Out On Top

Bob’s Books: Out On Top by: Steve Morris

There are books and then there are books.  If you look on any “bestseller” list in the world you’ll usually find books that were published by some huge publisher with an enormous advertising budget written by (or ghost written for) some celebrity.  But the people just reading these books are missing out.  There are some really incredible books out there written by fantastically talented writers who don’t get much notice.  Well today I’m going to do what I can by telling you about a book by one of my favorite authors!

Out On Top is a book of short stories by author Steve Morris.  He has published two other books full of short stories called In All Probability and Jumble Tales.  Steve’s stories always seemed to have some kind of twist to the ending.  I loved reading his stuff!  Now with Out On Top the stories have good endings.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still some dark themes here, but the main characters in these stories always come Out On Top in the end. 

Though the stories may have good endings, they aren’t your typical “feel good” type of thing.  The stories range from a man who can see into other people’s past and know their dark secrets, to another man who has stalked a girl he had feelings for decades before in high school and plans a “surprise” meeting with her, to a story about a two headed puppy.  I have two favorite stories in the book, the story about the two headed puppy called Better Than One (The puppy’s heads were named Holmes and Watson.  *chuckle*).  The puppy story needs to be read and not described.  My second favorite story though, is called Score To Settle. 

Score To Settle is a story about a lower league English Soccer player who is in the late stages of his career.  Sadly, his wife had cheated with another soccer player who is also in the late stages of his career.  During a match where the two teams play, the man decides to get physical revenge on the other man who had cheated with his wife.  He’s looking to take this guy out and more than likely end his walking around.  A very good story with tension right up to what happens at the end.  Does it have a good ending?  Of course it does!  The main character comes Out On Top, but in a way I hadn’t seen coming.  It was a fantastic story that really made me smile.  It ranks as one of the best sports stories I’ve ever read.

     All the stories in Out On Top were well written and once you start reading one, you want to see it to the end to find out what happens.  Even after finishing one story, I was anxious to start the next one.  Steve has a writing style that almost seems musical to me.  He does such a great job describing everything in his stories.

Now would be a good time to put up an excerpt one story to get you interested.  Instead, I think I’ll post the link to the Bob’s Books episode and you can listen to me read an excerpt from Score To Settle.  Once you’re hooked, pick the book up yourself to find out what happens!

When you're ready to help support this great author, follow the link below and order a copy of this great book!  (Click and paste if you have to!  Sometimes Blogger wants to be troublesome.  *chuckle*)

http://www.amazon.com/Out-Top-Collection-Upbeat-Stories-ebook/dp/B00IQ8PF44/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398048668&sr=8-1&keywords=steve+Morris+out+on+top

Writing in Spanish

Here's something fun I found.  It's possible to write something and then have it translated into Spanish.  Actually, Spanish, or a large amount of other languages.  Now I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "Of course I can have things translated!  I just find someone who speaks the language and ask them to translate the writing for me!"  That's not always possible.  I know I can use Microsoft Word to translate some things, but the translation doesn't always come out quite the way you intended it to.  Instead of Microsoft, I found a document translator on Google.  Now a bit ago I wrote a guest post for a friend about how to sell a million books.  I used Google Translate to translate the post into Spanish.  I have no idea if the translation is correct or not, but it was certainly fun to see how it turned out!  So now I'm going to re-post that guest post on my blog, but in the Spanish translation.  If anyone can read Spanish, I'd love to hear how good or bad the post looks!  

Cómo vender un millón de libros!

Supongo que el título de esta entrada del blog te llamó la atención? ¿Estás listo para escuchar el secreto? Inclínese en estrecha ahora! Aaaaaannnnnnd ...:

No hay ningún secreto.

Estoy seguro de que probablemente no es lo que querías leer. Todo el mundo busca el increíble secreto de cómo vender un millón de libros. Bueno, un buen comienzo sería un trabajo duro. Sí, ya se ha vertido su corazón y alma en escribir un libro tomar meses, incluso años para obtener su historia en un papel. (En realidad, sé que algunas personas que escriben lo que ellos llaman un libro en una semana. Me llaman a alguien así una "fábrica de cachorros autor." Cantidad no es un sustituto para la calidad, la gente!) Ok, ¿dónde estaba? ...... Oh sí, que ya ha escrito su best seller, y tal vez incluso encontró un editor, así que lo que viene después? ¿Cómo puede obtener copias de su obra maestra para volar de los estantes? Yo te ayudaré y te daré algunas maneras de comenzar:

1. Las personas no van a comprar su libro si no lo saben, así que tienes que encontrar la forma de que la gente sepa todo acerca de su maravilloso libro y dónde pueden conseguirlo. Si eres como yo, no tienes plata y realmente necesita encontrar maneras de correr la voz de forma gratuita. Por suerte, hay un montón de maneras de hacer eso!

