if I was wearing a wig. I laughed, and laughed a bit more, and suggested if I was wearing a wig, I’d surely make a better job of it than what I was sporting. The four years ago was in Dubai. I can’t believe Wife Camper started whistling over me reminiscing about this, in the vlog. I do enjoy a good reminisce. And Iain and I have plenty to reminisce about. During our call, Iain put his dinner into the oven at 20.20 (this one is not a piece of reminiscing). He was happy with that. I remember finding it hilarious when Erik explained to me that some in the country I’d moved to would find the use of the 24-hour clock to be pretentious. Erik, thanks for this, and many, many more times of hilarity, since the beginning of our Safe Car Zone Club (or whatever it might be called).
Back to Iain, and when I explained I was at the Four Seasons, he said something along the lines of,
“Oh, are you doing your hotel thing? I have a look, most months; it’s good for a read on the loo. I’ve no idea at all what you’re doing, but it makes for mildly interesting reading.”
It was that comment from Iain that inspired “British or not British”; thanks Iain.
Drat, how can we make 2econd Friday more-understandable. Hmm, perhaps we need a Global Brand Manager.
After the filming of the fantastic vlog, we went to dine at the Foundation Room. The balcony there surely affords one of the best views in all this fair city’s catalogue of views. And we certainly enjoyed that view.
Now then, a tune for the year. Surely there’s something I can find joy from, from 1999. Cripes, it was the year I started in the gaming industry. … Oh, I’ve just found out “Playing With Knives” was re-released in 1999. So, never to be one to shy away from 1991, I’m going to go with that.
Opening Date: March 2nd, 1999
Tune: "Playing With Knives" by Bizarre Inc
Dress Code: Fashion Forward