HAPPY NEW YEAR! '08

And the years keep on Piling.

Today is Friday and I do not think that I am going to have a moment to rest or sit down till about Tuesday Morning.
Our Restaurant is gearing for the New Year's Eve. For us that begins today.
The club will be open today, Saturday and Monday. Van Halen is doing a concert today and Sunday of all days. It is not sold out but it will still bring in a good crowd.
Santa was good to me and everyone in the family, though after thinking about it, I think we could have used that money and: gone to Europe for Christmas, buy a ranch somewhere in Mexico, Put a down payment on a car. Re-do our yard. Nonetheless it was a good Christmas.
Olivia and Anthony got a Wii from Santa (wink, wink) We could not find one here in town so, "Auntie Debba" had to purchase them in San Francisco for everyone in the family. Now we all have a Wii to play with wherever we may be visiting them, whether in S.F., Virginia or here.
May all your wishes come true this coming year.
Till Tuesday... or after.

BENAZIR BHUTTO

The first thing that came to my mind after hearing of Bhutto's assassination was that the current "president" was behind the assassination.
That was a quick, "lets blame someone mentality" which is so easy to do.
However, when you look at the political situation in Pakistan, Lebanon or any other country where an authoritarian leader faces opposition from more liberal or pro-democracy movements, those who end up getting assassinated are the ones who pursue an agenda of freedom and democracy.
Everyone is expressing "shock and condemnation" now, as if they hadn't seen it coming. Perhaps Bhutto saw it coming as well and like sheep to the slaughter house, she returned to Pakistan after being in exile.
Soon enough they will capture some low ranking militant from some extremist group, blame them and hang them for everyone to see and that will be the end of the story. Our current administration will continue to send millions of dollars to Pakistan and it will be as if nothing happened.
Who will be next and where?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to you all.
Wherever you are and whomever you are, whomever you pray to, may the lord rain his blessings on you and keep you healthy safe and happy.

ONCE AGAIN!!

I am enjoying a well deserved time off from work. Our restaurant is closed and will not re-open till Friday. That means I am not doing much other than resting, shopping, eating and trying to keep sane amongst the craziness of the season. Melissa has done well with keeping up after every one's shopping list. I have merely been the bag carrier from store to car. The end is near though, a few more things to buy and then it should all be over before I return to work.

Tuesday I am driving to L.A. to a wake. A cousin of mine, whom I grew up with as a kid, passed away. He had to be about my age. It is quite sad given to the season and the fact that he is survived by his wife and a couple of kids. I had not seen him for a few years and it just so happens that I saw him last month when I went to L.A. for the "Quinceaniera", where he was catering the party. We did talk, reminisced about our time in L.A. then about a couple of weeks after that, he fell at home, went into a coma and just last Friday he passed.
As I have personally learned, life goes on.....
No matter what.

Santa Run- Guinness World Record?

Last Saturday I dressed up in a Santa outfit and joined about 7500 other Santas in Downtown Vegas. We set out to break a world record of gathering Santas, I believe previous record held by the city of London. Not sure if we broke the record yet. I checked Guinness website and did not find anything.
After the gathering, there was a 5K run through the streets of Downtown Vegas. It was quite a spectacle to see that many "Running Santas". SO I hope you enjoy the pictures.

American Film Institues Top 100 Films of All Time

American Film Institues Top 100 Films of All Time:

Melissa mentioned this to me a couple of weeks back.
My favorites are #'s
2,3,8,13,15,17,32,33,35,50,52,53,68,69,74,76,84,86,97. And just about any Mel Gibson movie made- Particularly the Mad Max Series, with the exception of "Beyond Thunderdome"

