The Life and Times of Jim
Hi, there. I'm Jim. Welcome to my phlog!
This site was written for Las Vegas, then LouisVille. Now, it seems to be about anywhere. In these phlogs, you'll see a lot of my personal notes and pictures. I like to post my observations here to remember life and celebrate it. I'm not religious. I don't pray for good fortune. I'm ecstatically grateful for the gift of life and I think our time should be remembered and not taken for granted. I'm not a writer. I think pictures tell stories so much better than words. I love just about everything in this life, and, I guess that would have to include you. So, if you've seen me, don't be surprised if your picture is in here somewhere. Of all the critters, people are absolutely the most interesting. 
<< 11/2003 < 11/2004 Calendar 12/2004 > 11/2005 >>Sign InView Other Logs
Thu 
11/18/2004 21:04:39
 jim  Delivered Patti’s furniture.
Sat around, sipped coffee and had a few laughs.
I got stank-assed with Eye Glass World
Becky bought 2 eyeglasses for $260. $45 of that was for a warranty the covered that frames for 3 years. Eyeglass World never had any intention of honoring the warranty, it was clearly a scam. They said, yea, you get free frames, but you'll have to buy good lenses for $99 or $49 dollars for the cheap lenses per eyeglass. That's as much as Becky paid in the first place. I told them just out of principle, I'd have to take them to small claims court, they committed fraudulant and/or misleading advertising. It's ironic, that while I was talking to the rep, the manager called to have several vehicles towed because they were parked over the line.
At home I called a satellite store here, and they were happy to honor the warranty. The manager called the Eyeglass World on Tropicana the "EVIL STORE" and said they hated them, that they were greedy.
They ordered new frames that fit Becky's lenses. wow.
The Fashion Show mall has a 1,000 foot flying saucer hanging over it, with movies projected on it.
The Forum Shops has hugh Roman Statues that dance to light shows and music. It's sky changes from day to night every hour.
Rebuilt Roberts PC from dumpster trash
Added a DVD, CDRW, 8 gig Hardrive, 128meg memory. Had to duct tape the extra hard drive in place, lol
SUCCESS IS BEST!
Mon 
09/10/2007 07:19:39
 jim   (Reply)Delivered Patti’s furniture.
I got nasty with The EyeGlass World.,br> They sold Becky a warrantee that they never had any intention of honoring. I told them I would see them in small claims court for the stinkin $45 (actually for the principle of the thing), but I called their sister store here, and they were happy to honor the warranttee. The manager called the Eyeglass World on Tropican "EVIL" and said they hated them. wow.
Wednesday
Robert was going to bring his pc over, I was going to deliver Patti's furniture to her, and we were going to go hang out at the spa where Robert works. BUT, We ended up balancing the books, the spa was locked up, so we ended up picking up Joy from Roberts work and drove around alot.
Tuesday
Shampooed the carpets. Picked up Robert from UMC. Rapped, sang and danced with the security guard there. Let the good times roll every day your alive people!
Monday
It was a nothing day. Watched TV, washed clothes, got Toshiba to honor a $150 rebate they rejected. It was a relaxed day.
Thu 
11/18/2004 12:00:02
 jim  Vegas,NV-Gabriel-Squirt
Sun 
11/14/2004 23:28:18
 jim  Ethel M Factory
Took Dustin, Jennifer and Becky to the M&M Factory down the road.
Ethel M's has an interesting cactus garden, and I couldn't help but put together that everything they grew could either be eaten, used for medicinal purposes, or...used to get high with. AMAZING!
Shower Heads?
We hit the Home Depot on the way home to pick up another handheld shower head. It seems like these things have a way of springing leaks after a couple of years. I guess that's the way they make them.
Yeesssmam, I'll snake your toilet. I'z beez there right after I get through with lawndry.
Went to the kids Grandma's house. I hate going there. Joy told me that stuff was falling out of the stove vent fan. I took it apart and cleaned it. Grandma asked me if I'd take the laundry up the stairs. Grandma has had the kids for only 6 months (she and her son kicked Becky out when Becky was kicking in $1,600 towards rent and her kids. Becky was a very good mom. Grandma is going after Becky for child support. I can't believe a woman like that exists. She stole Becky last dime by openning her mail and forgery Becky's name on a check, she kicked Becky out and she's told lies. I haven't fixed anything at that place since she did that. Now grandma smokes in front of the kids at the table, with their asthma medicine next to the ash tray. What a low-life! (wanna see the picture?)
