The Dam Tour

We spent the better part of our last day just outside of Boulder City marveling over the great Hoover Dam. It was about a 30 minute drive from Vegas, and in my opinion well worth it. We expected to spend a couple of hours there and then drive back. As it turns out, we were there almost five hours. We took the official tour which took us into the power plant, as well as inside the dam. Probably the most impressive thing about it is that almost everything there is the original stuff from the 1930s. It is a classic example of doing it right the first time. After the tour, we looked at the exhibit halls and then just walked around for a while. It was a bit windy, but it was probably the best weather we had for the entire trip. After we got back to the hotel, we changed clothes and headed to the Luxor to see the new Cirque du Soleil show with Criss Angel. It was mostly just a magic show with weird costumes and imagery. We have now seen all six of the Cirque shows in Vegas, and I would probably rank this one toward the bottom. It wasn't bad by any means--just not anything special. I am a sucker for magic shows, and we have tickets to see David Copperfield here in Abilene this weekend. I have seen him several times, and I am never disappointed. Also, we have tickets to the musical Hairspray this week. I don't know if that's my thing or not, but I will let you know. Tiffany is at work tonight, which means I am waiting on her to watch the Oscars. Generally this is a major event at our house, but we saw so few movies this year I don't even really know what's going on. I have seen a total of zero movies that were nominated for Best Picture. Most years I catch at least four of the five. It doesn't help that I live in a small town, where most of these movies weren't even showing until last week. I do think Heath Ledger is probably going to win the Best Supporting Actor trophy. Tragic death never hurt anyone's popularity. I will admit that he was good in The Dark Knight, but otherwise I never thought much of him as an actor. He might be slightly better than Keanu Reeves. I admit, I still haven't seen Brokeback Mountain.

We stopped at the Las Vegas sign (see last blog posting) on the way to the Hoover Dam. I promise I didn't wear the same clothes everyday.

"Where can I get some Dam bait?" --Uncle Eddie, Vegas Vacation

recession?

If the economy is in a bind, there are no signs of it in Las Vegas. Maybe there are a few more penny slot machines than there used to be, but there were plenty of people everywhere. They are still building giant new hotels on the strip. Apparently there are a few people that still have money left. We left a small donation, but it was a still a pretty good trip. Tiffany handled the traveling just fine, even though the flights in were pretty bumpy. The first three nights we went over to the Palms for a semi-concert/comedy/cabaret style show which is a side project of Maynard James Keenan of Tool. The shows were different each night, and I am glad we went to all three. Some of you may find that obsessive or crazy, but isn't that what Las Vegas is about? I promise you we were not the only people that went to all three shows. The weather was cool for a couple of days, so we spent some time shopping and just wandering around inside the hotels. We did manage to see a couple of movies, but the only one worth mentioning is Gran Torino. It was excellent. I have a few more things to say, but I am going end this post here for now. Now that I am back in the real world, I have to do things like go to work. Enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy V Day

I am in Vegas right now, so don't expect too much from me this week. I will let you look at some sonogram pictures, since I didn't get them put up before I left. I'm sure that you will all be able to tell what they are. The third picture down (it says BOY) is the important one here I think. Hopefully the government won't get me for kiddie porn. I'll help you out with some of the others. The first one is the heartbeat, and the last one is a foot.

I would also like to say congratulations to my parents who are celebrating their anniversary today. I believe this makes 28 years, which is a pretty long time. I'm glad they've been able to stick it out. I'm sure it is because of their wonderful children that they were able to hang on this long. I guess maybe it has something to do with love. Whatever it is, congratulations. You guys are awesome!

It's a boy!

