Three's a crowd...

Well my wife and I have always been lucky in life and we seem to always have good things happen to us. I remember many years ago the only really, really bad fight my wife and I had, it was about the apartment we were living in at the time. Both Teri and I were working full time and I was also trying to juggle going to school full time while we were raising a precocious toddler. Needless to say we were barely surviving. We got into a fight about money and such and Teri ran away to her parent's house. Soon after we made up and I ended up quitting school and getting a real job. We moved into Teri's parents house and I spent the longest 1 1/2 years of my life as we saved to buy our first house. Ten years later and we are in our second wonderful huge house and very happy and more financially sound. The point of this babbling is that what goes around comes around. Teri's parents moved into our house today since they just sold there house and our staying in the guest bedroom in our place while they look for their next retirement house. Needless to say I am totally wierded out by the situation, but am making do as best I can.

Playing hookey.

You ever get that feeling on Monday morning or Sunday night that you want to pretend you are back in school and just play hookey from work? You know, call in sick with a "cough" or a "migraine" and then stay home all day and watch TV or get on the computer. Maybe wake up real late and stay in your PJs for a majority of the day. Yeah I guess me having a three day weekend has caused me to regress to my teenagehood, cause boy do I want to call in sick tomorrow and just enjoy another day off. Maybe its because the wife took tomorrow off and has a 4-day weekend that is doing it. Maybe its cause I really haven't had a real vacation in a couple of years. Whatever it is it really got me to thinking how easy we had it as kids even if it didn't seem that way back then. I can just imagine my parents thinking, "Heck no if I have to go to work, he has to go to school." Ah well...

A White House of ill repute

  
 

FROM KLASTV.COM
George Knapp, Investigative Reporter
I-Team Exclusive Interview With Heidi Fleiss
May 26, 2005, 01:11 PM

Nevada's legal brothel business has survived, in part, because it has always kept a low profile. But the industry could be thrust into the spotlight soon with the arrival of a new operator, none other than Heidi Fleiss, better known as the Hollywood Madam. If so, there's only one place in the U.S. where that could happen. "I am coming to Nevada and I am going to open up a brothel," she states.
Heidi's first foray into Nevada's legal bordello business came a few years ago when she hooked up with an Australian company that wanted to build a mega-brothel in Nye County. The plans fizzled but Fleiss was hooked. Unlike Nevada's brothels, there isn't much about the former Hollywood Madam that's low key. Her trial was front-page news. She's published two best selling books, has been the subject of two movies and a documentary, sold a DVD of sex tips and would easily rank as the highest profile figure in Nevada's brothel industry. To do that, she will probably have to convince potential rivals that her place would complement, not compete. Fleiss says, "The other brothel owners will benefit tremendously, because, look it, I have so many women trying to work for me, and you can only have so many. They will benefit from the fallout. I guarantee their numbers will quadruple." She makes this boast based on her business plan. Fleiss will cater to the same mega-rich clientele that she served in Hollywood. She expects to set a minimum for walk-in customers, say $5,000. Customers who can't afford that would be expected to visit other bordellos in the neighborhood. "I am coming like a social worker to make everyone happy. I'm not threatening to take anyone's territory or cornering the market. I'm just bringing more to the community." She clearly has a business sense and has made a lot of money in all of her other ventures. Some Nevada brothel owners told us they're impressed by the homework she's done in preparing for a Nevada project. And others who work with Fleiss say every day is a learning experience. In the early 90's, before her operation was busted, her working girls were dispatched to the richest people in Hollywood. These weren't seasoned hookers, but rather, beauty queens and wannabe starlets who decided to make a pile of money in a short period of time. It's the same sort of work force Fleiss says she will recruit to work in her Nevada brothel. Heidi Fleiss says, "I get the finest. I get the cover of Seventeen magazine, the pageantry winner, the most beautiful girls on earth. I get everyone's dream girl. I get your dream girl." If she can get a Nevada brothel opened, Fleiss says she will go on a worldwide recruiting tour, looking for fresh faces who are willing to work in a brothel for a short time, then use their earnings as a springboard to something else. "I don't recommend prostitution as a career. If I had a daughter, which I don't, I wouldn't want her to be a prostitute. But look at these girls -- they go out all night, sleep with different guys every night. Why not? Hey, I guarantee you, living in Hollywood you have a better chance of getting into the movies through my White House brothel in Nevada than through CAA," Fleiss states. She has a long way to go before her brothel becomes a reality. Fleiss has spent months looking at other bordellos and properties in Nevada, from Reno to Pahrump and in between. Because of her criminal record, she will need to latch on with an existing licensee for a period. She's talked to several but hasn't reached a deal. Interviewed at her Little Shop of Sex in Hollywood, Heidi hinted that her customer base would likely include names from her little black book, names she never made public even during her legal troubles, customers who might pay a huge membership fee for her brothel. The steep fees mean she would not be a direct threat to other brothel owners. "They're smarter than me. With what they're selling, everyone can afford. I cater to a very elite market. Not everyone's going to be able to afford a $5,000 entry fee, but everyone else can afford what they're selling."
Fleiss knows that government officials in rural counties will have their doubts. It's why she's quietly been meeting with many of them, to let them know her intentions. "My lesson was learned. I paid a very high price for the crime I committed. I did learn a lesson. I'm going to do it legally, not illegally."
In order to stand out from other brothels, and from the all-but-legal hooker rackets in Las Vegas, Fleiss has a grand design in mind -- a replica of the White House. She'll even call it the White House, but isn't trying to make a political statement, just a marketing one. "It will work. They have the Eiffel Tower there, the Pyramids. So it's time for the White House. You build the White House and it will work. You want something the way it should be. Natural, beautiful, and that's what it is. It's just sex." Fleiss says she has backers who are willing to invest millions of dollars in her venture, but she hopes to launch the business with her own money. She was expected to meet Tuesday with Nye County officials but has not yet decided if she will build her place in that county because she's been offered land and a building up near Reno.
 

