We're Number One! (again)

Nineteen of 20... Not Bad

Ok, I admit it. Although I'm not a member of the Chamber of Commerce or on the board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, I was bummed last year when I discovered that after a run of 19 consecutive years, Nevada had ceded the title of fastest growing state in the union. To Arizona, no less. Silver Staters felt stepped on, lied to, cheated on and treated like dirt. How could the census takers have given our long-held title away? Could they have missed somebody in the nation's fourth largest state? Perhaps a few aliens living in Area 51. However, this year, despite housing slowdowns and a near recession nationwide, the Valley of the Dollars and other areas of Nevada have regained the title. (add noisemakers here)

Between the two Julys - 06 and 07, Nevada's population grew at a rate of 2.9% to 2.5 million souls while the second place Arizonies grew at a paltry 2.8% according the Census Bureau. Nevadan's take this stuff seriously enough to plan a gaggle of Las Vegas resorts to open beginning in 2009. Even Ivana's ex - the guy with the funny hair has seen the light in the desert and is building a Tower to Trump all others. With the new building and the jobs they create new residents who will continue to flock to the Entertainment Capital should turn the housing slump upside down.

Let's talk for a minute about the so-called housing slump. Historically Las Vegas has had cheap housing, especially when compared to the Earthquake State to the west, reasonably-priced utilities, and decent wages. A couple of years ago housing prices started to boom. It was not unheard of for a development to begin selling homes based on a few models, and buyers selling the homes before they were completed at profits over six figures. Mortgage money flowed easily as "values" continued to increase. That brought in speculators who bought multiple houses with plans to "flip" them. And they did, until the bubble popped and the Ponzi scheme stopped with a few residents and many speculators holding the bag - uh mortgage.

But for resident homeowners of 5 years or more, many saw their home values double, triple, and more. Now that the big city pundits are bemoaning the great sub-prime debacle, they tell us that the average home has slipped in value about 6%, but in California, Phoenix, and Las Vegas the decline could exceed ten percent. HELLO!! It doesn't take a mathematics Phi Beta Kappa to figure that if your has house doubled or tripled in value, then loses 10% of that value, that fact does not send you directly to the soup kitchen without passing Go or collecting $ 200.00. The folks who are hurt are those who bought at the peak of the market - mostly speculators. Save your crying towels for those whose homes were destroyed by Katrina and those who did not have a 4-5 year run-up in prices.

What's the big deal with states such as Nevada, Texas, and Arizona growing in population while others such as Ohio, Michigan, and Rhode Island losing? Well for one thing, the U.S. House of Representatives and electoral votes can be affected. Texas will probably gain seats, Ohio will likely lose seats, and Nevada, Arizona and Utah may well grow enough to gain another. A little blogging music Maestro.... How about Barbara Streisand's "People."

Dr. Forgot

The Morning After

Vegas After Christmas

Twas the day after Christmas,
And throughout the Strip,
All of the wise guys,
And their molls who were hip.

Walked through casinos,
And into the Malls,
Ignoring Roulette Wheels,
And other games calls.

They hoped they'd find bargains,
Their glassed-eyes were bleary.
The girlfriends with no jewelery,
Were disgusted and teary.

Etc. etc. etc. There have been so many spinoffs on "The Night Before Christmas" that I thought I'd bring you up to speed on what things look like in Las Vegas the day after. And they look pretty much like Dubuque, Iowa or Winston-Salem, North Carolina, except for the leftover tourists who have not yet departed. That and the casinos and the buffets, and the all the things that make the Valley of the Dollars a unique place to live.

December used to be dead time in the old days. Shows went dark and performers went home to visit with their families. Then some clever marketer thought, "Why don't we take these slow times and bring in some action?" And before you could say, "Yippie Kai-o" the National Finals Rodeo moved from its cramped space in what New Yorkers call the Southwest, to the real Southwest. December has become the real cowboy month with pickup trucks and big belt buckles and lots of hats.

Years ago the December holidays would be used as a "thank you" for locals, especially cab drivers, culinary workers, and the people who make this giant carnival wheel turn. Hotels would provide comps, 2 for one shows, and many other perks and all you had to do is to prove you were a local. In fact, one year, the local school teachers were trying to decide who would represent them - the union or the teachers organization. The union brought in a university - the first ever besides UNLV, and the teachers organization cut deals with the hotels to comp teachers to food and beverages as well as shows. The result? Free food and shows won out over university credits.

