Another Round of News and Random Observations

I was stuck up here in Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving weekend.  It wasn't my idea, but one half mile into my intended journey to Tucson two days ago, smoke started coming out of the engine compartment of my truck.  I was able to make it safely back to the apartment complex that has been my base of operations here, (I refuse to call it "home"), and the next day I had the truck towed to a trustworthy mechanic.

After 427,000 miles, the motor in my truck is kaput.  I was shown the evidence (I didn't have to ask to see it), and although I don't like this kind of news, things could have been much worse.  I might have been stranded in Wikieup and having to take unpaid leave to get this taken care of.

I discussed this at length with Sheila (she is really a *great* wife!), and we're going to see if we can get a remanufactured motor located and installed.  It's going to run me a few grand, and it's cheaper than a replacement vehicle, which we both know sooner or later we're going to have to get.  We are having the mechanic give it a thorough inspection to make sure the rest of the truck is in good order.  The body is in fine shape though it could use a paint job, and I know that the ball joints aren't going to be going out any time soon.  The present clutch has 30K miles on it and should be good for 50K more.

This will be, however, the last major repair I'm willing to do.  We may re-arrange some finances after next year's tax return........we're thinking of a re-finance, and I may borrow against the house to put in a new stove and fix the hot tub. 

This could have been a lot worse for me than it was.

And........I got my money's worth out of it.

 

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One thing I am grateful for here in Las Vegas is a friendship with a co-worker who started here six weeks after I did.  We're both in the Test Engineering Department and like me, his wife is in another state, Florida.  He lived in Titusville for 34 years, of all places.  We've gone on a lot of lunchtime walks and we meet Downtown for a beer, which we did yesterday.

That one table that was set up to raise funds for child sex trafficking has been long gone, (they weren't there the following Saturday when I checked), so either they've succeeded in ending this trafficking or they've skipped town. 

 

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I was Downtown last Saturday, not knowing or intending that I'd be Downtown again the following Saturday, which was yesterday.  While conversing with the cashier cage personnel at that Plaza Hotel-Casino eight days ago, I noticed several trays of Eisenhower dollars ("Ikes") and I thought OK, someone must have cashed in their hoard.

Ron and I went in there yesterday, to check out John Gotti's Jaguar which is on display not too far from the cashier cage.  We drifted over to the slot machines that were nearby, and Ron played a few hands of video poker.  He cashed out and got a collection of shiny new nickels.  Most Vegas slots are TITO, ticket in ticket out, though coin slots can be found if you know where to go (La Bayou Casino has several of them).

Before walking away, I noticed a dollar video poker machine that had a coin slot (as well as a dollar bill reader).  I also noticed a stack of coin buckets to carry your winnings (or more accurately, what you have left).  I got to thinking about those Ike dollars that I saw last week, so I said to Ron, "I need to check out something". 

I fed a dollar bill into the machine, cashed out, and a shiny new Ike dollar fell into the coin tray.  Well, it was certainly shiny, but not new, since it was dated 1972, but I got a kick out of getting that.  I've got 100 or so of these things in my safe back in Tucson, but it's fun to have one here to look at.  Ron also got himself one in the same way.

Five years ago, I would order Ikes at a Wells Fargo branch, and sell most of them to a friend of mine in Tucson who's the manager of a Quik Trip.  He was always asking me for two dollar bills and Ikes, so that he could hand them out to his customers.....most of whom would get a kick out of getting some novelty money back in change.  More were sold to a long time friend of mine who runs a business at the Tanque Verde Swap Meet. 

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo down there hasn't been able to get them for me for some time, and I haven't tried to get any at the banks here.  I have thought about it, because these coins did circulate in Nevada during their day. 

I'm tempted to get $20 or $40 worth of Ikes on my next visit to the Plaza and to spend them. 

Using "unusual" money is fun.

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A few rare words about my job.

I have now been with this employer for a year.  It's been something of a ride.  I was hired into Systems Engineering, transferred into Test Engineering, working closely with some very brilliant people in a group I'll call "Life Sciences", and the company is willing to let me spend a few weeks coming up to speed on a software package called Solid Works. 

I am an electrical engineer by degree, a test engineer by practice, and I now get to learn Solid Works, which is really in the realm of mechanical engineering.  The first tutorial was something of a bear, and the succeeding tutorials are either better written, or I'm getting the hang of things. 

This is something that my previous employer would not have allowed me to do.  I was forced to do software systems engineering, which really wasn't my forte, though that work was "righteous" (I'm stealing a term from a former supervisor here).  That employer and the one before it didn't really allow me to practice electrical engineering which is what I studied, but I'm not complaining.  I did get to work on satellites and circuit card assemblies, and I've long considered that to be satisfying work.

I struggle sometimes with the why I had to come to Nevada while my wife is in Arizona question.  I struggled with that this weekend. 

