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In Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:23:00 +0000

We've arrived in Vegas. Here's the view from our 19th floor room of the garden area at Flamingo.

Both Parties See November's Elections Very Differently

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:23:00 +0000

A lot of us on the right are amazed that after the electoral beat down the Democrats took on Nov. 3 that they'd insist on pushing forward with Obamacare, as we read the election as a repudiation of bigger government, socialized medicine, higher taxes...etc. However, as Larry Sabato tells us, Democrats saw the election very differently:

“Three elections guaranteed the 60 votes: 2006 and 2008, which gave Democrats the White House and large Hill majorities, and 2009,” says Sabato. He continues: “What's that, you say? Didn't Republicans win the day in '09?”

“Yes, and the Republican interpretation of ‘09, as applied to health care, was that the victories of Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell would deter the Democrats from moving forward on the bill,” says Sabato. “But Democrats drew precisely the opposite lesson from ‘09. In their analysis, if they didn’t hang together and re-energize their party activists with a health care win, they'd hang separately in November 2010. Worried senators and congressmen began to see their names etched on the wall of losers, right after Jon Corzine and Creigh Deeds.”

“The conclusion, as always,” says Sabato, “is that elections matter — and so do the prevailing interpretations of those elections.”

“It is always possible that some new rationale will take hold after Thanksgiving, especially if this debate drags on and on, but there is no compelling substitute for the classroom of elections,” he adds. “Rallies, demonstrations, and protest letters are vastly inferior to the ballot box, if one's goal is to influence legislative behavior. The pro-reform forces have a big advantage in this sense.”

Democrats apparently believe their path to re-election next year involves passing socialized medicine since that will help them keep their left wing intact. However, it's driving independents and moderates away and they can't possibly win without them. They have badly misread the November 3rd results.

My fear is there won't be a courageous Democrat among them willing to stop government health care in the Senate and some form of this disaster will get passed. It will effectively end the careers of many elected Democrats, including some big names like Harry Reid and Chris Dodd, but they may have already written 2010 off and have decided to go out with a bang.

As more details come out about this bill during Senate debate it can't possibly help the Democrat chances for retaining power.

On to Vegas, Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:38:00 +0000

After two days with the college girl in Northern California we're off to the second leg of the trip:

We'll be departing Petaluma about 6:30 am for the 604 mile drive to Sin City. The first five hours will be the same boring five hours we always drive on our way home. That will take us to Buttonwillow, CA, but from there the scenery will change. Instead of continuing south on the I-5 towards home we'll be turning east on Hwy 58 and heading across Bakersfield, up and over the Tehachapi Mountains, down across the Mojave Desert skirting the northern edge of Edward's Air Force Base, and on to Barstow where we're pick up the I-15 for the northward turn towards Vegas.

I'm figuring about 9 hours or so for the trip, depending on stops. With any luck we'll be at The Flamingo by 4pm.

More later.

Harry Reid Promises Immortality

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:59:00 +0000

I'm not sure how else you can read this:

Today we vote whether to even discuss one of the greatest issues of our generation - indeed, one of the greatest issues this body has ever face: whether this nation will finally guarantee its people the right to live free from the fear of illness and death, which can be prevented by decent health care for all.

So, if Obamacare passes no one will ever again get sick. That's a pretty impressive health care bill.

Make That $300 Million For One Vote

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:18:00 +0000

Mary Landrieu is not a cheap date:

Staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the Louisiana Purchase.

On the eve of Saturday's showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn't secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state.

And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the financial "fix" she had arranged for Louisiana. "I am not going to be defensive," she declared. "And it's not a $100 million fix. It's a $300 million fix."

It was an awkward moment (not least because her figure is 20 times the original Louisiana Purchase price). But it was fairly representative of a Senate debate that seems to be scripted in the Southern Gothic style. The plot was gripping -- the bill survived Saturday's procedural test without a single vote to spare -- and it brought out the rank partisanship, the self-absorption and all the other pathologies of modern politics. If that wasn't enough of a Tennessee Williams story line, the debate even had, playing the lead role, a Southerner named Blanche with a flair for the dramatic.

After Landrieu threw in her support (she asserted that the extra Medicaid funds were "not the reason" for her vote), the lone holdout in the 60-member Democratic caucus was Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Like other Democratic moderates who knew a single vote could kill the bill, she took a streetcar named Opportunism, transferred to one called Wavering and made off with concessions of her own. Indeed, the all-Saturday debate, which ended with an 8 p.m. vote, occurred only because Democratic leaders had yielded to her request for more time.

