|
June 28, 2004
Lots of Wood
I've been asked "Since you are having a house built, why don't you have
any pictures?" Well, I won't bore people with too many, but since we are
getting somewhat close to completion here it goes. We were hoping for completion
in August, but since my wife convinced me to add a swimming pool last
week, there may be some delay. A little too many days of triple
digits, and now I have a pool payment too. Oh yea, and so much
for conserving water.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
7:11pm |
A view looking into my new office. Nice and large. Gonna need
a larger display for my mac, to fill space. |
Code Name: Tiger
I miss my Mac. I never unpacked it completely since I moved here from Northern
California. Since most all computer viruses and worms are written to
attack the Microsoft OS, I always feel safer surfing the net too. Now
it seems that by the time I get around to setting it up in our
new house, it will be upgrade time. The latest
system
upgrade may have to wait, since I'm due for an upgrade on Quark, Illustrator,
and Photo Shop. The 30 inch widescreen flat panel display looks good
though, plus this one is compatible with PC's too. There may be some
new work on the horizon, which can make the upgrades a write-off,
we'll see.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
6:56pm |
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs shows off multi-video
teleconferencing at the Moscone Center, in San Francisco, on Monday, June
28, 2004. It will be on the new MacOS Tiger
which will come out in 2005. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan) |
June 26, 2004
Yeah, it's hot.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
5:15pm
June 19, 2004
"It was a Warm Breeze, as it Swept Across the Desert, and Turned into
a Circle of Doom."
I think that's what Paul Simon sang in Graceland. It's been a
while, time for a re-listen. Anyway, the triple digits are back! From
what I hear, they are here to stay. A couple weeks a ago
we had a full week of temps of about 106 degrees, but that was followed
by a week of temps in the 80's, so we had a small break. We are
getting ready to enter a
drought
emergency by the beginning of 2005, with the current level of Lake Mead
down about 100 feet. My house, which is scheduled for completion in August
has gone up nearly $100,000 since construction began, but it may be hard
to sell it to anyone at any price if there is no water here. I guess my moving
here makes me part of the problem, but I can say that I do more
than my neighbors (many of whom are native Las Vegans) with regard to water
conservation. Watering landscape only on specified days, washing the car
less (only twice a month, and only at facilities that recycle water),
and installing desert landscaping with drip systems, no sprinklers, and NO
GRASS! I guess the people who have lived here before the boom figure they
have a right to waste water, while the newcomers should be the ones
that keep the spigot off. I guess I can understand that, just as long
as they keep trucking in bottles of my favorite Blogger Beer I'll
be ok. I'm feeling parched.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
9:08am |
With the levels of Lake Mead so low, many structures and
long forgotten
sunken items have been apprearing in the light of day once again. No
bodies yet. |
Says it all. |
June 18, 2004
Modern Medicine
Five surgeons are discussing who makes the best patients to operate on.
The first surgeon says, "I like to see accountants on my operating table
because when you open them up everything inside is numbered."
The second responds, "Yeah, but you should try electricians! Everything inside
them is color coded."
The third says, "No, I really think librarians are the best, everything inside
them is in alphabetical order."
The fourth surgeon chimes in: "You know, I like construction workers. Those
guys always understand when you have a few parts left over at the end or
when the job takes longer than you said it would."
But the fifth surgeon shut them all up when he observed: "You're all wrong.
Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There's no guts, no heart, no
balls, no brains, and no spine, and the head and the ass are
interchangeable.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
6:55am
June 17, 2004
Welcome to Fabulous Kerkorianville!