1. Comience su propio blog: Y don 't empezar lloriqueando con la excusa: "Pero yo no sé cómo hacer eso!" Si usted ha escrito un libro, entonces usted sabe cómo escribir.. Encuentra un sitio web agradable como blogger.com y seguir algunas instrucciones. Si usted es todavía confuso, buscar blogs en ​​YouTube. Confía en mí, usted puede encontrar una explicación a casi cualquier cosa allí!
2. Use Facebook y tal vez crear un "Fan Page": Esto es una cosa simple. Si usted está confundido acerca de cómo ponerse en marcha con este, encontrar y hablar a otro autor que tiene una página de fans.Infierno, envíeme un email a Lvyoyo@aol.com y me piden que caminar a través de él. Estoy siempre dispuesto a ayudar! (Y ayudar a otros autores, si como usted k, porque nunca se sabe cuándo se puede necesitar! ayudarse a sí mismo) Aquí hay un gran consejo para cuando haga esto: Crear como un n Página de fans de "Autor" y promocionarse como escritor. Entonces, cuando usted escribe más cosas, se puede promover el uso de la página de fans. Y don 't sólo empujar a su libro, la gente no quieres mirar a una página de fans que' s acaba de publicar constantemente "ES NECESARIO COMPRAR MI NUEVO LIBRO, AQUI 'S EL ENLACE!" Publicar imágenes de sí mismo en su ordenador, escribir algo acerca de su día, es como de una imagen de la materia que usted excavado en un contenedor de basura para comer porque no tienen dinero para comprar comida, porque nadie compra sus libros!   ... Ok ... si, eso último era una broma.
3. Consígase en YouTube: Crea tu propio canal de YouTube, o encontrar a alguien que ya tiene un canal en YouTube y pedirles amablemente si van a publicar un video de usted, o tal vez algo sobre sus libros. Yo tengo mi propio canal y he publicado algunos videos sobre libros recientemente, y estoy por lo general feliz de ayudar a cualquier persona que quiera una mano promocional. Estoy aprendiendo rápidamente a trabajar con un fondo de pantalla verde y estoy consiguiendo realmente muy bueno en eso! Ejemplo: 
   Libros de Bob: Footworks, Diario de un conductor del autobús 
   Me pasó a ver un mensaje en Twitter de este autor y se ofreció a hacer un video para él. Él estaba muy emocionado! Lo que me lleva al siguiente consejo:
4. Obtener en Twitter: I don 't Publicar en Twitter tanto como debería. Aprenda lo que pueda acerca de los hashtags (Eso sería una de estas cosas #) y utilizarlos. Y don 't sólo pío cada mes o así, cuando usted recuerda, entra en el hábito de twitteando todo el tiempo. Si usted consigue bastantes seguidores y tweets suficientes cosas, la gente se dará cuenta! (Soy uno de los idiotas que los tweets jamás meses y más o menos ... tal vez. * Risa *)
5. Hacerse un examen cazador: He escrito una serie de libros y de productos revisiones en Amazon.com y de vez en cuando recibo un correo electrónico de alguien amigable preguntándome si me importaría la revisión de su libro. Ellos están por lo general muy agradable sobre él, y ofrecen a enviarme una copia digital gratuita de su libro si quiero uno. (Para ser honesto, No me pidas que revisar su libro en este momento. Estoy hasta el culo con clases de la universidad tratando de aprender todo acerca de Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point y reparación de computadoras. I don 't tiene tiempo para leer y revisar en estos momentos. Cuando tengo tiempo las cosas pueden cambiar, sin embargo.) Consulte los libros en Amazon que se encuentran en el mismo género que el libro y luego enviar por correo electrónico a alguien que hizo una revisión de los libros que encuentres y pedir educadamente si les importaría revisar su libro. A veces esto puede ser contraproducente porque la persona ganó 't como su libro y le golpe con una revisión de una estrella. Esté preparado para eso. Hustle los comentarios de amigos y familiares. Trate de no tener a alguien con el mismo apellido que usted publica una revisión, porque eso siempre se ve muy torcida. * Risita * Los mas revisiones de un libro ha, el pueblo más probable son para comprarlo por alguna razón. De todos los libros que he escrito, el que todavía vende la b est (más que todos los otros libros que he escrito hasta la fechacomo una cuestión de hecho!) tiene 13 comentarios de una estrella. Por supuesto que también tiene 9 críticas de cinco estrellas para ir junto con eso. Por alguna razón que todavía vendo un total de unos 40 ejemplares al mes sin mucha promoción en absoluto.

Así que ahí lo tienen, maneras de conseguir su venta de libros. Utilice combinaciones de las cosas que acabo de decir sobre. Si hay un video de YouTube sobre su libro, o como autor, publicarlo en su página de Facebook, y Tweet el enlace al video. Publique los enlaces a su cuenta de Twitter y la página de Facebook en su blog. Blog sobre lo confuso que estaba tratando de usar Twitter para promocionar su libro. Hacer un video sobre lo confuso que está a punto de blogs. * Risita * Ok, me estoy poniendo fuera de control ahora. Básicamente, utilice el mundo digital para darse a conocer. Ese es el verdadero secreto de la venta de un millón de libros, se obtiene un millón de personas para darse cuenta de su trabajo.

