There is a place here in Las Vegas where you can operate heavy equipment. Just pay your $200 or so, undergo the training, and have at it on the empty lot. I would do it except I've got my own piece of semi-heavy equipment at home in Colorado. Operating heavy machinery is a lot of fun, if you ever get a chance.



Here I am at the controls of a track hoe getting ready to take the first swipe at a farm house we were tearing down:



Here's our Ford skidsteer. Most people call them Bobcats, but that's a brand name.



This was taken near our house in Las Vegas the other day:



This is the hallway of one of the hotel floors at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. It gave me the impression of a space ship.



Every pair of two rooms has its own little foyer off that main hall.



This lends a real air of class to the place because you never see the maid carts and abandoned room service trays lined up down the corridor. You also feel special not having your room open right onto the hall.

Here's an old trophy Mr. Troutbend got a few years ago. I'm posting as a tribute to the bowling gods. Maybe he'll bring home another one these days. Last week he had 10 strikes in a row, but needed 12 for a perfect game.



One time he bowled a 299, and the bowling alley gave him a bowling with a plaque that said "the one that got away."