Is this thing on?

Hey, loyal readers, Ushiku is back! What a trip - what a week... Got to Vegas, did my interview-thing TTBOMA (To The Best Of My Ability), and got back to Kentucky a few hours ago. -Whew!- What can I say? It was intense; the interviews,the heat, the people (I knew a lot of folks were coming in for this, but over one thousand?!). It wasn't an interview - it was rock concert! The Powers-that-be have determined that they'll get back to us applicants in September. Maybe. Meanwhile, my hotel was located waaaaaaaaay up Las Vegas Blvd. on the Old Strip, in a funky, seedy part of Vegas where as soon as you stepped outside you were confronted by hyper-aggressive homeless folks who always started their conversations with "Hey man, let me axe you sumthin'..." (usually by that time I had smiled, wished them a good day and hit overdrive - leaving eddies of dust - as I booked down the street). Even at noon, in broad day light, it felt like the lions were hungrily sizing me up and wondering if they could take me down. But what did I expect? People come to Las Vegas to satisfy dreams (mine was employment); usually not the kind that involve the better angels of our nature. Avarice, sloth, something for nothing - call it what you will. I am very happy to be done and gone. I did get to meet plenty of people who actually live in LV (and over 2 million of them do), and for them the tourist population is a constant, necessary, but increasingly weary burden. I'm glad I made the effort to do this. I'm chuffed to have made the acquaintance of so many good people. I'm beat, and glad to have made it out in one piece. The job search continues...