The Vegas vacation, part 3.

Almost everyone in Vegas must be filthy rich, but not the homeless people you see under the highway overpasses. Everyone else has a big ass pickup truck, van or SUV. There is some smog downtown, but the constant breeze keeps it from getting too bad.
My family is politically divided and it was just a matter of time before simple banter turned to fairly heated discussions. I tried to stay out of it, but had to chime in when I heard some very faulty “facts”.
My Mom and Dad were talking about the current matters of the country. My Mom brought up the national debt, and my brother mistakenly confused the national debt with the trade deficit (which he blamed on Clinton and NAFTA). These are two very different monsters. I offered that the national debt was not related at all with the trade deficit and when Clinton left office, the budget was balanced and the national debt was nil. My brother just shook his head, like I was full of shit. It’s a fact that people get brainwashed by “political” radio shows, that’s why I don’t listen to any of them, especially when they play ridiculous parody songs that bash the other side. It’s not constructive and only fuels malcontent and partisanship.
It was too hot, so I went back inside. I think everyone is allowed to have their opinions, but please get your “facts” correct and stop listening to one sided pontiffs. You will never get the complete honest story that way. But I think some people don’t want the truth, they only want to hear what pleases them.
We took my Dad out to dinner for his Birthday, which went great. The kids were pretty well behaved and I thought the waitress did a great job, but my sister in law thought she had an attitude. The waitress may have had an attitude, but she did her job and fixed whatever problems we had (mostly very strong drinks, but who normally complains about that?). The check was very reasonable and no one was able to clean their plate. That's a compliment to the establishment.
One funny thing was my older brother giving my youngest brother crap about not using his turn signal on the way to the restaurant (no one in Vegas uses them). On the way back home, he was sure to use his signal, or even over use it. We were laughing, wondering if it was being noticed.
The next day I had an early lift to the airport with my son. We made it there in plenty of time, but traffic was a concern. We bade farewell to my brother and Dad and headed into the terminal. This time, I decided I would carry the one bag we have onto the plane. I had to throw away my second lighter on the trip (which my brother bought for me, thanks!), because of this choice.
We got to the gate fine and I figured I would spend the few quarters I had in my pocket on a 25 cent slot machine, but I found they only take bills. I skipped it, so I can honestly say I broke even in Vegas, only because I didn’t gamble at all.
The plane left on time and made it to DC in the expected time frame. It was funny that before we took off, the concierge (her term/title, not mine) got on the horn and said the plane was short on supplies for the flight and we can make an issue of it (which meant waiting) or just take off. With laughs, everyone raised their hands, saying to just go.
I will note that young children seem to become demons when they board an Airplane. They don’t cry like they normally do, they hiss a shrill scream that had me balling my fist in a way that my finger nails dug into the palms of my hands. It is really like something out of a horror movie. The parents just laughed.
Speaking of movies, they ran Shooter, with Marky Mark. It was pretty good, but predictable. And man did he kill a lot of Americans!! They squeezed in Wild Hogs next, which was the worst movie I have even partially watched in a long time. The only saving grace was the very hot Marisa Tomei. Geerrowwll. :)
We landed after Maverick maneuvered his plane like a F-14, but was actually an Airbus. It took longer than normal to disembark the plane. I blame kids for that, and most things. Someone behind me commented “check your bags like everyone else”. That had me a bit on edge because I would have to get my own bag out of the overhead. I made every effort to do it quickly and actually had time to help the guy in the row in front of me get his stuck bag out too. So blow me ass.
The drive home sucked, but I was able to listen to Don And Mike while sitting in traffic. I was not able to hear the show in Vegas at all. I found out they were going on vacation next week, which bums me out, but I won’t complain.
We made it home just in time for me to fire up my PC and make moves in the online chess tournament I am in. I had less than an hour left to make my mandatory move within 2 days before the game site forfeited my game to the opponent. I will probably lose the games anyway, the guy way out ranks me.
I noticed my American Flag (which flew over my boat when I was in the Navy) has a tear in it, about 2 inches long. I will get that sewn up pronto! My dogs are the same, annoying. We ordered pizza and my friend Jenny came down to take part and I popped in my just arrived Kids in the Hall DVD. It wasn’t as funny as I remembered it being, but it’s better than 95% of the programs on TV nowadays.
It was a whirlwind trip, and realize now that I forgot to mention the Dust Devils we saw in Vegas. One was at least 1000ft high, but most were pretty small. They are cool to see none the less. I told my Dad about the dust devils on Mars, which seemed to amaze him. http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20050819a.html
It was great to see my family, even if we don't all agree on things, we know we love eachother and will support eachother whenever it is needed...I think.