Denver Downtown

Denver's buildings seem as tall as the Las Vegas Stratosphere

Its COLD in Denver, even in June!

Eastern Colorado...and lots of it! 
We crossed about 200 miles of rolling grasslands on I70.

It took us 34 hours to drive from Las Vegas to Louisville.
Notes about the trip:
Its 1869 miles from Las Vegas to Louisville.
We took off at 2 pm Sunday, and got here at 3 am Tuesday.
Louisville is three hours ahead of Vegas. Its 800 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, but its in Atlantic Time Zone.
We took a total of 3.5 hours out for naps.
Nevada: Hot, shades of one primary color,  lots of desert monotony, but its easy driving.
Utah: Cold, colorful, lots of desert, beautiful high desert, lots of forests and lakes. By far, the most beautiful state we saw.
Colorado: Cold, colorful, beautiful scenery from Grand Junction to Denver. Navigating through the mountain roads is challenging. We saw two mountians on fire, probably from the lightning storms. Avalanches seem to cause a lot of road damage. From Denver to Kansas, its all rolling wheat fields, and the driving is very easy.
Kansas: Warm, rolling wheat fields. The yellow and green wheat fields seem to glow when its cloudy. Kansas City has the worst drivers I've ever seen.
Missouri: Warm, lots of trees and hills. St Louis is beautiful at night.
Illinois, Indiana: It rained most of the way. It was straight driving, but we did it a night.
The last 80 miles of the trip seemed the longest. Usually, you can see the glow of a city 60 miles away. We were in the Indiana hills, so we couldn't see Louisville's glow until were 10 miles away.
Downtown Louisville.

Buildings from the 1800's

4th Street Live

Six Flags

Eagle Canyon

The Pass


The Shrubs

Thats FUNNY!
I had to tell her my email address is ajilon@lvdude.com several times.
Since my refinance failed after signing the closing papers, I feel cautious when people say something is a done deal.
Ajilon's being 'late' and not calling me made me feel very leary about coming here.
I had to pin them down with, "If you say go, I'll take off Saturday. If not, I'll wait another week. Should I go?".
It's odd they'd still be doing a background check on me.
Reference checks beyond the question, 'does this person exist' has never made any sense to me anyway.
What is a person going to do? Put down a bad reference?
Like I'd put down Rodney Dangerfield's number. "Yea, jim has a big heart...and a big everything else too.".
lol.
I still haven't seen Ajilon's contract. I'm headed there today to sign some papers.

Long drive. We took 3 naps.
Utah and Colorado were incredibly beautiful.
I even liked Kansas.

While half brain dead, and not being able to spell my name right twice in a row, we arranged our Suburban Extended Stay hotel room. Its TINY. Its a good thing we only booked it until July 9th. I'm just glad we decided to bring Walmart drawers They work great for both storage and cheap furniture.
We went to 4th Street Live today.
It was small, and no where near like anything in Vegas.
The Hard Rock Bar and Restaurant was smaller than Joes Crab Shack..
We ate at a Cajun style restaurant.
$6 a bowl for Jambalaya, Bourbon Chicken and more...and their sweet tea was beautiful.
Later, we toured the river front.
We sat on the of the riverside vernalli watching the water flow.
We didn't see any barges or boats, but it was a very peaceful view.
Moving down the way, we went to 'The Bad Side of Town'
The streets were narrow, one way streets, and the houses were very small, but they all had front porches.
Old people, kids, and all kinds of other people were sitting on their porches, playing ball, and teasing each other.
I'd say the racial lines have been erased here.
I didn't feel any fear.
Everything about Louisville seems to be quite beautiful.
Its hilly, with lots of trees, flowers and foilage.
There are lot of rivers, creeks, lakes, streams and waterfalls.
The homes range from modern to ancient. $18,000 to $2,000,000...and all are very livable.
All of the major chains are here, but the mom and pop restaurants exist everywhere.
The people don't seem to group by their race. The poor side of town consisted of all the races.
All of this is very good.

