A Daily Diary - "May - 2010"

MONDAY - 05/31/2010 - MEMORIAL DAY. We didn't do anything special this year. I performed some backup work on the computer while Connie watch more of the French Open tennis. Went out to the pool for a little sun and reading of my latest audio book. After making a fruit salad for lunch, I headed over to the "M" to see if I could hit any of the special $1,000 Monday jackpots in the poker room. No luck. Came home and made tuna sandwiches for dinner over some TV shows. Had blueberry pie for dessert over a movie and went to bed.

SUNDAY - 05/30/2010 - Today was just beautiful! Sunny, no clouds, and just a mild breeze. We headed to the pool where we read and lalked with a neighbor till noon. We then went with our neighbor to try out a, new to us, local restaurant. It was much better than we expected. Connie and I both had the BBQ pork ribs and thought that they were the best that we have had anywhere. Marc had the shrimp scampi which was loaded with shrimp. We found out that they have entertainment seven days a week and specials every day. We all can't wait to try it again. Click here for a full review ... Daddy Mac's. When we got home we watched the PGA Seniors Tournament and then the Indy 500. I made fresh strawberry sundaes for dinner, watched a couple of pre-recorded prerecorded TV shows and headed to bed.

SATURDAY - 05/29/2010 - The above picture was sent to me by one of my neighbors who attended the 22nd Snow Mountain Pow Wow, located just a few miles north of Las Vegas. At noon we headed over to the "M" Casino and had lunch at the VIG Deli. I sat down and played a little poker while Connie played some slots. Another player at my table hit a high-hand jackpot for $1,500 that included a $500.00 player share for each person at the table. When I got home and picked up the mail, it contained the final bill from the hospital for my lithotripsy surgery. The bill was $19,799.08, bringing the total expenses to date for these two kidney stones to $27,393.00. My out of pocket costs so far, after insurance, have been over $1,100. So much for my $500 win - easy come - easy go. We had dinner, watched a rerun of the movie Mission Imposible 2 and headed to bed.

FRIDAY - 05/28/2010 - Played on the computer in the morning.  Connie made pancakes for breakfast which we watched over the French Open tennis. I went out and cleaned the car. My downstairs neighbor called and wanted to know if I would like to go shoot pool. I said sure and off we went.  I won 7 out of 9 games of 8-ball.  When I came home we popped a pizza and watched a Netflix movie, "Mama Mia!". It was probably one of the best musicals I have ever seen. We watched some of the Celtics in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs before heading to the downtown Henderson Events Plaza for a "Dueling Pianos" concert. A woman played an accordion for 30 minutes prior to the piano performers taking the stage. The piano concert was excellent. They took dozens of requests from the audiance. Phyllis Tilley was the main singer and player and was just supurb on singing Janis Joplin, Tina Turner and many other similiar performers. We were blown away by both her piano playing and singing.  Will have to keep an eye on where she will be playing around town.  When we got home we turned basketball back on (we recorded in on DVR) and got to watch the Celtics in an impressive win of the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating the Orlando Magic 96-84.

THURSDAY - 05/27/2010 - In the morning I worked on another picture collage while Connie read in between rain delays of the French Open tennis. The picture collage I created was of the Mormon Fort State Park located in downtown Las Vegas. Click the title to view it. For lunch we decided to have a hot fudge sundie at the Southpoint Casino before going to see the movie Iron Man 2. As we expected, it was a very intense action movie. Click here for our review ... Iron Man 2.  After the movie we decided to use a LVA 2-1 entree dinner coupon at Primarily Prime, the casino's prime rib restaurant. This was actually the first time we ate at this particular restaurant and were fairly impressed. The prime rib was the most tender we have had since arriving in Vegas. Check out our dining review here ... Primarily Prime Rib Review. When we got home we watched the two hour season premiere of one of our favorite TV shows, So You Think You Can Dance.

WEDNESDAY - 05/26/2010 - I went out to the pool for a short time - it was too windy to really enjoy. When I came in I started working on some more of the pictures I took during Jim Herring's visit last week. The first picture collage I made was of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The architecture of this building is just amazing.  Check it out ... Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health . I made us a nice salad for lunch which we watched over a Netflix movie that my neighbor had given us.  I then started working on another picture collage.  DirecTV held a "pool party" between 4-6 pm at our pool in an effort to sign up more customers.  We headed out and got free pizza and soda.  After our return home we watched a couple of TV shows while we waited for the finale of American Idol. 