This week the community is gearing up for the giant new year's eve celebration. Some 300,000 visitors will come from around the world to celebrate. Local legend says it is second in size only to that ball-dropping experience in New York, complete with fireworks, blocking off the Strip, back-to-back and belly-to-belly crowds, and lots of booze and entertainment.

Let's all raise a cup in hopes that 2008 is a better year. Are you ready for the blogging music maestro? No, I don't think it is too early to start to practice "Auld Lang Sayne."

Dr. Forgot

Vegas Update

All The News That's Fit to Blog

College Sports: UNLV has a football team. No, it really does. No kidding. Ok, so they've won about as many games in the past three years as you can count on one hand. And there is no truth to the rumor that the team has been invited to play in the prestigious post-season Toilet Bowl held each year in Flushing, New York. But Las Vegas does host a post-season Bowl. It is called the Las Vegas Bowl. How clever. Not the Silver Bowl (Las Vegas is the Silver State) or the Gambol, or even the Entertainment Capital of The World Bowl. But simply the Las Vegas Bowl. I guess that's more descriptive than the Poulin Weedeater Bowl.

Ticky Tacky Taxes: Nevada's governor has had a rough start. Even before the election he was charged with, shall we say, being less than discrete in his behavior toward a lady. At least it was a member of the opposite sex. But once elected the path has not gotten much smoother. He has had several run ins as the result of some of his decisions and appointments. The most recent hue and cry has com from his plan to cut public school funding. The fact that Nevada ranks 47th among per pupil spending aside, and despite his promises to not cut the budget for schools the good Governor dropping funding schools to an even lower level. I can hear the students shouting already, "We're Number Fifty-one!"

Education Honchos Earnings: Nevada's superintendents can earn salaries into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. College administrators can do even better. If 50 top administrators pool their salaries the total will exceed $ 10 million. Not too shabby but not the bottom line. Many also receive perquisites such as housing and car allowances and entertainment budgets. Perhaps they should pool their resources and buy a casino. Then they would be paying taxes, although some educators say not enough. Who do these high priced administrators think they are? Politicians?

Busted Homeless: Lots of down-on-their-luck and poor people live in Las Vegas as well as everywhere else. Often they apply for public benefits, government subsidized housing, and the like. Criminal background checks of applicants for benefits have been completed recently and a staggering 144 of 212 families living in federally underwritten housing were found to have criminal backgrounds. If the criminal backgrounds are found to include murder, rape, or arson, those in Section 8 housing will find themselves 86ed.

Hasta La Vista, Baby: It's all about the money. That is true in any business be it gaming or grocery stores. So when two Vons stores failed to measure up in Las Vegas, company owner Safeway shuttered them. A third Von's near Las Vegas High School will be closed at the end of the year. I guess those yummy school lunches kept kids from shopping at Vons. But Vons did open a store in Henderson recently which brings their total in the Valley of the Dollars to 22, which might bust if its a blackjack hand, but works out fine for the grocery chain.

Dr. Forgot

Stella... STELLLLL-AAAAAHHHH

Believe it or Not

Anybody reading this who has an email address also has people who forward humor to them. Mostly they are jokes that we've heard starting in the seventh grade. Oh yes, there are also the virus warnings that supposedly came out yesterday and were on CNN. Sometimes they even include a note that says, "I checked this out on Snopes and it is really true. Send this to everyone you know..." Or the one about the child who has cancer and wants to get as many business cards as possible, or the one about a police officer who is warning you about "pre-verts," or even, I suppose, post-verts. Finally are the Darwin or Stella Awards, named after Stella something-or-other who burned herself at a McDonald's after dropping her hot coffee in her lap while driving. All of course are hoaxes. I often wonder what drives otherwise rational people to become so gullible when they receive email from somebody who received it from somebody that the recipient doesn't even know. Perhaps the more outlandish the story the more ready somebody is to believe it really is a good cause.

Well, this one is the real McCoy. Pull it up if you wish. It appeared in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper 12/19/07 and has been followed up on by several local radio and TV stations. Let me set the stage: Boulder City is a world away but in fact is just a few miles south of greater Las Vegas on the way to Arizona. Until not too many years ago Boulder City was dry - as in no liquor, and I believe it still observes a ban on gaming. The town was built to house the bosses and their families during the construction of the Hoover Dam and it is still pretty much a cultural company town. The raciest thing that exists is the sign that offers the "Best Hamburgers by a Dam Sight."

