5 October 2014 - Las Vegas

Last Monday Joanne went to the orchard to help sort and pack pears.  I did this last year.  Joanne rightly pointed out that after four hours, the pears rolling by starting to make your vision a little blurry.

On Wednesday I headed to Las Vegas for my annual information systems conference.  I always hate it when they have it in Vegas, but it's a good conference so I always go.  On Thursday night they always have a Fun Night.  This year it was a catered dinner at the Golden Nugget (steak and ribs!).  The food was outstanding -- the entertainment?!?....well, you know.

This is a view of Freemont Street right outside the Golden Nugget.  It's all that is stereotypically Vegas, so I tried to avoid what I could.

On Friday night some friends from the conference and I went to a steakhouse at the Luxor, then walked across the street to MGM Grand to watch a David Copperfield magic show.  This is the view looking across from MGM Grand toward New York, New York (the small one, from Las Vegas) and Excalibur.  The magic show was really fun, and pretty PG rated, by Las Vegas standards, which I appreciated.

Here's the geek squad at David Copperfield.  I'm on the left, then Pete, Nipul and Bryan.  Pete and Bryan both got their PhDs at Utah State.  Nipul is a long time friend from the conference.  He's from India, teaches at Purdue, and is hilarious.

I got home late Saturday night.  General Conference was a welcome respite from the debauchery of Vegas.  My favorite address was the one from M. Russell Ballard.