Which ones are yours?..
1 CITIZEN KANE (1941)
2 GODFATHER, THE (1972)
3 CASABLANCA (1942)
4 RAGING BULL (1980)
5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
6 GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
8 SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
9 VERTIGO (1958)
10 WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939)
11 CITY LIGHTS (1931)
12 SEARCHERS, THE (1956)
13 STAR WARS (1977)
14 PSYCHO (1960)
15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
16 SUNSET BLVD. (1950)
17 GRADUATE, THE (1967)
18 GENERAL, THE (1927)
19 ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
21 CHINATOWN (1974)
22 SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
23 GRAPES OF WRATH, THE (1940)
24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
27 HIGH NOON (1952)
28 ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
30 APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
31 MALTESE FALCON, THE (1941)
32 GODFATHER PART II, THE (1974)
33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
35 ANNIE HALL (1977)
36 BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (1957)
37 BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE (1946)
38 TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, THE (1948)
39 DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
40 SOUND OF MUSIC, THE (1965)
41 KING KONG (1933)
42 BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
44 PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE (1940)
45 SHANE (1953)
46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
47 STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951)
48 REAR WINDOW (1954)
49 INTOLERANCE (1916)
50 LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE (2001)
51 WEST SIDE STORY
52 TAXI DRIVER (1976)
53 DEER HUNTER, THE (1978)
54 M*A*S*H (1970)
55 NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
56 JAWS (1975)
57 ROCKY (1976)
58 GOLD RUSH, THE (1925)
59 NASHVILLE (1975)
60 DUCK SOUP (1933)
61 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941)
62 AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
63 CABARET (1972)
64 NETWORK (1976)
65 AFRICAN QUEEN, THE (1951)
66 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
67 WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)
68 UNFORGIVEN (1992)
69 TOOTSIE (1982)
70 CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A (1971)
71 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
72 SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE (1994)
73 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
74 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE (1991)
75 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
76 FORREST GUMP (1994)
77 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)
78 MODERN TIMES (1936)
79 WILD BUNCH, THE (1969)
80 APARTMENT, THE (1960)
81 SPARTACUS (1960)
82 SUNRISE (1927)
83 TITANIC (1997)
84 EASY RIDER (1969)
85 NIGHT AT THE OPERA, A (1935)
86 PLATOON (1986)
87 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
88 BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
89 SIXTH SENSE, THE (1999)
90 SWING TIME (1936)
91 SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982)
92 GOODFELLAS (1990)
93 FRENCH CONNECTION, THE (1971)
94 PULP FICTION (1994)
95 LAST PICTURE SHOW, THE (1971)
96 DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
97 BLADE RUNNER (1982)
98 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
99 TOY STORY (1995)
100 BEN-HUR (1959)

HIATUS

It takes longer and longer to get back and blog. Has it lost some of its allure?. Is it becoming just another chore like cleaning or other that you just don't feel like doing?..
There is plenty to say about things happening all around.
Yet, I just don't seem like I want to get on the computer every morning, like I used to and rush to read someone else's blog.
From time to time I still will get on the computer and read some, leave some comments but not blog anything.
Today is the exception. There is so much to talk about:

Weather: (Cold finally arrived here in Vegas-40 degrees this morning)
Work: (No GM for us yet, so I am still running the show, perhaps that is why I do not blog as much--Too busy!)
Love life: (Melissa and I still going at it, settling into a routine perhaps---Gotta change that)
Politics: Everyone is turning on Bush, including those who were closest to him. Is Clinton or Obama the answer to this country's problems..... Not quite sure. On the one hand it is time that we elect, or at least consider a woman for the presidency, but just because it is Hillary Clinton, again. I am not so sure.
Kids: (I can't believe how big and tall they are getting. In a couple of years, they will be as tall if not taller than me.)
I am so ready for a long vacation....
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, even though it may be one day late.
I am thankful for all the good stuff that happened over the last year and for my little family.
As far as all the bad stuff, what bad stuff! It's all in the past.

YURIDIA

WINDING DOWN

The end of the year is quickly approaching and we are already looking at presents for Christmas, mainly for the kids.
Melissa's birthday is coming up soon, right after Thanksgiving. I also have plans of going to L.A. next weekend for a Quinceaniera. That should be fun. Not certain of going yet since we still do not have a GM at our place and on that same night, there is a concert (Piano-man)
Tomorrow, we are sponsoring an "invited" only mini concert at Studio 54. Featuring Mexican singer Yuridia During the last 3 weeks, we have been giving away tickets and passes to the concert. Thursday is the actual Latin Grammy's and all this week, there are concerts trhoughout most of the big nightclubs featuring latin singers.
Work has been fairly busy at least I have a more balanced schedule with Sundays and Mondays off. Blogging has taken a back seat to most of those activities. It does not mean that I am completely off blogger. 'till next time.

BACK TO WORK

I've been working now for a week since I returned from Detroit. ALL THE NEWS!

I am now completely in charge of our restaurant, not by choice but by default. Our previous General Manager decided to turn his notice in so I got the news that he was leaving the day after I got back from Detroit.

