Stories

This log represents the Life and Times of the Las Vegas Dude.

<< 07/2006 < 06/2007 Calendar 08/2007 > 07/2008 >>

Thu

07/26/2007 21:28:14

jim Louisville,KY-KentuckyTowers

Wed

07/25/2007 23:22:12

jim It was a chatty day

Got up this morning to brush up on my stock jargon.
Chatted with MIKEY!!! YEAH!
Wrote a program at work today, to create test data, then tested it.
Writing programs from scratch is fun! YEAH!
Got home, went to Sam's and Walmart to get Becky a homeless cart...
You know, one of those carts that have two wheels.
She needs one to shuffle laundry up and down the floors here.
We also picked up an air mattress for Rod.
We popped his while camping...lol.
Swung by Rod's house, but Rod wasn't home. awe.
We dropped an air mattress off anyway.
Got home, and webcamed SONNY!!!! YEAH!
We spent about an hour or or so enjoying pleasant conversations about the whacky worlds we've been thrust into this last month. He's at Circus. I'm in Louisville. Everything is whacky!
Got off, and webcamed GMa!!! YEAH!
We chatted for some time, then Paul came down and got her microphone working, and life was GREAT!
We topped off the night by swinging by Hilton's bar next door!!! YEAH!
I wanted to try a shot of their famous Kentucky Bourbon.
It was a beautiful bar, all woodsy, plush and beautiful.
But, they were busy, it would have taken too long,
So, now its BED TIME!!! YEAH!!!

Wed

07/25/2007 07:08:48

jim Bond Fund jargon

Yield - What the bonds have paid in the last 7 to 30 days. Kind of worthless to look at.
Net Asset Value (NAV) - What the bond fund is worth, per share.
Total Return - What the bonds have paid dividends, along with their Net Asset Value changes.
However, I can't seem to pin down what period of time this value uses. Hopefully, its over 12 months.
Without knowing the time frame, its worthless.
The way it plays, if I remember right
The bond funds spit out a dividend, and the NAV goes down.
The NAV eventually goes back up...and it spits out another dividend.
While its doing this, it becomes very hard to track, unless you have kept a log of everything.
For example: Take an instance where you invest $100 to buy 100 shares in a bond fund for $1 a share(nav).
When the bond fund pays a dividend, its NAV drops to $.90 a share. Fair enough.
The bond fund pays out a 10% dividend and you don't reinvest it in the fund.
You get $100 because the Dividend=$.10 . You have 1,000 shares worth $900.
You gained nothing. You only gain $10 gain when the NAV goes back up to $1.
The bond fund pays out a 10% dividend but you have the dividend purchase more shares.
You get $0 because you rolled the Dividend over, the NAV drops to $.90 .
You now have have 1,100 shares worth $1,000 (1000x$1 + 100x$1)
You gained nothing. You only gain $10 when the NAV goes back up to $1.
There may be an advantage to buying the bond fund, right before it pays the $10 dividend.
The price of the fund before it pays the dividend should be $1.10, I'd think.
All of this makes funds very difficult to track without keeping a log.
If you have the dividends payed to you, then you have to keep a log of all payments.
Its comforting to know that if you have the dividends paid to you for years and years and years, its unlikely that the NAV of the fund would ever drop much less than your original purchase NAV.

Wed

07/25/2007 00:02:54

jim Nightmare on Durrett Street

Today, I spent the whole day fighting Freddy Kruger.
I only slept a few hours last night, and that Vicodin doesn't leave your system like it should.
So, I kept nodding off.
It was harder staying awake today, than it was on our 35 hour drive to Louisville.
Rough day!
I had two meetings today, on top of it all.
One was a conference call with about twenty people connected. Very anticlimactic.
I hear, that if I worked salaried at my job for a year,
I could pretty much transfer anywhere in the country.
I could even end up working in that old data center in Las Vegas, right around the corner from GMa's.
Wow....it is a small world.
hmmm.

Wed

07/25/2007 13:29:32

sae (Reply).Nightmare on Durrett Street

But I thought you wanted out of Lost Wages?

Tue

07/24/2007 07:10:35

jim We are Wall Streeters now!