Even when she finally announced her support, at 2:30 in the afternoon, Lincoln made clear that she still planned to hold out for many more concessions in the debate that will consume the next month. "My decision to vote on the motion to proceed is not my last, nor only, chance to have an impact on health-care reform," she announced.

Landrieu and Lincoln got the attention because they were the last to decide, but the Senate really has 100 Blanche DuBoises, a full house of characters inclined toward the narcissistic. The health-care debate was worse than most. With all 40 Republicans in lockstep opposition, all 60 members of the Democratic caucus had to vote yes -- and that gave each one an opportunity to extract concessions from Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) won a promise from Reid to support his plan to expand eligibility for health insurance. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) got Reid to jettison a provision stripping health insurers of their antitrust exemption. Landrieu got the concessions for her money. And Lincoln won an extended, 72-hour period to study legislation.

And the big shakedown is yet to occur: That will happen when Reid comes back to his caucus in a few weeks to round up 60 votes for the final passage of the health bill.

And don't forget, they're playing with your money.

Some Random Scenes From the Last Couple of Days

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:39:00 +0000

From Friday night's choir concert:

From Train Town in Sonoma, CA

And back on the campus of Sonoma State University:

Where the Virgin Mary Gets Her Mail

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:31:00 +0000

While heading to a concert last night I came upon an amazing sight - the location where the Virgin Mary gets her mail:

With all the trouble in Jerusalem I gets it's not unexpected that they'd move to the suburbs.

Obamacare Passes First Vote, but the Patient is Still Critical

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Debate on Obamacare will open in the Senate November 30th, but a key provision is already in trouble:

Senate Democrats pushed ahead with President Barack Obama’s vision of health reform Saturday night – after a day that exposed significant divides in the party that could make it all but impossible to complete work on a plan by year’s end, or even sink the bill altogether.

In a 60-39 vote on strictly partisan lines, the Senate sent the $848 billion health care bill to the floor for debate after the Thanksgiving break, but not before a clutch of moderates served notice that they couldn’t back the bill in its current form.

One key provision – for a government-run insurance plan that would allow states to opt-out of coverage – effectively died in the Senate chamber Saturday, as the last two Democratic holdouts demanded changes to the bill.

“I am opposed to a new government administered public health care plan as a part of comprehensive health care reform, and I will not vote in favor of the proposal that has been introduced by Leader Reid as it is written,” said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), the last Democrat to commit to a vote for opening debate. Two hours earlier, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) had said much the same thing.

Add Joe Lieberman and probably Ben Nelson to that list, and the public option is all but toast. However, in typical Senate fashion, I expect them to propose some sort of "compromise" that will be just as bad but won't technically be a public option. If that happens the whole terrible thing could pass.

Multimedia message

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:53:00 +0000

At Train Town in Sonoma

Will Sarah Palin Be Called On to Try and Save John McCain...Again?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:46:00 +0000

JD Hayworth is a conservative former member of the House of Representatives and now a successful talk show host in Phoenix. He's considering a run against John McCain for the Senate in 2010, and according to early polls, is within a couple of points of Ol' Maverick.

So, with a challenge from a much more conservative and much younger candidate, how could McCain hold onto his seat? With Sarah Palin's help. HotAir has the details.

Personally, I think Palin should stay as far away from that race (if it develops) as possible. McCain and his people didn't show a lot of loyalty to her during the campaign and since then, why should she bother trying to save his saggy old butt now? A more conservative senator from AZ would be preferable to Mr. Moderate "let's all get along" McCain.

Obamacare By the Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:44:00 +0000

From Rep. Mike Pence (via Red State):

5.5 million — Number of jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance coverage, according to a model developed by Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer

$729.5 billion — Total new taxes on small businesses, individuals who cannot afford health coverage, and employers who cannot afford to provide coverage that meet federal bureaucrats’ standards

$1.055 trillion — New federal spending on expanded health insurance coverage over the next ten years, according to a Congressional Budget Office preliminary score of the bill

0.7% — Percentage of all that new spending occurring in the bill’s first three years-representing a debt and tax “time bomb” in the program’s later years set to explode on future generations

$88,200 — Definition of “low-income” family of four for purposes of health insurance subsidies

114 million — Number of individuals who could lose their current coverage under the bill’s government-run health plan, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group

