Week 48: Why I love cameras and wings.

I need a new video camera.  Ok, that’s not really true, I already have quite a collection of cameras that can take video, it’s more like I WANT a new video camera.  I’ve decided that I want to do a video a week instead of a blog for 2018.  52 Weeks of Life.  How does that sound?  There are a few reasons for this.

One reason is that while growing up and even into adulthood, my father would always tell me stories about his life.  I loved them.  I would hear about his time in the U.S. Air Force, bits about when he was in high school, and how he grew up on a farm.  I loved the stories and still remember quite a few of them.  My father passed away back in September and now I don’t get to hear the stories anymore.  Anyway, back before he passed on I asked him if I could set up a camera and he could tell some of his stories.  I got a resolute “NO!” to that.  He didn’t want to do that at all.  It was his choice and I respected that.

But now I’m in my 50’s and writing a blog is nice, but you don’t really see anything that’s going on during the time.  You just get to read whatever I write.  Now granted if I do videos you’ll still only see what I want to film, but still the visual medium is much more fun than writing sometimes.  When I was pretty young I knew my Great Grandmother on my mother’s side.  I even used to write her letters (She lived up in Montana, far away from where I was at the time.).  Imagine what it would be like if I could sit down now and watch videos of my Great Grandmother when she was in her 50’s.  That would still probably be back in the 1930’s or 1940’s!  I know there are some old reel to reel movies, but I’m not sure who the people are on them and they don’t have any sound.  Not as much fun without sound!

Ask yourself what you did last year.  Do you remember what was going on in each month or week last year?  I may not if you ask me, but I can go back to this blog and select any week of the year and after reading what I’d written know how I felt, and what was going on at the time.  Imagine being able to go back when I’m in my 60’s and watch, or even show someone what was going on in my life in 2018 with videos!  I can’t pass that opportunity up! 

And this will not only teach me about filming and editing, I’ll hopefully learn more and more each week about how to edit and process videos.  Will I be much better at filming by week 22 next year?  Who knows?  But I think it’s still a fun thing to do. 

So why do I need a new camera if I already have a bunch of cameras that could probably easily do the job?  I’ve decided I want one with an attachable microphone.  It’s just something I want.  I probably don’t need it, but I think sound will be an important part of the videos.  Maybe a new camera that I can screw some kind of lens on if I need it? (What the hell would I need a different lens for if I’m just vloging?  *chuckle*)  Being honest, if I’m going to do this, I should do it to the best of my ability.  I don’t want to just post crap on my YouTube channel.  Well…maybe it’ll be crap, but hopefully it’ll be good crap.  *chuckle* It can’t possibly be worse than some of the other crap that’s on television now!

I’ve looked at some cameras tonight in a shop called Best Buy and they are outrageous.  Anywhere from $400 on up and those are without attachable microphones!  I’ll check a few other shops next week, but I’ll probably end up ordering something from Amazon.  They have some very nice looking cameras with microphones starting at around $110.  I’ll see what I can find and hopefully be ready for all of this on Week 1, 2018!

Moving on to wings, I love chicken wings!  There is a place near where I live called Wing Stop.  They pretty much serve two things: chicken wings, and French fries.  There are all kinds of flavors of wings and one of my all-time favorite thing about this place is that I can order and pay online and then just drive over and they hand me a bag with my order in it! 

Now it’s not just the convenience of ordering online that I like (that’s actually really fun! *chuckle*), the wings are always fantastic!  The people working there smile and greet me happily.  I love the place!  It’s a bit on the pricy side, but still I do think the food there is well worth the price.  You can take a look at my order right here:

I ordered 15 mild wings and they smell wonderful!  A very nice treat for my weekend.  So off I go to eat my wings and finish up relaxing before my return to work.  While I do that, everyone keep asking why!  And think how nice this will be next year when I don’t just write about getting wings from Wing Stop, I'll actually show some video about it!  *chuckle*

Week 43: Why I was part of both old, and New Vegas this week.