Nothing new, I've been in this situation before. Surprisingly it was the job I had before my current one. Now, I am not sure what is going on around us because in our division, currently there are only 4 GM's and we are missing 5. Some of the 5 missing left on their own, others were "let go".
"When you are handed lemons, make lemonade" I believe that is the saying and that is exactly what I am going to do. Aside from our GM, two other staff members "resigned" and that should make things a little better for all the staff involved.
I am looking forward to this other challenge and see where it leads.
I am happy to be home as well. It sure was great to see the kids and Melissa after being apart for so long. Of course as soon as I got here, Melissa and her mom went to Disneyland to celebrate her mom's birthday. Now she is back.
Our life is back to "normal" again.

Today (Wednesday) I checked my baggage in at curbside for my flight to Las Vegas. Spirit wants you to “pre-check” your baggage on line for half the price otherwise it is $10.00 per bag. Of course both times that I tried to do this on the flight here and now back, the online system was down, so it would not let you check anything in.
At least on the way here, the baggage handlers honored my print out about the system being down and only charged me $5.00 per bag.
Today however, as soon as I approached the baggage handler in Detroit, he instructed me that to check my bags in, “they charged $2.00 per bag cash (in addition to what Spirit charged) and that they also “worked” for tips.
So it cost me $25.00 for checking my bags in at curbside. Granted, I will get this money returned to me as a business expense.
The baggage handler an unshaven fat bastard got an attitude because I only gave him a dollar tip.
As I see it, they are ripping people off, without their management’s knowledge, by asking people for $2.00 per bag (cash) at curbside.
Aside from this going into my blog, it will also go as an email to customer service at Spirit Airlines.

At least I am on my way home.

TOMORROW

Tomorrow at this time I will be home. I am so anxious to get back that my bags are already packed. Only toiletries and such are left outside. Hopefully tomorrow when I get up, there will be hot water since today there was none and as of right now, still none. I had to settle for a very cold shower. It felt good after walking for about 5 miles around the downtown area of Detroit and working up quite a sweat. I did go into work for about 4 hours but did not do much other than to talk to people. Most other co-workers also left early since there was not much to do today. The only big even was a meeting of the board of directors for the company.
Last night we went to a hockey game where the Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers. Once we got back into the hotel, we got a chance to see the Cleveland Indians beat the NY Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys beat The Bills by 1 point. It is no wonder the people in this town are so crazy about sports. They have a team in every sports category.


I wish I was there already.

THE END IS NEAR

The end of the trip is near and I cannot wait to go home. Today I decided to take the day off and I just spoke to one of my sidekicks and we are going to a new place for breakfast where supposedly there are mariachis (live)..
Another aquaintance (Richard) wanted to go into Windsor (Canada) for breakfast but I have not heard from him yet so it seems like it is going to be Mexican food for breakfast, more like brunch.

Work has been crazy busy, I am used to this kind of frantic levels of business but I usually know that it's going to last 2, 3 maybe 4 days at most. Here in Detroit, there is no end in sight. As Mr. T once said, "I pitty the fool". Those who are here to stay and work and can't go work somewhere else. At the same time, I asm sure taht they count their blessing that they have a job in a very swank place (See pictures below).

Till next time...

6 DAYS

Yes. 6 Days more. The opening was quite a hit in town. Today is the third day and there is still traffic congestion around the hotel. Our restaurant has been mobbed since we opened, the first night it was 24 hours straight. The crowds were eating everything in site as if that was their last meal. Then again, it was because they had gotten a credit for just signing up for a "players card". So as long as it is a free meal, everyone was taking advantage of it. Me, I am tired. It's been a very busy week with little time for anything else other than sleep and rest. Though on Tuesday I managed to go into Windsor, Canada. as tone throw away from Detroit (South). What a difference a river makes. The difference in surroundings between Detroit and the other side of the river is as marked as the difference between Tijuana and San Diego. I can't wait to get back home. I am done here. I think we (All staff from Vegas) are done. There is only so much we can do and it is time for the management of this property to take the reins. They have voiced this plenty. "Once the people from Vegas leave, we can do things our own way".Indeed. Once we leave, they are on their own and I do wish them good luck because they are all going to need it.