Residents are not jaded as they might be in the glitter and glamor of its sister cities to their north. They are more like Mayberry residents, or perhaps folks from Grinnell, Iowa. That is why this story is perfectly believeable to anybody in Southern Nevada who has ever gone to the Boulder City Art Fair, or otherwise spent time in BC.

It happened in the Boulder City AutoZone parking lot. Some legal tender, as in cash American money, started blowing around in the lot. A couple of BC residents chased down the errant cash and walked it back to the car to return it to the driver. Remember, folks, this is not New York, Chicago, or Miami. The finders, not keepers, even joked with the driver about winning a jackpot or looking for the bank's dye bomb in the bag. But the owner of the car was no Chatty Kathy. He scooped up the money and without a word peeled out of the parking lot.

"Odd," thought the resident who had just completed his good deed. So he copied down the car's Arizona license number and phoned the local peace officers who pulled the car over within a few blocks. The cash had come from the car's spare tire -over $ 500,000 worth. Air must be expensive in Arizona. Oh yes, the driver said he had no idea how the cash had gotten there - he had borrowed the car for his vacation. The coppers were born on a Tuesday, but not last Tuesday. The BC police will likely get a windfall. A little blogging music maestro... How about "Goin' To The Bank" by the Commodores? Don't know it? Well, anything by Johnny Paycheck will do.

Dr. Forgot

In Vegas Green Means More Than Money

Other Cities Green With Envy

Years ago I earned extra money by driving a taxi in Las Vegas and later a limousine. When people would get into my taxi or limo a couple of questions would fall from their lips. The first was always, "What is the secret to winning in Las Vegas?" To which I'd answer "Don't play." Fortunately for me and the economy of the town few if any ever heeded my suggestion. But I would follow up with, "See all those beautiful and glamorous buildings? How many do you think have been built as the result of tourists winning jackpots?"

Once it was determined that I did not hold the secret to their winning a bundle they would usually follow with, "Do you live here?" I usually ignored the urge to respond by saying that I really live in L.A. and fly in each day to drive this hack because of the retirement benefits, so I'd tell them that yes, I do live here and this is my second job. The follow up question then became, "Do you live near the Strip." And with that I"d give them my other pat answer, "No, I live in a regular community that you will probably not see during your visit. Ninety percent of the tourists see 10 percent of Las Vegas."

Times have changed since my cab and limo driving days and the population has increased in the Valley of the Dollars from about 150,000 to more than two million. But still probably 90 percent of the tourists see 10 percent of Las Vegas. They see what appears to be a huge waste of natural resources. Artificial lighting is practically everywhere and fountains abound spewing precious water like, well, water. But the lights on most buildings have evolved from energy wasting types to energy efficient and the water in the fountains and to water golf courses is non-potable water known as "gray water."

Las Vegas has made valiant efforts to "go green," and to be more ecologically efficient, led by the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The District has paid residents to give up their midwestern type lawns in favor of desert landscaping, limited watering days and times, and even built a Desert Demonstration Garden to show the kinds of beautiful flora that thrive in the desert.

Adjunct to the Garden is a newly opened meeting space in which local companies can learn how to hold ecoconscious meetings and appeal to national companies that wish to have their conventions and meetings in green surroundings. Nationally recognized convention industry spokespeople have given Las Vegas high marks for being on the cutting edge of going green. So the next time you have a meeting or convention to attend in Las Vegas, leave your green in the casinos and meet in a green environment. A little blogging music maestro...perhaps a little Tom Jones singing "Green Green Grass of Home."

Dr. Forgot

Now THAT'S the Spirit

Ho-Ho-Ho Yuk-Yuk

'Tis the season and that time of year to be merry and joyous, and have lots of fun. Although some grinches still do their road rage and people too often forget to do random acts of kindness, the Christmas season is a great time to try to remember to be joyous and jolly. BTW, women are almost always kinder than men with one glaring exception. Many is the time over the years that I've run into the super market for one or two items and all the lines are packed with people who have hundred dollar plus orders to check out. Almost without exception if I begin my two items to a cashier with a man shopper ahead of me he will say, "Go ahead of me." But if there is a woman with a big purchase order she will almost never do the same. Score one small victory for the guys.