I live in Las Vegas.  Actually, I live in a place called Henderson, Nevada, but it might as well be Las Vegas.  I work in a Las Vegas hotel/casino and have been here now for over 20 years.  This week I got to be a part of both old, and new Las Vegas.  Let’s start with the new:

In modern Las Vegas you have to pay the state of Nevada to work in a casino.  Yes, you have to pay them.  It’s called a “Sheriff’s Card” or gaming/non-gaming card, or whatever else you’d like to call it.  It’s basically permission to work for five more years in a casino.  It’s also a pretty big money grab for the state of Nevada.  I HATE when my card is due!  My current “card” (I’m being generous calling it a card because they don’t even issue you an actual card anymore!) is due in December, but since I’ve been notified, I might as well get working on it now.

Back when I first moved to Nevada there was only one place you could get your Sheriff’s card.  That would be the Sheriff’s office.  And since everyone in town needed a card, you would get to the Sheriff’s office bright and early and wait in a four to five hour line to get fingerprinted, background checked, and finally you would get your card.  They did issue actual cards back then.  Today, it’s much different.

Today, I just had to go to an office where I worked, log on to a computer, assure the computer that I hadn’t been arrested, or have any child support, or any felonies, or whatever, and then use my debit card to pay $75.  Actually, they charged me $0.50 to use my card, so my total was $75.50.  I’m still not finished with all of that.  I still have to find some place to fingerprint me.  My finger prints are already on file, but I still have to have it done again every five years.  I’ll also have to pay for that, too.  Sheesh, it’s expensive to work!  But at least I wasn’t waiting in line for four hours this time!

Moving forward, let’s forget about the Sheriff’s card for a moment.  This weekend I was invited to the Neon Boneyard Park.  Usually they charge to see old Las Vegas neon signs, but for today it was free!  And it was quite a trip into the past!

Before entering the Boneyard place, I found a truck serving some food.  It was called “StripChezze”.  I don’t know what they were serving, but I loved the name!  *chuckle*

Getting inside the boneyard we began to see old, retired Las Vegas neon signs from Las Vegas past.  Those were the glory days of this town!  I found the La Concha sign.  I think this was way before my time and don’t know where this hotel was, but it looks so fabulous in old photos!

The Yucca, Las Vegas.  What was this place like?  Wow!

I remember driving by the Silver Slipper when I was a really young kid while we were passing through Las Vegas on vacation.  I don’t think we ever went in there, but I loved the neon shoe!

These signs reigned back when the hotels had “color TV” and gift shops would promise “Tender Sympathy” and "free aspirin" for a hangover.  *chuckle*

My last photo is of a giant neon duck.  I don’t know where this came from, but I loved it!  I guess I could have asked someone, but it was more fun for me to just have a photo of the duck without really knowing anything about it.  Feel free to comment if you have any idea what this neon duck is really from.

So there you have it.  This week I was part of modern Las Vegas paying for my new work card, and I also experienced some of Las Vegas’ past.  I’m sure I could have wandered around and asked everyone why there, but it was more fun just to think about those bygone days when those old places were still open.

So until next week, keep asking why.  And get out and experience part of where ever you’re at.  Fun things lurk everywhere, sometimes you just have to find them.  So do something fun, and then ask why!

Week 33: Why VHS?

Decades ago I had some of my long lost relatives take some home movies documenting family, things they did, and places they may have gone.  They did this on a very, very old type of camera.  I’m not even sure what the camera looked like, or where it is now.  They would have to mail the film off to have it developed and they would get back 8 millimeter film. 

I don’t even think they had sound for these home movies.  If I remember correctly, it was just video and nothing else.  I found a bunch of these movies as a teenager and also found the video projector that would show the 8 MM film.  I set it all up in my basement room and was watching the videos, fascinated by what I was seeing.  And then it all came to a crashing halt.

My mother walked into my room and saw what I was doing.  She went into hysterics yelling and screaming at me that I was ruining the home movies!  She took everything away and mailed it off somewhere so I couldn’t watch them anymore. 

Decades later I now find a bag of these home movies sitting on my living room floor.  I don’t know what to do with them.  Even if I could manage to watch them now, I would have absolutely no idea who any of the people in the movies were.  They would all be just strangers to me. 