I invested in the SWHFX mutual fund.
I invested in Schwab’s Schwab Health Care Fund (SWHFX)
Its Average Return runs around 8%
If anyone has any investment suggestions, I'm all ears.

Tue

07/24/2007 11:30:55

sae (Reply).We are Wall Streeters now!

How about investing in the "SAE fund for the monetarily disabled". It is my means to pad my wallet, and bribe Jeffwee and others to like me. The return on investment is -100%. Would you like to write me your first donation check now, or a bit later?

Wed

07/25/2007 13:48:32

sae (Reply)...We are Wall Streeters now!

No, you give me money and/or other valuables, and I give you a very valuable nothing.

Tue

07/24/2007 07:05:08

jim Phantom toothaches. Whats up with that?

Up most of the night.
The dentist gave me a script of Vicadin, which I gratefully took.
Vicadin seems to make me itch, and it keeps me up for some reason.
hmmm.
I guess it'll take a few days for the infection to go down.
And I thought it was all over, too.

Mon

07/23/2007 10:30:21

sae .Dentist Appointment

Good Luck with the dentist, Jimmy... I tried IMing you yesterday, and got no reply. It said you were online.

Mon

07/23/2007 14:06:00

Jim (Reply)Dentist Appointment

Dr Mathis
Appointment: 502-451-2212
3000 Bardstown Rd, 40205

He told me we could save the tooth, like it was a cherished life form...haha.
I told him the tooth had no use, it had nothing to grind against. It wasn't a chomper.

Once again, I heard the story about how I'm going to look all goofy.
They always say its because my teeth have nothing to rest against, they'd fall over or be pointed in all kinds of directions (they teach that story in Dental School, I guess). I told the dentist what I really wanted was dentures or plates. And I'd like two sets of them made.
I told work I'd be coming back in unless they turned me into a drooling idiot.
Well, that's what they did, darn-it! Taking any kind of time off at this job is insane. But then again, coming in, frothing at the mouth and sounding like I lost half my brain could damage my already, odd, reputation worse.
I really wanted them 10 years ago when I had more jawbone.
The jawbone deteriates from tooth decay. If you have no teeth, you don't suffer as much jawbone loss (as I understand it). Anyway, I'm scheduled to come back 8/27/2007 at 2pm

Sun

07/22/2007 13:57:04

jim Louisville,KY-IroquoisPark

Sat

07/21/2007 16:26:50

jim Louisville,KY-Six Flags

Fri

07/20/2007 18:36:18

jim Louisville,KY-Belle Of Louisville,Onion Coach Ride

Thu

07/19/2007 20:20:04

jim Louisville,KY-4thSt LuckyStrike

Tue

07/17/2007 21:10:54

jim Louisville,KY-Becky,Jim Bistro

Mon

07/16/2007 20:32:04

jim Louisville,KY-OldBld bldgs

Sun

07/15/2007 23:33:05

Chez2199 .The Lake Rudolf Experience

you didn't drink to much, just don't fish when your vision is blurred! silly boy .. you need to stick to things that are relative to the number of beers you have had.. fishing after more than 15 beers is not the right thing :-). On the other hand don't get up and have another beer the next morning. get up eat some real good breakfast and take a nap.. you feel like a new man after that. :-) All in all it was great to have you with us for the weekend

Sat

07/14/2007 10:57:28

jim SantaClause,IN-HolidayWorld leaving

Sat

07/14/2007 08:08:01

Chez2199 Camping

Yo Dude! now we camp for a couple days and enjoy the life of fishing eating drinking and the Glorious game of Corn-Hole. A new experiance the the city slicker of las vegas LOL

Fri

07/13/2007 21:06:15

Jim Eliminated those pesky bot ids.

