Viva Lost Wages

I recently returned from a 3-day Vacuum Dealer's Trade Association convention in (where else)

Las Vegas!

The main purpose of the trip was additional education, training, and certification for central vacuum system installations. I know, I know, you are all anxious to hear more - but I won't bore you with all of the gory details. I actually did learn some good stuff, and had time to explore and see the sights with the boss and his family.

When I left Utah, it was well below freezing and stuck in an inversion.


It was very nice to finally get some airtime - even if it was encased in a big ol' passenger jet air airliner! In Vegas it was sunny and 60+ degrees - WooooHoooo! The airtime and sunshine were just good for the soul ;-)


We attended some classes, did some hands-on training,


and spent a few hours at the huge business expo, checking out all of the new and exciting products.


The city that never sleeps continues in its constant state of growth and expansion. Although tempted, I didn't even drop a single quarter gambling.

For me, "...one is too many, and a thousand never enough." So I knew it was best to not even start. In Vegas, everything seems to be geared toward sucking every last cent out of your pockets. The second largest "industry" there seems to be anything sexually oriented. From the moment you step out of the plane and into the airport the pornography is in your face. There are people lining the streets handing out dial-a-prostitute cards. They "snap" the cards against each other and shove them in your face! They were quite annoying, so I just started taking each of their pictures as they approached me.

Most of them would then avoid me or turn away, some objected saying "don't take my picture!" So I said, "If you can hand out this trash I can sure take your picture!" The next largest activity or industry here seems to be alcohol, drinking and getting wasted. I'm not throwing away 1,100 days, so that was not an option. Next in line was shopping, but I was not in the mood to spend money on overpriced junk. So that left the options of seeing shows and sightseeing. So I decided to just explore, people-watch, and take tons of pictures.

This was much cheaper, and gave me the opportunity to become more familiar with our new camera!

I took hundreds of pics - and about 1 of every 10 or 20 turned out half-way decent. I learn a lot by trial and error, and that's the beauty of digital photography. You shoot, look at the results, tweak your settings, and repeat.

Gradually you figure out what works best for your camera, shooting conditions, and desired results! It's much cheaper than developing film and wasting prints, and the learning curve is much quicker.

I had fun spending a number of hours experimenting with some timed exposures. A few turned out nice, but I wish I had brought my tripod to sharpen the images up a bit more.


After 3 days in Vegas it was nice to return home to my own bed, pillow and family! The temperatures had actually climbed a bit in my absence, with some of the snow melting as the inversion had begun to lift! Maybe I can get to launch soon!