The Clark County Commissioners unanimously voted for the new 26-acre waterpark that will be built in the Summerlin Area near Fort Apache and Warm Springs. They say they are only a few months away from groundbreaking and are trying to keep the name of the new Las Vegas water park a secret. The county expects about 400 new jobs from the project: 200 to build the park and 200 to operate it.

I am hoping this park is on the same level as Wet n’ Wild with plenty of slides. There is supposed to be 30,000 square feet of water slides at the new waterpark and aquatic center in Las Vegas. There will also be jogging paths and a park in the front of the center. The project is supported by The Howard Hughes Company that has several other parks in Texas.

I for one am super excited about this project. I have missed Wet n’ Wild so much and I am very sad they closed down. It was the perfect place to go for a fun day during the Summer. It was a shame to see it close but hopefully this new Las Vegas waterpark will quench my thirst for a Summer swim.

The Lamborghini is a big engine thrown into a highly tuned vehicle designed to shock and awe spectators.  In fact the arguably most famous Lamborghini, the Countach literally translates into Wow, which was the typical response when someone was first shown the vehicle.

But Ferrari is a bit more subtle.  One gets the feeling of separation of church and state when it comes to the beautiful lines of the body and the monster engine that propels it.  Every curve, every line, every detail of the Ferrari makes the car more efficient and a pure model of elegance.

If you have had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of these two type of cars, you will notice 2 very distinct driving experiences.  Even watching the cars perform, one can feel the power of the Lamborghini, but be memorized by the elegant motion of the Ferrari.

I have applied this to different parts of life.  For example, Armani is a Ferrari, while Versace is a Lamborghini.  Jay McInerney is a Ferrari, and Brett Easton Ellis is a Lamborghini.  And while the Bellagio features a Lamborghini restaurant, the Wynn has an actual Ferrari dealership.

As one could likely determine from above, I lean more towards being a Ferrari fan myself.  I have driven both the Lamborghini Countach and a Lamborghini Diablo, and I have also driven the the Ferrari Testarossa, a Ferrari 456GT, a Ferrari 328 and a Ferrari Mondial.  I can state without a doubt that while the Lamborghini turned slightly more heads, and always felt like it had more power than I was ever allowed to spend, driving a Ferrari is unlike anything I have ever driven.  It’s like piloting a personal piece of art.  I felt like one with the vehicle, which is why I love them so much.

So it stands to reason I also love Armani and Jay McInerney, and I think the Wynn is the most beautiful building to grace the Las Vegas Strip.  I have Ferrari taste, but how about you?

Most Panamanian’s have gone their entire life without setting their eyes on a Trump erection, but no longer.  Donald Trump (I refuse to call him The Donald, because that is how I refer to Donald Duck) is proud to open The Trump Ocean Club, a $430 million resort designed by Colombian architecture firm Arias Serna Saravia, which is the most lovely sounding architecture firm name I have heard.

The Trump Ocean Club features include a 900-square-meter terrace with an oceanfront pool, a casino, a marina (for parking your canoe), 47 suites, 37 elevators (which seems excessive), personal butler service, a spa and convention center.

Oh, and one more small item… it has it’s own island with a private beach.

Believe it or not, this represents the first Trump project outside the United States.  It will be joined by new projects (erections) in Toronto next year.

The building itself is quite beautiful.  It’s a sail-like design that looks more like something you would see in Dubai, where every building looks like this.

The fact that over a thousand people work at the Trump Ocean Club is a great boon for the Panamanian economy, which having the three tallest building in Latin America, is already being called the mini-Dubai.

I have the unfortunate experience of having to see the Trump tower in Las Vegas often, and the thing is just flat out hideous and uninspired.  I can’t wait for Trump’s friend Phil Ruffin, and his beautiful wife Oleksandra to build something in front of it.

I’m not sure Phil Tynan knew who I was.  I’m surprised that a Morgan Stanley rep is so uninterested in six-figure accounts.  Back when I was a senior analyst with the corporate office, I remember things being run a bit differently than Phil Tynan seems to run things.

If you’re thinking about letting Phil Tynan handle your account, I would recommend reconsidering.

My research brought me to Yelp, where I was contact directly from a guy named Elliott, who directed me to his reviews. After checking things out, I made an appointment for myself and my son.

The experience I had with Elliott was far better than with any other barber shop in the Las Vegas area.  I have been to The Art of Shaving, and even the barber shop at the Wynn, but Elliot and Co. beat those guy hands down.

