Gym at the Wynn

It's really quite nice...

So this little shelf area has water, towels, and fruit! Free fruit in here is better than paying $2 for banana out in the casino. Or something like $3 a bottle water.

In the back is a pretty full dumb bell rack and flat benches. This gym is nicer than many other gyms in general that I've been to.

Parking brake.... button?

So many new cars are coming with parking brake buttons as opposed to the good ole hand brake or pedal. I get it, it's much easier to run a tiny electrical wire than a full mechanical lever system with a steel cable. But, it's easy to forget which way to push/pull the stupid button to engage/disengage the parking brake.

Good sized cup holder

I had a Ford Fusion for a rental car. The 'cup' holder actually serves as a pretty good wine bottle holder.

Fancy instant coffee machine

Check out the different settings on this machine (was at the Lexus dealer picking up some oil filters): espresso, cafe latte, hot chocolate, french vanilla cappuccino, mocha, latte....

Odd Asian Competition Shows

So I was watching one of the Vietnamese channels I pick up on my antenna and came across this singing competition show. But this show is unlike any show I've seen from the west. This show has the contestants sing under random stressful situations.

So in this picture, a couple guys are singing while strapped to these spinning wheels. The wheels spinning isn't the big deal, it's the guy throwing knives at the balloons on the spinning wheels which makes it interesting.

This girl meanwhile is singing while being dangled over a water tank full of snakes.

Lemon makes many things better

Green tea by itself can be a little bland. Add in a little lemon kick though? Much better in my opinion.

First Week of August.... Vacation?

Traffic in LA has been relatively light this week....

Psychology of Radar Speed Limit Signs

So the first signs that I recall popping up use to just measure your speed. This had the unintentional result of people speeding more just to see how high of a speed they could get the sign to register. Typical male mentality. So, the next generation of signs would only flash the speed limit and/or 'slow down'. This newest generation of sign has a LED light bar on the top replicating the ones on top of police cars. We've been conditioned to react to the flashing red and blue of police lights with the instinct to slow down (aside from the criminal element at least...). So, when this sign detects a car speeding excessively, it flashes the red and blue light bar causing the instant "oh crap, there's police, I need to slow down" conditioned reaction. That's my theory at least.

Careful what fish you catch

You can't eat all of them. Though... not quite sure what I'd do if I caught a barracuda.

Busy Thursday Night at Phoenix Sky Harbor

So I had a connecting flight going through Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. I was there around 10pm on a Thursday. Aside from it being 100 degrees F at 10pm, the airport was PACKED. I don't think I've been in any airport that crowded at 10pm. Maybe it just handles a ton of connecting flights to west coast cities?

Wood Floor Steam Cleaner

It's awesome. Brings up stuff that a general cleaning won't. That is all.

AMC Dine-In Theatres Seats are Awesome

So the seats are awesome at the AMC Dine-In Theatres. They are like motorized lazy-boys and the food tray swings in and out.

Hatchback Hauling

Fold down the rear seats and it can swallow a table and two chairs. Gotta love the practicality of a hatchback.

Earthquake Protection for Endeavour

The shuttle Endeavour has been retired to LA.

As LA is earthquake country, the shuttle had to be mounted on these special bearings that can absorb the motion.

Dress Shirts and Needles

So... I don't get it. Why is it that when you buy a men's dress shirt, it's full of needles? I mean, are they REALLY necessary? I get the cardboard used to prop the collar so that it's not deformed. But I don't understand all the needles.

New Cars and Moving

The deal with all the new cars is they have a sensor to detect weight in the passenger seat. This is to set off the annoying seat belt warning and also to activate the air bag. The problem is... if you stick something heavy in the passenger seat such as when you're moving, it thinks there's a person in it. So, you have to deal with the annoying seat belt warning for a bit until it finally shuts off.

Shoulder Sprain Does Not Mix with Karting

I've had a bum shoulder for about the past 4 months and have been slowly rehabbing it. Well, a group of co-workers and I went karting after work one day and it definitely did not do my shoulder any favors. You don't realize how much certain activities stress a body part until it's hurt!

Morning Car Prep

Where I live, it's a bit humid being near the beach and all. The result often is a layer of condensation over the car. So if I want to see out my windows and mirrors, I have to use a squeegee or risk causing an accident.

New American Airlines Plane

I took a flight over New Years on a newer American Airlines plane.

Well, interesting thing #1 is the padded lap belt.

It's got a fancy screen! But a design fail is the back seat pocket; I tried to put a coke bottle in it with little success. One guy did manage to squeeze in a water bottle, but he had to squish it a bit.

The seat belt latch is new...

Tim Tebow for Bobsled?

The boys doing the pushing are big boys who need both strength and speed. Herschel Walker did it, so there's a precedence. Well, just a thought.

Primary Languages of the Olympics

I'm not sure that it's really interesting or not, but the official languages of the Olympics are French (the IOC is located in the French speaking part of Switzerland) and English (because, uh, I guess English is the international language of business).

Catering to Your Crowd, Chinese New Years

South Coast Plaza down in Orange County. Yup, red and Happy New Year in a number of the Asian languages.

Hermosa Beach has a New Meter Maid Cart

Hermosa Beach had these ancient 3-wheeled pseudo golf cart things the meter maids used to get around in. They had some little smokey gas powered engine, probably from a large weed whacker. Well, they have upgraded to this spiffy all-electric cart thingy. When it only has to go a couple miles a day, it makes much more sense to be electric.

Filming Going on Everywhere

I was in Venice Beach on a weeknight and came across this scene. Probably some TV show being shot. Or maybe a movie for TV type of thing.

They do weigh the stuff in Vegas rooms

Yeah, all those treats in the tray are weighed. If you take one off for more than 60 seconds, you will be charged.

There's the wire which sends the signal.

Vegas Buffet Time Limit

2 hours only at the Wynn buffet in Vegas...