with two close friends (Don/Louise). What a
wonderful time we had. I have to say that I didn't
expect to see that much glitz & glitter. Things
cost a lot out there, but if you look, you can
find reasonable prices. Most of the shows we
attended were reasonably priced, but then again,
we did not see any of the big name stars
(Midler,Deion,Jones,etc).
of the year for them I guess, they all were out of
town. Besides, they cost at least $100 and we
were looking for tics in the $40-$50 range. Our
only excursion out of Vegas was to the Hoover Dam.
The dam was quite impressive and I could recite a
lot of facts about it that even I will forget in a
couple of weeks. The employees there love to play
with the word "Dam", Dam Guide, Dam food, Dam
steps, etc. At first it was amusing, but
somewhere along the line it became annoying.
Guess I should say I was glad to get out of the
dam place (I wasn't, I enjoyed the visit).
As we all know, vacations, normally, include a lot
of good eating and this vacation was no exception.
I was trimming down as we flew into Vegas and
fattening up when we flew out. I could tell by
the way the plane strained to get airborne. We
were told while there, the name Las Vegas means
"The Meadow" in Spanish. This place is in the
middle of the Mohave desert. There are no meadows
around. We were told that the town did not begin
to grow until the railroad came through and then
the Hoover Dam construction was started and 5,000
men were employed, camps were built for their
families and the town started to expand. After
the dam was completed, I imagine they had to come
up with a plan to keep people in the middle of the
desert, so they came up with the idea of legalized
gambling and prostitution. I guess that did the
trick. As you walk the sidewalks of Vegas, there
are lines of guys trying to hand you a business
card with half-naked women on them and phone
numbers to call. They do not care that you have
an attractive woman holding your arm, they will
shove that card in your face. They have vehicles
going up and down the streets with seductive women
on a billboard, begging you to call. I'm guessing
the term "Sin City" was coined for Vegas. The
biggest reason to go to Vegas? For me, it was to
see, perhaps, the glitziest city on earth.
My Vertigo seems to be getting better. The
weather has been cold here and I have been running
on our machine upstairs and lifting weights. Both
of us are anxious to get back to the Noland Trail.
Jerilyn is a little apprehensive because of her
previously broken foot (July). We are planning on
doing the trail this coming week. Meanwhile,
there are plenty of inside project for me to do.
Tax time is fast approaching and preparations are
underway for that dreaded task. I'm looking for a
better result than last year's. The meltdown of
the economy still has all of us worried. I must
say, I still do not understand the bailout of the
banks. I know that if our government was bankrupt
and went to the banks for a loan, they would say
"You don't qualify for a loan! You're broke".
Now, let me see, if the table is reversed, why do
they deserve a loan from us?
As most of you know, I spent 43 years working at
our local shipyard, mostly in finance, but toward
the end, in the computer operations area. During
the 80's & 90's, the shipyards attitude was that
they needed to balance their navy work with
commercial work, in other words, don't put all of
your eggs in one basket. Unfortunately, they were
unable to do that and are in the unenviable
position of being purely a defense contractor. If
you are a banker and most of your loans are to
unqualified borrowers, or, you make cars and all
of them get poor mileage, what happens to your
business when your primary customer faulters? I
gotta stop this, my head is starting to hurt!
Jerilyn & I read the Upper Room before turning in
at night. Last night's message was that we are
responsible for all of God's creatures. We have
four birdfeeders and two bird baths. I now know
why we have them. I currently have 7 people on my
prayer list. I wonder if The Lord ever tires of
hearing my pleas for them? He never says so,
but, he is a compassionate God, so I'm sure he
would never be rude. With close to 7 billion
people on this earth, have you ever wondered how
he handles all those request? The thought
overwhelms me.