TRAVELING LONLINESS

I experienced this lonliness a couple of years ago and it was only for about 7 days then. I was traveling through Mexico alone. Going from one state to another and arriving early in the morning when there is no one on the streets, but cabs and drunks.
Here in Detroit at least I have familiar faces, but it is still lonely. Yes we work together and share meals and some fun together, but at the end of the day we all go back to our rooms. These are our homes for the next 14 days or so. It's been our home on and off for the last 3 weeks.
What makes it harder is that I am so far away from my family. We talk on the phone frequently but it is still lonely.
I am not whining.
It is a feeling that though I may be enjoying certain aspects of the trip; like the trip to the game, the gourmet dinner at a fine dining place, etc. Nothing is the same if I don't have my family here.
This is a great experience for me in terms of my professional career and I would probably do it again, perhaps not for this length of time.
I suppose that the more you do it, the more you get used to it. In the meantime, like Melissa, I am counting the days.
14

Lookin out my window

Lookin out my window
Originally uploaded by Ciscokid1

Here I find myself after a short day at work. (7 hours). Once again I am tired and it is nice outside. I decided to show you what my view consists of.

Days 4 through 9

It has gotten very busy with work here. Working 6 days a week with a lot going on in between.
In between, I have moved into the new hotel, I have moved out of the hotel and back into the old one.
On Sunday we went to see the Detroit Lions play, they won the opening home game, it was good with the result being decided in Overtime.


Over the weekend we also found "Mexicantown" with not very good results. 4 of us went to dinner and we happened to walk into a restaurant with a DJ on the lower floor and a small dance floor. However through the "grapevine" we found out that there was a third floor where there was another DJ with a much larger floor for dancing and sitting. we went up there and it turned out to be very much like the place that I work at in Vegas. On the way back, there were no cabs that would come to pick us up, so we ended up walking back to our hotel. If you've been to Detroit you will know that there are some areas that not even the devil would walk through. However we made it safely back into a major avenue where a passing taxi picked us up.
The same attitudes prevail amongst the "snobs" that I wrote about last week. There are some people that I have talked to one evening over dinner or at the bar and the next day they don't even glance your way even when you are standing in front of them.


I have also found that there are a lot of good people here in this town despite the prevalent look of depression around the city.
I have yet to venture out into the suburbs, then again after working 10 to 12 hours sometimes, the only thing I can do when I get back to the hotel is pass out from exhaustion.
A couple of nights ago while we were in the new hotel, the fire alarm went off at 4:00 AM. We had to evacuate the hotel, luckily I was on the sixth floor. Though it is kind of strange to be with a bunch of strangers in the middle of the night while dressed in the first thing the could get their hands on. It turned out to be a false alarm. It was hard getting back to sleep and to top it off, the alarm went off again at about 5:00AM. This time we all stayed put.


Oh yeah!. The TVs did not work in the hotel and there were no services or anyplace to go after work.

The highlight of trip since I've been here was the following.
6 of us were invited to one of Michael Mina's Restaurants to sample a "tasting". He has two in the hotel; Bourbon Steak and Saltwater. The invitation was for the steak house but when we got there, they were busy with people also attending their invitation to try out the new menu as well as to train their staff. So we ended up walking next door to Salt water, their seafood restaurant. They were also training but none were eating, so they sat us at a long table close to where their staff were going over their menu.

The tasting was wonderful. After eating bar food, fried food and mostly anything else out of our hotel's cafeteria, sampling such succulent dishes was heaven sent.
We had; foie gras, figs with prosciutto, perch, salmon, scallops, terrines with caviar and to top it off, since we had been originally invited to the steak house, the chef from Bourbon Steak brought us a flat iron kobe steak to finish our meal. The steak was not a "tasting" size it was a full 16 oz of perfectly cooked juicy and tender piece of beef.
That made up for everything else.
I talk to my family everyday at least twice a day. However I still miss them all every moment of every day.
Till next time.

DAY 3

So far so good.
The place looks great and the management team looks strong enough. We have been received with open arms so that helps towards achieving our goals. The place opens in about 3 weeks so we have a lot of training to do.
The more time I spend with my co-workers the more I learn about them. These are people that I have been working with for the last two years without them knowing me or me knowing them. It is all in passing. we know faces but not our names. Yet while we are all stuck with each other here, we are "forced" to deal with each other, whether we want to or not. The exception are the "snubs" who get in their little groups and end up doing their own thing day in and day out. Then again, maybe they feel left out because we do not ask them to go with "us". Not that I'm invited either but I just tag along. I think I have more of a bond or attachments with the "back of the house" staff than the "front of the house" staff.