It was a girl who thought we processed loans 24x7.
We rambled on, I explained that I'm am just a humble Notary Public, and I only notarized loans.
She explained she was from Utah, got into a bind and she needed a loan.
Wellio, we ended up joking and laughing about things.
Then somewhere along the line she invited me over to offer herself to me.
That just figures.
If you can't find a woman in Las Vegas, you ain't looking.
People come here for many reasons: to vacation, to get rich, or simply just to break the circle they're stuck in.
Everyone here is looking for something they feel they can't get anywhere else, and its not friends that they want.
Welcome and Goodbye to Las Vegas....

Life seems like a perfect chaos.
How can it be that nothing happens the same way twice, but there are perfect circles?
How can it be that you can't get something from nothing, when consciousness is just that?
How can it be that a perfect vacuum doesn't exist, when all matter floats around in one?
How can it be that once a circle is complete, it has no beginning or end?
Life is full of paradoxes. Perfection and chaos cannot exist together, but they do. They need each other. It's a paradox.
These past two months have been a perfect chaos.
I'd be a fool to not realize I'm being led me into leaving Las Vegas.
The condo, the association, the loan, the late ad, the new contract; the dragging out of things.
If I'd gotten the loan, or the ad came out, I'd be staying in Las Vegas.
The following is not normal:
The condo's association soured, after 30 years, and after we finally got good tenants.
The loan failed, after everything everything was signed at the title company. It should have been finalized.
The Be Quick ad failed to come out for 3 months. It came out the day after I accepted the job in Louisville.
My contract in Louisville was sold, and delayed, each week, for a month. That is not normal.
All these things caused me to almost go broke (within a couple hundred dollars, and thats not my style).
Its just all too phenomenal.
But if there's a reason for the above, why the delay?
Its like something is waiting for Becky and me, and it's timing our arrival.
I guess, I'm impressed.
I feel like I'm experiencing some kind of miracle.
I don't believe in ghosts, or anything else surreal.
The Mustang's fuel filter failed and a tire blowout within 10 minutes of each other.
It happened the week before our taking off. I see no connection between the two.
I wasn't going to take the Mustang, but after the delays in the contract, I decided I had to take the truck.
Okay, the fuel filter needed to be replaced, and the tire needed to be replaced.
And Sonny needs a vehicle to find a new job. 
I had to do the right thing. I had to fixed the car before leaving.
The car would have broken down when Sonny was driving my it.
An insane person assigns reason to phenomena.
EG: "The crops are dying because God is mad at us."
Perhaps thats what I'm doing.
Or it may be its my knowledge of gambling,
I understand the roll of the dice may may appear chaotic,
but I know a 7 will come up, on average, every 6 rolls over the course of a million rolls.
When you understand what is going on, there is no chaos. There is a perfect circle.
The dice roll the way they do simply because they have too.
So if say, 12s roll 1,000 times in a row, its because they have too. It only seems phenomanal at the time.
This pattern will repeat forever, as long as the dice are rolled.
This life seems chaotic right now. I'm seeing 12's roll 1,000 times in a row. 
Everything this life has shown me so far, has been completely wonderful and incredible beyond belief.
I can see a blade of grass growing, but I don't understand how, or why its growing.
I just know that it is doing it, it is necessary, and that it has to do what it does.
My life will end in the years to come, and my end will meet its beginning. 
I hope I'll come to realize my purpose and why I was necessary?
Everything large and small, living and non living, is significant.
And all things seem to exist for a purpose.

I called her Ma, not GMa this time.
Its hard for me to call someone Mom. I loved my Mom with all of my heart.
But I love Ma, Jennifer, Dustin, Squirt and Sonny these days.
Everyone should have a title with their name. ** smiles **
We took the kids driving up the strip in the Mustang.
It was too hot to have the top down. We saw traffic jams and one nasty accident.
We saw tweakers, and hookers...and it was 100 degrees outside.
I won't miss that.
I will miss the love I've discovered in Las Vegas.
Its a hard thing to find, here, in Sin City.
This is Jim...Signing off...From Las Vegas, Nevada.

I was replacing the fuel filter on the Mustang and bingoooo, I got the call.
I passed the drug test.
I was sweating some muscle relaxers I took on 7th when I was suppose to be working for US Consultants.
I passed the 20 years of background screening
It was supposed to be only 10 years.
So now, my resume is as clean as it can get, even with all of the acquistions that have happened.
We may take off tommorrow night

- Family
- The Strip
- The mountains
- The proximity to Los Angeles and the ocean
- Local casinos
- All of that R rated adult fun out there
I've got 33 years of memories here. That's a lot of Christmas's
I've lost friends and relatives here.
I'll always be a Las Vegan.