Y por lo que mi puesto de invitado termina aquí. Voy a ser un buen chico y publicar mi Facebook, Twitter, YouTube canal de información, y por supuesto un par de enlaces de libros en caso de que alguien quisiera verlos.(Yo no tengo una página de autor, soy un autor perezoso. * Risa *) Y si usted tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en enviarme un correo electrónico y pedir a distancia. Muchas gracias a Gretchen por permitirme este tiempo para escribir un entrada de blog mientras está de pie sobre una caja de jabón. (Fue muy duro para llegar al teclado!)

Libros que he escrito: 
Beso la Oscuridad (Una historia sobre un sargento de la Fuerza Aérea que está cegado en Afganistán y se enamora de una enfermera en el hospital de rehabilitación. temas extremos aquí!)

Love Story de un escritor

Propuesta de un escritor (La secuela de Love Story de un escritor)

La boda de un escritor (Y el tercer libro de la serie "del escritor amor".)

Invitado Mensaje de: Robert Wacaster

Página de Robert Facebook  

Cuenta de Twitter de Robert

Canal de YouTube de Robert (Un montón de cosas locas aquí! * risa * Y un poco de materia de promoción del libro.)

Y, por último, si usted tiene cualquier pregunta, o crees que puedo ayudarte con algo, no dude en enviarme un correo electrónico a Lvyoyo@aol.com . Sí, yo sé que tengo que planchar mi hoja de "pantalla verde". * Risa *

Why Fy? Why Not Fy?

Why FY?  Why Not Fy?

Yes, I hid my wifi signal.  I was taught how to do it in my PC Repair college class.  What fun, making my signal invisible so people can’t see it!  You can’t see it anyway, but now computerized things can’t see it unless they know its actual name.  And no, I’m not telling you my wifi’s nickname!  (It’s Fuscubible!)  See next paragraph:

Did you try to find the Fuscubible wifi signal?  If so, then STOP IT!  I wouldn’t go to the trouble of hiding my signal and then tell people what its name is!  That’s not its real name!  That would be like registering for a college class and then never showing up for the class!  That’s something that amazes me.  College is not cheap, people!  So why the hell do people pay for a class and then not show up?  Is it so they can tell other people that they’re taking a college level class?  Is that it, the prestige?  Now I’m really curious if this kind of thing happens at universities like Harvard, or Yale.

     Does it happen at Stanford Law School?  People want to be a lawyer, but don’t want to do any actual studying?  They just want to stand in a court room and yell “I OBJECT” at a judge without even knowing why they’re objecting.  Waaaaaaay back when I was still in the Air Force I made a stop in Connecticut just before I was sent overseas to Italy.  I wanted to see what the Yale University campus was like.  I walked around amazed at how beautiful and…educational it looked.  And then I found this neat little student shop!  I went in and some preppie kid who worked there came up and asked if he could “help” me.  Maybe I looked like I was a poor, homeless, military kid?  I dunno, but I told him I wanted to buy a Yale football jersey.  He directed me to some nice jerseys and I bought one.

Now I bet you’re wondering what the hell buying a football jersey at a Yale student store has to do with going to class?  (Or what it has to do with hiding a wifi signal?)  Well, after I was sent overseas I would wear my Yale jersey all the time and people would ask “Did you go to Yale?”  And I would always answer “Yes!”  I did eventually explain that I had never attended school there, but I did go there to buy the jersey from the preppie kid at the student store.  So using correct English, yes I went to Yale.  Too bad I couldn’t attend class while I was there.

I think I’d like some jerseys from other places now.  I’m older and hopefully wiser now and I think I should have some school jerseys.  I should probably start with a baseball jersey from The College of Southern Nevada because I’m ACTUALLY TAKING CLASSES THERE!  Although at the moment I’m out of work while I take the classes and so can’t afford to buy a baseball jersey.  (No football, they don’t have a football team…yet.)  I can accept donations, though! 

So what should I ask for?  Let’s start overseas!  Does anyone live near Oxford University in the United Kingdom?  How about an Oxford English Football Kit?  (If I’m going to beg for clothing, I may as well know the correct terminology for it.  *chuckle*)  Oh, better yet, I know what I want!  I know a lot of friends I have would love to have large libraries filled with books, I think I want a room with this in it:

I want an English Football Kit room!  I want little teams, though!  An Oxford kit would look nice in there, but I’d also like teams from places I’ve never heard of, like Cheltenham Town, and Dagenham!  And maybe a few kits from countries other than the United Kingdom?  YES, I now want it to be a EUROPEAN FOOTBALL KIT ROOM!  OR BETTER YET, A WORLD FOOTBALL KIT ROOM!  THAT SOUNDS SO COOL!  I need kits from teams like Daegu (South Korean team) or maybe Makhachkala from the Russian league?  (I should probably get off this subject now because I know absolutely nothing about these teams and had to look them up using one of my video games.)