I should do like Yahoo, Aol and the other sites do for logons
They put a graphic up to verify a human is trying to log in.
Another long day. Got up at 5am.
Found the web site had been abused. So I wrote a fix and put it in.
Figured out my project's design was flawed.
I corrected it, but...
The real problem is, I've sent the Documentation to several users for our meeting next Tuesday.
So, my first meeting may make me look bad.
Work keeps asking me if I'd consider full time.
Its a toss up of benefits verses dollars.
At any rate, I told them I couldn't commit to anythingt until my contract is up in November.
I indicated I would like that.
I finally got the seller's documents to sign.
Grady called and said if i could get it signed today, the deal was probably blown.
All this happened today, on a Friday, around 4pm.
I had to go home during rush hour, get the docs, find a notary and a Fed Ex place.
All this I had to do in a town that rolls up its side walks at 5pm.
My brain is fried again.
Somehow, we pulled it off, and I think I lost some of my hair.

Fri

07/13/2007 09:15:14

Jim Hackers...what do you do with them?

Its funny when people try to hack this system.
There's really no useful information in this system to steal or get.
And almost everything is out in the open.
Gotta love it

Thu

07/12/2007 19:31:02

jim Louisville,KY-BAMS

Wed

07/11/2007 22:02:16

jim Louisville Blgs

Wed

07/11/2007 20:57:08

jim Louisville,KY-4thStLive Party List

Wed

07/11/2007 13:34:59

Jim Well, I am fixing toilets...lol

But I'm doing it for free.
I know, I said I'd fix toilets for what work is paying me but
The apartments hopper quit filling up and rather than wait for management to fix it, I went out and bought a Flowmaster for $6 and threw it in. Plus, I hooked up most of the Ice Maker.
Our internet is still not working.
A guy from Insight came out yesterday, and totally botched the job.
He hooked up the cable TV, and just left the cable modem.
After spending an hour on the phone with Insights Support (which, right now, costs me 45 cents a minute on my cell phone), they determined the modem was just plain BAD.
Someone left the cake out in the rain, alrighty...lol.
I would be upset, but they gave us a digital box for free.

Sun

07/08/2007 20:17:35

Jim Moving/Kentucky Derby/River Front Park

Friday, we signed papers for the apartment, but we couldn't move in yet.
So, we just hung out at Suburban.
We ate pizza at Old Chicago's, and I've gotta say, it was the best pizza I'd ever had!
Saturday, we moved into our apartment.
It took two trips to move out of the Suburban.
Then we bought a TON of Walmart furniture (airbed, chairs...)
We moved all of that in and passed out around midnight.
Sunday, we had to exchange another VCR (without a tuner in it, which we need)
Our GPS went strange on us, and we ended up at a Walmart in New Albany.
On our way back, we had to go down Albany's back streets.
We actually got stopped at a railroad crossing for 20 minutes (I hopped out and picked flowers...lol).
Albany's a beautiful, small town with very old Buildings.
I64 was out to Louisville, so once again, we had to take a detour and I blew a flat!
Finally, about noonish, we got back to Louisville.
Churchill Downs with Rod and Jessica.
Rod and Jessica met us at the apartments and gave us a lift. They are such great company!
Becky picked the horses and won!!! Yippee!!!
Ending the day, we went to The River Front Park
Cool place. There's a Joes Crab Shack high on stilts over the river.
The park has a water jet show, and lots of grassy areas.
Kids were playing frisbee football and soccer. It looked like a blast.

Sun

07/08/2007 13:43:42

jim Louisville,KY-Kentucky Derby-Rod,Jessica,Jim,Becky

Sat

07/07/2007 16:22:21

Jim See ya’ll Tuesday

We're going off line until we get our new internet service
Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

Sat

07/07/2007 07:26:34

Jim Living downtown...how to adapt?

I'm really excited about this change.
Entertainment is in walking distance. A CVS is just a block away.
I noticed that most of the Kentucky Towers dwellers don't have a car.
To get from the street to our apartment
- we have to park in a garage
- go to the 3rd floor
- walk up a ricketty stair/bridge to our apartment building
- go down and around a hallway
- take the elevator to the fifth floor
- then go down the hall to our apartment #503.
There is no convenient way to get from the parking garage to the apartment at ground level.
However, if we take the bus
- We can enter the apartments directly from the front
- take the elevator to the fifth floor
- then go down the hall to our apartment #503.
So, either we find a place to park at ground level, or we take the bus.
This is going to be so much FUN! And I am going to lose weight!