- the Spanish invasion
- the aggressive drivers
- hearing "hate rap" music blasting at stop lights
- the smog, dust, allergens and the heat
- the pan handlers, hookers and tweakers
- unfriendly people, distant neighbors, people moving all the time, and the temporary nature of friendships here
- the overcrowding and poor quality of our schools
- the high cost of insurance and poor quality of health care
This isn't Kansas, Dorothy, it's VEGAS...lol

Our drivers are terrible here, we need
- Mass transit systems that are affordable. Pull offs for buses. Park and Rides.
- Ticket issuing traffic cams.
- Signs showing traffic conditions, with warnings about tailgaiting.
The greater Las Vegas area is the fastest growing area in the nation.
Oscar Goodman is right. Las Vegas is set to be the world's next Rome.
As such, we should have:
- Better schools, more teachers, and higher standards of education
- Better quality and more affordable health care.
- Legislation that eliminates malpractice lawsuits. How many 'messages' do you need to send the medical community?
- Better social services for legal citizens
- Better road design. No more 2 mile long, 2 lane off ramps that are 200 feet in the air. A child could plan better.
  New roads hit capacity when they open. That's poor capacity planning.
- Water should be a forethought, not an afterthought. The Colorado River is tapped.
A long time ago, there could have been codes set for the distance between houses.
Regulators let landowners squeeze every house possible into the smallest amount of acreage.
Now, we have overcrowding. There is plenty of land in Nevada.

I think so.
Most of whats going on seems typical for a good job.
- If I get this job, and we sell the condo,
We won't have any money problems at least for 3 years.
I'll be 54, Sonny will be 59, and Becky will be 48 when things start going south.
Thats if our investments pay nothing. The key word here is, investments .
We can't go on a spending spree and we have to live cheap.
- If I get this job and we don't sell the condo,
I'll be able to pull everybody's weight.
- If I don't get this job and we sell the condo,
we should be able to scrape by on Be Quick
- If I don't get this job and we don't sell the condo,
things will start going south by October.
 We have assets, they're just not easily converted into cash. 
A lot of things can happen in three months. We could finance!
I'll figure something out.
We've been on an $1,800 a month budget
Which is pretty cheap for a homeowner and two people in Vegas.
Lately, trying to refinance, buying tools for Be Quick, going to Disneyland, Adventure Dome, Star Trek Adventure...
has put us way over budget. We've been spending way beyond our means.
We've got to think rich and act poor.
Some things that have happened in the last two months are pretty unusual.
I'll just blame them either on bad luck or bad judgement on my part.
Without a causal connection, though, the odds of what happened yesterday are phenomenal.

Popped a tire. Fuel pump went bad.
Both unrelated..I think. What are the odds of that?
We left Frys about 4pm today.
It seemed kind of weird, to pop a tire while entering I215, then the fuel pump giving out 2 miles later.
We really weren't sure our tire popped at all, and it didn't seem like we needed to pull over.
But about 2 miles down the freeway, the engine started slowing and racing sporadically.
Then it died.
Freeway Assistance came by, but after a few minutes it, it would start again.
We didn't notice a flat tire.
A few miles later, at the Warm Springs exit, the engine died again.
It finally started and we made it somewhere on Warm Springs.
Then the tire started flopping around.
So I replaced it with a donut, all the while, burning my hands on the tools, and ruining my new dress pants.
It looked like my tire had melted (I'm serious).
We got another mile, and the engine died, again.
Cars were whizzing by us at 80mph.
Finally, it started again, and we made it to Paradise and Warm Springs.
We stopped and called our insurance for tow.
We had no water. We had no one to call. My tools were too hot to touch.
After two hours of waiting, we'd managed to get the car to a Rebel Station nearby.
Finally the tow truck pick us up, but all of the repair shops had closed.
The tow driver dropped us off at Pep Boys. They said I couldn't leave the car parked there.
So, we drove it home.
Its now 8pm.
I'm thinking tommorrow, we'll replace the fuel pump, fuel filter and get a new tire.
OH, I took my drug test.
We won't know the result until Friday or Monday.
Everything is being cut pretty close.