DISAPPOINTED AGAIN!  Last year we were disappointed, as were many others, when Alan Lambert, clearly the best singer, didn't win.  And so it goes again! Crystal Bowersox, who was clearly a better singer and who clearly out performed DeWyze on all three songs in the final performance the night before, came in second. In our minds Crystal was the true winner. We both thought she should win from the very beginning. She sang better, already knew who she was and what she wanted to be before the show. Lee, on the other hand was clueless ... although he did improve himself through out the season. Simon kept saying "here is a guy in a small paint store who needs a break. This is what this show is all about." Come on Simon, Crystal needs a break, she kicked butt all season long and stayed true to herself every time. For what it's worth, we think she will be a star long atfer "what's his name" is forgotten.  Listen to her last performance on the show and tell me what you think.  Crystal Bowersox's final performance - Up To The Mountain

TUESDAY - Monday we headed to the "M" for their lunch buffet.  Because they had a special promotion in the poker room, I ended up taking Connie home and going back to see if I could get lucky.  I stayed until 3:30 in the morning and wasn't able to hit a jackpot. Oh well, I tried!  I slept in a little while Connie watched tennis and read. After lunch and a movie, I took a brief nap.  Myneihbor friend Jim came over for about an hour.  I then made a Caesar Salad, steamed a head of Culiflower and baked some biscuits.  We ate dinner over the finale of "24", which we thought was very good.  We then watched the final performance competition on American Idol and thought our favorite, Crystal Bowersox, nailed it!

SUNDAY - 05/23/2010 - After our busy week we decided to stay home and relax. Connie made waffles for breakfast which we watched over a Netflix movie, "Conspiracy." Kind of a low budget "B" movie, but entertaining. Connie read and watched the opening rounds of the French Open tennis while I workd on a collage project on my new workspace. Downloaded and worked on all the pictures I took over the past week during Jim's visit. Made turkey wraps for a late lunch over some prerecorded TV shows. Had another banana split for dinner and watched the ACM Presents: Brooks and Dunn -- The Last Rodeo, a tribute concert honoring country music superstars Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who received the Academy of Country Music's Milestone Award. It was an excellent show and featured dozens of country stars including Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Jason Aldean, Jennifer Hudson, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire and Sugarland. I was so impressed by Sugarland that I went out on the Internet and downloaded one of her albums.

SATURDAY - 05/22/2010 - In the early morning I started work on a new collage project on the new work space I created in the den. I met Jim in downtown Las Vegas for a tour of the Neon Museum's "Bone Yard". Although our tour guide was excellent, I wasn't too impressed with what we got to see. They are in the middle of construction of a new site, and everything was just jammed into rows in a large adjacent parking lot. Over the past several years they have begun restoring various old neon signs and placing them along Las Vegas Boulevard. I'm sure it will be a lot better after they get the new site completed. Click here to see and learn more about the Neon Boneyard.  After Jim went back to his Vegas home to prepare for tomorrow's return flight home, I went further down the street to visit the old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park. Built is 1865 it is the site of the first permanent structure erected in what is now the Las Vegas valley. After I got home and had a very late lunch, Connie and I headed to the "M" for a little "'recreation." When we came home we enjoyed banana splits for dinner over a couple of TV shows before heading to bed.

FRIDAY - 05/21/2010 - After running some errands in the morning I came home and set up a new work space in the den with a glass table top that I had purchased. I then started preparations for the evening's dinner with Jim Herring. He came over about mid afternoon and we poured some wine and headed for the pool for some relaxation and conversation. Jim stuck his feet into the water, but after a while Connie was getting annoyed by the high winds and we decided to go back inside. I finished making dinner and we popped another bottle of wine. We had a Caesar salad with homemade Caesar dressing, angel hair pasta topped with a garlic Alfredo sauce, breaded chicked breast, artichoke hearts, and capers, and garlic toast. Jim really enjoyed.

After dinner we drove to downtown Henderson for a concert at the Henderson Events Plaza featuring concert pianist Alpin Hong. He was joined by the local high school orchresta and glee club and the Sumerlin Brass Quartet. It was an outstanding performance. Click here to go to his website and hear some of his works. Alpin Hong

THURSDAY - 05/20/2010 - We hooked up with Jim at lunchtime and went to a In-N-Out Burger. After a quick lunch we headed to the Valley of Fire and the Lost City Museum in Overton, NV. We spent several hours roaming the park taking pictures. Jim was amazed at how much more color there was he v.s.Red Rock Canyon. After a stop at the Lost C Museum we head home. We were so tired when we got home that we had a ice cream sunday, watched one TV show and headed to bed.

WEDNESDAY - 05/19/2010 - I went out and performed some errands in the morning; bank, some grocery shopping, picked up some cleaning, back to the garage to get a missing nut for a clamp on one of my engine parts, car wash, etc. At 1:00 we went to a free lunch at our clubhouse. Chicken wings, potato salad, celery and carrot sticks, and drinks. After lunch we headed to the Southpoint to catch a movie. We saw Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. Click the title for a review. For dinner, we had Pot Roast left over from our trip to Blueberry Hill on Tuesday. Watch some prerecorded shows and headed to bed.