Fri

07/06/2007 15:32:10

jim Louisville,KY-Kentucky Towers-Apt

Fri

07/06/2007 00:15:38

Jim Our new apartment

We move in 3pm tommorrow...yahoo!!!
Kentucky Towers: 513 S 5th #504, Louisville, KY 40202, (502) 585-6300
Our apartment is on the 5th floor of this 1920's high rise.
In its hay day, was a ritzy hotel. The Hilton is across the street from it.
They are refurbishing it, along with the rest of the downtown area.
I'm curious, and paranoid, about moving into a high rise.
But this one looks REALLY COOL!!!
It has 100 washer dryers, a swimming pool on the 5th floor, an excercise room and shops on the first floor.
A Hilton Hotel and a coffee shop are across the street.
Fourth Street Live, Louisvilles ritzy party area, is one block away.
Best of all, its only 10 minutes to work,
the drive is simple,
so its unlikely that I'll be blasting the stereo,
then miss a turn at 70 mph,
and end up headed towards Nashville,
like I did the other day.

The people are very friendly and mostly attractive.

- A security guard showed us the route from the parking lot to our apartment and was nice enough to walk us through the route. He said its a quiet building.
- I talked to a front desk clerk from the Hilton who was smoking outside. She said we were going to love it. She had a lease 4 blocks down the road.
- There was a crazy lady sitting at a bus stop yelling things, probably talking to god.
- A fellow hit me up for a dime. Another hit me up for a cigarette.
- Three girls walked in alone at different times.
Each dressed like they just came from a company party.
One said she was involved in politics, and just got back from Washington DC.
So the people are going to be quite varied, but not threatening.
Our next challenge will be finding furniture on a shoe string budget.
We won't have an internet connection until Wednesday.

Thu

07/05/2007 01:15:48

Jim 4th of July at Rods

- Spent the day checking out webcaming with Sonny, Jennifer and Joy.
- Chatted with Gma.
It was great!
We were actually on our way to downtown Louisville to watch the fireworks over the Ohio, but decided to swing by and say Happy 4th!!!
Rod spent about $300 on fireworks, which sounds familiar to me.

We hung, drank a couple of beers, at beer brats.
Jessica, Rod and Reese's daughter plays the clarinett...and she had it sitting out. I picked it up, and guess what? I could still play, AND read sheet music. Its been 30 years since I was 1st chair in the high school band. There was a thunderstorm with lots of lightening on 15 mile drive home.
Altogether, it was quite a night.
We'll be going to the Kentucky Derby's last race on Sunday.

Wed

07/04/2007 09:50:00

Jim Apartment follow up is important

We saw an adorable apartment.
It was in an old brick four plex, right off the street, with parking in the back. There were trees in the front.
The owner/manager was outside fixing a window. I asked him why it was broken. He said he didn't know.
He showed us the apartment. It was nice, $500 a month, and we filled out an application.
I felt ready to take it.
HOWEVER...
When I was leaving, a guy at the bottom of the stairs gave me an evil look.
Then the manager said, "Hey Jose, how are you doing?".
Jose dropped his look and smiled.
We drove by an hour later.
There were three 15/16 year olds hanging out in the hallway.
They were sitting on the stairs and they were dressed in gang attire.
When the sun goes down, the bad guys come out.
I realized why the manager was replacing broken windows.
At least I learned that 4 plexes like that sell for $240,000 here.