I'm driving the F150 to Louisville...if I go!!!
Ajilon called this morning.
They said Bank of America didn't check out.
I told them it was 18 years ago, while Valley Bank was being acquired by Bank of America.
I looked it up in Wikipedia and the Valley Bank acquisition wrapped up in 1992, after the Security Bank acquisition.
But to us, and especially me, I was working for and contracting with Bank of America.
It just didn't say that on their checks.
And the conversions were for Base24.
There is no Valley Bank anymore. It became BOA.
How do you answer that...zig or zag?
hmmm.
I talked to the guy at Caesars Indiana...
He's going through their 5th acquisition.
Same job. Same everything.
At least, they're not change the name everytime...lol

I just got a delivery from a Fed Ex deliveryman (for my Quest drug test).
I noticed he was driving a small, obviously poorly kept, probably spring driven, car.
SO, I stopped him and asked him if he was an independant contractor.
He said "YEP".
"Fed Ex concentrates its truck routes on Business-To-Business deliveries."
"For Business-To-Home deliveries, they contract us."...
hmmm
There's an easy job that anyone can do!
The contractors have to take a drug test and a physical exam first.
I think, if I stayed here and did the notary thing, I'd want to add that to my courier side of business.
Speaking about drug test.
I won't know if I can take off until either Friday, or Monday...and that really hurts.

The waiter gave me some soggy Orion Nebula Crackers at Quarks Restaurant.
So I called him a slimy, Swarathean Mole Squeezer. THEN HE HIT ME WITH HIS WARPING STICK!!!

Fortunately, Sonny came to my defense.
He'd been playing quarters on the Hilton slots, and he made the waiter smell his HAND!!!
"That quarter stink. That nasty quarter stink! KAHN!!!" he yelled, as his face hit the floor.
Once again, we emerged from the Las Vegas Hilton as happy slot players...
Seriously, the Borg 4D ride was excellent
We got to pretend we were in the Enterprises, and being abducted by the Borg.
Star Trek 3D was cool too.
It was a motion ride with spills and thrills.
It was an interstellar blast.
The food at Quarks Restaurant was kind of bland.
We had a 3 tiered appetizer which was good.
My seafood dish had a salt and butter sauce, with brown rice and zucchini. yuck.
Becky had a pecan chicken sandwich with fries. The fries were excellent.
The restaurant had a really good decor, but the food was a cross between McDonalds and Long John Silvers.
I like Long John Silvers better.

Ajilon is verifying my BOA employment now. That was 18 years ago...wow.
They're overnighting a 3 part Quest Drug Test Form to me.
I should get it tomorrow.
I have no idea what they are going to ask on it, and how much they are going to critique what I say.
I've never been tested for drugs before.
Ajilon's relocation specialist called.
They wanted to know when I'll be in Louisville.
I didn't know what to tell them.

   I'm just rolling with the flow    

I'm always going to wonder if Be Quick would have flown.
We've been passing up at least 3 calls a day.
I feel like I'm betting on a Roulette table
Only on table both Red and Black always win, and I have to choose the best winner.
The color I don't pick, will probably never be an option again.
I'm basing the choices on which opportunity has the best foundation to build on.
1) Bank of America/ Ajilon
- Is a solid company
- I can get health insurance through them, and even have a 401K plan.
- Will start out at over $100k
- Requires full time hours.
- I can build a reputation through them, and possibly get contracts for years to come, any place in the country.
2) Be Quick
- Is not solid
- I could be building a reputation for it right now, but instead, I'm ruining it.
- Pays around $10k as it exists right now
- Requires only part time hours.
- If the system went country wide, could pay $100+k.
Its a tough call.
*** The best idea would be to get both of them working for me
But, that's going to be difficult to do in Louisville with a full time job.