TUESDAY 05/18/2010 - Jim came over to our place today and we went to lunch at Blueberry Hill. He decided that he just wanted to sit around and have a relaxing afternoon, so we donned bathing suits and headed to the pool only to find all the gates chained and locked. One of the pumps had broken down and they were still waitig on parts. We went up the street to our "sister" property to use their pool and it too was chained. Very dissapointing! Came back home and changed again and decided to go to the "M" Casino for a little gambling fun. After Jim left for home we came home and watch some TV and went to bed.

MONDAY 05/17/2010 - Jim Herring, my nieces' dad, arrived in town yesterday for a week's vacation. After a few emails and a phone call we arranged to go over to his house in north Las Vegas for some wine cocktails and then go out to dinner. I performed a spring cleaning of the living and dining rooms while waiting for word on my car. I finally got a call around 1:00 pm that my car was ready; thank God for small miracles, and that I would be able to pick it up for only a small downpayment of $948.00. I do have to admit that it seems to be running much better. Let's hope that she will be good for at least another year or more. After spending several hours exchanging doctor stories and car stories over cocktails we went to the Luxor Cafe with Jim for dinner. I had the same thing I had there the last time we went, the Chicken Pot Pie, which is excellent. We shared a "huge" tiramisu for dessert that was outstanding. After making some tenative plans for the remainder of the week, Connie and I headed home while Jim headed to the slots to see if he could get "lucky".

SUNDAY 05/16/2010 - Yesterday we did the pool in the morning, then came in and had lunch over a movie while waiting for the garage to call with the status on the car. They called at 3:30 and said that they had to order another part that wouldn't be in until monday. I then head over to play poker in the "M" poker room to try and hit one of their jackpots. Didn't get home until 7:00 am this morning - that's right, 15 hours of poker. No Jackpot and lost $150. Oh well, better luck next time. After a few hours sleep weheded to Walmart for our "monthly" grocery run. After lunch I went out to the pool for a while. We then watched Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer Roger Federer at the Madrid Open Masters. It was a great match to watch. This title made his 18th, breaking Andre Agassi's record. After dinner we watched the final episode of Survivor. As evil and nasty as he was, we thought Russel was the most stratigic player and was glad to see him at least get the $100,000 conciliatory award.

FRIDAY 05/14/2010 - Believe it or not - STILL NO CAR! Yesterday I was promised that I would have it no later than 3:00 today. I went to the pool this morning and finished my audio book, "Just A Guy - Notes from A Blue Collar Life", written and read by Bill Engvall. Received a call from my friend Dick Batchelder in Florida. Connie got a late Mother's Day card from Cheryl and gift from April. Connie had an appointment with her hair dresser today, so I borrowed a car from my neighbor Jim and took her to the salon. After lunch and a movie I had Jim drive me to the garage to get my car. It still wasn't ready. After waiting another hour and a half they said it was finished and took it for a test drive. When it returned, the engine was smoking - that's right - smoking. It seemed that the last thing they did, putting on a new tensioner, put too much pressure on an already faulty AC compressor pully and caused it to "burn out". He loaned me a car to get home and use for tomorrow and said he would have this new problem repaired before closing tomorrow. I came home, picked up Connie and headed to the "M" for a little R&R. We picked up a grilled chicken Caesar salad and an order of spaghetti and meatballs to go and came home and had dinner over a couple of TV shows before heading to bed.

05/12/2010 - Beautiful sunny day, even if it is a little breezy still. Headed to the pool and started a new book. Connie came out a little later to get a little spa time and sit in the sun. We went into the office and signed a new lease for another year. They did away with the normal 12-month sign-up bonus and instead dropped our rent $75.00 per month for the upcoming year. Sounded good to us. Starting this June we will be entering out eighth year here and we are now paying only $22.00 a month more than what we paid in 2003.

05/11/2010 - Still without a car. Garage still trying to get a part delivered that they need. Had to order from somewhere in California. After checking with the garage in the late afternoon, I found out that the part still hadn't arrived and that I wouldn't be getting my car back until at least tomorrow. Having sat around reading and watching movies and TV shows most of day, my neighbor friend Jim called and invited us to go to the "M" with him. We accepted his offer and ended up having dinner there.