The only answer that I can come up with, is that the Good Lord wants me here for reasons that have not been passed along to me, and they may never be passed along to me.

I have to say this.........the work that I'm doing is the greatest that I've ever done in my life.

And.......I'm living in a most unusual state.........legalized gambling.........24/7 availability of liquor......and an opportunity to people watch Downtown.

I frequently tell myself that I need to make the most of this opportunity, and to write about what I see when I venture into the casinos or walk along Fremont Street.

The Events in Paris, and the (Lack of) Reaction Here

Last Friday Paris took center stage of the world by being the location chosen by the terrorists for their latest round of attacks on the Western World.  We were on our break in the company commissary that afternoon as the news of the attacks were breaking.  We knew that a lot of people were killed and that there were anywhere from three to seven attacks.  As better news was known, the impact was not lessened, and for the first time since 1944 France instituted a night time curfew and they closed their borders. 

ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attacks.  ISIS has been something of a household word for several months now and does not appear to be of any immediate concern of the White House.  President Obama told the nation several hours before the attack that they were "contained", which really isn't much of an improvement over a comment made several months earlier where he described them as "junior varsity".

The French, to their credit, are doing something about this.  Several airstrikes have been launched and the Russians are joining them in this.  The French are retaliating, and in my mind are positively adding to their reputation.  Unfortunately they may be locking the barn door a little too late since they let in a bunch of people that they shouldn't have, but they're doing something about it.

The White House response so far, has been token strikes against ISIS targets, but simultaneously they are accelerating efforts to bring in more so-called refugees from Syria.  You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this is what got France into trouble in the first place.......letting people in without properly vetting them.  One of today's Drudge headlines is eight Syrians being caught at the Texas border and another headline is fifteen terrorists getting US citizenship.  This kind of response is bizarre to say the least, but I'm also disturbed by something else.

Newly elected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is calling for a "pause" to admitting Syrian refugees.  Please dwell on that for a few minutes.  He's not calling for this to be "stopped".  He's calling for a "pause".  This suggests that after some time has elapsed, that it's going to "resume".  Speaker Ryan, who I once thought highly of, is a member of that Republican elite that stated several years ago that they want President Obama to "succeed".  They have never backed down on this.  Oh, they want you to think that they're going to oppose him, but they only want you to think that in even-numbered years when they're running for re-election.  They show their true colors once re-elected, and they not only enable Obama to "succeed", they help him carry that football over the goal line.

"Pause".  Does that make sense?  Terrorists are trying to get in, and the answer is "pause"?

So, while France retaliates, and doesn't wait for a U.N. resolution to tell them that they can do this, our leadership is essentially doing nothing to make our nation more secure.

As I said to a co-worker on Friday afternoon, I now say to you:  look at what happened in France.

It's coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

One Year as of Tomorrow

Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of my arrival in Las Vegas.  I was accompanied by Sheila.  We left Tucson after church, and drove up, arriving after nightfall had overtaken Las Vegas.  We checked in to a place on Tropicana Avenue, not knowing that we were in the underbelly of town.  Immediately we had to go to Walmart for supplies, putting up with the rude drivers originally from southern California who run red lights and go the wrong way in parking lots.  There were lots of panhandlers and illegal commercial ventures taking place.  And I was fast realizing that Bob Self was right about the whole town being a trashcan.

The rest of the week was spent arranging for a more permanent place to live and for some sightseeing.  Sheila had to return to Tucson a few days later, and I was faced with the unknown of a new job and the uncertainty that comes with a new job, as well as not having her around.  Those were not good times and I try not to think about them.

Now it's been one year.  As of tomorrow.  I wasn't sure early on that I would make it this far but I have.  I have longed for home all this time, but with the damage that has been done to this country by the politicians of both parties, I am here for the foreseeable future.  It's looking better than it did a year ago but the industry is in real trouble.

But I still don't like this place.  One of my co-workers told me that this place would grow on me.  Well, it hasn't.  Half this town is out to cheat the other half of town, and as long as visitors come here to get cheated, that's never going to change.  Legalized gambling will bring tourist traffic but it also brings problems that do not exist in other jurisdictions.  There's this libertarian streak inside of me to where I personally think that I should be allowed to gamble if I do it in moderation, but with what I've seen here in the year minus one day has me frequently wondering if we would be better off without it.  I can understand the Nevada mentality, but I feel out of place here most of the time. 

As for what the next year will bring..........I've thought about it some.......I've thought about it a lot..........and I make no predictions nor will I air what's on my mind at this time.  It is what it is, and I find myself praying a lot for the strength to deal with it.

It hasn't been all bad.  I've made some good friends here and I've gotten to work on some very neat things.  The work that I've been doing has given me some of the most satisfaction I've ever had in my career.  And I've gotten out there a few times to explore Nevada, which I think is a great state as long as you're not in Las Vegas or Reno. 

But I don't see myself as retiring here any more, and my sights on where that is has now changed.