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Armybrat

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Posts posted by Armybrat

  1. One afternoon in a Vegas casino conference room - a fly on the wall observation:

     

    Quote
    “To state the problem concisely gentlemen, we are being overrun with people coming to our casinos, gambling their money, eating in our restaurants and staying in our rooms.”, the executive paused for dramatic effect letting his words sink in. He could see the heads nodding and other signs of agreement.

    “What can we do?” asked one, nervously playing with his pen.

    “Let me share a couple of slides I’ve prepared” said the executive as he picked up a remote that turned on a slide projector. Another jumped up and turned out the lights in the conference room.

    The first slide showed a long line snaking around the entrance to a buffet. Inside the buffet looked full with people crammed into booths and tables, with several harried looking servers carrying trays loaded with dirty dishes.

    “Each one of you has a buffet and even with mediocre food, they come in like hogs to the trough to stuff themselves on fatty meats and cheap carbohydrates.”

    A tall thin representative from one of the downtown casinos leapt to his feet and exclaimed, “I keep lowering the quality and raising the price but does that stop them?”

    Several spoke up, “No, it doesn’t”, “It is like a swam of locust eating everything in their path.”

    The executive clicked forward another slide. A bank of slot machines was pictured with a crowd of people standing behind the seated players in a narrow space. One player in the foreground had both hands raised in the air.

    “Just look at that ugly bastard with the grin on his face” said the executive, “Just won some money no doubt.”

    “That’s our money he’s taking!” yelled another.

    “How much tighter can we set the pay outs?”, asked the man from downtown.

    The entire room was now animated, several talking at once. The executive waited until the noise abated and clicked forward another slide. This time an unkempt hotel room was pictured with an unmade bed and towels strewn everywhere.

    “This is what they leave behind” the executive solemnly intoned.

    “It’s like a pig sty and don’t get me started on the bathroom” said one.

    “Do you know what a halfway decent housekeeper earns these days?” said another.

    The executive turned off the projector and the lights were turned back on.

    “Gentlemen, what I propose is a kind of reverse comp system whereby we discourage these animals from visiting our casinos.” His assistant passed around binders neatly labeled with the words, “Emergency Action Plan.”

    The binders were distributed and the executive continued, “Page one through five is the executive summary and each element of the plan has its own section with recommended steps.”

    “Ideally, we get them not to come in the first place but if they do come through some kind of perverse habit, we need to make it expensive and uncomfortable enough so they won’t stay.”

    “Given our proximity to California, we get a huge number of people driving here and parking in our garages. I propose that we charge them for parking.”

    “Hey, that would be great but wouldn’t we have to hire parking lot attendants?” asked one.

    “No”, replied the executive,” We handle this with automated kiosks.”

    “What about Valet parking?”, asked another.

    “We charge a premium for that as well and we charge in time increments. The longer they park, the more we charge!”

    The executive flipped to a new section, “Please turn to tab 2 marked rooms. The more comfortable they are, the longer they stay. I suggest making sure that the thermostat cannot be adjusted too far down and let our natural Las Vegas heat help us. Don’t provide a full cover on the bed but rather a cheap section of fabric over the foot of the bed and work on the toiletries. “He held up what looked like two tubes of lip balm and a small wrapped bar of soap. “These smaller bottles contain shampoo and conditioner and this wafer is a reduced bar of soap.” This is made overseas and costs eight cents for everything.”

    “Do they work?”, asked the man from downtown.

    “Who cares?”, said the executive, we’re not going to be using them.”

    Laughter rippled through the room.

    The executive held up a small three by five card. “There are enough environmentalists in California to be taken in by this bit.” He read aloud, “Help save the planet by not changing out your sheets and towels.”

    One asked, “Do you think they’d fall for that?”

    “They eat Kale, don’t they?”

    More laughter followed.

    The executive walked them through sections on resort fees, making slot clubs indecipherable and how to limit the amounts and quality of comp drinks provided.

    “Remember that overworked staff are more likely to be surly and rude to the hordes” he said, “And you’ll be reducing your labor costs.”

    The executive was pleased to see the ideas so enthusiastically embraced. People were flipping through the binders, making notes and happily talking over particular points with one another.