Scooba dooba doo

For this post I am just gonna rip an article about something cool.

The mop of the future?

Report: Scooba, the latest offering from iRobot, angles to remove mopping from 'hate doing it' list.
May 24, 2005: 8:43 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - There's a new robotic housecleaning appliance that will do your dirty work for you. IRobot, the maker of Roomba the robotic vacuum cleaner, previewed Scooba the robotic mop Monday, although it won't be available in stores until the holiday season, according to USA Today. Scooba scrubs hardwood, tile, linoleum or any other bare floor with cleaning liquid, rinses it, then sucks up the excess water and stores it to be dumped later using artificial intelligence, the newspaper said. The company recommends using only Clorox cleaning fluid, which prevents Scooba from skidding or spinning its wheels. Unlike a regular mop, Scooba does not redistribute dirty water, CEO Colin Angle said. The retail price has not yet been established, but Angle says it will cost slightly more than a Roomba, which sells for about $280. IRobot has sold more than 1.2 million Roomba cleaners since the product's introduction in September 2002, the newspaper said. Scooba should appeal to just as broad a market as Roomba, Angle said. "We aim our products at the axis of 'hate doing it' and 'have to do it often,'" he says. "Mopping is near the top of a lot of people's 'hate doing it' list." Angle said his goal for iRobot is eventually to make a suite of robots that do housework, according to the newspaper.

 

Father Time rears his head...

Man, you know you are getting old when you pull a muscle in your lower back bringing groceries into the house. Yes, thats what I did alright, twisted funny grabbing some groceries out of the trunk and felt a sharp pain in my lower back shooting down to my heel. Luckily its not too bad, but it has stiffened up and is slightly painful as I sit here icing it down while typing this up. Wish I could blame this on a more interesting excuse, like saying that the wife caused it last night as we were celebrating a night out, or I got it while training for the upcoming UFC that I am competing in. However, neither one of those is true, its just a out of shape getting old type of injury. The kind where you pop the ibuprofen and hope that it doesn't get too bad. Ok maybe I am a little prone to back problems since I have scoliosis, but I haven't had any problems in a long while other than a little numbness in my hip. The sad thing is I can't even use it as an excuse to miss work, since I sit in a chair all day unless it gets real bad. Maybe I will just blame it on the 104 degree weather outside and say that I am not used to the heat; or better yet, it was the dancing at the wedding over the weekend. Yeah, thats the ticket, the perfect excuse.

The week that was...