Wed

07/04/2007 05:24:07

Jim They should have built Las Vegas in Louisville

They should have built Las Vegas here, instead of in the middle of a desert!
Its beautiful out here. The days are hot and muggy, however, the nights are cool and very pleasant.
And my breathing problems have all but gone away, so its actually therapeutic out here.
It would be hard to come back to Vegas to live now.
I'd forgotten how beautiful this country, and its people can be.
I've heard one horn honk out here, and it was for a good reason.
I put my blinkers on to switch lanes, and people let me in. Wow!
One of my test to see how people are in different areas of the country
has been to ask strangers for directions.
People here, actually stop, look you in the eyes and try to give you their best answer.
They seem less self absorbed than Vegans.
This would be a great place to chant a mantra! Lol.
Speaking of spirituality….
Wouldn't you know, my Be Quick notary/courier business took off like a rocket, right after I agreed to this consulting contract. I also had problems with my tenants and my condo's association too right before I moved. The logical solution was to sell my condo.
I felt like something was pushing me into coming out here, for some reason.
Ever feel like that? Like you are being controlled?
For years now, I've felt that I couldn't retire yet…
that there was something else I had to do first.
I felt that I'd be led to a task. I believe that's whats happenng.
Lately, its a voice has been SCREAMING at me, telling me what to do.
(Move to Louisville and sell your property)
Its like 'the voice' that hits us all when we reach puberty.
It comes to us in dreams. It tells us what to do and how to do it, and it requests action.
For some reason, I'm blessed by being able to remember almost all of my dreams.
For a long time, I have had no doubt that 'that voice' in my dreams has been telling me what to do, and how to do it.
I wish that voice would become even louder.
I hope in death, 'that voice' will show me its face.
If it does, I know it will be beautiful.
Well, that voice is telling me to eat now.
It's 5am, I'm hungry, and all I have to eat is some old shoes.
I wonder how long I'll have to boil them before they can become breakfast.

Thu

07/05/2007 13:41:10

sae (Reply).They should have built Las Vegas in Louisville

So, you're hearing voices? First sign of (1) you're getting old, (2) you're losing your insanity, and (3) you're back to programming as a profession.

Tue

07/03/2007 06:40:50

Jim Apartment Quandary

Barrington's Place
Pro's: Downtown. $540, all utilities. We have a 14th floor apartment reserved that looks out over Louisville. Its walking distance from the waterfront, 4th Street Live, Slugger Stadium. Its 10 minutes from work.
Con's: Management is flaky. They told us we could move in the 6th. Now, they're saying the 18th. They just told us it was a year lease, not a 6 month, and the buy out was 2 month. We haven't seen a model, or the apartment, only pictures. Parking is across the street for $50 a month.
Crescent Center
Pro's: Downtown. $750, no utilities. Great looking place. Its walking distance from the waterfront, 4th Street Live, Slugger Stadium. Its 10 minutes from work. Parking is free.
Con's: Expensive.
Intown Suites
Pro's: Next to work. $800, all utilities. A little larger than Suburban. Decent looking place.
Con's: Questionable area.
Imperial Suites
Pro's: 5 minutes from work. $549, no utilities, 6 month lease. Large 1 bedroom on 11th floor. Decent looking place. Very secure. Has a pool (closes in August).
Con's: View faces South and kind of sucks. If a North view opened up, it would be great!
Breckenridge Square
Pro's: 10 minutes to work. $589, 800 sq ft, internet, pool, spa. Nice looking area.
Con's: Unknown.
Breckenridge Pointe
Pro's: 10 minutes from work. $450, $50 utilities, internet, 675 sq ft. A little larger than Suburban. Easy parking. Only 60 units. Great looking place.
Con's: 1 year lease.

Sun

07/01/2007 00:17:42

jim Louisville,KY-4thSt Party-Jim,Becky

Sat

06/30/2007 16:28:20

jim Louisville,KY-Mtel InTown Suites

Sat

06/30/2007 06:26:13

Jim The IPhone, my next splurge!

I checked one out today and I've gotta have one.
- They hold 4 to 8 gigs.
- The operating system is smooth.
- Its quick and extremely easy to use.
- It can import Outlook files.
- The camera is great.
- It has maps.
- The interface to the internet is excellent.
They'll be coming out with units that have GPS built in.

Fri

06/29/2007 21:36:46

jim Louisville,KY-4th St Downtown Bldgs

Fri

06/29/2007 19:47:50

jim Shelbyville,KY-Mall,SpencerGifts,Becky

Thu

06/28/2007 22:29:44

Jim I love these lightning bugs.

If Las Vegas had cockroaches with neon glowing butts, they'd be feeding them!
I could envision people using cock roaches to light up their kitchen cabinets.
You could even put sugar down along walkways for the glowing critters.

Thu

06/28/2007 21:23:14

jim Louisville,KY-Apt