    “The important thing to remember”, he said, “Is that we all have to act the same but not at the same time. One group can gradually introduce some of these changes and then six months later, the next group can say something like we reviewed market conditions and will be instituting paid parking.”

    The group grabbed their binders and headed back to their respective casinos. Traffic was brutal. “Not for long”, thought the executive.

    And Benny spun in his grave again.
     

     

  2. My son & DIL used to stay at the Wynn, then the Cosmo. But now their preferred hotel is the Aria. That joint leaves me cold.

    Our own last two trips we stayed at the Mirage - reasonable room rates and good location.

    Screw those shitty resorts fees, but at least we got the 4 nights waived last summer.

    As I mentioned above, my Vegas buds say the best gambling odds on the main part of the Strip are at the Cromwell (the old Barbary Coast, which used to be my favorite). Don't know about the Slots O' Fun in front of the Circus Circus. Haven't been in there for 15 years or so.

  3. That's why we will spend a few days at a rural farm near Chaillac, France and a few more in the small town of Perton, England. Staying in the homes of friends.

    • Like 1
  4. RIP

    Sam was good friends with my parents neighbors in South Austin. Once in a while he would hang out on their back patio & entertain the folks for an evening. That was sometime in the 1960s.

    Austin bicycle riders can breathe a sigh of relief. ;)

    • Like 1
  5. Changed the factory grips on my new SP101 (.327 Federal) to some nicer looking "snakeskin" panels and serrated rubber grips. Can get a better hold  on the compact grips now. 

    652_D98_E4_2_E3_A_47_E5_BAF0_A2_C7674_F2

    4_F7_BEB9_E_0888_4_A3_A_A3_BA_AF849_CB4_

    • Like 2
  6. 25 minutes ago, Bevo VIII said:


    You know it was recently pressure washed and repainted and actually looks much better now, right?

    It does look 100% better since that simple cosmetic fix was done.

    Now if the restrooms in the old concourse area up behind Section 1 were upgraded from prison chic to..... ?

  7. Your grandpa was quite a car aficionado.

    Here's an interesting article on the former Imperial Palace Car Collection in Vegas ( moved out a few years ago). It once had a total of 1,000 classic & vintage cars including 52 Duesenbergs. When I toured it 16 or 17 years ago there were about two dozen Duesenbergs on display in a separate room. About 200 cars were rotated in & out for display at anyone time in the general collection.

    https://lasvegassun.com/news/2011/may/19/million-dollar-imperial-palace-auto-collecti/

     

    I have no idea why my post is in this odd format. Surly gettin' surly?

  8. On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 1:15 AM, Lhorn said:

    Great thread. 
    In about 1993 my hand me down Toyota pickup got stolen and I had to get a car.  I bought a 67 Chevelle (Malibu) convertible that my Dad found up in north Texas for $2500.  Daily drove it for a while but I was dirt poor and didn't have much money to put into it to get it running right.  It was a pain to start (carb issue).  I did a light "restoration" a few years later but it was on a budget still so a lot of issues weren't addressed.  Kept it all these years, just sitting in a garage, collecting dust.  I started a serious restoration 2-3 years ago but took long breaks from working on it.  Finally got at it serious a year or so ago (as serious as you can be with a full time job, kids etc).  So far the car has been gutted, stripped.  Full quarter panels on both side, 2/3 of the trunk flood and full floor pans replaced.  Took the body off the frame about 3 months ago.  Smoothed the fire wall.  Stripped the underside and currently getting ready for epoxy and Raptor Liner on the underside.  Frame is also stripped and I'm going to epoxy and paint with single stage urethane (satin black) this Monday I hope.  Front suspension parts are going to powder coat tomorrow.  New front end rebuild stuff (all Moog and higher quality) and bushings are in a box waiting to be installed.  Dad's coming out for a visit in 2 weeks and hope to get the body back on the frame and put on the doors and fenders/hood to get gaps right before body working the panels.  Motor is a 350 (.040 over) 4 bolt main block with JE pistons, aluminum heads and Lunati hydraulic cam.  Nothing crazy but on paper should be 400ish HP at the crank.  Originally had a powerglide trans, now a TH350. 