43 — Entitlement programs the bill creates, expands, or extends-an increase from H.R. 3200

111 — Additional offices, bureaus, commissions, programs, and bureaucracies the bill creates over and above the entitlement expansions-more than double the number in H.R. 3200

3,425 — Uses of the word “shall,” representing new duties for bureaucrats and mandates on individuals, businesses, and States-also more than double the number in H.R. 3200

$60 billion — Loss sustained by taxpayers every year due to Medicare fraud, according to a recent 60 Minutes expose; the government-run health plan does not reform the ineffective anti-fraud statutes and procedures that have kept Medicare on the Government Accountability Office’s list of high-risk programs for two decades

Zero — Prohibitions on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid from using cost-effectiveness research to impose delays to or denials for access to life-saving treatments

$634 Billion — Amount that could be saved by denying individuals access to treatments that are not “cost-effective,” according to a report by the liberal Commonwealth Fund; Section 1160 of the bill gives bureaucrats in the Obama Administration virtual free rein to develop a new “high-value” reimbursement system for Medicare by May 2012

2017 — Year Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted-an entitlement crisis exacerbated by the bill, which according to the Congressional Budget Office will increase the federal budgetary commitment to health care by $598 billion in its first ten years alone

$2,500 — Promised savings for each American family from health reform, according to then-Senator Obama’s campaign pledge-savings which the Administration’s own actuaries have confirmed will not materialize, as the Pelosi health care bill would increase the growth of health care costs.

Keep all that in mind as the Senate votes tonight.

Global Warming Video of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:46:00 +0000

We won, you lost, get a life:

Sarah Palin Headline of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:47:00 +0000

Watch the lefty's heads explode (from Hot Air):

Wow: Palin’s publisher boosts print run from 1.5 million to 2.5 million

No wonder she scares them so badly.

Meanwhile, the idiot father of her grandchild is being treated like the pariah he is...by the Hollywood crowd. Interesting. It looks like he's in minute 14:59 of his 15 minutes of fame.

Boy Scout 1, SEIU Minus 7

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:40:00 +0000

And that's the way it should be:

Allentown union official Nick Balzano has been a political punching bag all week because he threatened to file a grievance against the city for allowing a Boy Scout to clear a walking path in a city park.

Three days of taking body blows nationally from conservative pundits, a rebuke from the Lehigh Valley's congressman and even a lashing from his own union led Balzano to voluntarily resign his position Thursday as head of the local Service Employees International Union.

Balzano said he and seven other executive officers of the local SEIU stepped down.

''I am proud of the work I and the rest of the executive board have done over the years,'' he said.

He had ''nothing against Boy Scouts'' and was just ''trying to protect my jobs,'' said Balzano, who had served as union president for nearly a decade.

The controversy began last week when Balzano warned that the union may file a grievance against the city after officials allowed a local Boy Scout to clear a 1,000-foot walking path in Kimmets Lock Park.

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano said, and told council that given the layoffs of 39 union members, no one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

Kevin Anderson, 17, is doing the volunteer work to help earn the rank of Eagle Scout. He said he'd already toiled for more than 200 hours on the project, which he said will keep people from having to traverse a busy road.

Anderson could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Don't mess with an Eagle Scout candidate. Not only did he clean up a trail in the local park, but he took out the trash too.

Another Saturday Night Massacre in the Works

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

They did it in the House a couple of weeks ago, and now Harry Reid will try to ram through the first vote on Obamacare in the Senate tonight:

A crucial first Senate vote on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in a rare Saturday night session looms as a test of Democratic unity and the president's prestige.

Democratic leaders are optimistic of success, but they need every Democrat and both independents to vote "yes," and two moderates remained uncommitted ahead of the roll call, which is expected around 8 p.m. The vote will determine whether debate can go forward on Majority Leader Harry Reid's 2,074-page bill to dramatically remake the U.S. health care system over the next decade.

Most everyone would be required to purchase insurance under Reid's legislation, and billions in new taxes would be levied on insurers and high-income Americans to help extend coverage to 30 million uninsured. Insurance companies would no longer be allowed to deny coverage to people with medical conditions or drop coverage when someone gets sick.

The two holdouts are Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. A third centrist, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, announced Friday that he'd be supporting his party on the test vote, while cautioning that it didn't mean he'd be with them on the final vote.