That's what the famous Las Vegas sign should read if the
MGM Mirage's plan to buy-out
Mandalay Resorts actually
becomes a reality. They will form the
largest
casino company in the world, and own about half of all the hotel rooms
in Las Vegas. Being a person with a business mind-set, I understand
the motivation in both sides. Power, Money, Profits, Money. Business
101. I still think the idea is flawed, and I predict that (assuming the deal
goes through) MGM Mirage will eventually start spinning off properties that
are less profitable, or that just don't fit their corporate model. This merger
will give MGM Mirage properties on opposite sides of the resort scale. They
will posses properties like The Bellagio, and Circus Circus. At first thought,
you may think diversity is good, and hey, there are many large corporations
in the world that have several entities that are run completely independent
from each other.
The
MGM Mirage - Mandalay merger poses other challenges. Not only,
is there a diverse group of properties that need to managed completely
differently, these properties require a completely different management
philosophy, therein lies the problem. In order to do this, they will
probably add a layer or two of management levels, and overtime will realize
they have become too management heavy, and look to cut costs. This
will eventually result in the sale of some properties. So if you are not
happy with the merger plans, I predict, just sit back and wait a year or
two (maybe less), and the sell off will begin. Just my prediction.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
7:59am
June 12, 2004
Back to Business
I didn't watch much of the Ronald Reagan state funeral last week. Well, I
did catch some on the news, most of the live portions were on while
I worked. What I did see seemed to be pretty much what I expected to
see. While it was impressive, it was what you would expect. Friday, however,
was a bit different. I got home from work just in time to watch
the motorcade drive from Point Mugu to the library in Simi Valley (
I used to always refer to the library as in Moorpark, because it really
is closer to Moorpark than central Simi. Anyway, Moorpark spelled backwards
is.... well you figure it out.). Here in Las Vegas, the casinos
along the Strip turned off many of their bright lights at 9pm, for a three
minute period. After looking back, I think I got to view the best part
of the funeral on Friday. Friday's portion was touching. No matter what your
political views, I think most people would agree. That said, watching the
ceremony Friday gave me chance to reflect on a few things. First,
although some may not like to hear it, Reagan was the first president
I voted for. Not that it's important, it's just something I remember.
Secondly and equally unimportant is that Reagan and I shared the same
birthday, he was 50 years older (Coincidently, he died on my brother R's
birthday). Thirdly, I got to watch the Reagan Library get built, and
was probably one of the earliest visitors to the site. And
lastly, watching the motorcade on Friday brought back memories of the years
I lived and worked in Thousand Oaks and California. To me there is little
wonder why an ex-president would want to put their library in that area.
Of course this is Reagan country, and it seemed there always were subtle
reminders of it. When I worked for the phone company some years ago,
I was required to do quite a bit of traveling up and down California's
Central Coast region. I used to stay in Santa Maria for about four months
straight. I stayed at the Santa Maria Inn, a great old hotel full
of stories of Hollywood movie making, and other frequent, prominent guests
(I remember once taking my mother there and Jack Lemon and Walter Mathau
were guests while filming scenes for Grumpier Old Men). My satellite
office was in this hotel as well. It was in a room called
the RV Room. RV standing for Rancho Vistadores. This was in the old
wing of the Hotel (circa 20' or 30's), the entire 15'x35' room was covered
with photographs of the Rancho Vistadores, and many featured one of
their more prominent members, Ronald Reagan. These were very candid photos,
that many people never will get to see. Many picture him on horseback
toasting either a beer or a glass of wine. I didn't know anything about
the Rancho Vistadores, other than what I could learn from these photos. This
was a large group of "well off" horse people that got together and rode for
days, from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara, and making a great party of it all
the way. If you have ever been through this area of California, it's easy
to understand why this group existed. Well at least all the funeral business
is over, and after a week of Reagan accolades, I expect there will be
an equal amount of Reagan bashing in the week ahead. Business as
usual.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
3:49pm |
"Clap clap" lights on... |
"Clap clap" lights off. |
The vista from the Reagan Library. |
The Reagan Library includes a scale
replica of the Oval Office. Probably
the closest I'll ever get. |
June 10, 2004
Sh*t, or Get off the Pot
Not that it should come as any big surprise but, once again
Yucca
Mountain is facing a cash crisis. If you read this blog, you know
I have resigned myself to the fact that the nuclear waste
repository will be completed and opened. The way I look at it
is, hey, if you are going through with it, then do it, and do it right. My
biggest concern is that there will be corners cut, and shoddy workmanship
on the project that will make facility a danger. If they can't build
a safe facility then don't build one at all.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
7:25am
Who's in Town this Week?