Sun 
11/14/2004 13:00:16
 jim  Vegas,NV-EthelM-Becky,Jen,Dustin
Sun 
11/14/2004 12:00:21
 jim  Vegas,NV-EthelM-MedicalPlants
Sun 
11/14/2004 12:00:05
 jim  Vegas,NV-Gmas-Dustin,Amy,Dog
Sun 
11/14/2004 10:00:14
 jim  Gmas,NV-Corndogs-Jen,Dustin,Dog,Joy,Amy
Sun 
11/14/2004 00:00:11
 jim  Vegas,NV-HarleyTruck
Sun 
11/14/2004 00:00:02
 jim  Gmas,NV-Corndogs-Jen,Dustin,Joy,Amy
Sat 
11/13/2004 12:01:03
 jim  Vegas,NV-Strip Flamingo,Caesars
Sat 
11/13/2004 00:00:00
 jim  We came back to Vegas from Primm
Burned out from travelling over 400 miles, we came back to Vegas from Primm.
Some car threw a bigassed rock, it hit and now my windshield is illegal.
Stopped off at Frys for some electronic goodies. Vegged and watched movies.
Fri 
11/12/2004 12:01:04
 jim  Primm,NV-Room-Tram-Becky,Jim
Fri 
11/12/2004 12:01:04
 jim   (Reply)Primm,NV-Tram,Room-Becky,Jim
Fri 
11/12/2004 12:01:02
 jim  Primm,NV-MarshalTucker,LynyrdSkynyrd
Fri 
11/12/2004 00:00:00
 jim  We stayed at Primm Nevada
The Primadonna outlet mall
A janitor spilled his garbage bin, and out fell all of these coupons. We helped him clean up, and found coupons for 15% off at the SBarrows and the GAP. SO, we ate at SBarrows.
The Gap Clothing Store
Great deals and the 15% coupon helped ALOT! We picked up 2 jackets, 1 pants, 10 shirts for $107.
The Earthstore
Picked up some oils and one of those mist bowls there. The bowl is too cool. It creates a fountain with fog flowing out of it, with changing colored lights. $60 for everything, and we'll enjoy it for a long time.
Desparado - Buffalo Bill's Roller Coaster
I rode this ride. Becky stayed behind. What a BANG for the buck! In the 90's it was boasted as the fastest roller coaster in the world. The ride takes you around the Buffalo Bill Hotel, underground and I got bruises from it.
The Vault - 4D Roller Coaster
It was a fun, simulated roller coaster ride that visited the engineering wonders of the world. You go up into space and land at the various sites. The second movie took us along an ice glacier. Cool, but the ride only lasts for 3 minutes.
Chuck, Mark and Sandy joined us
We ate at the buffet ($10 a head) and laughed a lot!
The Marshall Tucker Band
All I'm going to say is this: Marshall Tucker shouldn't drink. The accoustics were terrible.
Becky and I walked out and watched the lounge performers sing. The band was great and the croud was drunk, and that's the way it should be.
Leonard Skynard
The band rocked. The light show was excellent. The sound was the best right behind the sound and light show coordinators. Chuck gave us a sip of his bloody mary made with Tequila. His bartender had a sense of humor when he made that drink. It was an octane booster.
Thu 
11/11/2004 12:01:02
 jim  Niption,NV
Thu 
11/11/2004 02:03:21
 jim  Vegas,NV-LaughlinPark
Thu 
11/11/2004 01:12:51
 jim  Vegas,NV-Laughlin Riverside
Thu 
11/11/2004 01:10:50
 jim  Laughlin,NV-Nighttime
Thu 
11/11/2004 01:10:21
 jim  Vegas,NV-Laughlin Riverside
Thu 
11/11/2004 01:07:31
 jim  Vegas,NV-Laughlin Curise Jim
Thu 
11/11/2004 01:05:01
 jim  Laughlin,NV-Jim,Becky
Thu 
11/11/2004 00:00:00
 jim  We left Laughlin and headed off to Primm, NV
Up at 8am. Listened to the water trying to make it through the pipes in the other rooms. I can hear people talking in the surrounding rooms. ha.