Elliot is located off the strip at 8876 South Eastern Ave., suite 102 in Las Vegas.  His number is 702-990-5672.  Give him a call and check him out, you’ll be glad you did.  Also, book early, he fills up quickly.

For those who do not know, City Center is the biggest resort area in Las Vegas.  It sits right next to the Monte Carlo, and contains several hotels, condos, shopping center and restaurants.

I’m scheduled to stay at Mandarin soon, but I wanted to get to Aria as well.  Aria is the larges of the hotels there, and it is truly massive.  City Center itself is quite a beautiful collection of architecture.  I especially like the Veer Towers.

Pulling into City Center for valet parking is a breeze, much simpler than some of the hotels make it in Las Vegas.  I was quickly greeted and exchanged my key for a green claim slip.  I was greeted several times on the way to the front door, and was always asked if I needed assistance.

Walking through the door, I see the front desk to my left, and the casino to my right.  I walked to the front desk, which had plenty of open and ready slots to approach.  I walked up to one of the clerks and was quickly given a room key and explanation of where everything was.  It took us a few minutes to figure out where the elevators were, but it wasn’t too confusing.

I want to take a moment to talk about the interior of Aria.  How I love the building, and the whole complex from the outside, I have to say that my first reaction was that Aria was too dark, and a bit gaudy.  Something about the color scheme doesn’t work, and it comes off as narrow and claustrophobic.  It lacks the open feeling of someplace like Mandalay Bay, Wynn, or Palazzo.  It feels more like one of the older casinos like the Tropicana.  My initial feeling about this didn’t change as I walked around a bit more.  It’s just too dark and narrow.

Making my way up to the room was simple.  There are several elevators to choose from, depending on your floor.  This is great because then you’re not waiting forever for elevators, which can be especially annoying at checkout time, when everyone is leaving at once.

The room key works with RFID, which is a little more convenient than having to slide it through a reader.  You simply place the key next to the door handle, and viola.

The room key was just the beginning of the viola moments at the Aria.  As soon as you enter the room, the drapes open to show the full view of the strip, the television turns on to show your room menu, and the light brighten the entire room.  It’s an impressive entrance.

The room itself is nicely decorated in dark, but natural tones.  The bed is raised high off the ground, there is the standard LCD television, the bathroom is covered in marble, with two sinks set into a granite counter top.

The bath/shower was quite unique in that it’s a full marble shower, with a bathtub inside.  It’s quite a nice arrangement, which I’m strongly considering replicating in my home.

There is a double wardrobe that provides plenty of space for clothing, and the art work was unusually nice and modern for a hotel.

The entire room can be managed through either the television remote, or a touchscreen console at the side of the bed.

I went to the minibar to grab a soda, but found it locked.  I checked the instructions, which provided details on how to lock it if you leave, which is a nice touch, but nothing about how to open it.  So I called downstairs and was told that it was a glitch and that someone would have to come up to fix it.  I was told that this was because we were the first people to use this room, which was kinda cool.

The room has two very comfy chairs that are great for checking out the view.  And the view is pretty impressive.  Aria sits a little further back than most hotels on the strip, so you get a more complete view of the strip.  From my room, I could easily make out everything from Tropicana to the Planet Hollywood.

The technology in the room was quite impressive.  Beyond the touchscreen and television remote, there was a simple 3-button system on each side of the bed.  Each button was marked with a function, Goodnight, Reading and one other that I forget, but meant turn everything on.  The goodnight button closes the drapes and turns off the lights.  The reading button turns everything off, except a single reading lamp on your side of the bed.  And the other button brings everything to light.

I decided to try the phone to call and make dinner reservation with Blossom.  But I was transferred to a voicemail that wasn’t set up.  I tried again, and this time was told I had to first be transferred to the front desk, who would then transfer me to someone else.  Again, this was explained as a glitch in a new system.  In the end, I got my reservation made by courteous staff members.

After dinner we came back to the room and watched some television.  Aria has a great entertainment selection for a hotel.  They even have custom music channels, and I was fortunate enough to have my girlfriend put on the 80’s channel, but she only lasted 1.5 songs before seeking out something more modern.

We decided to order up some coffee and desert and watch a movie.  Room service took about 40 minutes, which was as expected, but we did have a problem with our television locking up.  We had to turn off the TV for a few moments and then restart it.  It felt more like a computer than TV at this point.