Recent workload has prevented me from updated posts as often as I would like.
Usually weekends provide a good time to catch up, but lately every weekend
there seems to be something going on. Part of living here means that you
will get more visitors than you ever had before. I'm not complaining, I like
that.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
7:20am
June 6, 2004
Sour Grapes: Part II
After talking to other Las Vegans, reading a comment regarding my previous
post, and after being contacted by Lawrence Downes, who edited the Times'
Las Vegas series, I felt compelled to re-read the
AMERICAN
DREAMERS: The Lure of Las Vegas series, to see if there was something
I missed. I agree that this series is positive toward Las Vegas
in one respect. It puts Las Vegas out there for the entire country
to read about, and as a whole that kind of publicity is good. That said,
I still stand by my original take on this series, and it appears that I am
not alone in my assessment. On Friday I learned that Las Vegas mayor Oscar
Goodman has written a letter to the New York Times criticising
the series as being slanted to the negative side of this town. Similarly,
The Las Vegas Review Journal has responded to the series as
portraying
"Tales
of drugged-out teenagers, overcrowded schools and a money-grubbing stripper
with big dreams of life after the pole? Colorful phrases such as "broken
promised land" mixed with comparisons to "normal cities?" Some may think
ok, but this is the RJ, a newspaper that may enjoy taking a shot
at the NY Times, but the Las Vegas Sun, a paper with decidedly
different views from that of the RJ, has been critical of the
series as well. The Sun refers to the
Times
Series as Lacking, and
Brian
Greenspun, the Editor of The Sun refers to the series as an attack,
and is quoted in his column "To say the least, it was unexpected.
Not because we don't like stories published about our All-American city and
not because we don't like critical looks at the kind of city we have become,
although positive stories are always preferred to the other kind. Rather,
we were surprised because the one-sided, typical hatchet job was more akin
to the kind of stories Las Vegans had come to expect from papers such as
The Wall Street Journal, never from The New York Times. From
them we always knew there would be fairness and balance, to paraphrase a
cable news channel that is neither." I agree with
Steve
Sebelius who sums up his interpretation of the series with
"Las Vegas is a sucker magnet, drawing the unwary into low-budget residence
inns and feeding them at cheap hotel buffets. Its schools are hopelessly
overcrowded and its traffic is dense. Its children are apt to use drugs and
disobey their parents. Its women -- at least its attractive women -- are
strippers or prostitutes. But hey, even the maids can buy 2,000-square-foot
houses with nice kitchens and a couple of pickup trucks." I don't see
too many positives in this series which look favorable upon Las Vegas,
and I still believe that all the indictments put toward this town are equally
applicable in most growing cities in the country. Again, I can't help but
wonder if The Times is just trying to discourage more New Yorkers
from leaving their city for Las Vegas opportunities.
posted by
Andy Loughlin
11:04am
June 3, 2004
Sour Grapes
I've only lived in Las Vegas since January. Already I am somewhat used to
people poking fun or getting jabs in about this town. That's ok. I don't
care. I recently read the New York Times series entitled:
AMERICAN
DREAMERS: The Lure of Las Vegas. This is a perfect example of narrow
minded attacks on Las Vegas, written by mostly misinformed writers working
with a very large intelligence vacancy. Every issue taken up in this
series, can be turned around and assigned to just about every major city
in this country, including New York. So what is it? This whole series
is nothing more than a waste of time, ink and paper, and worse yet, it's
wrong on some key facts.
|
|
