New Year's Eve 2010

     Goodbye 2010.  It's part of the past now.  So what did I do to survive that wild night a few days ago?  Well, it started out the same as it does every year.  The police block off Las Vegas Blvd and so I can't use the strip to get to where I'm supposed to park at work.  I have to drive down to Tropicana avenue and then sit in traffic for about 45 minutes while trying to turn on Koval to get to the parking area.  Meanwhile, I'm surrounded by idiots who still think they can make it to the closed Strip from Tropicana (Most of these idiots are locals) and cabs.  They're all trying to cut me and each other off.  I guess if you cut everyone around you off, you get where you're going much faster.  I played the game too, and cut off people who were trying to cut me off.  So it was one, huge mess of idiots trying to cut each other off while driving about a half a mile an hour.

     I had to leave for work 2 hours ahead of time to get through this mess!  But finally, I arrive at the parking area.  I'm thrilled!  Now all I have to do...is...what the hell?  Almost the whole damned lot is full of cars!  Oh, ok.  Now I remember that both Luxor, and Excalibur employees are parking in the lot this year.  No matter, I'm sure there's a spot somewhere...somewhere...uh...DAMN IT!  I finally find a spot, but end up having to park waaaaaaay in the back of the lot.  I guess I get some exercise walking out of the lot.  There is a shuttle bus for the really lazy employees, but I refuse to ride a bus across the street.  I did however, get a nice shot of Luxor from where I ended up parking.  Oooooo, how dark and forbidding!  Just looks like trouble to me.

     So now I've parked, and head across the street.  It's not like years ago when the streets were full of idiots.  Tonight there are idiots wandering around, but the street's still a bit empty.  Maybe the 33 degree temperature kept some of them inside?  Who knows?  I snap a nice picture while crossing the blocked off street.

     And if you look down the other way, here are the paramedics and the police!  I'm sure they were really happy to be out in the cold!

     I cross the street and head into the employee areas quickly, trying not to let any of the screaming, drunken idiots on the sidewalk talk to me.  I get lucky and none of them slur any questions at me.  I make it down to the security briefing room to see how disorganized things are.  It doesn't look too bad, but then I haven't started my shift yet.  So far, it's fun.  That fun will stop soon.

     I get clocked in and briefing for the night starts.  Like normal, it doesn't make much sense, and is mostly the managers trying to whine about how they aren't "abrasive" and how they are supposed to be nice to everyone.  No wonder people get away with just about anything they want here.  Sheesh.  Finally, briefing ends and I head out to dispatch with my partner.  As we get there, the phones are ringing off the hook with idiots asking "Am I getting relieved now?  Can I leave and go to lunch now?  Where's my relief?"  I'm not a supervisor and really not concerned about whether I'm "abrasive" or not, so I scream into the radio for people to STOP CALLING DISPATCH TO ASK IF THEY ARE BEING RELIEVED!  A supervisor comes on the radio and tells me not to talk to people that way, and to be nice.  Now I wonder when I'm going to get relieved, and I haven't even been at work an hour yet!  Ok, the fun's ended.

     It's constant chaos in dispatch on New Year's Eve.  The phone rings, and rings, and rings, and people want this, and want that, and want, want want!  I do the best I can and work my way through the chaos. I do have a couple other dispatchers helping me...or was I helping them?  Who knows?  It's all one big blur.  Before I know it, it's midnight.  For at least a second or two I think the loud booms I hear are thunder.  Then I realize it's the Vegas fireworks going on.  I get up and walk out the dispatch door to get a picture of them!  And, of course, I can't really see them.  But I get a shot of a few sparks, and some smoke:

     Should I have then been wondering what the new year will bring me?  What's in store?  Where will I go from here?  Actually, I just went back into dispatch and did the best I could.

     As far as I've heard, there were somewhere around 100 driving while intoxicated arrests.  Those are just the arrests, mind you, I'm sure there were ten times that amount of drunken people driving around who didn't get caught.  One Mexican was killed because he was out firing a gun into the air and when the police arrived and told him to stop, he pointed his gun at them and said no.  His family claims that he didn't know they were police.  I guess wearing a police uniform and yelling "Police, put the weapon down!" wasn't enough identification for them.  (This wasn't at the casino, by the way, it was out in town somewhere.)  There were robberies, and beatings, fireworks and booze, kisses and hugs.  Did things look hopeful to me for 2011?  I don't know.  Things looked violent.  But I guess we'll just have to wait and see what comes.

Stay safe.