Wow. What a busy week I have had. I feel like I have been on a treasure hunt as I have wandered around the Las Vegas valley. My little sisters wedding was yesterday and I got to give her away since my Dad passed away several months ago; what a weird feeling,somewhere between play acting and giving your own daughter away. The other weird thing was having all here friends stay over with her at our house the night before. Made me feel old seeing these baby faced girls acting all grown up, two of them pregnant, one with the coolest fairy tatooon her back. Watching them argue about money, lend each other a couple of bucks here and there, and basically all stress out over the impending wedding, had me feeling like an old man in the corner with my own private thoughts. Teri and I played host and hostess for my sister and friends, making sure they were fed and running some last minute errands. It was so weird for me since I have not been involved in any of my other sibling's weddings. My wife is also starting her first Master's class this week, and I get to stress along with her as she makes her plans and does her assignements in this three week mini summer class.

Rediscovering Honor writing contest @ HollyLisle.com

Ok if you didn't read my earlier post on this, I discovered a writing contest at www.HollyLisle.com. Nothing fancy, just a quick hit contest for a proof copy of her latest book, Talyn. The hard part is she limits the story to 250 words and gives you the theme, rediscovering honor, ouch. Anyways, here is my first attempt, tell me what you think.



Grandfather's Last Request (Essay)
Authored by: davydgrey on Monday, May 16 2005 @ 08:32 PM CDT

I glanced up at the light glimmering in the window of Old Man Smith’s ramshackle house. “Come on old dude, go to bed.” I whispered, looking around at the shadows dancing in the moonlight. Minutes passed. I muttered and stood up. “Oh well, nothing for it.” I slid over the ground and crept up the steps at the front of the house. I inserted my pick into the ancient lock, and, with a quick twist, I was in.

I paused, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness of the house. “Come on Sullivan, now is not the time to loose your nerve.” Steadying myself, I slipped up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. “Down the hallway, first door on the left.” In seconds, I was there, looking into Smith’s bedroom and the fortune in baseball cards he kept on his shelf.

I entered and grabbed at the treasure of my dreams. “DiMaggio, Aaron, Rose rookie card.” I glanced through the stack and thought of the easy life ahead. A noise broke through my reverie as the old coot tossed in his timeworn bed. I looked over at the figure lying there and suddenly thoughts of the cards left my mind. He looked just like my Grandfather did at his funeral last year. Just like that, I decided I did not need the baseball cards after all. Better to leave them for the old guy. He needed them more. My Grandfather would have wanted it that way.
(F)

Random musings.

Why is it that I always seem to tell time by the weekends? This weekend was the dinner with Amy weekend. Next weekend is little sister's wedding weekend. The weekend after that is Memorial Day weekend, then its UFC weekend. I don't even remember dates anymore I just live for the weekends and remember everything with a label.

Why is it the best gifts are the inconsequential ones, the inexpensive ones? I have spent $1000 on a necklace for my wife. I doled out $400 to get my son a PS2. And yet, the best gift my wife and I have given recently was a $4 bottle of Devil's Spit barbeque sauce to Martin of an80snut fame, and a tomatoe cage for his container garden.

Challenges come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes I find myself spending way too much time on small things that don't mean much, but turn into major projects for me. For example, in cruising the web the other day I visited an author's website (one who writes a mean fantasy novel) and noticed that she had a quickie contest going; write a 250 word story essay or poem on rediscovered honor and win an autographed proof copy of her latest book. I find myself thinking of this contest in off moments all the time now. Its not as easy as it seems since you are limited to 250 words max. The deadline is June 10th, go here: http://www.hollylisle.com/writingdiary/ if you are interested.

Speaking of projects, anyone who has visited my wife's blog: http://lvteri.blogspot.com/
was treated to a shot of our backyard and the garden's and landscaping that we are doing by hand back there. Try itself yourself sometime, its real tough to fill up 4000 square feet with Vegas weather resistant plants.

Triskaidekaphobia

It was a dark, dank, gloomy night. Ok so maybe it wasn't, but I bet it felt that way to some people as they woke up this morning to a gloomy Friday the 13th. [Insert horror movie music here] I have never understood people who assign some superstitious value to the conjunction of the thirteenth day of the month with one of seven days of the week, Friday. Yeah, yeah, I have read of the historical idiosynchosies and I am familiar with the numerological significance of two magical prime numbers, but so what. Its also the 133rd day of the year. (Seven times nineteen, two more primes) Again so what. May is yam backwards which is a root vegetable indigenous to the area of the world in which they practice voodoo, does that give it any significance? (I was going with the playing the record backwards to unlock the secret message thing here, but only the older generation will get it.) How many people out there actually did not go to work or school today because they were afraid of bad luck? (Josh, you don't count, you sprained your ankle yesterday) Oh well, I guess I will never understand this. Anyway I need to go polish up my lucky horseshoe while stroking my lucky rabbit's foot before I walk around the house three times widdershins so I can go to bed.

