Viva Las Vegas Part Deux

Another whirlwind trip to Nye County. We flew out on Weds. and we are back home in NC for dinner Sat. We drove out to Charlotte for a direct flight. The last couple of times we flew out of Asheville there was trouble with the puddle-jumper and we almost missed our connections, It was something about the battery one time and the rubber band the second time. It's only three and a half fun filled starving hours in the air to get there. CP's new attempt at Babba management is to put me in the middle seat and herself on the aisle. This worked out fine for her but I was forced to talk to the window seat guy both trips.

The first window seat guy was a retired iron worker from Henderson, NV, who restores old Ford pick up trucks. I was lucky because he slept at least two hours with a blanket over his head. We parted with me promising to go to the car show that weekend and see his El-Camino. On the return trip while CP watched the movie, I had to talk to Manuel for three hours. We talked about everything: home repair, our children, Las Vegas, real estate, the weather. Now this flight alone used up about 6 months of my available conversation. I didn't even notice the plane had landed in Charlotte. It wasn't easy for me to talk that long about such a myriad of subjects without one ethnic remark.

We land and go to get our rental car and it has to be the same Chevy Impala we get every time. Now, they moved the rental center to about 3 miles from the airport in its own terminal that is bigger than the Charlotte airport. I couldn't get the A/C to work so we got a Ford 500 instead; which was a nicer car. We pull out of the rental terminal and at the first stop light there is a shoot out going on with some guys and about six Metro Cops. Carol says "Look! Why are these guys all lying on the ground and why to all these policemen standing behind their cars with shot guns?" Welcome to Las Vegas. I thought all the Metro Cops were at the airport, because O.J. just flew out twenty minutes before we arrived. I wonder if he likes the window seat?

Just 70 miles down the road, we are at my sister's hacienda in Pahrump, Nevada. Don't spell check it, it's Pahrump. We check in, and then it's off to see my Mom in the nursing home. Mom is doing great now that they got her meds right. She still has a few left over dreams that she thinks are real, but otherwise, she's pretty sharp. She does still feel that all the staff and residents are conspiring to steal her money, cookies, and clothes. We took Mom out to the Nugget for her favorite meal: steak and eggs and a side of bacon. She ate the whole meal up. Then it was back to the home. She is really doing great, a lot more alert and although she can't walk she seemed to stand better and do the little Georgia Two Step and pivot into the car. My one niece has a new job at the nuclear test site. That's located just 40 miles from Pahrump across Area-51. If she told me what her job is she would have to kill me. She is very excited about it and I think it has to do with keeping us safe from Al-Qaeda and the Democrats.

We had a brief few hours of sunshine and drove to Red Rock Canyon to the Red Rock Casino for lunch with another niece. Another one of my nieces has a boyfriend who is a chef there. So far this boyfriend has gotten through two auditions and is on his way to being a contestant on Hell's Kitchen. We saw a little oasis called Blue Diamond, a village of about 80 homes. It looked like a little artist colony. It had a little school, town hall, library and post office, general store etc. It was so nice and green and everywhere there were wild burrows grazing. They were on the soccer field and at the pool, just milling around. It was refreshing to see a desert community that wasn't full of garbage like Parhump and Hawthorne. We saw one house for sale. It was a small slightly run down adobe type house. The for sale sign was spray painted, on a weathered piece of plywood, it read: "FOR SALE $975,000 FIRM". I don't think the bottom has fallen out of the housing market in Blue Diamond, Nevada.

We didn't see much sun. It was cloudy when we arrived and the last two days it rained hard. I think Pahrump got about 4 inches in 24 hours. Since the valley is really some prehistoric lake bed let's just say the bowl was starting to fill up.

We arrived at Charlotte about 3 pm and had to take the shuttle bus to extended parking lot #2. Parking lot one had a great big bus, but lot two's was a liitle hotel type shuttle bus. We kept picking up people and luggage till we looked like something from a South American movie. The driver was a combination Southern Bell and Nazi. When we came to a stop with a young girl who had been waiting 30 minutes she told this young guy to squeeze out and tell her there wasn't any room for her. The guy fights his way over the luggage and yells out "the mean driver says there's no room for you". Upon hearing this the whole bus reaaranged itself to get this girl on board. It's good to be back in the south. Well we are home. Bo gained about a pound and I am suffering from the gas he has from the cheap kennel dog food.

The Girl in the Hood

We went up to South Bend to pick up BP and deliver a rug. South Bend looked a little nicer to me. Maybe it was the time of year. This is the first time I've seen MP's new crib. The area is really nice. It's kind of older and historic. The houses are 100 year old wood frame houses with large front porches. Most have been converted to two or three apartments. The houses aren't historical restorations but a mixture of benign neglect and modern renovation. MP's apt. is very cute. It has those 10 foot ceilings and plaster walls with cracks that run the length of the room. The kitchen has the old wooden cabinets with about 40 layers of paint on them; all lead of course. The windows remind me of our first house in Ogden where the curtains would blow with the windows closed. At least the house is sheltered by other houses and lots of trees. From an energy efficiency standpoint it's a sieve. It does have character. The kind of feeling you can't get out of sheet-rock, plastic crown molding , Formica. or a drop ceiling. Since MP's apt, is on the first floor, the original kitchen, dining room and parlor, it has those barn-like sliding doors that disappear into the walls. The owner is a musician and I could see that his talent didn't translate into home repair. Nothing, however, could prepare me for the bathroom. It was originally a mud room. The original window was filled with a 50's era chrome vanity with mirror sliding doors, and a four light fixture on top with a cool plastic cover that looked like a spoiler. I remember this fixture from cheap motels. Now it did fit perfectly in the window box so with the limited choices in this small room, it may have seemed providential to put it in the window and then put the wash basin under it. The problem I saw was that it was about 2 inches away from the shower. When I saw how it was wired I knew I had to fix it. So I re-wired it and covered the side near the shower with duct-tape (Kentucky Chrome) and grounded the cabinet. I also instructed MP not to reach into it from the shower. The pipes had a bad case of arteriosclerosis so the shower was a trickle and the cold water faucet ran like a babbling brook when it was turned off . There was no exhaust fan so the plaster ceiling showed the effect of a million soakings. I think a couple of thousand dollars could turn the bathroom around and add to the appeal of the whole apt. The bathroom was so bad I heard T.D. preferred to use the backyard when he visited. How Bohemian.

