About two weeks ago I was in Vegas for the day — about 7 hours. I had some meetings late in the afternoon, but based on flight schedules I arrived around 10:00 a.m.
It had been a while since I was in Vegas. Last time I was there was just before the opening of CityCenter. Since I had some time to kill before my first meeting I decided I’d go explore. After checking out the basics, I need to go catch up on some work. Vegas being Vegas, the hotel lobbies don’t have easily accessible power outlets, but I noticed a very comfortable bench with an outlet next to it across from Harry Winston inside the Crystal Mall. This was a Wednesday morning and the place was empty. It probably was obvious that I wasn’t there to buy a $250,000 watch, I was wearing a sport coat and slacks. Not the usual Vegas wear, but not a total slob either.
I sat down to work and after about 10 minutes a very large man in a black suit that was nice enough to have been purchased at the mall and not JC Penney approached me and said “Our electricity is not for public use.” This caught me as a little odd since their Wi-Fi is public.
I decided not to mess with the man, walked downstairs and found a coffee stand. I grabbed the cup of coffee and sat down on another bench just outside the coffee stand and opened up my laptop. As I finished my coffee and tossed it in the nearby gold-plated trash can, a different security guard approached. Similar black suit, but also an earpiece in his right ear. “We already told you that wasn’t allowed. I must ask you to leave the premises.”
I was then escorted out by the man in black, with a second equally well dressed UNLV lineman following behind us about 20 paces.
Rather than test my luck again. I hopped into the Todd English gastropub and taphouse for a sandwich and a beer, where I heard the waitress tell the table next to me that an IPA was just like an amber.
How to Eat . . . Better 
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