Boy, Are We Outa Place!

Well, I see it's been nearly a year since my last post. Much has happened in that year. Most recently, we were sent to Las Vegas to work on the 'City Center' project. Turns out the entire project is the largest construction site in the world. Of course, Duane's piece of it is a small corner that will eventually be another Mastro's Ocean Club.



After being sent out here, we did a two week stint in Newport Beach, CA working on another Mastro's. We (I) thoroughly enjoyed our time there as the weather was heavenly. Of course, it was crowded and 'touristy', but the sites, smells, sounds, and mid-70's weather every day was wonderful. But I don't remember seeing one other person that looked 'rednecky' or 'homey' like from the country.



We've also been sent to Beverly Hills a few times to check the progress of electrical upgrades being done on the project we had to leave earlier this year. Again, the weather was heavenly. People were friendly, sites were beautiful, and the weather was perfect. And I don't even have to say that I didn't see anything resembling 'our' kind of folks roaming the streets on Wilshire Blvd. or Rodeo Drive!



So here we are in Las Vegas until the end of 2009 and believe me, this is NOT my home! The streets are elbow to elbow crowded with tourists seeing the sights, gambling, attending shows, etc. Also on those streets are illegal immigrants passing out business cards for prostitutes - it's legal here, ya know. On those cards are various poses of very beautiful girls with next to nothing or nothing on, along with their names and phone numbers. These cards are handed to whomever will take one, but mostly land on the street. It's just ugly and the people who hand out these cards, I'm sure, are just trying to feed their families, but they are annoying. People bring their children with them out here so they are subject to the discarded 'ladies' cards on the street as well. YOu can't help see them - they're as vast as the pavement! And then there's the weather. The weather in the summer here is unbearable - one day it was 115 degrees with no humidity. I may as well be sticking myself in an oven! As much as I've lamented over Florida's humidity and hot weather, I would gladly take it over the oven effect. And as you can imagine, you see 'all sorts' of folks out here.



The PBR finals were recently in town and I felt like I belonged as I looked around and saw people in jeans and cowboy hats and boots, and just plain folks! Even with that two week visit from 'our kind of people', we still felt out of place here. Gambling, drinking, clubbing, and wildness is the common thread that wove everyone else together. We just don't fit into that group no matter how 'folksy' any of them appear to be. We just can't feel good about putting our hard-earned money into a machine that blinks lights, twirls colored dials, and says 'you're done' at the end without giving us anything. Now if we got a piece of bubble gum out of that machine or a stuffed animal or even a card that supposedly had our future predicted on it, that would be different. That means we'd be getting something, whether worth anything or not, for our dollar. It's just amazing that people come out here and continually put money in these things and wait for money back. That BIG win. The BIG payoff that is advertised on billboards, in magazines, on signs, TV, and various other avenues of media. Yeah.......we're SO outa place out here!



When we told everyone at home where we were being sent, we got all sorts of responses with 'knowing' looks and winks. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas is what we continually heard. So I guess that means that our sitting on the sofa every evening watching TV, just like we do at home in FL, won't be broadcast all over the world for everyone to know. Call us old fuddy-duddies with no sense of adventure, but we're content to stay put.

We've taken several trips out of town to see various sights around the area such as the Valley of Fire, Red Rock, and Mt. Charleston. Now those are worth the effort! Seeing God's creation and the breathtaking way He put it all together is just amazing! So I guess that's it. This world is NOT our home, we're just passing through and headed to our home in heaven! We won't feel outa place there!