What was I originally writing about?  Oh yeah, I hid my wifi signal.  I’m not sure how that led to writing about English European World football soccer kit jerseys, but it did.  So if you have a few extra bucks and would like to help me get my Football soccer kit jersey room started, please send me a kit from where ever you can find one, and then maybe I’ll unhide my wifi signal…at least for the new room.

Notes From College

Welcome back to school!

I've quit my job and have gone back to college.  I'm only taking two classes this semester, but they're obviously going to take some work.  I'm 47 years old and a bit rusty when it comes to school now.  The two classes I'm taking are Intro to Information Systems and PC Repair.  My first class was the Intro one and that was back on Thursday.  And yes, I was nervous.

Before I go on and on about school, let me just say that my last "serious" class was probably when I was in the United States Air Force over 25 years ago.  I had classes while I was working security yes, but to be honest they were stupid classes and I found it pretty hard to take them seriously.  College classes are different.  You take them seriously or you fail.  It's that simple.  And I don't want to fail.  I want to work with computers for a living and in order to do that, I need to pass these courses!  So onward we go!

I was anxious to get to my first class.  I didn't have a book for it, though.  There was a book listed online for my PC Repair class, but not for the Intro to Info one.  I asked at the college book store, but they weren't sure either and told me to ask the instructor at my first class.  Ok, no problem.  So I showed up for my first college course with nothing.  No notebook, no paper, no pen, no book, and apparently no forethought.  *chuckle*  When I told my niece about this (She's a straight A, 4.0, Associates degree in Business girl), she was horrified!  "Why didn't you at least take something to take notes with?" she asked me.  I don't know.  I guess I just wasn't sure what to expect.

The professor was really good about things though, and I wasn't the only one there without a book.  He went through everything and basically told us that if we don't want to show up for class, we don't have to!  We also don't have to pass.  He's not there to push us to succeed, he's there to teach.  If you don't want to learn, that's fine.  He said he doesn't like failing people, but last semester he failed a third of his class.  Wow.  That's...harsh.  But if you study and put in the work, you can easily pass the course.  And it WILL take work and study, too!  I can't just show up for class and then pass the tests.  I have to read the course book and if I want more than just a "C" for the class, I need to do the extra projects that will be assigned.  I want to do all the extra because that will not only help me with the tests, it will better my grade and help me learn the things I want to know.  The first assignment for this week:  Read chapters One through Five.  That's a good amount of reading, but I can do it.  Oh, here's a look at my "book":

On the left, you can see the five chapters that I've finished reading.  On the right is what's left.  Now as you can see it really isn't a book.  It's a bunch of loose leaf papers that don't have a binder.  So now I can either haul around a bunch of loose papers, or go and pay more money for a binder to put them in!  These papers cost me $112.50!  Part of that expense was for a code to get into something called "SAM" so I can do extra projects and things.  Another bad thing is that they won't buy this book back.  Because you're paying for the "code" inside, you can't get it used.  Oh well.  You can bet I'll probably be selling my PC Repair book back, though!  *chuckle*  I did buy that one used.

Today I head for my second class, the PC Repair one.  I have to drive way across town to get to the campus for this class.  I'll be heading there early just to find the classroom and to make sure I'm there on time.  And once I find everything, I'm sure there will be someplace where I can sit and read the course book while I wait for class to start.  And yes, for this class I'll not only have my book, I'll also take a notebook and pen to take notes with.  *chuckle*  I'll be a bit more prepared.  And hopefully this class will go just as well as my first one did.  I guess we'll find out.

More later...

Not Guilty?

Strangling people for fun

I've seen a lot and people will still surprise me.  I've both seen and read about people doing things that I can't even imagine, but tonight while reading USA Today I saw an article that pretty much took the cake.  It's a story about a 16 year old girl who strangled her 43 year old boyfriend to death.  She's not guilty though, because it was a "sex game".  Did any of that get past your brain yet?  Here's the article:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/22/teen-charged-as-adult/4786131/

The first thing you may notice is that the girl's mom apparently had no problem with her daughter having a boyfriend old enough to be her father.  How do you possibly think it's ok for your 16 year old daughter to have a 43 year old boyfriend?  I guess that doesn't matter.  She's probably a good mom letting her kid do anything she wants, right?  It's no wonder this happened.  Another thing that really stuns me is this horrible attorney's response to what happened.

This attorney named Julio Laboy says that the girl is a victim.  His exact quote goes like this:

"It is not self-defense and it is not reckless as she was being victimized in the moments this action took place presumably by a middle-aged man who held sway over her and took advantage of her age to influence a young girl who can't consent" to sex, Laboy said.

How did this guy "hold sway" over her?  So this attorney thinks this guy forced the girl to tie him up, strangle him to death and then cut him up?  Funny how this "attorney" hasn't been "retained" for the case, but found a way to force himself into giving his opinion to USA Today.  

Unreal.

Keep clear of the moors

Evil English?

I love movies. And it seems that in movies now a days everyone wants to make their villain English.  What is it about the English that makes them so good at being the bad guy?  Maybe it's the setting that makes them so good at being evil?  One of my all time favorite movies is An American Werewolf in London.

