That Place Just Keeps Gettin' Bigger and Bigger and...
And so, following our meaty excursion into the wilds of Rum Jungle, my hosts ferried me back to their humble abode which had been built earlier this year. Now, just in case you're not inclined to follow housing trends, I should fill you in that, despite the fact that some "experts" think that the Las Vegas market is primed for a housing bust, housing is still friggin' BOOMING right now out in Sin City...Growth and Development continues at a truly dizzying pace in Clark County and, with many apartments being converted to condominiums and with the cost of housing making HUGE jumps every month, the rule of thumb is "buy as soon as you can." The house that my buddy Andy purchased is in a newly developed area that is truly right in the middle of Las Vegas proper, but that is still surprisingly "cozy" and even "neighborhoody." Of course, keeping with the modern trends, the homes in the development are tucked in VERY close to one another and sit on relatively tiny footprints. On the plus side, though, the exteriors are quite attractive and the interior (at least the interior of Andy and Andrea's home) is cozy and homey and surprisingly efficient. After being shown the room where I would be sleeping and the bathroom which I would be using and the "drum room" and such, there was enough time for some conversation before having to head off to bed...

Why Do Something Right When You Can Do It Quickly?..
Among the things which we discussed that first night was the relative ineptitude of the contractor who built the houses in that aforementioned new neighborhood. Andy and Andrea told me how, when they had their "walk-through," they had so many things marked with the infamous blue tape that they gave up after the first floor and began simply pointing out ENTIRE AREAS which needed to be redone. On top of that, since their move-in (in August, I believe), they've had to call the contractor several times to come back and make adjustments and/or repairs. Playing Devil's advocate, I speculated that the contractor was probably in the mindset of "get in, get out, get to the next one" lest they lose too much money by lingering long enough to do a quality job. After all, the house gained something like $15,000 in equity before it was even finished...Regardless, there's no good excuse for cutting corners. With that thought in mind, I decided that it was time to head off to bed...

Following a surprisingly refreshing night of sleep (I don't often sleep well away from home), I rose the next day looking forward to a nice shower. I ventured into the aforementioned bathroom which I would have the luxury of "taking over" for a few days and took a look at the faucet control, which I found to be a simple, rotary style bath faucet (you know the kind...It starts in the "off" position and, in the farthest right position up to 12-o-clock is the "cold" and the "hot" starts at 12-o-clock and the farther left you go, the hotter it gets...yadda yadda). I stepped into the tub, drew the curtain and turned on the water...I stood there, allowing the water to run over my foot, waiting for it to get warm before I re-routed it to the shower head...I kind of "zoned out" while I was doing this and, after a little bit of time, I "came to" and realized that the water was not, in fact, getting hot...Hell, to tell the truth, it wasn't even getting "warm." I took another look at the faucet, thinking I may have misread it, but no..."hot" was supposed to be at the left side and that's where I was turning it toward. As such, I turned the faucet off and back on again and then fully to the left where, instead of ejecting a majestic stream of blisteringly hot water, it promptly SHUT OFF again...

"That's a bit odd," I thought to myself...I tried it a couple of more times and, each time I did, the water shut off at the left where the hot should be, save for a very thin trickle of slightly lukewarm water...It seemed that the contractor and his minions had cut yet another corner in the assembly of Andy's house, one that had gone undetected until now since it happened to be part of the "guest" bathroom and I was the first "official guest": The "hot" side of the water had simply not been connected in the bath/shower...

Wonderful...

So, You Wanna Eat at the Food Court?..
After informing my hosts of my cold, watery plight and after they expressed their collective disgust with the contractor once again, Andy and Andrea were gracious enough to allow me to shower in their bathroom. Post shower, we were scheduled to have lunch at a place which I initially thought was called "the Burger Barn." "Hm," I thought to myself..."I guess we can't eat at upscale joints the WHOLE time I'm out here." I had an image in my head of a little burger place in a mall food court, serving burgers and fries in little paper boats with a self-service drink fountain...Of course, I enjoy a fast-food burger here and there...

Boy was I WRONG...

I had completely misheard Andy and Andrea...We were, in fact, going to eat at "the Burger BAR," an upscale-type burger place between Mandalay Bay and Luxor which specializes in hard-to-find meats ground up and served on gourmet buns...The specialty of the house is an American Kobe beef burger with Foie Gras and shaved truffles, a very hoity-toity type burger which goes for no less than $60 and promises to be quite the indulgence. While none of us went so far as to order this $60 hamburger, Andy and Andrea DID order Kobe beef burgers (with cheese, but sans the Frenchy extras) while I ordered the Colorado Lamb burger with Swiss cheese and horseradish. To share, I ordered onion rings (which turned out to be quite bland) and Andrea chose sweet potato fries (which turned out to be quite good). Additionally, continuing the theme of "indulgence," I ordered one of the house specialty drinks, a combination of dark rum, 7-up and lime juice which was really quite good. When our burgers arrived, I found that, while tasty, my lamb burger was just entirely too tender. The darn thing offered no resistance and literally melted away like a puffy cloud as I ate it. Usually, one would think that this is a good thing but, when eating a "burger," I'd like at least a small semblance of "firm" from the meat. Still, it was quite tasty, as were the Kobe beef burgers which both Andy and Andrea enjoyed. When I return to the Burger Bar, and I certainly will, I'll damn sure have myself a Kobe burger. I won't go so far as to indulge in the $60 burger, however...Unless someone else wants to pay...

Aaaand that's quite enough for now...Join me again (soon) as I still have two Vegas area restaurant visits to chronicle, along with the remnant "fun and frivolity" which goes with taking a vacation. Have a good Tuesday, kids!

Labels: get outta town, I eat food, lame stories