I only had one day so I hung a few lamps and put long-life bulbs in them because of the cathedral ceilings. I put up a second smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm ( I didn't want to see the furnace), put a chain on the door and fixed the dead-bolt lock and sprayed the windows and sliding doors with silicone so MP could move them.

The apartment is very nice when you get past all the code violations. I was amazed just how homey it was. You see, when I was in school I owned one pot, one fork, one knife, a spoon and two plastic glasses. MP's place looks like a real home.

There was a disappointing part of the visit. I discovered MP's Subie was violated. I noticed the weather stripping hanging down from the passenger door. Upon closer observation I noticed the interior panel was pulled away and there a a dent in the heavy steel door frame. Our first response was to blame BP, but I couldn't think of how this could happen (the mechanism of injury that could caused this). Then I realized someone tried to pry the door open. MP told me that a week ago when she tried to disarm the security system it beeped four times and went into default mode which means that incomplete breach of the passenger compartment. I reset the security system and had to use more Kentucky Chrome to get the weatherstripping back in place because those little plastic fasteners never hold once they are popped out.

I had my eye on her rear tire for awhile suspecting a leak so I brought my gauge and compressor up with me. The right rear tire was about 5 lbs down but I noticed the right front was almost flat. I found a gash in the sidewall big enough for me to fit my pinky in. I think she cut it on the sharp cobblestone curbs they have in her neighborhood. We went to Wal-Mart and because her favorite Uncle Dick got her the road hazard protection, she got two new tires for $11. Both right side tires had sidewalls that looked like someone took a router to them. Now she is parking a little further from the curb.

So I had a whirlwind 36 hour visit. I should have brought my canoe since there is a river across the street from her house. If it just wasn't 620 miles away.

Good Book

"I'm starting on a book, and when I'm finished I may read another one". I just finished Kite Runner which DS recommended. It's the first book I've been able to finish in 6 months. I was about two thirds through the book when it dawned on me that this is a novel. That is good, since I find most novels so unbelievable and dishonest that I toss them after 50 pages. The last 50 pages of Kite Runner had enough coincidences to make me realize it was fiction. I found it was written well and moved along at a good pace. Any novel that can keep my adult A.D.D. brain focused has to get four stars.

CP's new Secret Weapon

This innocent looking device is CP's latest weapon in her arsenal to stave off arguments. It's is a hand held , voice actuated digital recorder. Now when I say something to myself CP will have the digital proof that I really didn't tell her anything. Everything I now say or don't say to Mrs. TIVO will be available for play back. When Mrs. TIVO wants to repeat something mentioned in confidence she can repeat verbatim what you confided in her to that person. Now MP, BP and I have have all been TIVO'd by CP so we are really frightened by this new technology. Like other forms of surveillance there is a flip side. I may be able to vindicate myself . Like when Carol and I are lost driving and I ask her "do I turn right or left" and she responds "yes" I'll have the digital proof that she is trying to drive me nuts. I wish I had this device the time we got lost in Asheville and got off the wrong exit four times. CP said she got it to record sermons , bible studies and the lines in her play. I might be paranoid; but I think I see a mini-cam in the smoke alarm.

She Can Do It!

Happy Birthday, Marianne

FROM Dr.'s:

Adams
Costas
Neimkin

and Mom, Dad, Ben & Bo

Facing The Giants

Ranked as one of the top ten upsets in collegian football history, Appalachian State College in Boone N.C. defeated Michigan. Although the game was played in Michigan the loyal ASU fans tore down their own goal posts and carried it through the streets of Boone in a sign reminiscent of a South American coup. The Alumni Association has already scheduled a Krispy-Kreme bake sale to repair the field. As its punishment Michigan should have to play next year's game in Boone N.C. Now Boone probably has a total of 120 motel rooms, so this will tax the sleepy little town more than the Moonshine Festival, the Tractor Pull and D.N.A. Day. As in the movie "Facing The Giants" App State was looked upon by Michigan as "little dogs". Someone enlightened me to the reason for App State's remarkable showing. It seem that most of their star players have been on the team for five plus years, and some stay on for seven. This gives the team time to develop cohesiveness. The team is not being constantly diluted by a stream of new recruits. The school spirit is so great that many of the best players don't mind waiting to join the NFL. Besides a few last minute wind shifts I think Appalachian State was spurred on to victory by the school spirit demonstrated in the this recruitment video.

On a sadder note Notre Dame was annihilated by Georgia Tech . They should take a lesson from App State's play book. Notre Dame has to stop graduating their star players so fast.