I’m sure I could take these somewhere and have them put onto a DVD or something, but again I wouldn’t know who any of the people were, and it would be like watching strangers to me.  Moving on, I grew up in era when the VCR was invented.  It was a luxury item and everyone wanted one!  Eventually my family did get one and I absolutely loved it!  I could now record things on television and watch them whenever I wanted!  Eventually we ended up with cameras that could record onto VHS tapes!  This was wonderful and we could now have home movies with sound!  And we could watch them on our VCRs! 

That era seems like just yesterday to me.  We never seemed to have enough blank VCR tapes for what we wanted to record.  And we did plenty of recording, too!  Again, I have quite a few VCR tapes in my living room.  We no longer live in that era anymore, though.  I no longer have a VCR, or a camera that records onto VCR tapes.  So for a while I was looking at these things like I was looking at the 8MM reels, no knowing what to do with them.

The VHS tape I’m holding there isn’t labeled.  I have no idea what’s on it.  The only way to find out is to put the tape in a VCR and see.  I don’t have a VCR.  Thinking about it though, last Christmas I had spent about $120 on a gift for my brother.  It was a small thing that converts VHS tapes into digital media!  He tried using it once and the VCR he was using at the tape.  He was angry and hadn’t used it since.  I could go over and see if there was another VCR and maybe see what was on the tape!

So I did find a VCR that worked and did figure out how to convert the VHS tapes into digital files.  I can now play or edit them on a computer!  This was fantastic!  I had only taken 3 VCR tapes with me to check (who knew how well the conversion thing would work?), but after looking at what was on the VCR tapes, it wasn’t really anything that interested me.

And so another family member asked if I could maybe convert some VCR tapes for her.  No problem.  It became fun to plug in a tape and then start the conversion process ending with the video being moved to a computer and also one of my jump drives so I could take the videos home, too!  We converted some old VHS tapes that were purchased at Walt Disney World and Disneyland from way back when the VCR was king!  The earliest video I converted was from 1989 and was taken just after I had gotten out of the military.  My Dad and I drove around and did a video tour of Bullhead City, Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada.  In the video the cars now look so old!  You can see signs for a Steak and Lobster dinner for $6.99 and one for a steak and egg breakfast for $0.79!  That brought back such memories!

We converted a Walt Disney World trip planning video from 1993, a video about the Disney Hollywood Studios park from 1995, and a Disneyland vacation video from I’m not even sure when!  The Disneyland video still shows the Sky ride, so I’m sure it’s pretty old!  *chuckle*

I stayed up much later than I wanted to converting video and I plan to do more next week.  This is like a trip into the past for me, now being able to watch these old videos on my computer.  So why VHS?  Because the videos we made hold so many memories!  I may not know the people on the 8MM stuff, but I do remember the VHS folks!  Until next week, find an old VHS tape and show it some love!  And keep asking why!

Week 31: Why is it time to publish?

Why is it time to publish?  Well, because I’m a writer, that’s why.  What would be the use of writing, but not putting your writing out for other people to read?  Now of course I’m certain to get a few reviews saying the writing is bad, and unrealistic, and things would never happen that way, but you have to put your stuff out there.  You have to suffer the jealous, negative people sometimes.  And maybe they’ll be good reviews, too!  I thought the story was pretty good.

So obviously I spent the weekend getting something ready to be published.  I’ll be publishing it as an “Indie”, or independent author.  That means I’ll publish it all by myself without the help of some publisher.  And doing that is much easier than you might think!

There is a web site called createspace.com.  They will publish and distribute your book for free.  That’s right, I said for free!  They have a cover creator feature to help you make your own covers.  You can even upload your own photos for the cover.  It’s quite a simple program, but I think it actually works damned well!  Here's the link to the web site:

createspace.com

Before going to createspace I wanted to copyright my work.  Now if you do a search for copyright you’ll come across all these companies that want to help you file for a copyright.  That’s bullshit!  Don’t use them!  You don’t need to pay $119 or more to file for a copyright!  Go right to the government web site itself.  The real link is right here:

U.S. Copyright

It’s a bit complicated to navigate through, but once you get everything uploaded, it will only cost you a $35 filing fee.  It’s not necessary to pay some shady company over $100 to do it for you!

