Castle Shima

I'm a go-getter. My girl works and I go get her. -- seen on a T-shirt.

Tower View
Viva Las Vegas
Whenever a chance for a new bicycle ride comes up, I try to take it. This explains how I got talked into riding in Las Vegas.

It was supposed to be a 60 mile road ride done at a leisurely pace. It was supposed to be just a few little hills. It was supposed to be only a little chilly.

It was a total lie.

Those few little hills happened to be in all in a row and created one side of a mountain. In this case part of Red Rock Canyon. It also happens to be at least over 5000 miles above sea level; an altitude that I had never tried before.

Then there was the weather. I've ridden in the cold before so that wasnt a concern, but it is still disconcerting when you see snow in the desert.

So instead of that leisurely 60 mile bicycle ride, this became the 20 miles of torture; riding in the freezing cold... up hill... both ways...

If I had been smart, I would have read the site of the bicycle rental shop, The Blue Diamond Bike Outpost. It even mentions 13 miles of grueling desert... What in the world was I thinking then?! Sheesh...

Now only one thing comes to mind. I'm going to have to try the off road circuit next year. Heh...

If you happen to make it out to the Blue Diamond Outpost, ask for Mike. Great lad that set us up on some premium bicycles.
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Casino Notes
1. When on the Vegas strip, visit Fatburger! Great burgers and really good service that could put some hotels to shame. Ask for Cooper.

2. Krispy Kreme doughnuts: food of the gods.

3. Bathrooms in hotels should require the toilet paper to be at least within an arm length of the toilet, not on the other side of the frigging room.

4. If Nevada ever becomes an open carry state, I'm going to have to shoot all the street vendors, especially the little pushy ones that hand out the cards and pamplets for the local strippers and escort services.

5. Then there are the vendors that keep asking "When are you folks leaving?" in an attempt to get tourists to get into some of the smaller hotels or other tourist traps, especially the one that said I was from "How-R-Ya!" I am assuming the wee bastard meant Hawaii...

6. With all the Japanese tourists that stopped and looking at me, I figure that I must appear as a shorter, older, less coordinated, and slightly wider version of Ichiaro.

7. The Bellagio hotel put up some awesome displays for the Chinese New Year's, the Year of the Monkey.

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Out in The Yard
Take the Dungeons & Dragons alignment test. Apparently, I am Neutral Evil.

Based on your answers to the quiz, your character’s most likely alignment is Neutral Evil.

Neutral Evil
A neutral evil villain does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple. She sheds no tears for those she kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience. She has no love of order and holds no illusion that following laws, traditions, or codes would make her any better or more noble. On the other hand, she doesn’t have the restless nature or love of conflict that a chaotic evil villain has. The criminal who robs and murders to get what she wants is neutral evil. Some neutral evil villains hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such villains are devoted to evil deities or secret societies. The common phrase for neutral evil is "true evil." Neutral evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents pure evil without honor and without variation.

--excerpted from the Player’s Handbook, Chapter 6
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Background Noise
"They play as there is no tomorrow" -- Samuel Jackson

Its the Super Bowl, baby! Even though I'm not that excited about this year's game, its still the Super Bowl. This means we have to watch for the Awesome Commercials!

The best ones have been:
-- The Tostitos wedding
-- McDonald's cheeseburger effect
-- Pizza Hut and the Muppets
-- Anheiser Busch commercials
-- the Pepsi Bear
-- NFL Network singing "Tomorrow"

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* We keep driving into the night
* Its a late goodbye
* Such a late good bye
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