...I've 'ad worse. Its merely a flesh wound.

Well just when I think my life has blissfully sunk into a nice dull stupor, I get thrown a wonderful curveball that pops me back out of my stupor. Today's curveball happened after a couple of hours at work when my wife called me up and told me that my 15 year old son was in the nurse's office at school and his ankle wasn't broken. Now at 8:30 in the morning on a normal day at work, I have had a couple of hours to slowly wake up and gather my senses, but I guess I was just a bit slow today because all I could think of to say was "Okay, I guess I can go pick him up." My wife then continued on that she didn't think she could get a sub on such short notice, but if I needed her to she could get someone to watch her class in the morning and get back there by the afternoon. It was at this time that I mouthed my next brilliant statement, "Uhhhh, what happened?" Teri then proceded to tell me how Josh was in PE and hurt his ankle and the nurse didn't think it was broken. Well after hanging up with her, talking to my boss briefly about kids in school getting hurt, and calling Teri back to get her to call the school nurse back to let them know I would be there in about 30 minutes I guess the adrenaline surge started to kick in. I made it to the school in a half an hour and after wandering around trying to find the nurse's office (which was nowhere near the regular office) I stumbled across my son laying on a couch with an ice pack pressed against his lower leg. Well in my unexpert opinion the nurse was right and it wasn't broken and actually wasn't too badly swollen. I managed to get my son to stand up and after having him hop a short distance across the school, in which he managed to fall trying to hop up a step, and before I lost my temper because he didn't want to lean against me and try to slowly walk, the school volunteered the use of a golf cart to get him outside of the school. While my son enjoyed his chauffered trip across campus, I ran ahead and double parked the car in the bus loading zone. We got my son into the car and on the drive home I started to feel better because Josh started asking if we could stop for lunch at McDonalds. Well we made it home and I finally got to see the massive footprint that he had stretching across his lower calf to his shin. Turns out soccer isn't quite the non-contact sport that it claims to be as Josh had the soccer super stud in his PE class who thought that slide tackling everyone was the way to impress the girls. We got Josh laid out on the couch with an ice bag clasped firmly in place when I started to play doctor on his leg and see if there was any really sore spots. Needless to say, other than the tender footprint area, Josh was just fine except for the fact that he couldn't put any weight on his leg. Well to make a long story short, two aspirin and a long boring conversation with his concerned father later, my son was actively hopping and hobbling around the house asking to watch television or get on his computer. Thank goodness they don't wear cleats in PE.

What a sexy chess!

Ok here is a post that you won't usually see. Remember back in school when you had to do those comparison essays? When you took two things and wrote about the similarities they had? Well today I decided to do just that and I am going to wax poetically on two of my favorite activities; my favorite mental hobby and my favorite physical one. I am going to compare sex with chess. Both are activities that are enjoyed by two people (Ok there are some variations that involve more people, but that is for another post). Each take some minimal setup before you can enjoy the game. Both allow you to get a piece. Each game favors agression, but can be played in a defensive mode if you are so inclined. Neither one requires any expertise, but you do get better with practice. Each game is usually played on a flat rectangular surface. There are a multitude of books available that purport a system to make you an expert at the game. Aids for the game are sold at specialty stores and can be used to increase your enjoyment while playing. When you are young you usually will look for a match with just about anyone, but as you get older your choice of partners becomes more limited as you find game players who suit your style and tempermant. The vocabulary for both is also similar with mates, pieces, forced mates, checks, masters, rankings, and even time pressure. It always seems that players prefer larger sets, but will play with smaller ones if need be. Even certain chess pieces seem to suggest sex, just look at a bishop or a pawn. Hmmm after this long post I seem to have found the urge to play a game. I wonder if my wife is available for some chess playing.

