Time seems to fly by when you are experiencing interesting and unique things and I realize that I am approaching the halfway mark of my winter sabbatical in Las Vegas. I had hoped to have a creative firestorm like I experienced last winter in El Paso, but that hasn’t happened here. Last year, I had a definite book project that I was working on and that provided a lot of focus and direction.
This year, while I have enjoyed my visit to Las Vegas so far, my overall experience don’t seem as exciting and stimulating as last year. So, I decided to sit down with a notepad and try to sketch out the good and bad points of Las Vegas and how I am reacting to them. Implicit in all this is that I will be comparing my experiences last year to this year. Ah yes, we’re back to the old “compare and contrast” assignments like in high school English class. But, it can still be a worthwhile exercise.
At the top, the overriding premise for Las Vegas is gambling and how much fun it is. I have to confess, I can be a little tight with my money and gambling doesn’t appeal much to me. Once a month when I am home, I do play poker with a group of seven other friends, but we play “poor man’s poker” so the most you lose is five bucks. I usually come out ahead only about 20 percent of the time, but I enjoy the time with my friends so I don’t fret over losing a couple of dollars.
I have bet on horse racing about a half dozen times, including the Kentucky Derby once, and enjoyed placing an occasional two-dollar bet. But, I wouldn’t do that on a regular basis. I used to buy Super Lotto tickets on occasion, but my favorite “package” store closed a few years ago and now I buy my Bourbon at Giant Eagle, but I don’t buy lottery tickets. So, gambling just doesn’t hold a cachet for me and that’s an issue living in an area where it is so pervasive.
Another reason I looked forward to coming to Las Vegas was that UNLV (The University of Nevada Las Vegas) offered classes in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), the same program I enjoyed immensely last year in El Paso at UTEP. I signed up for three courses this year, one about the American West, another on Nevada History and the third on comedy in films. So far, the comedy in films course has been the best and the other two courses have been so-so. The comedy in films instructor has a degree in film studies from the University of Southern Cal, but the other two instructors are “self-taught” in history because they had careers in unrelated fields.
Last year in El Paso, two of the three courses I took were from retired UTEP faculty who continued to teach in their field of expertise—the history and culture of the El Paso area and music conducting. The other course on law enforcement was taught by a retired DEA agent, so he really knew his topic too.
Also, the classes at UNLV I am taking are larger and last for an hour and 45 minutes. The large class size inhibits discussion and the longer class time doesn’t work except for the film class.
Now, some good news about my current situation. The casita I am renting is relatively spacious, more like a one-bedroom apartment. It has a washer-dryer combo, a nice bathroom and a courtyard outside the front door that I can use. While I am staying on a cul-de-sac in a quiet suburban neighborhood, a lot of amenities are not more that a five-minute drive away.
The best of these is a city recreation center that accepts Silver Sneakers so I can go there and do weight training a couple of days a week.
The good news is my breathing issues from asthma are a lot better here in the lower elevation of the Las Vegas area compared with El Paso. And the temperatures are about the same and the low humidity have made me feel better here.
I am about a 15-minute drive from the center of Las Vegas, so I haven’t explored other areas of the city that much so far. Part of the reason is that the drivers here are kind of wacko. There are a lot of younger drivers and a lot of large pickup trucks. I am driving a compact Kia Rio that is a rental and I get nervous when see nothing but a huge grill in the rearview mirror when I am going 70 mph on the freeway. A lot of these truck drivers pull up very close behind you before pulling around to pass.
Also, because Las Vegas is at the eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone, sunset here is relatively early, at 5:30PM, but the sun disappears from my casita about 45 minutes earlier because of Black Mountain immediately to the west. And, when the sun goes down the temperature drops quickly in this dry, desert climate. So far, it has been too cool to sit on the patio in the evening after dinner.
My final observation about Las Vegas concerns littering. As I drive out north of the city on Interstate 15, I am appalled by the amount of trash I see by the side of the highway, bottles, plastic bags and other articles strewn along that highway for miles and miles. And, the strong winds carry the trash hundreds of yard into the desert. I’ve also observed this on several streets in the city
The only other city I recall seeing this much littering was when I visited New Orleans 20 years ago. I also noticed a lot of trash strewn by the side of major highways there. Maybe the reputation of both cities for entertainment and partying gives people license to toss trash out of their cars, something I don’t see nearly as much in the Akron area.
So, my stay here has been very much a “good news, bad news” situation. But, I am looking forward to the remaining five weeks of my stay and the new experiences I will have.
See you next time.
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