As the days pass (quickly
I might add), the things left behind in New York and those that are new to Las
Vegas become more pronounced. Anyone who says that NY is better than LV or vice
versa is not considering all the facts. Both places have appeal and both places
have negatives. In actuality they are not much different although there are
plenty who will argue this statement.
Each day wandering around
North Las Vegas and its environs I am reminded about those things that I “miss”
and “do not miss” about both towns.
Traffic : If you listen to morning “drive-time” radio in Las
Vegas you would think that traffic is a nightmare – back-ups moving south on
I15, a pile up on the 215, Flamingo Road barely passable. Any and all of these
traffic bulletins involve waiting to get where you are going for another 10
minutes maximum.
Since arriving here a
little over 3 months ago I have been depending on Google Maps to get me from
point A to point B – this kind of navigational guide is a must in Las Vegas for
anyone coming here from the east coast since every strip mall looks exactly
like every other strip mall and every housing development is chock full of
little brown and tan houses all in a row (no distinguishable landmarks, no way
points that stand out). Those of you who use Google Maps (and if you do not I
recommend it highly over other GPS apps and devices) know that the “smart” part
of the program turns heavy traffic roads from yellow to orange to (God
forbid!!!) red when traffic is at its worst. Driving around NY you make U-turns
over grassy road dividers when you see red! In Las Vegas? Meh!!!! A red road
means that there are more than a usual number of cars on the road – not stopped
mind you, not moving under the speed limit mind you, but just more than an
average number of cars on the road.
For me this is wonderland.
I have not been in a traffic jam (a New York style traffic jam) in three
months. For those of you unfamiliar with a New York style traffic jam, let me
give an illustration.
My wife and I sold our
home in New York and decided to forego the all-around stress of taking our two
not so well-behaved small but annoying dogs on a plane ride out here. We opted
for a closing in the late morning, a quick lunch, and off in the car we would
be on a five day jaunt across the country. You’ve heard about the “best-laid
plans?” Once we were all in the car, the dogs safely strapped in the back seat
since otherwise our Shih-Tzu prefers to lean over the front seat and whine
while our Maltese prefers riding shot-gun digging his small, lethal paws into
my wife’s legs, we set our minds on the far west. Not so fast. The Mercedes CLA
250 lease we were driving, an otherwise reliable but over-rated car, had been
trouble free up until that point when a “warning” light blipped on the dash!!!
A quick look in the manual informed us, yes, you guessed it, “bring the car in
to the dealership to get this checked out ASAP”. So instead of heading west directly
for the George Washington Bridge, we headed east toward the dealership in New
Rochelle.
After some begging and
suggesting that we weren’t moving the car out of the Service Department
entrance until they helped us, they agreed to take a look at it. Unconsciously
they hurried up the process as much as possible after we exited the vehicle and
sauntered into their posh Waiting Room with our two dogs in tow.
Their fast is not my idea
of fast and after almost two hours they informed us that the “sensor” that
tripped the warning light was defective and they did not have the part to
replace it. They assured us the car was running perfectly and to have the part
changed once we arrived in Las Vegas (we still have not by the way!).
Back in the car we
re-mapped our escape route and since we were now on the east side of the county
we opted for I95 to the Cross Bronx Expressway, to the GW Bridge. Simple!
Straightforward! Efficient! Except we did not factor in that this was a Friday
afternoon (now about 3:30 PM) in New York City.
New York traffic is so bad
that the radio routinely does not report traffic snarls that are routine and
normal – translation, anything that happens on the Cross Bronx Expressway! From
where we started this leg of our trip to the New Jersey side of the GW bridge
is 5 or 6 miles at the most. At 6:30 PM (3 hours later) we were crossing the
Hudson River and already exhausted. That’s RED traffic on Google Maps and I
sincerely do not miss that kind of New York Traffic at all.
Fast Food : First things first. I am not a big fan of fast
food. I will eat an occasional Kentucky Fried Chicken meal and I find myself at
MacDonalds far more often than I’d like. Fast food has its place in our society
– something to eat when you need to get it FAST.
Somehow the “fast” part of
fast food has been lost at many venues in LV as opposed to New York where you
can get a hot dog or a gourmet meal from a food truck in a split second! The
idea of having food ready to serve at the request of a diner involves having
the food you are selling already prepared or very close to being prepared. I’m
sure that at the end of the day many fast food establishments that do all of
this the correct way have a certain amount of waste to deal with – prepared food
waiting to be bought but no one bought it! My guess is that many Las Vegas fast
food establishments are attempting to cut down on this sort of waste. However,
in doing so they eliminate the essence of “fast.”
At a local casino that my
wife and I frequent there are a number of decent sit down restaurants and a
small food court. Food courts are designed for fast food, right? Not so fast.
Of the Dairy Queen, Nathan’s, Capriotti’s,
Panda Express, Rubio’s and Johnny Rocket’s there, the only one that has food ready
and waiting is the Panda Express and often the display trays are down to the
bottom and you have to wait for another batch to be prepared.
Nathan’s hotdogs? Waiting
on the cold side of the grill for a customer. Fries? That’ll take 3 – 5 minutes
in the deep fryer. A burger? You are looking at a good 10-15 minute wait!
What I’m saying is if I
lower my standards enough to order fast food, I at least expect it to be fast.
Think again in Las Vegas. I miss New York fast food.
Poker Update : I am relieved that I came to Las Vegas to retire, and not to attempt
to make a living playing poker. If I had tried surviving on poker by now I’d be
holding a sign on the corner advertising my willingness to work for food!
I have finished first in a
small online tournament which paid about 20x my buy in. That was very
satisfying. On the other hand I have gone out of similar tournaments on the
bubble twice! That’s heart wrenching.
Live play is not going
well. No tournament cashes in about 6 attempts and 2 out of about 10 winning
seats at cash games. I’m not ready to give up yet although I am tightening up
my play a good deal. Thankfully I enjoy playing and I am not losing the farm!
Time will tell.