Bank of America is going through the 16 pages I faxed to them last night.
I made a mistake and wrote down US Consulting as my employer for M2 corp in Orlando.
It should have been STJ Inc. OOPS.
Pat Hill at US Consulting called me about it.
So, I frantically called Mike to verify we worked for STJ Inc.
Then I called Ajilon, and the person doing the background check to straighten it out.
They still haven't told me where to take a drug test.
I'm starting to pull my hair out over this thing.
I have a back up plan (Be Quick). If I need money, I can get lots of it.
But, I guess I'm going to have to cancel my hotel reservation in Louisville again.

A guy called yesterday. He said he had 35 notaries that he wanted to merge with my group.
A girl called yesterday and wanted to know if she could work for me.
A girl called today and wanted to know if she could work for me.
I didn't know what to say.
I referred them to Go Notary, even though, I know they are a 3 person team with no computer system.

I've got an old buddy in Louisville, Ky. YEAH!
He actually dwells on the other side of the river in Clarksville, Indiana.
Those people talk so funny over there. 
Why can't they learn to talk ryat? 
Actually, very few people here have an accent. This area is a melting pot of nationalities.

He's the Information Systems Director for Caesars Indiana, which is pretty cool.
I remember when he applied for the transfer back in the 90's.

Its a Small World, after all.
His home page is: http://home.insightbb.com/~chez2/

Sonny is interviewing at Circus Circus
Becky rubbed his head for good luck, and I shook his hand like a car salesman.
I'm definitely going to Louisville, KY
I've faxed 16 pages of info and am waiting for further instructions.
Ruth sounds GGGRRREEEeeeeaaaattttt!!!
Stage IV cancer never sounded better.
She says she's even up to 128 lbs. The Mississippi doctors may renege on their diagnosis. hmmm.
Ruth thinks praying has helped. I told her IT REALLY WORKS!
Attitude is they key to a good life.
Social Security denied Ruth disability, even with Stage IV cancer.
However, they said she can get if she gets a divorce.
So she's getting a paper divorce.
Isn't that just weird.

Ajilon: Clark Zalot 502-454-5840 was supposed to call me.
However, I called them.
The deal is:
- Their sending me an email with where to do for the drug test (Quest Diagnostics).
   I'll need to dig out the old fax machine to fax a new contract back to them.
- Pay is weekly, autodeposit! The timesheet is on the web. (I already like these people).
- Per Diem in Louisville is $128 per day and thats great, so it should work out to $34 and $16, so the write offs are great.
- They will help me find a great place to stay!!!
- They'll also ask Leanne if the 25th is okay (instead of next Monday).

Sonny's going to take care of Squirty.
He's not really a dog person...he likes cats!!!
Now, me, I just don't understand that.
CATS ARE WORTHLESS...hahaha.
A dog:
-  loves everything you give him to eat.
- will lick your feet, no matter how sweaty.
- will warn you when ugly people approach the house
- AND, they'll drink beer with listening to country music.
Cats do what, exactly? hehehe.

Through U.S. Consulting Services

Not!!!
No one has called yet.
I'll wait until 2pm their time, and call them.
I noticed in my notes, 
US Consulting said I'd be working W2 for the Vendor, and Ajilon would be calling me.
- I'd think that would mean I'd be working for Bank of America
- US Consulting's non-compete clause would be invalid
- Somehow, Ajilon fits in there somewhere
I was hoping all that would be cleared up today.
hmmm.
But, it all means nothing if they decide not to hire me.
I just wish I wasn't tied to the phone.
I noticed that Friday, Adam G said "Good luck with the drug test" (which I'll pass in flying colors).
I thought that was odd.
Adam also said, buying and selling contracts happens a lot with consultants. I've never heard of that though.

Needed to analyze and prepare culinary specimens for consumption by hotel patrons
Paducah is also looking for a Hotel Technician
A Front Desk Clerk.
I thought Las Vegas was creative about their titles. LOL.

Sonny said he's a little frustrated about these times.
Most things are uncertain right now. What is certain, isn't good.
At this point, he knows he'll be laid off in July, but even that is a big maybe.
The Frontier has to keep 6 engineers around until the hotel gets leveled.
I share some of Sonny's frustration
Waiting is not something I do well.
So, should I unpack?
I know I could contact Jerry Newberry's friend, Kevin McDonald.
Kevin McDonald is responsible for all of Bank of America's ATMs on the west coast.
I'd think Kevin could get me in anywhere I wish.
I could bypass this whole headhunter thing. hmmm.