I should be in bed, but I couldn't let my blog readers down. It's possible that my mother has already called you. Some secrets just can't be contained. We had the sonogram appointment this morning. The doctor said he was 110 percent sure that it's a boy. In addition to our baby's man parts, we also looked at the heart and the kidneys. Everything looks normal so far. Apparently the baby weighs one pound exactly. He also said we are about a week ahead of the previously stated due date. Maybe it's just a superbaby. I guess that would put the new date around June 23. We have another sonogram on March 24. I do have some pictures of the sonogram that I will try to get on the blog before the week is over. Now I have to get some sleep. I am driving to Midland early in the morning.

The opposite of progress

This week Congress voted to delay the digital television transition date until June 12. Apparently there are people who are not ready to make this switch. I have no idea who any of these people are. This law was passed in February of 2006. If three years wasn't enough time, how is another four months going to make any difference? The main reason given for the delay is that the government subsidy program for the converter boxes has run out of money. In a time where the economy is in the toilet anyway, why is the government spending money on this? Personally I think I should still get the $80, even though I don't need the boxes. Maybe they can buy me $80 worth of gas. The main drawback to the delay is that there are many tech companies (see useful) that are waiting on these frequencies to make our lives better--not keep us in the technological stone age. There are billions of dollars tied up in this mess. I thought this new administration was about change and moving forward, but so far I don't see it.

The picture above is another onesie courtesy of my cousin Sarah. The way things have been going, I don't think we are going to have to buy anything for this child ever. People mess up by getting married and immediately having children. I say, get married and spend several years and lots of your own money doing whatever you want to do. Buy new cars. Buy a house. See the world. Convince everyone you know that you are never going to have children. When you finally do, people will be so excited that they will buy you anything you need. It probably doesn't hurt that we are just likable people. I don't mean this to sound tacky. We really do appreciate everything that we have received. This has just been a long week for me. I haven't felt good most of the week. It's not that I have felt bad, but I have a cough that won't go away. I do think it's getting better though. Tiffany made it back safely from Amarillo yesterday. She had gone with her brother and sister to visit her grandmother in the hospital. It was tough living without her for a couple of days, but both me and the cat survived.

One more thing: I think Michael Phelps getting busted is hilarious.

appointment update

Tiffany's appointment went just fine. She had done some bloodwork that they use to check for certain types of birth defects. Everything looks normal there. We did listen to the heartbeat again. It still sounds weird. We have an appointment next Tuesday for the ultrasound. Maybe I will know a little more then. Tonight we are going to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (the musical) at the civic center. We saw it on Broadway about three years ago, and it was pretty funny. If you have never seen the movie with Steve Martin and Michael Caine, do yourself a favor and rent it. It is hilarious.

Taxman

I have been trying for about 30 minutes to upload the pictures for this blog. I will try again later. Until then, you may have to use your imagination.



I'm not sure what you can tell from these pictures, but these are of the big freeze of 2009. I know it doesn't look like much, but around here it might as well be a blizzard. I will say that the temperature was around 20 degrees and there was ice covering most of the roads. Basically the whole town was shut down for about two days. Nobody went to school. Our bosses had no problem making us go to work though. I guess that's just how things are sometimes. What else do you need to know. Tiffany has been reading like a madwoman lately. What is she reading? She is reading the Harry Potter books. I know she's a little late on that bandwagon. She keeps telling me how good they are, and I keep reminding her that millions of people worldwide have the same opinion. At least they did five years ago. She started the series about a month ago, and she is already a good way into book six. If you think these books are just teaching people about witchcraft, I have news for you. No spell that I have ever cast on anyone has actually worked. Seriously, if you are one of those people, go read someone else's blog. Speaking of other things that people are into, today there is a football game on. I am recording it so I can catch the highlights. Tiffany is at work tonight, and I just had better things to do than sit in front of the TV and drink beer. Everyone knows you can drink beer in front of your computer. I spent the afternoon going over and e-filing our taxes. I also spent some more time playing with my new camera. I ordered another lens which should be here tomorrow, so I am looking forward to trying it out. All in all it has been a productive day. I still have a few things to get done before Tiffany gets home. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. If you're lucky, I will tell you about it tomorrow night.