Now this movie doesn't really have a bad guy unless you consider it to be the werewolf.  And the werewolf is an American, but the setting is a huge part of this movie.  Keep clear of the moors!

Moving on, how about the movie Die Hard.  The bad guy may have been supposedly German, but he spoke with an English accent and was played by an English actor.  Hans Gruber was played by Alan Rickman, an actor born right in jolly old London!  (He also played Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, but then everyone was English in those, weren't they?)

Doesn't he look evil?  And with that English accent, everything he says seems to come across as so smooth!  Dark sided and English, what a combo!  I'm certain he's a really nice guy in person, but I really love the evil characters he's played.  Mr. Rickman also played Alexander Dane in a very entertaining movie called Galaxy Quest.  He played a classical English actor stuck in a role for a horrible American space television series that had been off the air for years (Think Star Trek).  He had some fantastic lines in this one!  Good guy or bad guy, some of these actors and actresses get the best lines!

My latest favorite is from a movie I saw only last night.  It's called Oblivion and stars Tom Cruise.  Yes Tom is American, but one of his co-stars in the movie is Andrea Riseborough, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.  (What a great name for a village!)  

I won't spoil the surprise about her character, but as you watch the movie, she doesn't seem quite right.  You can't put your finger on what it is, but there is something funny going on with her.  And she does such a good job in the roll, that until the secret is revealed, you never see it coming.  At least I didn't see it coming.  She even goes so far as to shed real tears in the roll.  Fantastic actress!

In the movie The Great Escape most of the English prisoners who are recaptured at the end are executed.  This was pretty true to life during World War II and the film was based on a true story.  You get to know a number of these guys throughout the movie and it's horrible when they're shot!  

Now we've moved on from English actors being a fantastic villain to English actors just being fantastic!  *chuckle*  There are some pretty talented Brits out there!  Here's one more old movie with a lot of English actors in it.  I haven't seen this one in years, and there's only one token American main character in it.  It's Sylvester Stallone.  The movie has not only English, but also some European soccer players.  It's about how a bunch of World War II prisoners of war end up challenging the Germans to a soccer match.  They plan to escape during the match, but as the movie goes on the match grows more and more important to them.  You'd think it would be cheesy and have a horrible plot, but this one is actually pretty good!  It's called Victory in America, and Escape to Victory in other parts of the world.  If you get the chance to see this one and have the slightest interest in soccer (Or World War II movies) this comes highly recommended!

So I guess the point of this blog is to tell how much I've been enjoying English acting lately!  *chuckle*  They're getting some good roles now a days.  So support an English actor if you know one (Or English writer, I have a few of them for friends!), they're absolutely brilliant!

The bad and the really good

The horrible hotel

If you know me then you know that last year I quit my job.  I had worked for the Luxor hotel for over ten years before quitting.  The place just became too bad of a place to stay.  Abusive managers, fights, a guy even stabbed two people a few days before I quit.

http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/news/Arrest-made-in-walkway-stabbing-near-Excalibur-and-Luxor-223151541.html

Now one of the things I quit my job over was the fact that the "security managers" who were in charge of the security department were having a lot of "private parties" in their offices with some of the security officers they really liked.  I obviously wasn't one of those favorites.  But now I was faced with the fact of working in a place where I could potentially get stabbed, or have to stop a stabbing all by myself because the other officers who were supposed to back me up might be at one of the private parties.  These supposed "managers" wouldn't be any help either as they were usually either hanging out in front of the dance club called LAX, or after that had closed they would go down to their offices and start having their own parties.  Not much management going on there.

I had written an 11 page letter explaining most of the reasons why I had resigned and then mailed a hard copy to both the Luxor chief of security and the "president" of Luxor.  Being 11 pages long it's a bit too long to post here in my blog, but if anyone wants to read it, I'll be happy to email a copy out to you.  Just ask, and you shall receive!  When I resigned I had 80 hours of vacation accrued.  I was assured I would be paid for this, but then Luxor reneged and didn't bother to pay me.  Now you might think them holding back the pay for my vacation was because of the letter I had written, but I waited almost two months before sending the letter just to make sure it wouldn't affect my vacation pay.  It obviously didn't make any difference because I don't think they were ever planning to give it to me.  Vacation is considered a "benefit" and once I resigned they suspended all my benefits.  Even though I was assured I would receive the vacation pay when I was out processing, they still didn't care.

Moving on, I had written the letter because hopefully someone would read it and then make a few changes for the people who were still working there.  The other night I received a text message from a friend who still works at Luxor saying that things are worse than ever.  Nothing has changed, the "managers" still have their private parties and are still abusive to both employees and guests alike.  I suggested my friend quit like I did, but he said he needs the job.  He doesn't want to try to get another job somewhere else because he would probably have to take a cut in pay.  I guess it all depends on your priorities, either work for an abusive company, or take a chance and find another job and start over with your pay.

