Why my towels are on the floor

So, I just got back from a business trip in Las Vegas.  It was a geek conference, not interesting to anybody that isn’t excited by terms like TCP, IPv6, SAN, NAS, and virtualization.  If you are thinking “huh?”, don’t worry that means you are normal.  Anyway - I noticed a few things about Vegas that I thought I would share:

1. Everyone wants to engage you on a “what casino are you staying in” conversation.  And whats more, the minute you tell them, there is a follow up conversation about where that hotel is in relationship to other well known hotels on the strip. “Oh, you are at MGM?  That’s right across the street from New York, New York.“  — “You are at Mandalay Bay?  I stayed there last year, but I like the Lexor much better” — By the way, I stayed at the Lexor, since I’m sure you care - I’m guessing you are already typing an email to tell me what hotel you have stayed at and where it is on the strip…
2. Everyone has a joke derived from the Vegas trademark line “What happens in Vegas…”.  Here are a few I’ve heard for this trip:
   1. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, unless its really good - then it ends up on youtube.
   2. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas - so does your money
   3. STDs don’t stay in Vegas
3. There really aren’t any cheap buffets in Vegas.  The buffet in the hotel was $20 for dinner.  Just to give you an idea of the prices on the strip - The cheapest placed to buy a soda in Vegas was the movie theaters!

So what does that have to do with towels?  Nothing - keep reading… Those aren’t the only things I noticed about the strip that I care to share.  When I got out of the airport I took a shuttle to the hotel where I stood in line to check in.  There are a large fountain there behind me where people were throwing the pennies they had left after gambling.  I get my key and start the walk to the room.  I walked past a water fountain in the hall way, notice another one in the food court, I see one in front of the reastraunt as well.  After dropping off my bags, in an effort to get my barrings I walk from my room to the conference in Mandalay Bay where I pass no less than ten water fountains - some with lights, some where the water just runs down the wall to a pool below.  Water was spraying, falling, spitting from every corner of the two casino hotels and the mall like corador that connected them.

So I get back to my room, unpack my bags and jump in a shower.  When I get out - I see this sign:

Dear Guest,

Southern Nevada and the West are experiencing
extreme drought conditions.
Please help us conserve water by re-using towels
when possible.

• Hang the towels on the rack to re-use them
• Place the towels on the floor to receive
  fresh towels.

Huh???  Hey guys, I know where all the water is — the hallways!  So… that’s why my towels are on the floor…

Tags: Car, ID, Money, New York

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The First Ascent of Mt Everest - When I met my wife

The Day I met my wife: There she was - sitting in the far corner booth being the center of attention for more than one of the guys at the table.

Allow me to set the scene; After church services, there were so many bible college students that headed for half price appetizers at Applebee’s that we would often ask for the smoking section knowing that we would fill it up and leave no room for smokers in the restraunt.  And even then, the people not from our church or college were often approached with the gospel at some point in the evening.  Even with the college’s “don’t go out to eat unless you have enough money to tip well” policy, I’m sure the local staff hated Wednesday and Sunday nights; we didn’t drink, we only ordered off the half price menu, and we stayed until 15 minutes before curfew and start demanding the check get there in a hurry so we wouldn’t be late.  A 20% tip on a $6 meal won’t put your kids through college.

I was only 18, a freshman in Bible College, over 500 miles away from home, trying to fit in this new world of mine.  To be honest, I’m not even sure I knew who I was exactly; so in a way I was meeting myself as much as I was meeting anyone else.  I was rather unpopular in high school, even though I played football and Track and Field, and was in the top 25% of my class scholatically.  But here, I had a clean slate.  No one knew me from high school here and it was a chance to invent myself as anything I wanted to be.  I chose a funny all the time, overbearing occasionally, always social, usually outgoing, obnoxious at times, and spiritual deep at times personality.

Back to the scene, I happen to be one of the guys making Stephanie the center of my attention.  I couldn’t tell you who else was at the table other than ‘the competition’ - two guys both spending quite a bit of their time with Stephanie.  One of the two guys was obviously making her feel uncomfortable.  The other guy was looking more and more like the hero saving her from the first guy.  I was on the side lines; I felt she was out of my league.  A conversation with the hero made me believe they had been dating for a while anyway - which wasn’t true, but I didn’t know any better.  Over the next year, she dated the hero (who turned out to be a zero - forgive the cliche’).  We did become great friends, spending a lot of time at a momument between the boys and girls dorms.  It would be another two years before we were married - but well worth the wait!

Look for these Moments in future posts for the series:

• The Day I got married
• The Day my Mother Died
• The Day my Father-in-Law Died
• The Day I interviewed with American Express

Tags: Friends, ID, irs, kids, Money, Stephanie

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New Look and Feel

I’ve installed a new them - and yes that is Lexi in the banner.  Let me know what you guys think.

I’m hoping this has more of a family feel than the previous several themes - most of which were technically related (like the Vista and Mac themes).  I still have the very geeky command line edition of the site (http://sackrider.org/cli.

Tags: Family, Lexi, look and feel, themes

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