"It is not for or against the new Senate health care bill," Nelson said. "It is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements. If you don't like a bill, why block your own opportunity to amend it?"

If that same reasoning holds with Lincoln and Landrieu, Reid, D-Nev., will have the 60 votes he needs to prevail in the 100-seat Senate. The 40 Republicans are unanimously opposed.

Landrieu has made comments suggesting she'll support the move to debate, but Lincoln, who faces a difficult re-election next year, carefully avoided taking any public position Friday.

Landrieu's already been bought off, so she's not going to be the one to stop this thing. Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas is the last hope. She knows her re-election chances will drop to near zero if she votes for this thing, but there are plenty of rich Democrats out there who could promise her something better in exchange for her vote. I don't think we can count on any Democrat to oppose this thing.

As I said in the previous post, elections matter.

The argument tonight from the Democrats will be that this vote isn't about the merits of the bill, but just about opening debate, and after all, who is against debate? In reality, according to a recently released report, 97% of the bills that pass this first test vote in the Senate go on to be approved by the entire Senate, so this vote is more than just a vote about whether or not to open debate.

I was hoping that perhaps Joe Lieberman would be the one to oppose this since he has come out strongly against the public option that's included in this bill, but he has only promised not to let the merits of the bill come up for a vote, not to block initial debate. He won't be the one to stop it.

And Republican Tom Coburn, who at one time promised to force the Senate to read the bill aloud, a process estimated to take 34 hours, has backed down. That's just sad.

So, what happens after tonight's vote? If it passes, as I expect it will, the fight starts in earnest as Democrats will be crafting all sorts of amendments designed to buy votes of scared candidates facing 2010 elections, and the Republicans will need to do everything they can to shine a light on the insidious nature of this legislation and turn the public against it more than they already are. Public support for Obamacare is tumbling, but listening to the public is something Democrats aren't interested in.

But what if the bill fails? There are many that think that Harry Reid will pull out all the procedural stops and will take the bill down the reconciliation road which requires only 51 votes, and we'll have open warfare in the Senate. Reid probably realizes now that his re-election is in such serious trouble that nothing he can do at this point will change it. Like the kamikaze's of old he's going to go out with a bang.

Stay tuned. Oh, and don't miss the photo of Harry Reid expressing his true thoughts about the taxpayers of this country.

This is Why Elections Matter

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Because presidents get to appoint federal judges to lifetime positions:

As consolation prizes go, Louis Butler can't complain. After being twice rejected by Wisconsin voters for a place on the state Supreme Court, the former judge has instead been nominated by President Obama to a lifetime seat on the federal district court. If he is confirmed, Wisconsin voters will have years to contend with the decisions of a judge they made clear they would rather live without.

Judge Butler served on the state Supreme Court for four years, enough time to have his judicial temperament grow in infamy. Having first run unsuccessfully in 2000, he was appointed by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle to the seat vacated by Justice Diane Sykes in 2004. But after serving four years, voters had seen enough of his brand of judicial philosophy, making him the first sitting justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in four decades to lose a retention election last year.

All those conservatives who thought it might be better for John McCain to get beat and come back with a better candidate in 2012 should keep this in mind for future elections. There's no virtue in losing, especially when you're losing to a radical like Obama. The nation will get stuck with judges like Butler...and for that matter Sonia Sotomayor... for a long, long time.

Throwing My Hat in the Ring in CA-64

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I've decided to follow Republicans in several other states and announce my candidacy for the House of Representatives in one of California's phantom congressional districts. These are the districts which, according to the official Recovery.gov website, received stimulus funds even though such districts don't actually exist.

In perusing the phantom districts of California I've decided to choose the 64th District which received $1,350,000 in stimulus funds. That should be enough for me to live on comfortably for quite awhile. When you add in the congressional salary plus office and travel expenses it's a pretty sweet gig. And the best part of it is - you don't have to deal with actual constituents.

Is this a great country or what?

Since no such 64th congressional district has ever been actually drawn, I'm going to draw it myself. None of those squiggly gerrymandered districts that look like a refugee from a Rorshach test for me - mine's going to be a nice clean square, just like they all should be:

Now, how can I have no constituents when I just drew a line around hundreds of thousands of them? That's the secret of CA-64 - all those people already have a congressman so they won't be bothering me. They'll never know I'm here.

Your campaign donations cheerfully accepted.

Email Joke of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:02:00 +0000

From Don Surber:

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam going into downtown Dallas.