TRIP TO PRIMM, NEVADA FROM LAUGHLIN
Got up this morning to check the map. We get there along the 95, but when you're looking at a map, 95 is many things.
95-A popular road name
If you don't know the name of a street, call it 95. You'll probably be right. Here in Laughlin, there are 2 95's that parallel each other. One goes through Bullhead City, one goes through Laughlin , 95 is also I40. In Las Vegas, 95 is I515, Boulder Highway, Rancho, Tonapah Highway. Text
Needles, California
A very old looking town that's probably there for welfare recipients.
Needles has a railroad. Clusters of people were hung out on in nameless places. Almost all for of the houses we passed needed new roofs and some needed windows.
Searchlight, Nevada
We stopped at the Golden Nugget. Becky stood in line for the restroom while I explored the place. Some guy hit a Royal Flush at the bar (yes, they do happen).
Joshua Tree highway
Good name for this 30 mile highway that joins Searchlight to Primm. It's surrounded by the Castle Mountains (5,000 feet elevation. They are named appropriately. The hues here are yellow, green, black and brown and smells like desert sage.
Nipton, California
A whistle stop ghosttown where highway 164 meets a railroad. It has a 4 room hotel, cafe, store and that's about it.
Around 1910, a foxy looking, silent screen, movie star rented rooms at this hotel. She entertained, and bought a ranch nearby. The sign said the liked getting away from the pressures of the California Studios. This is definetely getting away.
We had a mushroom burger in the 400 square foot cafe. Everything was very cute and homey, including the 3 year old girl (Naomi) who entertained us with her picture book for a half an hour. This little girl sang songs, told stories, and posed for pictures. She stole my heart.
Primm, Nevada, Whiskey Petes
Once again there was problems checking in. Jeese, I just wanted to put my Schwab Visa on my folio but the clerk said she couldn't, It was a debit credit card. I told her to use it, the Primadanna used it in September, and I wanted to use the card for incidentals on my A folio. She explained that it put a $50 hold on debit cards, and I said, I don't care...it should bill all A-folio charges to my card on checkout, and release the hold, SOP. I probably should have listened to her.
The clerk booked us in a room with 2 double beds because that's all they had open...hmmm, we made reservations last week too. I think they booked us as a walkin again.
Whiskey Petes-Room 9024
On the 9th floor overlooking the west docks, not a pretty sight. The water pressure here is probably at 10psi. It takes a while to fill a 6 oz cup. The TV has 4 regular channels which fade in and out. But it's all free, so I won't complain anymore
The Primadonna outlet mall
We took the tram over I15 to the Primadanna. I like this mall a lot. Too bad it closed 1 hour after we walked in. I learned hermit crabs live for 20 years. wow.
We ate at the Cafe: I had Japanese soup (misabi?, $6), Becky had a Reuben ($5). The waiter laughed at anything, and made lots of mistakes, like, never asking us what we wanted to drink, not serving it, and not giving us condiments, and had to be run down to get the bill. (I think he was stoned). He had 2 tables. LOL.
Primadonna is having a Marine convention here, which seems like a costume party festival. The marines where in dress, and they're wives/girlfriends were in evening gowns. Pretty cool.
Wed 
11/10/2004 11:11:10
 jim  Laughlin,river,NV-
Wed 
11/10/2004 00:00:00
 jim  We stayed in Laughlin, Nevada
LAUGHLIN, NEVADA
Looked out the black out blinds at 9am

One eye was blind for 5 minutes! Our room faces the west, towards the Colorado River and the sun was definetely up!
Becky took a bath and I washed her cute little feet
Sat down at the laptop and keyed this in.
The Colorado River Cruise
This Hour and a half ride cost $20 for 2 and it was GREAT!
The following is what I learned:
The Anasazi Indians (The "Ancient Ones" that disappeared around 1,600AD)
Worshipped a black mountain in the Newberry Mountain Range. They called it Spirit Mountain, and beleived it was where your spirit came from before you born. I think that's very interesting, don't you?