Now I've been through a lot of bad treatment at the hands of Luxor.  For the Christmas season of 2012 employees were offered a free lightbulb.  Yes just ONE lightbulb!  I didn't bother picking up my lightbulb because if you did go and get it, they would tax your pay for the 99 cent thing saying it was worth $5.  I remember a time when for Christmas each employee was given a really large, nice duffel bag and a really expensive sweat type jacket!  Of course this was when Luxor was owned by the "Mandalay Bay Corporation" before MGM/Mirage had bought them out.  And we weren't even taxed for those gifts!  But if you picked up your free lightbulb, you were taxed.  Thanks, but no thanks.

Check out some of the reviews for Luxor if you get the time.  There are your normal generic reviews that say things like "had a great time" or "great place", but they don't usually tell you why they gave those reviews.  Read the bad reviews, these people get pretty specific.  *chuckle*  Examples of rude staff, old and dirty rooms, bad treatment from hotel managers, hidden fees.  These get pretty specific.  Now when you work for Luxor, for a while they were making everyone sign a "non-disclosure agreement" stating that you wouldn't post any kind of review about the hotel or any of it's shows or restaurants online anywhere.  You weren't even allowed to post anything about the hotel on any kind of social media.  So no Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or any of that stuff.  If you did and they found out, you could be fired!  So you would have to ask yourself why wouldn't they want employees to post about the hotel where they worked?  Could it be that the place was so bad, so crooked that they felt the need to try and do anything to keep the people who knew the truth silent?  Wow.

As an author I've found the internet to be one of the best promotional tools in the world.  For instance I can post something here on my blog and it can be read by people in most countries.  So if I owned a hotel or business, in my opinion I would want to treat my employees well enough that if they did post things online about my business, it would be positive.  Wouldn't it be great to own a business and see posts about your business that say things like "I love working here!" or "This place is like my second home!"  But no, Luxor doesn't want anything posted about it by its employees.

Now on to the good:

A Really Positive Place in Las Vegas

After I quit my job I got myself together and decided to go back to school.  Security isn't really a good job and it's not very challenging mentally.  I love computers and so registered for a PC Repair class and a class to introduce me to information systems.  I registered at the College of Southern Nevada.  And every time I have dealt with anyone from the school, they have been welcoming, friendly, and always tell me that if I have any issues, questions, or just want to say hi, they are available.  I have to buy one book for school and it will be pretty expensive, but I do think it'll be worth the purchase.  If I have to pay a bit to learn a new trade, then so be it!

Yesterday my brother was nice enough to give me a lift over to the Henderson College of Southern Nevada campus (they have a few campuses in town) to get my school ID.  Everyone was friendly and helpful.  Each time I deal with this place it makes me want to go back and take more and more classes!  So far I really love the school and I haven't even started class yet.  That's coming soon.  From all I've seen so far, my classes should be quite a positive experience.  I'm really looking forward to school and 2014.  I'm ready to leave the bad behind me and move on to the good.  My advice to any friends who still work for Luxor would be to walk away.  Don't wait until you end up getting hurt there.  Go back to school and learn something neat!  Move on to something positive!

Food on a Budget #1 -- Making Ramen

Food on a Budget

I've quit my job and am going back to school which means I'll have to survive on the bit of money I saved up in the last decade or so.  Not very much, but enough to get by.  Now since my funds are limited, I need to budget my money for the food I get.  I figured that since I write a blog and have a YouTube channel, I would share the small bit of knowledge I have on budgeting for food.

My first video is how to make a bowl of ramen.  While this may sound simple, it's possible people have no idea how easy this is and have been passing it by.  Ramen is something a lot of college students know about I'm sure.  Now a days there are two kinds of "instant ramen" that you can buy.  One comes in its own cup and is made by a company called Nissin.  It looks like this:

These come in their own styrofoam cups.  You just add water, wait a bit and instant ramen!

These usually cost around 28 cents or so each, maybe a bit more.  Not a bad price, but we can do better! In the background you can see a bit of a package of Maruchan Ramen.  I think a lot of people pass these by thinking they may be more complicated than the easy styrofoam cup noodles.  But basically all you need for the Maruchan Ramen is a bowl and some hot water.  For the same price you would spend to get 12 Nissin Cup Noodles, you can get 20 packages of Maruchan Ramen.  The other difference is that the Cup Noodles have a few vegetables in them.  Trust me though when I tell you that you won't miss the one or two peas and several carrot pieces.  And so for my first edition of Food on a Budget I'll teach you how to make some Maruchan Ramen.

The quick explanation is to put the noodles in a bowl, open the soup base packet and sprinkle that into the bowl, add hot water (or cold water and then put it in the microwave like I do to heat the water up) and then give it a bit for the noodles to absorb a bit of the moisture.  If that sounds a bit complicated, I made a video showing how to do these simple steps.  Yes, my arms are in the way for a bit, but ignore that.  I'll get better as I budget my food and learn to make videos.  Here's the link for you to take a look at the video demonstration I made on how to make the Ramen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgTU4D9ZIrA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUSgXuCdgz5b0zWL3_nc9etA

I'll come up with a few more bargains for the next video.  For now, enjoy the Ramen Noodle Soup!

