I am Lars Vargas

Blog

  • Many garage sales and not a single garage for sale…

    Mrs. Vargas and I went to a terrific garage sale yesterday. Several, actually. What was terrific about them was that they were actually a community garage sale that spanned several neighborhoods in Green Valley, home of the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino (shown on American Casino). It’s a nice area, with some expensive homes, and only a few miles from Casa Vargas.

    The sale was not only large it was well organized. The participating subdivisions had all gotten together and had maps printed, as well as the addresses of participating homes. It made finding the sales much easier. An added bonus were the houses not on the official list who had decided to set up their own sales. (more…)

  • Happpy Birthday, Dad!

    Today is my father’s (Mr. Vargas) birthday. Happy birthday, Dad!

    Dad is on vacation and inaccessible, so I did not call him, like I called my mom a few days ago. That also means that Luella, our cat didn’t have a chance to sing for Dad. Somehow, though, I don’t think he minded too much. (more…)

  • Thank you, Veterans!

    We all need to take a few moments today and reflect on what we have. And after we’ve done that, we need to think about who sacrificed to make it all possible.

    For more than two hundred years, the United States has offered an experiment in democracy and self-rule. In order to continue this experiment, we have always required people to defend our way of life, our freedom, and our very existence.

    The freedoms and opportunities in our lives today are only here because of veterans. To all who have sacrificed by serving in the armed forces, both voluntarily and not, I thank you. Happy Veterans Day.

  • Another Average Day

    Yesterday was one of those average days where you know you got something done, but you simply cannot put your finger on any specifics. I was awake for around seventeen hours, but there is very little concrete I can point to that I did.

    I already posted about having Luella sing for my mom on her birthday. After that, I went to work. I think I spoke with someone about something. I do remember lunch. We went to “La Cabaña“. It was good. After lunch, I did more work and spoke to more people about things. Such excitement.

    The drive home was average. Not too fast, not too slow. A few people didn’t understand the concept of the left lane being the fast one, but that’s typical. In fact, had that not happened, it would not have been an average drive.

    When I got home I remembered something: I had computer work to do. (more…)

  • Want Mexican? Seek out La Cabaña!

    La Cabaña Mexican Restaurant
    526 S. Martin L King Blvd.
    Las Vegas, NV 89106
    (702) 366-0039

    Repeat after me: “Taco Bell is not Mexican food.” Fortunately, La Cabaña is not Taco Bell. La Cabaña is in a forgettable strip mall that makes you want to drive by more than stop in. That would be a mistake.
    (more…)

  • Happy Birthday, Mom!

    Mother Vargas has a birthday today. Mother Vargas lives outside of Boston, so she was already at work when I got up at 6:00am Vegas time.

    Luella the cat sleeps in the utility room and is rather noisy in the morning when she gets up and is ready to come out. As soon as she hears any human activity, Luella likes to announce her consciousness through a series of “meows”, “meoowrs” and even the occasional “mc-gow”.

    We sent Mom a card a few days ago, but no gift. I wanted to do something unique, so why not have the cat sing to her? I got Mom on the phone, quietly walked into the kitchen, and opened the door to the utility room where Luella was waiting. I told Mom that Luella had a message and held the phone up to the cat.

    Luella came through and had plenty to say. Mom loved her birthday serenade by the cat. Although Luella really didn’t sing, her utterances were far better than anything I would have attempted to croon. She was definitely in the spirit.

    I didn’t sing because I’m 1) not that good at it and 2) “Happy Birthday” still is under copyright and by singing it, I probably would have been breaking some part of the DMCA.

    Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you and am glad Luella and I were able to bring a little joy to your day.

  • Moving to Vegas: Day 4, the second half

    We were now in New Mexico, a place Dad and I had never been before. We both grew up and have mainly existed on the East Coast. Sure, we’ve been to other places, but we never drove cross-country through them. We were absolutely not prepared for the beauty that unfolded before us.

    At first it was like driving through an old Warner Brothers Road Runner and Coyote cartoon, except that this scenery was real and there were no Acme instant holes or rocket roller skates to be found along the side of the road. Interstate 40 runs a relatively straight line through New Mexico. There are plenty of hills and ridges, and cresting each one offered up a new and stunning view. It was really incredible to watch the composition of each valley change. Drive 15 miles and the rocks go from craggy and pebbly to flat and striated. Each valley was different, as if God had made thousands of prototypes, each a little different than the others.

    I was actually looking forward to twelve hours of this scenery and my mere words here cannot come close to conveying the unique beauty of this place. If you ever have a chance to drive I-40 anywhere in New Mexico and Arizona, take it. (more…)

  • Moving to Vegas: Day 4, the first half

    Well as nice as Texas had been, it was nice to see another state. Hello New Mexico! I felt like we had now made real progress. So far the journey was going extremely well, especially since we had tow alpha-males in the truck. Not only were Dad and I still speaking, but we were still having meaningful conversations. This is a good sign.

    A few miles over the New Mexico border was the welcome station. We had made it a habit to stop in all the welcome stations along the way for a variety of reasons. The primary one, usually, was a rest room break. The secondary was the free maps. Maps have always fascinated me beyond their utility. I think part of it is dreaming of being in all those exotic and obscure places, wondering what they are like, noting the differences and similarities to the places I already know. At least that’s the romantic version of it.

    The Welcome Center on I-40 just west of the Texas/New Mexico border had something even better than maps and a place to pee for free. They had Internet access. I’m an Internet junkie. I make my living doing Internet things and I also have a lot of fun hanging around on the Internet. For nearly four days, I was completely and totally without Internet access, so being able to get online for free, in the middle of nowhere, was too much to resist. Peeing can wait (it had to anyway, but I’ll get to that). (more…)