Time for a change

Now you see it:















Now you don't:

NASCAR

Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Today I went to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to check on the solid waste issues there. I drove around three of the many campgrounds, one in the middle of the racetrack, one on the hill overlooking the racetrack, and another in back of the grandstands. I found one camper disposing sink water onto the ground, one sewer line not connected and one bucket under the sink drain. But I also found so many funny people, things, and happenings. I had so much fun looking around. Here are some of the highlights that I saw today. (More photos are on my FaceBook)

The Answer

How many traffic lights do I pass a day? Oh so many. Just on my way home today I was stopped at 12 red lights (one I had 3 red lights on, another I had two), got a green light at 10, stopped at two stop signs and went through two right turn yield lanes. Never in all my years have I wondered how those heavy traffic light poles were put up. Today I had a hmmm... moment as I passed by a crew mounting a new traffic light. I had to go back and snap the picture. Now I have my answer to a question I have never even asked, but I am glad that now I know!

At first glance I thought the man sitting down was drinking/drunk/passed out. NEVER trust your worldly opinions. When I passed by him he was reading a book, and quite a large one at that. I must remember, homeless are people just like me. Oh, it's so easy to be opinionated.
'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Matthew 25:45

Today I was investigating illegal dumping in the north west section of town. The many piles of dirt in the foreground are actually surrounded by lots of junk along the roadway. I got to wander on two acres photographing and locating w/ my GPS the piles of debris. You can see the Strip in the distance, its about 12 miles as the crow flies. The tall building on the left is the Stratosphere, the rest line up along Las Vegas Boulevard. If you enlarge the photo perhaps you can see the twins Wynn and Encore, the Trump and others. Then I turned around and looked west and saw the hill looming over me. It was an awesome day!

First tree to bloom

This is a house in our neighborhood that has the first tree to bloom. None of the others are blooming yet; they must be fertilizing! In a few days, though, there will be many trees blooming, but then the winds come and blow off all the blossoms and pollen. Happens every year.

Wild Meets the City

Sometimes you just have to open your eyes and look at your surroundings and see what is there. Dave and I were just driving through the Walmart Neighborhood Market parking lot when this roadrunner went running through. It's exciting that wildlife still exists within the city. Don't let the little things get away from you!

We have season tickets to The Las Vegas Little Theater, a very small theater utilizing local talent, tucked behind China Town. There are seven of us who go together then go out afterward for a sweet, fattening, scrumptious treat. All of the plays are comedy, some have been good, some have been bad, some have been really bad! The best so far was "How the Other Half Loves", the worst is tied between "The Ritz" and last night's performance, "House of Blue Leaves". But it's always been fun. It's good to have friends!

Dinner is served

I belong to a group from my church called Kitchen Kindness. We provide meals for families/people who are in need. Most of the time it is due to an illness or death in the family. We bring a meal over on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week that they are in need. Because I now have every other Friday off I use my off days to serve a family, it's a lot better than before when I was being very creative with preparing the day before or using my crock pot (which I have actually had a burned meal with!). I have also found the Dollar Store to be a wonderful place to purchase the dishes to hold the food. Today was a pan of lasagna, salad, bread and desert for a man and his two high school/college sons whose wife/mother has cancer and is in Tulsa going through treatments. She is not doing well, unfortunately. So, prayer is also a large part of the serving. I finally found a talent I have that I can use to help others!
(When I downloaded the second photo it rotated and I can't get it to rotate back. Sorry, just tilt your head to view it!)

Looking closely

A man was walking his dog in the desert off of Highway 95 north of town and came across about 60 1-gallon plastic jugs holding used oil. The jugs were strewn across the ground, many leaking oil onto the ground. So, he reported it to our office and I investigated the case. It was on DOT property so I have been working with DOT to get it cleaned up. It's been 5 1/2 months, but they are finally making progress. I was out there today and they have numbered the larger spots, you can see two of them in this photo if you enlarge it. The oil has absorbed into the ground so they will need to test the soil and then test as they dig it out to make sure all the oil contaminated soil is removed. The next photo is just a scenery photo, looking toward the east at the Sheep Range. One day I'll "take" you up there. It's beautiful!

This is a community called Desert Shores in the north west part of Las Vegas. There are five lakes within the community; this is the main lake. You can see the clubhouse in the background on the right. They have model sailboat regattas every weekend which are fun to watch. We lived in Desert Shores the first two years we were here, but then we moved to our present house. We miss living there; Erik did a lot of fishing and kayaking in these lakes. It was sanity after moving from Florida. I had a sewage overflow complaint in some condos there and had to take in the lake view for a few minutes before leaving.