2013 Madness

Welcome to 2014

 

It's finally 2014 and I'm looking forward to a good year!  I've got a few things planned and have a bright outlook for things that are coming up.  On the other hand, 2013 wasn't a very good year for me.  It wasn't that good of a year for a few other people either.  Let's take a look at some of the really bad things that happened back in 2013.

 

http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2013/02/20/woman-arrested-for-sex-with-pit-bull/

 

To start off 2014 a woman decided she wanted to have sex with a dog.  This became news I guess.  Why was this news?  Who knows?  But it did happen, and it happened here in fabulous Las Vegas!  Was the dog pressing charges?  Somehow I don't think the dog was objecting if he wasn't biting the girl.  Although looking at her picture, she's pretty nasty looking.  Talk about having sex with a real dog...uh...ok, I'll leave this alone now.

 

Let's go back to 1999 for a bit.  People wanted to party like it's 1999 on New Year's Eve that year.  That meant doing the stupidest thing you could think of, I guess.  One guy decided to climb a light pole so he could...he wanted to...ok, I'm not sure what this idiot wanted to do.  He touched a live wire and electrocuted himself on live television.  I remember watching this.  They had him on camera and I watched as he fell off the light pole and hit the ground surrounded by hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.  And since this was New Year's Eve on the Las Vegas Strip, there were a lot of cameras watching the scene.  Helicopters were flying overhead to watch the crowds and they of course zoomed in on the body.  Now when something like this happens, they can't move the body until everything is "investigated" and the person is declared "dead".  With the huge amount of people in the area, no one could get in there and declare him dead I guess.  So the police put up a few barricades and then covered the idiot with a sheet.  Well most of him.  I think his legs and feet were sticking out from under the sheet.  And every once in a while someone would rush past the barricades to poke or touch the body.  Then the police would grab this new person and put them in a nearby transport to be arrested later.  How nice, huh?  I'll always remember watching this.

 

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2000/jan/03/electrocution-blamed-in-death-of-man-on-las-vegas-/

 

Back to the end of 2013!  Here's a guy who thought it would be cool to zoom around on a motorcycle.  You can't die while driving one of those, can you?  Actually, you can.  Even if you drive sensibly and mind the road around you, a car can easily ram into you and kill you.  Motorcycles can be dangerous things!  That didn't happen in this case.  The guy riding the motorbike didn't think and went too fast to control it.  A lovely death on December 30 just before the new year.  So we didn't have to wait for this genius to climb a light pole and be electrocuted, he died before the new year even arrived.

 

http://www.mynews3.com/mostpopular/story/Motorcyclist-killed-Dean-Martin-Drive-Tropicana/4GEFk24HbUOFOrr649Lq4w.cspx

 

But you don't even have to drive yourself around in Las Vegas if you're a celebrity, right?  Just ask Darren Jay Ashba from the band Guns N Roses.  He took his girlfriend on a ride in a police helicopter and then proposed to her.  It was a fabulous tour over Las Vegas that was paid for by city tax dollars.  We don't need to pay for police to take care of dead idiots electrocuted after climbing light poles, or motorcycle accidents that end in death.  We can just spend our tax dollars on flying celebrities around for free!  Notice that after the "investigation" nothing was said about Ashba at all.  I guess no one thought about charging him for the helicopter ride.  Let's just blame the corrupt cops.  At least blame the one cop still working, the "captain" retired and got off scot free.  So more tax dollars were spent for an "investigation" that really didn't accomplish anything after spending tax dollars to give a "celebrity" a private helicopter ride in a police helicopter.  Ah to be rich and famous!

 

http://www.mynews3.com/mostpopular/story/Officers-found-in-violation-of-department-policy/pS8QizefuESd3TSSJh584g.cspx

 

Since the police were all tied up flying celebrities around in 2013, you could just shoot someone who aggravated you in traffic.  They catch you a few days later, but that doesn't prevent the shooting, does it?  "A heavyset black female" got mad, got out of her car in traffic and then shot a person in another car.  Then she and a guy with "no known address" fled the scene.  Doesn't "no known address" mean homeless?  Oh well, that doesn't matter, they were from California and had an illegal gun and shot someone.  But that's ok because the Guns N Roses guy got his free flight in the police helicopter! 

 

http://www.mynews3.com/mostpopular/story/Merritt-Burwell-Youngblood-shooting-vegas-strip/CD8jFqkU1EqUKnGuXWh1Ag.cspx

 

So now the "heavyset black female" is in jail.  They at least keep track of you in the jails here, right?  Or maybe not.  A woman who had been in jail since December 10, 2013 was found hanged.  So what was she hanged with?  And why did the coroner's office have to identify her?  They don't know who the people are being kept in the jails?  And was she just hanging in her cell since December 10?  What the hell?  I guess the people in charge of the jail were too busy listening to Guns N Roses music to pay any attention to what was going on in the jail.  And they ruled this a "suicide"!  Good job!  I wonder how long an investigation it took to come to that conclusion?  Tax dollars again well spent!  Maybe they should have taken the dead body on a police helicopter tour of Las Vegas while the "investigation" was ongoing?