But the best Holiday Season Celebration Award goes to some clever person at one Las Vegas Washington Mutual bank branch. Not sure if it was a creative guy or brilliant gal who thought up the promotion but they named it the "Goofiest, Most Unusual, or Otherwise Unwanted Holiday Gifts" promotion. The object was to get people to come to the bank, obviously, and bring in a gift as described above. The first 100 donors received a $ 100 in exchange for their "donation." Gifts exchanged ranged from a plastic pancreas (first donor) to a "World Champion Beer Drinker" trophy. Other gifts included the obligatory fruitcake and even a decorated bedpan. The gifts will be given to charity, although I"m not sure which charity organization will opt to take the pancreas. Kudos to the WAMU crew with a creative mind and great sense of humor.

That got us to thinking about other gifts that might be turned in by people in the news: many political candidates who had been less than discreet in their younger years might want to turn in their resumes. President Bush would have several gifts to choose from but might select the protocol he was given to follow after the Katrina disaster since he seems to be standing firm on Eye-rock. Hillary should keep her style consultant as they have done wonders for her appearance, but she might want to dump the campaign plan. Nevada's governor would probably be happy to dump the current tax structure that put the state in an $ 80 million shortfall, and Nevada's casinos would love to get rid of the plan to raise gaming taxes.

Others throughout history might simply want to take back words they've said, like the construction boss building the tower Pisa who said, "Let's just cheat a little on the cement. Who will know?" Or the genius at ford who said, "We really need another model. Let's call it Edsel." Or even the spotter on the Titanic who said, "No, stupid! That isn't an iceberg, its just fog." Even some of Santa's reindeer might want to change their positions on the sleigh - aside from Rudolph, all the others have the same view! A little blogging music maestro... how about "I'm Gettin' Nothin' For Christmas."

Dr. Forgot

Las Vegas Happenings

Snippets of Events

Ride 'em Cowboy: Plenty of goings on to celebrate the Valley of the Dollars this week. Pickup trucks have replaced limos as the primary means of transport among attendees of the National Finals Rodeo events. Of course, bucking broncos, Brahma bulls, and bareback steeds are among the means of transportation inside the Thomas and Mack Center, although some of the rides have been briefer than the cowboys had hoped. Wearers of huge silver belt buckles and their posses will have pumped more than fifty million smackeroos into the local economy during their stay. Yeeee-haw!

Palazzo Lallapalooza: One thing hotels and casinos do really really well is market. "Marketing idea of the season" goes to the Las Vegas Sands Corp. that decided to merge swinging hips with rose hips and enter a float for their Palazzo Hotel in this year's January Rose Parade. Never heard of the Palazzo hotel you say? That's why it is so brilliant! The $ 1.8 billion hotel will announce its opening to 40 million television viewers who watch the parade. The float will also show off the Palazzo's sister hotel, the Las Vegas Venetian. A brilliant idea by any other name doth smell as sweet.

Teaching is Taxing: Everybody knows that teachers are overworked and underpaid. Nowhere is that so evident as in Las Vegas. Reading, writing, and 'rithmatic may be taught to the tune of the hickory stick, but teachers need salary to pay for their cups of joe and celery. Each school year starts with thousands of teaching positions absent licensed teachers in large part due to poor salaries. The teacher's union did its homework and decided the gaming industry had not contributed its fair share of taxes. It hopes to send a discipline slip to the voters that will increase gaming taxes to pay for education.

Casino Execs Disrupt Classes: In junior high school many a fight has been started by talking about somebody's mother. In Nevada, fights start by talking about raising gaming taxes. Several big guns who collectively are building $ 14 billion worth of new resorts have told the teachers union, "Don't paddle my canoe." They are willing to write 100 times on the chalkboard, "We will not pay higher gaming taxes." The proposed 3% increase is not the new math gamers want to calculate. They want educators to look for the jackpot in another classroom.

Las Vegas Sings "O Solar Mio:" The Valley of the Dollars boasts more than 350 sunny days per year yet it continues to use the falling levels of the Colorado River, Hoover Dam, and Lake Mead as its primary source of energy. That's where the water turns the turbines that create electricity. With all the sun shining over the valley, developing solar energy resources seems to be a no-brainer. That's exactly what the solar company Ausra of Palo Alto, CA thought when it decided to build a huge solar thermal assembly plant in Las Vegas. The company makes solar power collectors. Las Vegas has as much solar power as anywhere else. With that we will end today's blog. Maestro, how about a little blogging music.... lets do, "You Are My Sunshine."

Dr. Forgot