Nothing Is moving north or south.. Suddenly a man knocks on his window.

The driver rolls down his window and asks, ‘What happened, what’s the hold Up?’

‘Terrorists have kidnapped Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Rosie O’Donnell. They are asking for a $10 Million ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, taking up a collection.’

The driver asks, ‘On average, how much is everyone giving?’

‘About a gallon.’

Tax Increase for Afghanistan

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:46:00 +0000

Once again the only solution a Democrat can come up with is "tax the rich":

Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said higher-income Americans should be taxed to pay for additional troops sent to Afghanistan and that NATO should provide half of the new soldiers.

An “additional income tax to the upper brackets, folks earning more than $200,000 or $250,000,” could fund more troops, Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag has estimated that each additional soldier in Afghanistan could cost $1 million, for a total that could reach $40 billion if 40,000 more troops are added.

That cost, Levin said, should be paid by wealthier taxpayers. “They have done incredibly well, and I think that it’s important that we pay for it if we possibly can” instead of increasing the federal debt load, the senator said.

How about imposing some sort of "defense fee" on the 40%+ of Americans who don't pay any income tax and don't contribute dime one to the national defense of this country they enjoy? Shouldn't we all be in this together?

Thanksgiving Table Planning Headline of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Put this on your calendar for all your Thanksgiving table needs (from the Mission Viejo Dispatch):

Platters & Coasters Revue Saturday

Sunday we'll be working on cups, saucers and flatware.

Answer to Prayer Headline of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:19:00 +0000

From the OC Register:

Oprah Winfrey: Prayer, careful thought influenced exit

Shoot, if I had known prayer would get her off TV I'd have prayed for that a long time ago.

Crime of Passion Headline of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:15:00 +0000

From the OC Register:

Huntington crime: man, woman steal KY Jelly from store

Stop in the name of love!

The Global Warming Fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:56:00 +0000

I don't have time for long posts right now, but this is a must read story on the fraud being perpetrated on all of us via the globalony activists. Looks like they've gotten caught in the act.

We're in Soggy Northern California

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:46:00 +0000

475 miles in 6 1/2 hours - not bad, especially since the last 90 minutes were in rain. We had 5 hours of beautiful blue skies and some wind as we got north of the halfway point, but then we had to plunge into the big storm hitting up here right now. Pretty wet for 90 minutes or so, but we made it. The white Charger we're riding (I guess that sort of makes me a knight) got us here in good fashion.

Now to lunch with the college girl.

The Triangle Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Moore) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:28:00 +0000

Regular readers will recall that on October 30th the Mrs. and I planned to drive to Northern California to join our daughter on her 21st birthday. We got exactly 40 miles from home when a health crisis forced me to turn around and take my wife to the hospital. Instead of spending the day in Rohnert Park, we spent the day at Mission Hospital. At a cost to our health plan of $13,589. Needless the say, the trip was kaput.

My mom and my sister's family did get to enjoy the weekend with the girl, but we missed out and decided we needed to try again as soon as possible. The following two weekends were committed other events, and on the third weekend (this weekend) we already had plans to take advantage of the ridiculously low rates in Las Vegas for a several day trip to start on Sunday. Do we cancel Vegas and go north instead, or.....do we figure out how to do both.

We went with Plan B. We've added a couple of days to the trip and as you read this we should be on our way north again (hopefully we'll get farther than 40 miles this time). The plan is to drive up today, spend the rest of Friday and all day Saturday with the girl (including a choir concert she'll be performing in), and then early Sunday morning we'll start a 610 mile drive south and east to Vegas. Hence the name "Triangle Trip".

By the time we return home on Thanksgiving Day we'll have traveled about 1,400 miles and spent six nights on the road. We can't wait.

Blogging will be more sporadic than usual during this travel period. I'll try to post up some photos along the way. I'm giving myself a project for the Las Vegas part of the trip. In July, 2008, we were over there and I spent part of each evening walking along The Strip and taking photos of the various hotels in their nighttime splendor. I created a little web page for my shots which were taken with my old Kodak camera.

Since then I've gotten a new camera and on this trip I'm going to try and update all those photos with better ones. At least this time the sun will be down by 5pm instead of 9pm, so I can get more shots in each night without being out there until all hours of the night. I'm curious to see how well the Panasonic camera does in capturing the lights of the city.

Lots of travel ahead, but we really enjoy that stuff. See you from Northern California and Vegas!