 

http://www.mynews3.com/mostpopular/story/Inmate-Death-Las-Vegas-Jail/pORXG2xU90-wgw2kp-ipaQ.cspx

 

This is all real news, folks.  Maybe we need time for some lunch?  Let's get a burger.  How about something from In N Out Burger?  That's a great place to eat!  Even if you've just kidnapped your ex-girlfriend and were beating on her while driving from California, there's always time to go through the In N Out drive-thru after she escapes.  No, I'm not making this up.  This idiot kidnapped his ex-girlfriend in California, drove to Sparks, Nevada (No, I don't know where this is either.), and when she ended up escaping at an In N Out Burger restaurant, he decided to go through the drive-thru and order some food.  No police helicopter ride for this rocket scientist!

 

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/24337435/california-man-arrested-at-sparks-burger-shop

 

Let's end 2013 with a crooked judge.  I mean why not, right?  The "ex-prosecutor" this "judge" was supposedly sleeping with is now dead.  She died in a bathroom, but no one seems to know what killed her.  Ah well, it doesn't really matter, does it?  The judge she was "involved" with was indicted over a three million dollar investment scheme, but was still allowed to collect his "$200,000 annual salary" since then.  So even if you run "schemes" and engage in "misconduct" as a judge, you can still get paid here.  He needs a police helicopter ride, too.  Although he really isn't a celebrity.  And he's obviously collecting enough tax dollars while running "schemes".  I guess we don't need to waste more money on him.  He'll waste enough tax dollars on his own.

 

So there we go!  Those are a few highlights from 2013 (and one from 1999).  None of this even goes into any of the personal problems I've had, but then most of my problems seem pretty small if you compare them to this kind of crap.  I'm looking forward to 2014.  Maybe if I'm lucky, I can get myself a ride in a police helicopter?  I'll have to work on my celebrity status first, though.

Slavery

Corporate Slavery

 

Slavery is a nasty word, isn't it?  People think slavery was abolished in America years ago by President Abraham Lincoln.  The people who think that would be wrong.  There are still slavers out there.  Let's take a look at the word slave and what it means before we look at the slavers:

Slave:  A person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence.

That's one definition.  So you can be a slave if you're under the domination of another person.  I was a slave for a bit, but I finally freed myself.  Sometimes you simply don't want to be dominated anymore.  I was "working" for a casino called Luxor in Las Vegas.  Why did I consider myself a slave?  Because of the way I was treated.  I was never "asked" to do things, I was told.  Usually this entailed the phrase, "You do this, or you'll be fired and end up unemployed!"

In Elkhart, Indiana a man named Tony Rohr was manager of a Pizza Hut.  He refused to open the restaurant on Thanksgiving day, instead wanting his employees to spend the holiday with their families.  He was "told" to write a letter of resignation and quit his job, but refused.  Instead he wrote a letter trying to explain why he hadn't opened the restaurant.  It was only closed twice a year, on Thanksgiving and then again on Christmas.  How dare a slave refuse to quit!  He was then fired.  The franchise owner tried to claim that he had quit and wasn't actually fired.  The Pizza Hut corporate office said "We fully respect an employee's right to not work on a holiday, which is why the vast majority of Pizza Huts in America are closed on Thanksgiving.  As a result, we strongly recommended that the local franchisee reinstate the store manager and they have agreed. We look forward to them welcoming Tony back to the team."

But Tony doesn't want to go back to the "team".  He had worked for them for over ten years and that was how he was treated.  Is it any wonder he probably doesn't want his job back?  t wonder if the corporation would have made that statement if this story hadn't been such big news?  People called Tony a hero for standing up for what he believed in.  When he heard this, Tony said  "No, I'm just some guy who told his boss 'No' and got burned. There are people who save lives."

Back in December of 2012 while working for Luxor I was told that I had to attend a "show" during my day off.  If I chose not to attend this "show", I would be fired.  So I drove to the Las Vegas Strip and spent my day off going to this show.  Part of it was the president of the MGM corporation ranting on about how everyone who was working was damned lucky to be employed and if we expected to stay that way, we'd damned well better do what we were told!  I began getting the feeling back then that I was just another slave.

After finally after having enough of accusations and bullying by managers who treated me with that same "you do whatever I say or you'll be fired" attitude, I quit my job.  To be honest, it's a relief not having to put up with those kind of people for the moment.  I was told that the Luxor employees are again going to have to go to another "mandatory show" this year probably to again be told how lucky they are to be slaves…I mean employed.

When I resigned I had accrued two weeks of vacation time.  The casino refused to pay me for that.  They stated to me that I would be paid, but then didn't bother.  I guess that will really teach me, won't it?  It did teach me something though, that like Tony, even if they ever did offer me my job back I wouldn't take it.  I've learned that I don't want to work for somewhere that doesn't appreciate its employees.  I no longer think I deserve slavery.