Mrs Laverdy (related to Jan Laverdy Jones, Las Vegas's previous major)
She had a spot of land on what is now Casino Drive. The neighboring casinos wanted her small area of land. They offered $250,000, then $500,000 then $3,000,000 but she held out. She didn't want to move. In the end, the Edgewater offered her 10 rooms of their new hotel complete with a balcony, private fishing pier, hotel ammenities and a limo/chaffeur for life. She accepted. Unfortunetely, she was on her 2nd tour of the world when she had a stroke. She died, and Edgewater now uses the area for VIPs.
Don Laughlin
- When Don Laughlin was 17, he'd set up slot machines, vending machines and cigarette machines in his school. The principle of the school said he had to get rid of them. He made more than the principle earned and dropped out of school.
- Don ended up working as a bartender and dealer in Vegas, saved up and bought the 101 club.
- Sometime in the 80's he flew his private plane over Laughlin (then unnamed, population 50). He decided to do something with it. He founded a casino (The Riverside), and wanted to name this place Riverside, but the name was taken. Then he wanted the city to be called Casino, NV, but the post office refused. They suggested he name it Laughlin because it was a nice Irish name (the Head Postman was named McClellin). The town had a vote and now it's Laughlin, NV.
The Colorado Belle
This hotel is shaped like a bigased boat.
- The Captains Buffet. $4.99 per person. Great buffet, beautiful ship like decor, GREAT BREAD PUDDING.
- The club, gave us 2 (2 for 1 pays) on any table game. I played the max $20 and lost both hands. It was 8 deck blackjack, which I don't even know if there's a strategy for playing.
- Tried to make 200 pts in Video Poker Play (for a bonus $20). Becky and I lost miserably.
The Riverside Hobo Stew, Blues and Bikes Festival
There was a band, clowns, and costumed people all abound! Someone on a unicycle about ran us down!
GREAT DAY! GREAT WEATHER! GOOD PEOPLE! LOW BUDGET! My kind of day to smile.
Tue 
11/09/2004 12:01:01
 jim  Vegas,NV-Laughlin ColoradoBelle-Nighttime
Tue 
11/09/2004 02:41:15
 jim  We are all excited about going to AVI casino in La
However, we were just reading about Laughlin and they offer Hummer Tours. Now, I'm not sure what that means, but it does sounds exotic. It sounds like Laughlin has everything.
Tue 
11/09/2004 01:04:21
 jim  Vegas,NV-Laughlin AVI
Tue 
11/09/2004 01:02:01
 jim  Vegas,NV-Laughlin
Tue 
11/09/2004 01:02:01
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-Laughlin
Tue 
11/09/2004 01:00:01
 jim  BoulderDam,NV-Becky,Jim
Tue 
11/09/2004 00:00:00
 jim  The trip to Laughlin
Hoover Dam Security
A grumpy little man was waving people through. He looked like he waved me on. So I took off and he yelled "STOP, I DIDN'T WAVE YOU ON!". I wanted to say "I couldn't tell with your littly arms flailing around like that". Then he said "WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN THE BOX" pointing his tiny finger at the bed of the truck. I said "TOOLS". That could have been the only word I knew in English lol. He said, ok, move on. hmmm.
Kingman at 3:30pm Arizona Time.
I don't know why this town exists. Noone does. It has a railroad and land sells for $1,600 an acre.
Laughlin at 3:00pm Nevada Time.
The town is cute! It has a plant puffing steam up everywhere and a line of high rise resorts along the Colorado River. I wouldn't mind living here.
The Colorado River
It's about 200 feet wide, with sparkling clear water. It would be a creek if it was in Kentucky though. It winds around the desert like I drive on the freeway. I've read it supplies 20 million people with water, and runs from Colorado to Mexico.
The cotton fields
I stopped to pick some. Cotton is a little plant with a ball of hair. I'd bet the Indians 1,000 years ago all dressed well.
Note - The plant doesn't respond to petting.