Now if you’re from the United Kingdom, or somewhere in Europe you may be asking what the hell a copyright is.  It’s just an American thing that protects our work.  You don’t have to get one of these to publish a book, but it always makes me feel more comfortable when I get one.

Moving on, I went to the createspace web site.  Now maybe it is hard to go through these motions for your book after all because designing a cover yourself can be quite challenging!  What will the front of the cover look like?  What will the blurb on the back say?  Do you want an author photo on the back?  An author bio?  You have to make all these decisions!  They offer professional help for a fee, but where’s the fun in that?  Sometimes it’s more fun to design things all by yourself.  After several tries, my final cover looks like this:

I’ve got my blurb on the back (Which is of course very difficult to write!  How do you describe your story in a couple short paragraphs?  And the photo on the front is one I took myself so I’m not using someone else’s work. 

It’s been quite a weekend for me.  It took me around 18 months to write, edit, and work this story out.  That’s a year and a half!  So now I get to send my work out into the world and see how it does.  Hopefully it will do well!

So why is it time to publish?  Because my story is finished and that’s what you do when you’re a writer.  Until next week, keep asking why, and publish your own stuff!  Don’t be afraid to do this!  Get your stuff out there!

Week 28: Why I'm starting to dislike Disney

I grew up loving Disney.  When I was a kid, my parents even took me to Disneyland quite a bit.  We had wonderful times there!  I’ve been there so far back that I can remember when we had to use tickets.  Tickets as in A, B, C, D, and E.  You only got 2 E tickets and so you would have to plan out what E rides you wanted to go on for that trip.  Oh those days were so fun!

Disney parks are still fun, but things are changing.  They’re changing and not for the better.  At least that’s my opinion.  There are good changes and bad changes, but I think the bad changes are becoming more prevalent than the good ones.

One good change is the Magic Band.  At Walt Disney World in Florida you can now get a Magic Band to wear around your wrist that will be your park entrance ticket as well as your room key if you’re staying at a Disney hotel.  You can attach a credit card to the band and even use it to charge things in the parks.  So basically you don’t even have to take a wallet or anything with you to any of the parks, you can just wear your Magic Band and you’re all set!  These things are even water proof so no more trying to keep track of your room key while you’re at the pool swimming.  You just wear the fantastic Magic Band, grab a towel, and head out!  This whole system sounds fantastic to me!

The bad changes, though…ugh.  They hit pretty hard.  Disney is deciding to take things away.  They’re deciding to make things more “PC” in the parks.  One of the first changes I was unhappy about was years and years ago.  Someone decided that in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride it was “sexist” for pirates to chase women.  The ride was changed around so that pirates no longer chased after women, but now the women chase the pirates around.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.  There is a whole scene in the ride where the pirates are auctioning off women, but they’re now supposed to be afraid of women? 

This one isn’t so bad, the old pirate running away from the “large” woman.  It does seem to make fun of large women, though. Then we have the iconic women auction in the ride.  There is a line of women being sold and a very large woman on the selling block.  Nearby stands a redheaded woman as the pirates all around yell “We wants the redhead!”  They’re clearly waiting for her to hit the action block and it’s a funny, iconic scene in the ride.

I LOVE this scene!  And now they’re going to take it away.  I’ve heard it’s been decided to make the redhead a pirate.  Maybe she’ll be running the auction selling off the other women?  I don’t know, but I don’t like it! Why would you change that scene?  What will be next to go?  Will they take away the burning of the town part?  Maybe that promotes riots and someone doesn’t like it?  Eventually Pirates of the Caribbean is going to become just another Small World ride where everyone is happy and singing and dancing!  I won’t even go into the Johnny Depp changes!  Oh, why can’t they just leave good things alone?

They took away the iconic hat at the Disney MGM Studios…or Hollywood Studios…or whatever the hell it’s called now.  They can’t even decide on a name for the park!