05/10/2010 - Had to drop the car off at the garage today. One of my neighbors followed me over and brought me home after I treated him to breakfast at "Blueberry Hill", our favorite breakfast house. This is a family run restaurant that makes everything from scratch and has been around since 1987.My friend Jim called and asked if I wanted to ride over to the "M" to play poker as he was going over for their morning hold'em tournament. I spent the entire day trying to hit one of their $1,000 high-hand jackpots. The garage called and said the car wouldn't be ready until tomorrow. After 20 failed opportunities, we came home around 5:30. I cooked dinner which we ate over a recorded movie and show, before heading to bed. It got more and more windy as the day progressed and by the time we went to bed there were 40-50 mph guests. It sounded like a good ol New England nor'easter.

05/09/2010 - MOTHERS DAY. Even though it was a nice day that reached the low 80's, the winds grew stronger as the day progressed. I went out to the pool and visited with one of my neighbor friends, however we didn't stay long as the winds picked up quite a bit. I made egg, ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. We decided to stay home today. Connie read while I played on the computer. We had a light snack for lunch over a movie. April called in the afternoon and wished Connie a happy Mothers Day. For dinner I made a Bertolli Chicken Parmigiana & Penne dinner with scallops in a pesto sauce and spinach and cheese in fillo dough appetizers served with a Pino Noir. We enjoyed dinner over a couple of shows and went to bed.

Picture of the Day

Picture of "Betsy" as we were unloading and waiting for a Bellhop at the AVI Casino on our trip to Laughlin this past February

05/06/2010 - Dropped off "Betsy" (the affectionate name we have given to our 18 year old Cadillac) for an all day visit to the car doctor today. We sat around all day reading, playing on the computer and watching TV shows. Picked the car up at 5:00, only to get a long litany of things that needed fixing, most that they couldn't accomplish till Monday. It now seems like each of "Betsy's" once a year visit end up costing about $600 in repairs.  As you can see from the picture above, she still looks pretty good for her age. Well so far that's still better than 12 months worth of payments. We then went to the "M" for a couple of free dinner buffets and picked up a couple of free bottles of wine. Came home and watched survivor.

05/05/2010 - Today is Cinco de Mayo day. Commemorating the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, the date is observed nationwide in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. The poker room at the "M" was offering special jackpots, up to $5,555, so I went over and spent 6 hours trying to win one. Didn't get lucky with the jackpots, but didn't loose any money either. Oh well, better luck next time.

05/04/2010 - We decided to use our LVA coupon book and head over to Sunset Station for a 2-1 breakfast buffet. After the buffet we dropped off some "stuff" at the Goodwill store. I bought a dozen picture frames and a digital clock that we needed for the living room. The car has been running a little rough lately, so I made an appointment to have it tuned up on Thursday. Went over to a neighbors and helped him load some music onto his new phone. We then went to the Southpoint and "M". Came home and made nachos for dinner, watched TV and went to bed.

Picture of the Day

The picture below is a picture of Lake Meade which only abut 15 miles southeast of us.

05/03/2010 - It was a beautiful morning, so I went out did some raking and hedge trimming around our unit for a little exercise. Made turkey wraps for lunch. After lunch I had to go see my surgeon for another follow-up visit. After another KUB X-ray at the imagining lab, which didn't change much from a week ago, he said get another X-ray in a week and come back. I said, "Bull-xxxx". It's costing me $60/week in co-pays. I'll let you know when there is a change and then we can go from there. We set the next appointment for 6-weeks. After the doctors appointments we went to GVR for a little gambling action. I picked up $35 and Connie lost $15.

Picture of the Day
The picture below is another from last fall's road trip. This one was taken crossing over a bridge on Route 89A in Utah just before we reached the Arizona boarder.

05/02/2010 - COX cable came this morning and fixed my Internet connection.  He said that somebody had gotten into the "locked" box on the outside of the building and intentionally damaged the main feed cable. Really strange. He said the only peope who have a key is the COX technicians. Anyway, every thing is back to working fine. We went over to the "M" and had the Sunday Seafood Brunch buffet. I had to free comps that I had gotten from playing in the poker room. Such a deal - saved $60.00. Still no luck with the high hand bonus, but picked up a couple of hundred trying.  We came home and watch the Netflix movie Beyond the Sea and some pre-recorded TV shows.

Picture of the Day
The picture above was taken on last fall's road trip along Route 12 in Utah.

05/01/2010 - We can't believe it. Here it is May already and we've only been able to use the pool about a half dozen times. It has been so windy that it just hasn't been enjoyable enough to go out and sit and read. My Internet connection has been out for the last three days, driving me crazy. COX is coming tomorrow to fix it. I spent the day at the "M" poker room trying to hit one of their $5,000 jackpots. Connie stayed home and watched tennis and the Kentucky Derby. Made three bets on the Derby and lost all three. After about 10 hours of poker, no jackpot, but picked up about $250.

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