    Considering how long every thing takes, it'll be a while before it's done.  I'd guess a couple of years, but it's generally been an enjoyable project.  will be painting it original "bolero" red.  The interior was originally red but I switch to black when I worked on it in the late 90's.  Since it wasn't driven much the carpet, seats etc are still in great shape so I'm gonna stay with black interior.

    Please do post pics.

    A few months after we were married in June of 1967, I wrecked our '67 GTO on 290 in Elgin. Bought a new 1967 Malibu sport coupe - 283 with "3 on the tree",  A/C & radio, beautiful blue color... $2,685. Payments were $83/month. Sold it in 1973 for $1,000 cash - it had 67,000 on the clock.

    Best GM car I ever owned.

    • Like 1
  9. 16 hours ago, Mother mopar said:

    Your guess is good as mine but where's the Mopars!

    Guess mine is a "classic" in the making - don't see many 2 door Cherokees around. Recently rolled 94,000 miles - bought it new in October 1999:

    AABF9773_76_AA_4_F02_B8_BA_FFB3_D3_FA6_B

    • Like 2
  10. Regular production apparently gets sent out to stocking Colt dealers by luck of the draw. And those dealers probably have a long waiting list.

    One Colt Forum member reported last month that his LGS still had two brand new SAAs still in their showcase after he bought one at MSRP. Of course those were snatched up the next day by other members who read his post. That gun shop was in Hartford.

    It's just a crap shoot online. There's a dealer in Florida (I think) who seem to have at least two or three brand new ones for sale on Gun Broken all the time - but he's asking about $2,500 (and getting it).

    A year & a half ago I saw a new one - 4.75" in .45 Colt - in stock at Tombstone Tactical at retail ($1,487 at the time). I had just made two purchases & passed on it but posted a heads-up on the Colt Forum. It was gone within an hour after another poster bought it. He thanked me & posted pics when he received it.

    You can always call Colt customer service for info. The Custom Shop itself is going full blast on 1911s last I read. However the Colt Forum's best insider was Brent - the foreman of the Custom Shop - but he was fired a year ago, much to the dismay of the whole board. He was (and is) well respected there. The Colt Archive historian still posts on that forum.

    Anyway, deals on NIB SAAs can be found according to the prolific collectors, although I haven't seen any myself. Or you can go the used route - or even through the big auction houses like Rock Island or Julia.

    Gratuitous pic of my 1979 production .357 (considered a not so desirable year/configuration by the Colt nuts) so this post does not suck....

    60a1514ad014b7072899403b12760503ca8733d.

     

     

  11. 2 hours ago, solamente73 said:

    Brat, I spoke to a Colt rep at the NRA convention last weekend, and he said that SAA production was being handled by two custom shop guys and delivery on orders should drop to 1.5 years producing 2-3 per day.  I got the distinct impression that the guy looking to retire is staying on to clear a backlog and to ‘train’ another guy, then he will retire leaving only one guy building them.  Sad, but there may be an interim plan in place to keep the Colt SAA from going out of production.  I also got the impression that they were getting a lot of questions about SAAs but management is focused on anything but SAAs.

    The trade show at the convention was nothing short or awesome.  Agree - takes at least 2 full days to see it all without getting fatigued.  And that P365 surprised.

     

    That's HUGE news about the SAA guy training another smith/assembler/finisher to take his place. Will post your comment over at the Colt SAA forum if you don't mind.

    Those guys have been guessing at the SAA production numbers for the past year or two - ranging  from 0 to 800 or 900  for 2017. What is certain is they are still being produced, as at least two Colt Forum members have purchased new 2018 regular production (not Custom Shop) SAAs in the past couple of months.

    The 1.5 years for a Custom Shop build must mean they are getting the extensive backlog cleared out, because over a year ago they were refusing any new custom orders and that the then current orders would take 2 or 3 years to be completed. One guy I read two months ago said he had just received his custom SAA that he had ordered in late 2015. Crazy.

  12. 31 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

    This guy better be good if he comes here because he is a major attention whore. . 

     

    31 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

    I hope he picks Tech. We don't need these me first flashy pre madonnas on the team. Give me a reliable guy like Kyle Porter every day. If there's 3 yards available on a run, he's going to get those 3 yards. And if there's 20 yards available on a run, well he's still going to get 3 yards because it's called consistency.  

    No shit.

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