I loved the hat and the pin shop that was underneath it.  Too bad, because it’s been torn down.  People didn’t like that it obstructed the view of the Chinese Theater.  Did people like the Chinese Theater?  TOO BAD, that’s going to be refurbished now and the Great Movie Ride inside of it is going away, too!  Did you really like that ride?  TOUGH!  Better hope you have some video of it like I do!

New parks are being built for Disneyland and Walt Disney World.  Walt Disney World already has Pandora in the Animal Kingdom park.  That is based on a movie about a company trying to destroy a native people and steal their resources.  And now it’s featured at Disney!  HOORAY!  Did I like the movie, yes.  Do I think it should be in a Disney park?  No, not really.  Who the hell thought this would be a good idea?  Apparently it’s a success because the park is now jammed with people waiting hours to get on the two new rides.  I’m personally just not thrilled about it.

Did you like the Tower of Terror at Disneyland?  Too bad, that’s gone.  It was turned into a Marvel Comics Guardians of the Galaxy ride.  You can still ride Tower of Terror in Florida, but for how long? 

The next big thing will be Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land.  A Star Wars Resort hotel is supposed to be built.  They’re getting away from Disney things and moving on to things like Star Wars and Marvel Comics.  I wonder what the parks will look like in another 50 years?  Will there be any Disney stuff left?  So much of it seems to be going away now.

People sometimes ask what time period you would go to if you had a time machine.  I think I would go back to maybe 1980 or so and visit Disneyland.  Maybe go back to 1987 and visit Walt Disney World.  Am I sounding really old not liking these changes? 

So why am I disliking these changes to a theme park I can’t afford to go to more than once every few years now?  I don’t know.  Until next week, keep asking why.

Week 17: Why it's so hard to finish a book.

I’m almost finished with my next book.  It’s difficult to finish things off.  You may wonder why it’s difficult and I’m going to tell you.  It’s difficult because I’m not one of those writers who can just pump out what I consider a decent book in a week, or even a month.  I’ve spent the last year and a half working on this.  18 plus months.  That’s a long time, and quite a bit of time to invest in something.

Now I’m for the most part finished with writing the book.  It’s all there.  What needs to be finished up is the editing, the formatting, and breaking everything up into chapters.  That’s a bit tough sometimes.  Not because it’s a hard thing to do, but because it represents my departing this world that I’ve been a part of for the last year and a half.  When it’s all finished what will I do next?  I’ll be depressed for a bit.

Could I just start writing something else?  Yes, I’m sure I could, but it’s not always that easy.  I could maybe start another book with the same characters.  I’m not sure what I want to do. 

And so it’s time to get editing.  Get editing…  I’ll admit to kind of dragging this post out a bit because I really kind of don’t want to be finished with my book.  It has to be done, though.

Maybe enough people will buy my book so I can afford a trip to Walt Disney World?  Or maybe no one will buy it?  It’s hard to speculate on things like that.  All I could do was pour my heart and soul into this work and put it out there for the world to see.

I’ll get things finished and pay for a copyright.  I guess no more wasting of time.  Let’s get working.

Week 14: Why Bullhead City, Arizona?

So I’m on vacation this week.  What should I do?  Well to tell the truth I should probably be taking a trip somewhere.  But since my funds are limited at this time I decided to just stay home.  I pretty much spent my vacation money on my new iPad.  Am I disappointed?  Not at all!  After playing with my new iPad Pro for the last few days I can honestly say I love the thing!

But that’s not what this week’s blog is about.  For a bit of my vacation I decided to ride along with someone to Bullhead City, Arizona.  Why Bullhead?  Well, why the hell not?  I’m on vacation, or staycation, or whatever the hell you want to call it and can go anywhere I want!  Never heard of the word “staycation”?  It means you don’t have to go to work for the week and you just stay home.  It’s kind of like being unemployed again, but you actually have money to spend.  It’s nice!

My plans for this week include finishing up the novel I’ve been working on for the last year and a half.  Yes, I’ve been writing this thing for 18 months or so.  But again, let’s move on to Why Bullhead?

It seemed like not only a nice ride, but I could try out the video on my new iPad Pro!  Fantastic!  I should have maybe also took a few photos with the iPad, but there’s really not a whole lot in Bullhead.  *chuckle*  It’s right across the Colorado River from Laughlin,  Nevada.  Did I go to Laughlin while I was there?  No.  I get to see enough casinos here in Las Vegas.  But still, the trip was fun.