Ancient medicine

My visit to our Acupuncturist/Chiropractor:
This is my back left shoulder with three acupuncture needles in it, two are hooked to an electric impulse thing. My sweater is on the right pulled off of my shoulder and arm. I had two more needles in the front shoulder as well. Acupuncture - it works.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This is the church we belong to, Canyon Ridge Christian Church. I read that there are more than 500 churches here in "sin city". So not everyone is living in sin here. Well, we try, anyway. This is a fun place to worship our Lord Jesus Christ and to learn about the benefits of believing in Him. Accepting Christ was the most important decision I have ever made. Last year was neat, I have lived half of my life as a believing, practicing, saved-by-Grace Christian. And believe me, Grace is a key word.

This is my favorite Mexican Restaurant here, Bonito Michoacan. The food is full of flavors, they have original recipes from their family; the atmosphere is full of fun, there is usually a keyboard player/singer or a Mexican band roaming and playing; the decor is full of color, and the tummy is very full when we leave! We went here tonight for Valentines Day; the place was all decorated and everyone was wearing red and they were taking photos of customers. It's great.

The clouds came in so thick today that they completely covered the mountains in the west. We have 18 inches of snow predicted for the ski resort at Mt. Charleston. Wow, it was so cool watching the clouds move in.

Pepperoni Pizza?

Can you guess what this is? Dave and I go to an Acupuncture/Chiropractor for aches and pains. The main doctor is a 72 year old man form Taiwan who has only been in the U.S. for 21 years. His wife works with him as does his son. Dave went today and this is what he came home like. He had a treatment called cupping where glass bulbs are heated with a fire and positioned on the skin. The suction in the bulb draws the blood in the skin up to four inches down to increase circulation, reduce inflammation and release toxins in the blood stream. It looks strange, but it works!

Pine Cone Beginnings

When most people think of Las Vegas, Nevada they think of a big city with glitter, gold, glitz and of course gambling. But there is another side of Las Vegas. We have a small town atmosphere in the suburbs. What was so important today that one of our major TV stations made an appearance? Not a celebrity trial, not a building being razed, not a casino scandal. Those are the glitz news. Today was Retro Bakery’s First Anniversary! They make the best cupcakes in town, and that’s all they make. It was free cupcakes for all who visit the bakery. Now, that’s newsworthy in our part of town. I got a chocolate with mint frosting and will eat it thinking of my brother, Bob’s, birthday today.

Wintery Days

We have had some strange weather the past few days. It has rained continuously here in the valley and the mountains that surround us have gotten lots of snow. The clouds have been gorgeous. This photo is looking toward the west at the Red Rock area. The building is going to be yet another mall. Expansion

Most Sundays after church a group of us go out for breakfast. It's usually part or all of our small group from church and a few others. We always have a great time. Today was sad, though. Our good friend, Mike (in the blue on the left), left right after breakfast for Colorado where he has gotten a job. Barb, his wife, will stay here for a while until she finds a job there also. We will really miss him! He and Dave were great "shop mates", making a hydrogen engine to use in a car. God speed, Mike!

Theaters in Las Vegas

We went to see Coraline today. My nephew, Jason Potter, was part of the many people who worked on the movie, his name was even on the screen at the end! One thing different about the theaters here - most of them are located inside a casino, so you have to walk through the casino to get to the movie. This one was at the Santa Fe Station Casino a few miles from our house. It's one of the many local casinos scattered about town away from the strip. By the way - it's a great movie. I recommend it to everyone.

We had rain today!

Spring is near

Living in the shadow of wealth

In my job we participate in CMART activities with Code Enforcement, Nevada Power, Metro Police, Building Department and various other agencies and converge on neighborhoods in need of help. CMART is Community Multi-Agency Response Team. Some homes are slum lord owned and slob occupied, but others are cheap places lived in with pride. Today wasn’t to bad, but in contrast to the expensive buildings in the background it is sad. There are people living outside as well, as seen in the dumpster photo.

Solar panel parking coverings

These are the parking areas for the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. What a wonderful idea, shade for the cars and energy for the buildings. I would love to see this in all parking areas!

Groundhog's Day

I was looking for a groundhog, but all I could find was some illegal dumping! The groundhog somewhere saw it's shadow, so it's 6 more weeks of winter. That's fine as far as I am concerned, 60+ degree weather, sunny, no humidity. Give it to me! this is one of the trucks I drive whilst out investigating illegal dumping. This parcel had lots more dumping on it. Bad, Bad people.

Super Bowl Sunday

Gearing up for the Super Bowl is a hard job, indeed! And, yes, he was fast asleep! What a great game it was, great plays on both sides. Yea Steelers!!