I took my Mustang in to Gaudin Ford yesterday to get an extra key and remote made. The sales rep says $24 for the key, and about $40 for the remote. $64 dollars so far, right?
He mentioned my Universal Belt needed replacing, and I asked him how much.
He said $80 with labor. I said okay. I'm thinking, with taxes, its $150 tops.
So, he writes me up an estimate for $190.
I told him, man, thats high for what you said. He said, we write them higher than they will be.
We waited for three hours, and they arrived with a bill for $380. I'm serious!
He said, well there's taxes and all. And said "NO", there is a problem, and I started getting loud. Your estimate says $190, and he said, no, that says $290. It had a suspicious looking 1 on it. I said, THATS STILL WAY TOO HIGH!
He said, oh, wait, there is a problem, and he comes back with a bill that says $310.
He said "There, its right at my estimate, I think I did a good job".
I said, "Man, you know didn't do right".
The last time I was in Vegas, Ford County screwed me.
I took my F150 in for its Air Conditioner not working. They put a charge in it, and gave me a bill for $400.
- Maybe, I wouldn't have minded if they didn't use inferior refrigerent.
The stuff they used didn't even have leak detector in it. I can't even find where you get bottles of refrigerent like that.- Maybe, I wouldn't have minded if when I took it back in again, they didn't quote me $1,200 for a new compressor.
I eneded up having to buy a $10 bottle from Auto Zone, and charging the system myself.
And then there was the time we went to buy an $8,000 car off their lot.
With the paperwork, the car came up to $30,000.
I LIKE FORD VEHICLES !
But if you have one, you'd better be willing to fix it yourself.

Honda's are mighty fine vehicles.
I wonder if all Ford Dealers hustle their customers. I was hoping/thinking it was a Vegas thing.

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Not much has happened on the job search. I'm not giving an all out effort on it yet though.

Nothing much has happened on the job front. Someone called me about a job in Minnesota.
I couldn't understand him, so I asked the guy to send me an email.
I got emails from Nandita, NanSuresh Babu Malli, and Dharani Rham all about the same opening. I also got emails from two different people from svsservices about Florida. Hopefully, the only openings I've submitted for is RJ, LordT, and Chev.
Finding a contract can be gloomy work if you try to make it happen. 

If they don't drink, gamble or have money for the shows ? This I've wondered often while living in Las Vegas.
I think I've seen most of what this desert has to offer.
I've camped  out everywhere, seen the hotspots, and even have my own secret 4x4 places.
It would take months to visit all of the casinos in Vegas.
In those months, more casino's would have been built, while the ones you visited would have been remodeled. 
Since we've been travelling, within a few blocks
- the Cannery (a high rise casino) was built
- The Nevada Palace was leveled.
- A Super Walmart has opened
- The neighbors that wanted to move got stuck, the ones that didn't got foreclosed on
- The roads that were under construction, with the cones and equipment, haven't been touched.
There's always something going on in Vegas.

George Carlin (my hero) died a couple of days ago.
For me, life is all a bonus. Its not a problem. I think no problem is a problem worth disliking.
Its all fun !!!
I don't know where I'll be next.
I know I will be on a path that will lead to home. San Diego has been great ! Louisville was great !
i've made new friends that are worth more than $1,000,000's of dollars.
They are original, and they are good people.
Gosh, life has been good. And I don't ask any help for anyone. That, in itself, makes me responsible.
Once again, life is good. I've enjoyed all of it.

We got caught with our Fly's down..har har.
Fly's Is the Bestest...but we've been-a-beachin about everything.
I just love the beach.
It's cheap, I'm broke. It agrees with me 100%.
Life is just too good.
Wow...I just noticed these blog entries don't work right with Firefox.
Whent the heck did that happen ? lol.

A bill passed Congress that will require people to use fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent light bulbs. What's interesting about this is: they are only made in China, they contain mercury, and as such, become hazardous waste when disposed of, and if you break one, you're encouraged to call a Haz-Mat team to clean it up.
I just left General Electric.
They are spending months reinventing themselves. Can't they just stop that, and spend one weekend inventing a better light bulb? I'd think a middle school science project contestant could put something together with LEDs.
I often thought, that by simply replacing the breaker that controls the lights in a house with a rectifier and stepdown transformer, then replacing the bulbs in a house with led's, would be an incredibly simple solution. It would be cheap, the bulbs wouldn't burn out, and we could move on to the next energy issue.

I know that precooling the condensor on home air conditioners with water can save homes in Las Vegas 30% off their power bill. I know, because I built a prototype. It hooked up to the garden hose spigot and used 1 gallon a day, and it didn't waste any water.
And how about making round tires for cars ? Have you pushed a car lately? The tires themselves provide friction just by changing shape as they roll. Try this with your car....try coasting on a level road to see how fast you slow down. You are slowing down because of all the resistance from wind and road resistance. I'd think that could be easily be improved...again, by a middle school science fair contestant.
I'd think new cars would be shaped more like a wings than boxes.
Speaking of cars...how about powering them with water ? You could create you're own hydrogen and oxygen at home from tap water. And when the mixture burns, its only by product would be water. That could used for making of a truly unique hybrid engine that doesn't burn petroleum.
And speaking about hybrid engines Is anyone every going to come up with a battery that comes close to 100% efficiency. Most of the energy waisted by braking could be stored in it. Whenever you let off the 'gas' pedal, the battery could be charging.
These ideas are kind of brain dead solutions. Are they too simple ? Or is everybody going through life these days with a cell phone to their ear, and a gameboy in their hands?