I did film and edit a short two and a half minutes of driving and standing out in front of an old shed.  I’m waiting for the library to be open tomorrow (We apparently have limited library hours here) so I can use their lightning fast wife to upload the video to YouTube.  Then I’ll post the link on Facebook and Twitter.  So if you want to see some desert highway, follow me on Facebook or Twitter!  *chuckle*

Now much more to tell about the trip.  Drove there, visited with family and then drove back.  Roads, a small dog, and a shed.  Yahoo.  Seeing my family was nice, though.  So I guess that’s really why I went.

Until next time, keep asking why!  And watch for the upcoming video!

Week 13: Why Apple?

I’m electronically spoiled.  I’ll admit that.  And my first vacation of this year is coming up soon.  Where will I go?  What will I do?  Well, instead of taking a trip somewhere I decided to spend my vacation money on an iPad.  And not just an iPad, but an iPad Pro!  Before I get into that, let’s go back a bit…

Seven years ago or so I saw that Apple was coming out with a second iPad that had a camera.  Actually, it had a front and back camera.  I didn’t have an iPad, but I did have an iPod.  It was a tiny little toy that I was enjoying and I thought getting a larger version of that might be really fun!  My little iPod didn’t have a camera and so a new iPad with a camera might be great!

And so I preordered an iPad 2.  This was the newest thing coming out and would be fantastic!  I had to wait a bit after release day for my iPad 2 because I was having my name engraved on it.  No problem, sometimes anticipation is better than the real event!  And so I waited and waited…

Finally my iPad arrived via FedEx.  I opened the box and was thrilled with it!  I learned to watch videos, check my email, and do quite a few other things with it.  Using my iPad got to be a daily thing.  But it was just the beginning back in 2010.

I was trying to use Facebook, but at first the Facebook app really didn’t work.  Years later that was fixed, but back then I couldn’t really do much with it.  And to tell the truth, Facebook was just getting going, too.  So that wasn’t as much a big deal.  But as time went on, I did find myself using this new toy every day.

As things are now, I wake up and check the news on my iPad.  I’ll also look at Facebook.  I order things from Amazon. I do all kinds of things.  It’s starting to slow down, though.  Suddenly my iPad is getting a bit frustrating sometimes.  Things are taking longer and longer to load.  My poor friend is just getting outdated.

And so I thought maybe instead of going on some fancy trip that would only last me one fleeting week, if that, maybe I should spend my vacation money on a new iPad?  I could check the Apple app on my iPad 2 and see what they have.

That didn’t quite work out because now for the Apple app to work on an iPad or iPhone you now need at least iOS 10.0.  My poor little iPad 2 won’t update beyond iOS 9 something!  Damn!  So I just looked up the Apple store online and luckily that worked.  They now have something called an iPad Pro.  There is a version that is 12.9 inches.  That’s huge!  Well actually just three inches or so bigger than my iPad 2.  But huge always seems to be good.  I want huge now!

Instead of impulse buying though, I figured I’d do a little research.  There is also a regular 9.7 inch iPad Pro.  That’s the same size as my iPad 2, but why get a regular sized one when I can have huge?  Huge seemed better until I looked a bit closer.

The 9.7 iPad Pro has a better camera and can film in 46K.  I have no idea what 46K is, but maybe I need that instead of huge?  Actually I do know that 46K is some kind of resolution that people would only be able to see if they had a 46K television, or computer screen, or whatever, but what the hell, right?  Maybe I need 46K instead of huge? (There's a bit more to it than just 46K, but it's fun to just make fun of that!)

Now I have to look closer.  Huge graphics or 46K?  I finally decided that I want the better camera.  I don’t understand why the huge one doesn’t come with the better camera.  If it’s bigger, why can’t you be putting the better stuff into it?  Come on, Apple!  And so I made my decision, I would get an iPad Pro 9.7.  They do offer free engraving, but you have to wait longer to get the iPad while it’s engraved in some obscure Chinese city, or Timbuktu, or where ever.  I can be patient.  I think I need my name on the new iPad Pro.  And so I ordered it.  Now my new iPad Pro will be my vacation toy.  I’ll have to take some 46K video and see where I can upload it. 

