When I get home I’m not in the mood for computers, for some reason. Instead of long nights at the keyboard I can now go for three days without even turning it on. And I’m up to about a dozen junk emails a day now – our other account gets about 150 spams a day. I wonder how long before I’m up to that count. Probably not too far off.
So here is what we’ve been up to.
Twenty tons of Mojave Gold 3/8” rock. Doesn’t look like 20 tons? Well, let me tell you that one old guy, a shovel and a wheelbarrow working all the daylight hours for a Saturday and Sunday can move 20 tons by himself. From the road out front where they dumped it around the yard. Most of it to the back, to level out the area behind the patio. When we poured the concrete last year we had to start at the back door and slope it away from the house, which left a hill where the concrete stopped. With this winter’s rain proving that water runs down hill our patio was muddy and flooded, well, at least the far end of it was. So with the help of a few friends we dug the hill away, down to a nice shallow trench. Thoughts of a dry creekbed channeling water around to the side of the house from the back came around to just making it level and easy to walk on. Filling it with the rock we did the yard conversion in makes it match, and the water will still flow down under the rock and out, well, hopefully. Looks like we’ll have to wait until some summer thunderstorms to find out.
This was the week before the train meet in the back yard.
For some reason I spoke up and volunteered my place. Down in San Diego we used to have around a hundred out for our summer BBQ. I was president of the SD Computer Society and PC Club, around 2,000 members combined. We’d just invite over the ones we ran around with. Cy would spend all morning with ribs out on the grill, we’d set up tables and chairs, and around 2 would start greeting friends. Good ribs, thanks Cy. Maybe I can find some old photos and scan them in someday. But we had burgers here, and about 40 people. Not as many as I expected, but besides the wedding our first real gathering out back.
One week night we finally made it to the burger place in Mandalay Bay. I’ve been reading the reviews, and they do make good burgers.
Little place, fifteen minute wait on a Tuesday night (I don’t want to think about a Friday, locals don’t usually do weekends out, let the tourists wait in line). Basic Burger Bar burger starts at $7, then you add for every addition. $1 for cheese, $1 for grilled onions, $12 for foi gras, $30 for truffles. Yes, foi gras and truffles – their ‘special’ with foi gras, truffles and Madera sauce comes in at a special $60. For a burger! They’re good, though. I had a cheap one. And a glass of the local beer – don’t usually drink, but for some reason wanted some with the burger there.
Outside the door are the shops. Mandalay Place, a bridge between the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor.
Walking over to the Luxor I tried some shots with the camera that doesn’t like indoors without the flash. But go to their site and view some of the virtual tours.
This is my favorite hotel in town – the inside looks like a pyramid just like the outside. The rooms are all along the angled walls. The elevator doesn’t go up and down, it goes at an angle along the slope of the pyramid. Interesting. We stayed there for a few nights before we moved here. So you come in the front door and look up at the thirty floors of rooms angled overhead. An impressive entrance. These shots are taken from the arcade area on the second floor over the casino. Most of the casino is covered by the second floor, I guess the designer thought people gambling wanted a more intimate feeling. There are open areas around the edges.
Here’s what the center looks like -
That’s an Imax theatre tower in the middle.
So, busy getting ready for the crowds, and doing stuff around the house. But still have some time out.
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