Yeah, I’m back and it’s good to be back.

I feel kind of stupid because I had a three hour layover in Las Vegas last night and, instead of renting a locker for my bags and walking down The Strip or something like that, I stayed in the airport.

I played $13 on the slots and watched the third disc of the “The Lord Of The Rings — The Two Towers — Extended Edition“ (LoTR-TTT-EE) on my laptop.

If there ever is a next time, I promise I’ll get out of the airport and really enjoy myself.

Picture

I took my digital camera to Des Moines, but (a) I didn’t have time to go sightseeing and picture taking and (b) there really wasn’t much to take pictures of, from what I could see.

I did run across one amusing spectacle on my way out of town and captured it on the compact flash card in my camera.

I’ll joke with some of my english-snob friends sometimes about how people forget what an acronym stands for and will add components of the expanded acronym to the acronym, usually to the end. For example, I’ve heard people say, “ISP provider” or “DSL line.” I think the worst abuse of this sort has to be the phrase “ATM machine,” which I’ve heard a lot, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it emblazoned on a sign before. Well, now I have.

This photo was taken in the Des Moines airport near the food court (does one eating establishment count as a “court”?) and the entrance to the baggage claim area.

The “ATM Machine”