The new iPad will be here in about a week.  Actually not here, but at an Apple store and I’ll go pick it up from there.  That way I don’t have to wait all day for a FedEx guy. 

So why Apple instead of a vacation somewhere?  Because I want faster, updated, and 46K!  *chuckle*  And I’ll be able to take my new toy along for the next vacation I save up for.  Vacation videos in 46K!  I like the sound of that!

Until the new iPad Pro comes, keep asking why!   

Week 11: Why doesn't my brother like Wendy's?

Why doesn’t my brother like Wendy’s?  I don’t know.  I can’t ever remember eating there myself and mentioned that I was going to stop there for dinner tonight.  Why not try the place out?  My brother warned me not to go there!  He said it was horrible!  He doesn’t like Wendy’s at all.  Why not, though?  Is their food bad?  He didn’t say that.  He just said he didn’t like the place.

https://www.wendys.com/

Now I guess on some fishing trips with our father he’s always had to stop there and get Dear ol’ Dad some Wendy’s chili.  Is this why he doesn’t like the place?  I guess my dad loves the chili!  So why not try the place out for myself.

I figured I’d try eating there especially because I refuse to let anyone else tell me what I like, or don’t like!  Now don’t suggest I go to McDonald’s, I don’t like that place.  I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s in years and think the food there is pretty nasty!  Bleaugh!  But other burger places have been pretty good.

I really like Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers.  I’ve eaten there a few times and their French fries are fantastic!  Instead of going to Freddy’s though, I thought I’d try someplace new.  Maybe Wendy’s would be just as good, if not better?  Worth a shot in my opinion!  If you’re curious, here’s the link to Freddy’s:

http://freddysusa.com/

One of the other places I like is In N Out Burger.  I know that’s a West Coast kind of thing.  Their burgers are fantastic!  The fries there are good too, but still not as good as Freddy’s.

http://www.in-n-out.com/

Anyway, it was off to Wendy’s for me!  I wasn’t after chili like my dad likes, I wanted a burger and fries!  The burgers at Wendy’s are supposed to be fresh and not frozen.  So are they tasty being fresh?  I was ready to find out!

Once I got there, a friendly cashier guy greeted me.  Looking up at the menu I found something called the Bacconator!  That sounded good!  Kind of like a Terminator, but with bacon!  I ordered a Bacconator meal so I would get to try the fries and also get a drink.  I received a large cup and made my way over to where I could get my drink.  It was just one machine.  Looking it over, it had a touch screen and you could select from a huge amount of drinks!  Very efficient and fun!  I selected something called “Dave’s Cherry Cream Soda”.  It was quite delicious!  And just as I finished filling up my drink, my food was ready!  Very quick service!

And so here is what I got with my meal (minus the drink).

I’m quite happy to say the Bacconator was VERY GOOD!  I was quite pleased with my meal!  I have no clue why my brother doesn’t like the place!  Pick your own drink, get fantastic food, what’s not to like?  And so I will be going back to Wendy’s again in the future with or without my brother.  Maybe Dad will come along and get some chili?  Either way, I did like the place.  The fries weren’t as good as Freddy’s, but the Bacconator definitely was great! 

Why do you eat where you eat?  Question what people say and until next week, keep questioning everything!

Week 10: Why do people drive like this?

Why do people insist on being rude on the roadways?  On Friday night I wanted to treat myself to a burger at a place called In-N-Out Burger.  I drove over there and while waiting to turn into the drive-thru some girl drove around me and cut in front of me in line!  Who does this kind of thing?  I wonder if this is a Las Vegas thing because people are pretty rude here!

Why are there so many car wrecks here?  Probably because people don’t seem to think they’ll cause a wreck no matter how they drive.  Everyone else should watch out for them, right?  This theory makes absolutely no sense at all!  I remember watching a news story a few years ago where a reporter rode along with a highway patrol officer who was writing citations for speeding drivers.  One lady was pulled over going over one hundred miles an hour!  The reporter asked her if she was afraid of an accident and the lady snorted and said, “I haven’t been in an accident yet, so obviously I won’t be in one!”  I wonder how long that theory held up for her?