Detroit is quite a unique town. We are staying in a hotel in downtown and everything around us is empty and "dead" It seems as though the plague went through town and left all these old and new buildings completely empty. There are some where on their roofs, there are trees growing on top of them. They almost look like Italian Terrazzos, with plants and trees growing on top of their roofs, but they just have been abandoned for a long time. There are signs of construction and improvement, which is the reason why we are here, but I think it still is going to be a while before this whole areas comes back to look like Manhattan or downtown Chicago.

Till then, enjoy the pictures.

Day 2

This morning I was woken up by a furious tapping on the window, which initially I thought it was a ghost typing on my laptop. It turned out to be rain. Rain of the kind that you don't see in Las Vegas.

It was a cool day 7o's average. What a difference that makes for someone who's been dealing with 100+ for the last 2-3 months.
I met some noew people today at work and aside from the ones I am working with, I ran into someone I used to work and knew about 22 years ago. There was an awkard silences as we looked at each other and tried to figure out who this persaon was. I was first to remember his name. He had to get my help. All I had to mention was Westin Bonaventure, Skiing and Palm Springs, since we used to hang out together. This was before I had even gone back to school, when I was just living "La Vida Loca" Now it turns out that he is a VP of a company that consults with our company.- Definitely a small world.

See you!

DETROIT ROCK CITY

So I find myself in a new strange land without my family.
I am in Detroit, Michigan. A mere 4 hours from home and yet so far away. I am on work assignment and will be here for a "few" days. I rather look at it like that as opposed to weeks or months. My little family was left behind but it's all for the good of the family.

I will be taking pictures and posting about the working trip so stay tuned.

Family......I love you and miss you already.

UPDATE

So much going on around the world and even here in our own little part of the world. A couple of nights ago we had such thunderstorms with lots of rain throughout the valley, that it seemed we were in another part of the country all together. This happened in the middle of the night to the point that people got up and watched from their windows. I got home at about 3:00AM and Melissa was up, so we just sat outside for a while just watching the lightning. Eventually she got too scared and went back inside.
Of course there was some flooding around the strip area, which is the lowest part of our valley.
Now we are back to our normal weather pattern-Hot, Hot, Hot. However, soon the hot weather will subside and welcome the cool weather.

BACK FROM VACATION

The day has come to return to work.

It's been a wonderful week. The kids had a great time in Disneyland as much as I did. I may not have sounded too happy before leaving, but once you get there, what do you do. Make the best of it and have as much fun as possible.

To begin with, as soon as we got there and after riding our first ride (Pirates of the Caribean) we were handed a set of "fastpass" lanyards. These were for the most popular rides and to use whenever we wanted for that day. No waiting in line, just straight to the front. They were handing these out at random, so we were very lucky since I did not see that many people with them.


The worst part of the day was waiting an hour and a half to ride the new Finding Nemo ride, the old submarine ride. Pretty much the same as before with the added new graphics and computer images underwater, otherwise same ride. We rode the traditional; Star Tours, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Railroad, etc. Some of them more than two or three times, including the kiddie rides.



There were a lot of people throughout the days we were there. Friday was probably the best day. There did not seem to be as many people people as Thursday or Saturday. The family had fun. By Saturday, I think we've all had it and ended up leaving early. The kids hang out by the pool and later in the evening we drove to Huntington Beach for dinner.

On Sunday we stopped by the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena before heading for home. The trip was an outstanding success.



See my flickr page for more pictures of the trip, including some "people watching" pictures.

Olivia Singing, Again.

At church this past Sunday. I was able to at least record this. I had just come home from working all night and instead of going to bed when I got home, I just got in the shower, made coffee and got ready for church. by the tmie we got home, it was already 11:30, so I had a "two hour" nap before heading for work again at 2:00.
It has been a sleepless weekend, but I am looking forward to leaving town tomorrow.


"CISCO, IN THE LAST 48 HOURS YOU HAVE JUST SLEPT FOR FOUR HOURS, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT?...."


I AM GOING TO DISNEYLAND!