Iced Tea

Yeah I decided that I have been doing the deep conversations and questions a little too much on here lately, so I figured why not a nice relaxing topic and up burbled from my subconscious the thought of iced tea. Am I the only one not on a diet that thoroughly enjoys a nice refreshing glass of iced tea? As I sit here typing this I am downing an unsweetened mug of mint tea with ice, one of my favorites. I had gotten away from drinking iced tea at home and slipped deeper and deeper into the grasp of my number one vice, Pepsi. But, thanks to the help of my wonderfully devoted wife (who bought me an ice tea maker) I am slowly and cautiously getting back to my non-carbonated ways. Ah, summertime and enjoying cold tea in the hot summer air in my hammock (another gift from my wife). Makes you wish you were here.

Writer's bloc

Ok I made myself a deal and decided that I needed to post on here a little bit more. I was only averaging about 2 or 3 posts a week and that doesn't cut it. The only problem is sometimes I have a couple of different topics in my head that I want to rant on, and other times I just kind of let the words flow out and I post a stream of conscious post. However, this is one of the few times where I just couldn't think of anything to talk about. I sat here and stared at my blog for like a half an hour and still nothing popped into my head. I even went cruising to some websites that I don't frequently visit looking for inspiration and still nothing. Finally, in desperation, practically an hour after I sat down to write this, I decided to take the easy way out and talk about not being able to write. Yeah I know its cheesy to do, but I just finished writing a 500 word essay and designing a webpage for a class I am taking at UNLV. I guess my creative juices are running a little dry right now. Oh well I guess this will do and I will just try to post something a little more imaginative tomorrow.

Wedding?

Ok I am starting to be a little weirded out here. My littlest sister is getting married here in two weeks. Yes, I am feeling old, but that is not why I am being weirded out, keep reading. Now my father passed away about a year ago and right before that my sister had asked me to stand in for him and walk her down the aisle. I was honored and told her I would do it, but now I am finding out that I am doing the stand in thing there and at the reception where I have to do the first dance thing. Number one, I don't dance; I didn't even dance at my own wedding. So I am not looking forward to this at all. Secondly, I enjoy sitting in the corner watching people rather than having people watch me. Its not nerves or anything like that, people don't bother me, I think its more of a control thing or maybe having to live up to people's expectations. I do not know, I just feel weird.

The color of money.

I have always wondered about people and money. I mean how much would you do for money? What is your buying point? Would you sell your house for double its value? Would you rent out your spouse for a million dollars? (Ok yeah I snagged that one from Indecent Proposal) Would you sell drugs if you were guaranteed to make lots of money? How about a porn movie? How much money would it take for you to give up working for the rest of your life? If you won a contest and could collect $30K a year for twenty years would you work again? What about $60K? What if you dug up a buried treasure in the backyard, would it change your lifestyle?

Why do people work at jobs that make them miserable? Why do people never plan for tomorrow, but only live for today? Are we all that shortsighted? How come I always see these infomercials about making millions following someone's plan, yet never seem to know anyone who actually made money doing so. If someone would pay you to sit in a room all day and stare at your navel would you do so? How come people will work 80 hour weeks to make $60K, but won't work two $30K jobs? Am I the only one to ponder these things?

Lithograph for sale on one of my favorite actresses' website 

Retirelementary?

Note: Boring financial rant ahead, procede at your own risk.

Ok, I had a bit of a conversation yesterday with some family members and was amazed at the ideas that they had when it came to retirement and money. Not that I am an expert or anything, but I do read articles and ask questions and have become well informed on what to do with my own family's savings. I have a brother who thinks that the best investment vehicles ever are CDs. No, not the musical kind, but Certificates of Deposit, the banking kind. Now I will admit that I am fond of CDs as a means of saving money as you can definitely get a better interest rate than in a plain old fashioned saving account, however, there are so many better options, like mutual funds, low risk stocks, or even blended funds. Sigh. I also have another relative, who shuns banks because he is afraid of the company who owns the bank going belly up and keeps all his money in government bonds. Yes, almost no interest, government bonds. My mother has started to buy into this crap also, as she yanked her investment money out of a nice safe mutual fund and dropped it into a non-interest bearing checking account/savings account mix. The scary thing about it is these are the more enlightened people in my family, as I have casually asked a couple of times about other family members 401Ks and was shocked to find that my siblings and such were passing up the free money that these accounts offer. Is everyone like this?