The AVI Hotel/Casino Resort 3:30pm (our hotel for 2 nights)
Unexpectedly nice with desert pastels, and a nice layout and even though its on an Indian Reservation, it has bars. The rooms come with a huge TV, and almost everything works! They even have a Conair hair dryer mounted on the wall (I want it real BAD!)
- We went to AVI's restaurant, practically crawling on all fours from starvation. We had there 99 cent hamsteak and eggs. They also offered all you can eat spaghetti for $3.99. ALL THE MEALS IS SAW SERVED LOOKED GOURMET! And there we are getting the 99 cent special. :)
Discover Channel at 9pm
We learned that archeogist had arrowheads chipped around the end of the ice age.
The arrowheads, found in the US, used a European technique (something like off-chipping). This suggested that sometime long ago, the Europeans were here in the US.
They also can tell from the part of the DNA that is passed almost entirely intact from the female the offspring, that Native Americans have both European and Asian ancestory dating back 60,000 years ago. Apparently, this segment of DNA breaks down at a predictable rate during mitosis, so a timeline could be extrapolated from 1,000's of DNA samples that links human ancestory in the Americas to all of the prehistoric continents.
I thought three things were interesting:
- That people sat around chipping rocks to kill things with some 60,000 years ago, when the earth was still being reborn
(I guess I'm grateful they didn't eat meat - we might have developed four stomachs or a gizzard),
- That Columbus didn't discover the American continenent 500 years ago, like we were taught in High School
(Unless he came over in a boat made out of seal skin, whale blubber and sticks).
- That people all over the world have probably had sex everything else on this planet
(Maslow's water, food and sexual instincts sound correct to me). LOL.
The Riverside Casino in Laughlin at 2:30am.
This place I liked a lot. There's something very homey about it's decor.
- We shopped at the WATCHMAN store which boasts itself as the largest watch store in the world with over 20,000 watches all under $20. I bought a voltage meter and a manicure set. As for the watches, all I can say is you can find the same quality watch in Tiajuanna for the same price. hmmm.
- We checked out the Skyroom. They were having some kind of Halloween Party and I just told them "I'm BELLYMAN" but the party was fading out anyway.
- At the Losers Lounge they had a band playing 80's songs, with disco lights and two levels for dancing. JIMMY LIKED IT, but I like anyplace that plays "Lady In Red"
The Harrah's at 2:30am.
Harrah's has a certain class and style to it, very nice.
- We past some tables on the outside. There was an pretty young girl sipping a coctail and dressed in an evening gown. She was by herself. When I look back, she was beaming at me with a very provacotive smile. hmmm.
- Inside there was at least 20 single, very well dressed women. I have to think this hotel has many forms of entertainment that's not listed on their brochures.
Bullhead City at 3am.
- According to Beckys sources, Bullhead City has 50,000 houses and it's growing by 200,000 a month. Now that's amazing! In my mind I imagined construction companies slapping houses like crazy with a huge demolition crew behind them smashing them up after they are built.
FOG from the Colorado River at 3:30am
The world disappeared in a white cloud. Before we could say "What thu", we were on our way to Needles.
Walmart at 4am
We were lost. The Bullhead City closed at midnight I guess. We stopped at a Walmart. I got several DVDs, a headlight for Sonny. Becky bought a $20 watch that was 100 times better than anything at the Watchman.
Back at the AVI hotel 4:30am
We ate at the buffet for $3.99 a person. It was excellent. We gambled. Becky threw away a Four of a Kind and I was trying to lose my $10. We were burnt out!
Mon 
11/08/2004 18:57:27
 jim  GREAT IDEA! Farm fish for the Japanese
GREAT IDEA! This would take care of all of my current problems!
I'll build a block wall with thick windows in it IN MY BACK YARD.
I'll throw some moss in it, plop some endangered fish in there, and sell them on the underground market as a dellicacy, hehe.
No more dog problems, no more money problems. If the dogs break through the fence, I can flood the neighbors back yard with slimy moss!!!
Mon 
11/08/2004 18:17:00
 jim  It was a dark day today.
It rained, flooded and hailed like hell for 20 minutes.
Then the sun came out. Nevada is most definetely a wild place to be.
Booked rooms for Laughlin and Primm for the next five days.