A QUICK ROADTRIP

So, no kids on Thursday (my only day off) and what to do.
Melissa spoke of driving up north into Utah and I thought about driving to L.A. Instead we took the road south into Arizona. We started by going over Hoover Dam (Lots of traffic there due to TRANSFORMERS being filmed there, tourists and all that) Once we got over the dam, we continued driving south, no hurries no destination. The initial idea was to drive and find roads that would take us into old mining towns. Along the way we saw some thunderstorms that were too far to get us or the car wet.
We did veer into a road that lead to Chloride, an old mining town founded back in the 1860's. Mellisa did not want to have anything to do with this town, it did look deserted and silent. We were looking for "Yesterday's restaurant", but it turned out that they were on vacation. We turned around and left the town quickly and back onto the highway. The next stop was Kingman AZ. This was no small mining town. We had lunch at a place we'd rather not mention except that on its wall there was a note form their health department which had placed them on a "Needs Improvement" status.
From Kingman the choices widened. Go into the Grand Canyon a mere 2 hours away, Further south into Sedona (about 4 hours) or West towards L.A. Given that it was already about 3:00PM, we decided to go west along the famous Route 66.
From Kingman it quickly headed towards the mountains. Mountains on this side of the country are nothing but giant boulders of rocks. There are no pine trees or other large trees growing here. Only sage bushes, saguaros and plenty of dessert grass and flowers. A beautiful site considering the minimal rain that has fallen in this part of the dessert.

The road turned into a two lane road with very sharp turns into the hills. Surprisingly there were a lot of homes (mobile, trailers and such)throughout the road. It did not take too long to reach the top. On the way we stopped a few times to take pictures. Once we began to descend, the road was the same; colorful and still with dizzying sharp turns. At some spots, you could see signs of old mines as well as some that seemed operational.
The highlight of the trip was a town called Oatman. Right along the center of the road, there were donkeys meandering around as if they owned the town. There were plenty of tourists (Of course we were tourists at that point too) feeding carrots to the donkeys, some seem a bit aggressive, while some others just laid on the ground.






Once we left this town, we headed towards Bullhead City. By this time it was already about 6:30PM and since we had nothing else to do at home, we decided to spend the night in Laughlin.


Melissa and I had come full circle.
One of our first outings as a dating couple was here in Laughlin and we actually stayed at the same place.

RAIN

It's been raining most of the morning here. What a difference from yesterday to today. The heat has this way of getting to you where you feel hot and just miserable so waking up to thunder and lightning is a blessing. It is now about noon and it is sprinkling still.
Olivia is in San Francisco with her "auntie." Anthony is in Southern California with his grandmother and family, so this week Melissa and I are without the kids this week. It is very strange not to have them here and hear their voices, singing or playfulness's around. When they get back, we are all going to Disneyland for a few days. Not my favorite place, but it will be very nice to be there with them. I must admit I am kind of looking forward to it, perhaps just to get away from work(ers).

Love Affair

Not the kind that you're thinking of.

I began my love affair with computers back in 94-95. This was during college where if you did not have your own computer, you had to rely on the computer lab at school and hope that it was not full when you got there to type your final paper, prior to turning it in two hours later.

Way back in 1990, i had already been introduced to and playing with the old game of "Where is Carmen San Diego" in the old 5" discs, remember the big square ones? No graphics there, only the black screen with green letters. a few squares, rectangles and funky green graphics to stare at.

So I bought an Macintosh Performa. The kind that has the monitor and the hard rive integrated in one unit. It came with only 80 megs of memory, which at that time was enough for writing college papers and other minimal stuff. The great thing about the computer then, it came with a free connection to the school's Internet portal. The old BOL, or Bruin On Line. Of course at hat time the basic connection was with a phone line, which would disconnect each time a call came through (you could also disable call waiting).

Now in the garage

That is when I was truly introduced to the Internet. Apart from researching for school and other stuff, I began surfing for mundane information. Eventually I signed up with AOL. Then came all the chat rooms, pop ups, profiles, then yahoo and the rest is history.

My second computer was a Presario Laptop, which I still use form time to time. On my desk sits a Sony Vaio, which hold most of my music, pictures and work files.

My favorite toy though is my Dell Inspiron, which I use mostly for work. If there is one aspect of the Internet that I could have lived without, it had to be AOL.

Now computers are so much more common and mundane that they are like house phones ten years ago. Everyone had one in their rooms.

Kids are so adept to using them and they see them as something that has always been there, along with the TV and cable box.

The love affair is still going strong, though it is not like at the begining, when every waking moment was spent on the computer....

That is a good thing.

NIGHTCLUB

On Friday and Saturday nights, our restaurant turns into a night club. Here are some shots of the place.