So, I guess our scenario is:
- Sonny is almost out of a job
- I almost have a job
- The condo is almost sold
- The tenants are almost out
- And we can almost leave.
And, lol, I'm almost happy !!!!

Now, it looks like I'll be W2 instead of 1099 for $2 less an hour.
Plus, I'll be working with Ajilon and not US Consulting.
Its all good though, as long as I get hired.
Clark Zalot should be calling today about me taking a drug test here, maybe on Monday.
Adam said we should still be on for the 18th, but now, I'm thinking with the new red tape, it may be the 25th.
But then again, he's washed his hands of it all.
On the other hand, Ajilon must have bought my contract somehow.
hmmm.
I just hope everything doesn't go sour.
Be Quick is all but shut down now.

Looks like we're pushed back another week.
The start date was supposed to be the 11th.
Then it was pushed up to the 18th.
Now, it may or may not be pushed up to the 25th, depending on what we hear today.
I'm just rolling with the flow. haha...
We've said our goodbyes 2 times already.
By the time we say our last goodbye, we'll be hearing "Okay already!!! GET THE $&%@* OUT OF HERE".

It beats mine. It looks GREAT! It works GREAT! And you can share them.
I knew it would take a year for the world to catch up with some of the features of LVDude.
The multiple, dropdown SEARCH ________ is available on IE and Netscape.
Blogs (that even use the same code that I, eh hummm, borrowed) are like mine on Tagged and MySpace.
The drop down customizable menus and shared menus are still mine.
I think my favorites menu is still the best.
I think my Ads section is still the best too.

That's amazing!
The tenants are moving out Friday, and we're squaring up with them Saturday.
Everything is moving so fast.
I feel half brain dead.
Sonny transfered the power to our names today, while I was catching up on sleep.
We still don't know when we're taking off.
A mexican fellow wants to buy the condo.
He has 5 kids...hahaha
We have the cheapest property in Vegas, and still, he wants us to come down $2,500...lol.
I should sell just to muddy up things.

Dairy Queen closes at 10pm.
For us late nighters, and those of us who ride up and down the Strip in our robes, I think that could be good thing.
We could open at 10pm and close at 10am.
And we could sell ice cream dishes like:
- Midnight Blizzards,
- Banana Strips,
- Erotic Dipped Cones,
- Glitter Gulps,
- Casino Dawgs
- The Del Monte Experience
- Black Jack Coffee.

Jennifer's school, Odyssee, had a graduation ceremony for the 1st though 7th grades.
There must have been 421.5 guests there (as Dustin might say it). lol.
It was fun, but my brain can only handle one graduation celebration a year.
Today was the third one in one month.
I loaded up Dig Dug on my cell phone, and gave Dustin technical descriptions of every play I was making, EG - If I go under this rock, I can SMASH a minor and a dragon before they float through the rock and get me. hahaha.
He's always telling us about his HPs in Runscape.

Adam called today right at our meeting time with Grady.
He said workis putting the start date off by one week.
They need more time to get the PO set up, and to make a spot for me...okay, those are excuses, but...
Adam knows my situation and that I'm very flexible, and he said okay.
BOA put off my interview twice, so I'm not surprised.
It sounds like they are always very busy. And that sounds like I'll be much needed.
Adam says he's positive that they won't back out on the contract.
The only thing bad about starting on the 18th instead of the 11th is:
My contract would end on December 18th.
That's right before the Christmas and New Years holidays.
I don't want memories of my work drowned by holiday festivities.
I'd prefer a contract extension gets renewed the day after it expires, and not after a couple of holidays away.
Brian said, he was going to get a longer contract approved.
And that, my friends, is GREAT!!!

Good Luck!
There are no miniature golf or batting cages in Las Vegas.
Since Scandia closed, its a thing of the past.
The closest thing to Miniature Golf is located in the Adventure Dome, but if you've been around the country lately, it doesn't even come close to qualifying.
If anyone knows of a putt putt range, let us know.

The Joint Account
Pay all the house and condo bills out of the joint account.
Let me know if we get low on checks or deposit slips so I can order some more.
Jim's Account
There shouldn't be any bills for me, except for that UMC bill. I'm not that worried about that one though.