When traveling, I often like to take long walks to explore. It's a form of exercise (to work off the extra calories from dinners) but it's also a chance to see the place where you are at a little more closely.

Traveling by airplane, you rarely see much of anything (except the seat back in front of you smashed into your face). Driving around in a car, you see more, but especially if you're driving, you still miss a lot of details. Walks are slow and you're not surrounded by steel and glass so you get to observe a little more. I think I observe odd things though....rambling thoughts below:

Walking a couple of blocks in Las Vegas (that's the equivalent of a couple of miles to the unenlightened) was kind of interesting, especially since I was a bit off the beaten track (I walked between Las Vegas Blvd. and Paradise Rd.). First the trash. Yeah, cigarette butts as expected. Soda cans/cups. Beer bottles. Then the more interesting things - used rubber gloves and a screwdriver? Socks? Hmmm....the same thought process that goes through my mind standing at the grocery store checkout applies here....the one that wonders what you make with the food that the person in front of you is buying....

It's also interesting to walk by some of the apartments near the Strip which advertise weekly rates. They look like converted motels (and they probably are). But they look relatively clean and neat. More interesting are the kids. Lots and lots of kids. Waiting for the school bus like anywhere else, except that they are in the shadow of skyscraper hotels. You have to wonder what the stories are. These apartments seem so out of place 1 block from the Strip. You would think most of the people who live there must work on the Strip.

Noticeably absent: pets. Maybe there were lots of cats inside those places (the signs for the complexes advertised "Pet Friendly"). No barking dogs. No pet waste laying around. Seemingly unusual. Maybe the wrong time of day - there's not much going on at 8am besides kids going off to school and the weird tourist taking a walk.

Abandoned buildings and properties. Notably, the ones with signs that say something on the order of "This property is the site of a future resort and casino". Half-finished buildings with permit dates that expired two years ago. All signs of the building bust that the town is experiencing. All within sight of the massive City Center project which barely finished.

Interesting town.

Tags: Walks

I made it! No laptop withdrawal after 3 days without access to a real computer. And it really wasn't too bad.

The iPad allowed me to do everything I needed to (and a few things I didn't). I did at times wish for a real keyboard in order to help with typing, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. It was slightly easier getting through security, only because I didn't have to lug the laptop backpack around in addition to my clothes (the backpack flips open so I don't need to remove the laptop).

I'm going to have to travel like this more often!

And I think my next camera is going to be a DSLR (whenever I get around to it - way down on the list). For a point and shoot, I'm convinced the iPhone 4 camera does the job now. I don't need another one!

Tags: Technology

I'm about to embark on my first extended trip without a laptop. I feel a little odd doing so. I don't think I've gone away more than 24 hours without having a laptop in years. I'm replacing my laptop with my iPad (and no, I don't have an iPad 2 yet). This is a bit of a vacation. I don't need a word processor, and the iPad can pretty much do everything else.

I'm also not taking a digital camera - the iPhone4 is going to serve that role.

When I get back on Wednesday night, I'll let you know if I've survived and write about the experience. Yes, only James could probably write several paragraphs on what it was like not to have a real computer in front of him for 2.5 days...

Tags: Technology

They're getting rid of the threat level colors. See http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/01/26/threat.level.system.change/index.html?hpt=T2

This also means the end of Threat Level Elmo. I think this came out almost 5 years ago - a humorous editorial on the threat level colors and their usefulness. We've been on Threat Level Ernie forever.



Bye Elmo.

Tags: Travel, Security, Airport