When watching the television, we noticed an annoying issue.  The Philips LCD TV would slightly dim every 30 – 40 seconds.  It didn’t make the movie unwatchable, but it was a bit annoying.

After the movie we headed to bed, which was a problem.  The bed was just awful.  It’s a huge pillow top that after about 30 minutes starts being very uncomfortable.  I didn’t get much sleep and woke up several times irritated with a sore back.  I can honestly say, one of the worst nights sleep in a hotel I have ever had.  I have slept at plenty of hotels with pillow top mattresses, but this was unusually thick, and uncomfortable.  It makes me wonder if the person who picked the beds actually bothered to really spend the night on one.

It was nice to open the blinds with a push of a button in the morning.  And the shower was great.  The towels were unusually high quality, but maybe that’s because Im the first to use them.

Valet was easy to find, although it’s on the opposite end where I dropped my car off, which is always a little annoying.  I got my car back right away, and was back on Las Vegas Blvd. in less than 30 seconds.

Overall, I’m split on Aria.  I like the room design, but fond the hotel interior to be to claustrophobic.  I loved the hi-tech gadgetry of the room, but it’s still a bit buggy.  The staff was top notch and extremely friendly.  But the deal breaker and main complaint about the Aria is the bed.  I could not stay another night at the Aria, and I honestly couldn’t recommend it to anyone else.  But please let me know if your experience was different.

When I moved into this house last August, it was also insanely hot.  So we cranked up the AC, and sure enough it went out on me.  I called an air conditioning repair shop to come and take a look.  According to the shop, the unit was busted and I would require an entire new system.

To make matters worse, I have two air conditioners.  One was built in 1979, the other in 1993.  Sure enough, it’s the newer one the guy says needs to be replaced.  Since I don’t like the idea of having the really old one going, knowing that it could die out on me any day, I figure I should just price out replacing both.

To replace both units with super efficient AC’s, the price would have been about $12,000.  Truly an insane price.  So I decided to get a second opinion.

I’m not close to my step-father.  He enjoys his wrestling and other stuff like that, and we don’t have much in common.  But I do have to admit to admiring his work ethic.  He handles maintenance for apartment complexes in Phoenix.  This guy hauls big AC’s unit up roofs to install.  He is also a certified AC guy with over a decade of experience installing air conditioners.  So I had him come out and take a look.

To fix this thing took him literally about 30 minutes, and less than $10 in parts.  It looks like the Henderson air conditioning place I called was going to screw me over on this thing.

But I do think I might have to replace the units soon.  So now I have to start looking out for the best air conditioning repair people in Henderson Nevada.  If any of you know someone, let me know.

After 9 months of looking at a desert for a front yard, I decided to start looking for the best landscaper I could find.  I called someone from the Yellow Pages, and they blew me off.  I called back and they finally showed up and gave me an estimate that was about 5% of what I paid for my house.

I called someone from Craigslist, but they didn’t show up.  So I tried another guy from Craigslist, he was to arrive at 2pm.  At 2pm I got a knock on the door from a couple of guys asking me about doing my lawn.  Of curse I thought that these were the guys I called from Craigslist, but it was just a strange coincidence.  These guys were just driving by my house, saw what a sad state it was in, and decided to stop by and ask if I would like to hire them to fix it.  I showed them around, and they gave me a price to do the front and back yard.  Their price was less than 5% of the previous quoted price.  I told them to go ahead and start, and they did a fantastic job.

The other guy I actually did call from Craigslist showed about 4 hours later.  Amazing the difference in work ethic in people.

Over the past couple months the guys have done a great job.  My lawn is looking pretty good, and it’s just about filled in.  My neighbor even hired them after seeing what a great job they were doing.  If you would like to talk to these guys, let me know and I’ll give you their number.  I live in Green Valley, and they seem to live around here.  I think they really are the best landscapers in Henderson Nevada.

Las Vegas music production would, I imagine, be more about collaboration.  What other town can you trick talented, cool people to come hang out and contribute to your music?    I wonder if there is a music production studio near the strip?  Anyone know?

A local Las Vegas art consultant invited me to his gallery, which was filled with some amazing pieces from some of LAs Vegas’ more talented artists.  I’m not really a big art collector, although I would love to learn to be.

Art is something that not only decorates your home, it is often a sound investment.  I would that this is a great time to pick up some tremendous bargains that will appreciate nicely over the next few years.  But then again, so is Las Vegas real estate.