photo by me

Hah.

The drive over was lovely. Really. I love that drive.

I got to Hoover Dam and pulled over to take some photographs. I get back in my car and…nothing. My battery is dead.

Fortunately, my brother had given me a portable jumper so I could jump start my car.

I get into Vegas. It stops again. I have a dead battery. I go to a Super Walmart. 2 1/2 hour wait. They tell me where Sears is. They don’t have an auto section. They point me to another Sears.

I get there. I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, they take me back to show me my battery (it had cracked along the entire top of it and leaked all over). Then I go back in and wait some more.

Finally, $70 poorer, I make it to my hotel.

Internet access costs more. I don’t pay for it thinking that the conference hotel will have access.

I get to conference and they have computers for e-mail but no wifi. And then I find a wifi room but no one can connect (not just me – everyone is having trouble).

Argh.

The Vegas of old, where you could get dinner for under $5, is gone. No longer. Dinner starts at $15 in most places and goes up quickly from there.

However, the hotels are spectacular. Really amazing. The architecture is out of this world. Who needs to go to Paris, New York, or Venice? They are all right here. Heh.

Yesterday I sat next to a woman from France. She said the hotel was nicer than the city – cleaner, nicer. That made me laugh.

The Bellagio has an Ansel Adams showing going on. I’m going over there today sometime. I can’t wait.