And it’s not just idiots in cars here, people riding motorcycles are dying left and right here!  I see them out on the road occasionally.  You’d think they would be really cautious with the way people drive here, but most aren’t!  A lot of these idiots drive like they’re some kind of stunt driver.  They go over the speed limit, cut in between cars, drive on the side of the road to pass cars, and run red lights.  And do they survive this kind of stuff?  Hell no they don’t!

Motorcyclist Dies

How about that?  The guy was speeding and ran a red light before he slammed into a truck.  It’s insanity on the roads here.  And I always hear people saying that no matter where you live, the drivers are worse there.  What is wrong with people?  Especially here in Las Vegas we have the news filled with car accidents and people dying or getting injured.

Ambulance Crash

You aren’t even safe in an ambulance here!  Either the ambulance hit someone else, or someone slammed into the ambulance!  I’m guessing someone slammed into the ambulance because most people here won’t even pull over when they hear a siren!

Man dies after driving the wrong way on the freeway

This guy was driving the wrong way on the freeway.  Imagine being the lady who drives one hundred miles an hour and seeing some idiot coming straight at you also doing a hundred.  What do you think goes through your head…besides the windshield?

Enough news links.  It’s just insane to me how people drive today.  Every day I see people who seem to be trying to cause a wreck.  A lot of times here in Las Vegas after a wreck the driver will just get out of their car and run away.  Then the police arrive and decide they don’t know who was driving.  Now who pays for the damage to your lovely Mazda?

People are just stupid and don’t seem to think they can be hurt driving erratically.  I’m sure writing STOP IT here won’t change a thing though.  Let’s hope I’m not killed by some idiot driving the wrong way before next week so I can ask why about something else.

Week 8: Why is this a thing?

What the hell is going in with the world now?  There are some things that I’m seeing that I don’t even understand.  Things that I just look at and wonder to myself why it’s a thing.  Why is it even here?  Take for example the Magic Mountains.  No, I’m not talking about the fantastic theme park in California, I’m talking about this:

What the hell is this?  Who the hell does this kind of thing?  This is about 45 miles outside of Las Vegas I think.  I thought about driving out to see it in person this week, but then began wondering why the hell I would make a 90 mile round trip to the middle of nowhere just to see some painted rocks.  Someone apparently had too much time on their hands.

I had no idea this was even here until I saw it on YouTube.  A guy named Justin Scarred drove out there and did a video with the painted rocks.  He’s into bizarre things like that.  Please, feel free to watch his trip:

Justin Scarred

This was not my only surprise this week.  I love video games and I came across a video game where you play as a 911 emergency dispatcher.  Now while I don’t dispatch for 911, I do dispatch for a casino/hotel for a living.  While the job does have amusing moments, I never thought it would become a video game!

Is this something I would possibly want?  Dispatch all night and then come home to dispatch some more in a video game?  Why the hell is this a thing?  If you watch a video of the game, you receive phone calls from people calling for help.  Ok, send the police.  Now another emergency, send more police.  Ok, now you’re out of police units and you get a call for another fight.  Now what?  Bleagh!  I get enough of this shit at work!

This isn’t even the beginning.  You can buy a video game where you play as a bus driver.  Join the excitement as you drive a bus around town and pick up and drop off people!

There is a game called Papers Please where you work in a border booth checking passports.  You can be a video truck driver! How about driving trains?  Yes, all those things are video games!  We’ve now come to the point where we’re not only spray painting rocks florescent colors out in the middle of the desert, we’re also making video games for mundane jobs in the world!  What the hell’s next, a janitor video game?

This one is called Viscera Cleanup Detail.  You play as a janitor cleaning up after some horror movie thing.  Let’s simulate picking up body pieces and mopping up blood!  What a fantastic game idea!  I have no words for this.  All I can do is ask why.  Why? Why? Why?

Until next week, keep asking why with me.  Question everything.