Its all free. Our comps in Primm include tickets to see Leonard Skynard and The Marshall Tucker band. Its just a bunch of stuff we got offers for in the mail.
Nevada is a great place to be (when you're unemployed)!
Mon 
11/08/2004 12:01:11
 jim  Vegas,NV-Gabriel-Rain-Becky
Mon 
11/08/2004 12:01:04
 jim  Vegas,NV-Gabriel-Rain-Becky
Sun 
11/07/2004 18:12:34
 jim  Went to Mt Charleston, Corn Creek and A Wildlife P
Mt Charleston was wet with lots of snow. It rained all the time we were there.
Corn Creek was simply odd.
There was an area that looked like a maze of small canyons. People were firing of small weapons and the grounds were covered with shell casings. Amazing, how much the different colored shells (green, red, blue, yellow, white, silver and copper) reminded me of Christmas.
The Wildlife Reservere was beautiful
It had some of the prettiest foilage I've seen in Nevada, with exception of Lake Tahoe. We hiked the trails past an old wood shack, several ponds lined with wheat grass, a stream and several small footbridges.
The most ironic thing we saw: a brick building with thick glass walls.
You could barely see inside. There was a plaque that said inside were some endangered fish. We looked through the glass of this building, saw water full of moss all the way up to the roof and if you looked really close there were these tiny 1 itty-bitty inch fish.
It was strange. Why would someone build an aquarium, 20 miles from any paved road, in the middle of a desert, for itty-bitty fish?
Sun 
11/07/2004 14:24:00
 jim  WildLifeReserve,NV-Squirt
Sun 
11/07/2004 14:01:00
 jim  WildLifeReserve,NV-Jim,Squirt,Dustin,Jen
Sun 
11/07/2004 12:00:34
 jim  MtCharleston,NV-ToTheWildLifeReserve
Sun 
11/07/2004 00:00:04
 jim  MtCharleston,NV-Jim,Squirt,Jen,Dustin
Sat 
11/06/2004 11:16:25
 jim  Life seems obvious
It's obvious to me that nature created clams and fish to live on this planet for as long this planet can stand them. It's also obvious to me that nature created us to spread life to the universe, and this is mankinds trial run. Thats obvious about life, to me anyway. 
What is not so obvious
It's not obvious how we get through this life with all of it's little details to deal with.
Today the neighbor's dogs just broke the fence again, on both sides. They are pitbulls and rotweillers running around all over my backyard. So, should I shoot them, pepperspray them, water them or feed them. If I spend $10,000 for a block wall fence all the way around, the neighbors will get greyhounds, and they'll jump the wall. So I need something like a stadium's Dome over my backyard! Bet they'd get digger dogs! Hmmmm.
Thu 
11/04/2004 14:01:25
 jim  Since when do pinapples cost $7?
We just got back from the store. I'm so out of touch. A pinapple cost $7. The beef stew we're making costs $14 or $7 a quart. We must be shopping at the wrong places.
Thu 
11/04/2004 13:17:52
 jim  Cloudy day in Vegas
Ah, it's a cloudy day in Vegas, great day for Beef Stew.
Thu 
11/04/2004 11:46:20
 jim  It’s nice to wake up to money...
I love when money comes in! I know renting rooms out doesn't exactly put me on the top of the food chain, but it is money.
Wed 
11/03/2004 12:00:00
 jim  Don’t know why I drink myself stupid
I'm stupid most of the time anyway...haha. Seriously though, it is kind of a luxury to indulge every now and then. I just wish I didn't have to plan partying. In the old days it didn't matter.
Getting older is no fun. I realize most the people I've cared about have come and gone.
Tue 
11/02/2004 12:00:00
 jim  The dogs broke through the fence again today.
I was out of it with a hangover. I party for one day, and I pay for it for two. That seems to be the way my physiology has it all worked out. Blah!
Mon 
11/01/2004 12:04:10
 jim  So many different worlds, so many different suns
There's so many different worlds, so many different suns,
but we live in just one world, but we live in different ones. "Brothers in Arms".
We are fools to make war on our brothers in arms!
Iraq was about oil.
Mon 
11/01/2004 12:00:27
 jim  Vegas,NV-Strip

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