Free Pirates to Pyramids: Las Vegas Taxi Tales by JJ Carlson, George Bunescu, Sylvia Carlson
youngest brother away from "games" in exchange for startup stock, which worked for him because he didn't need money right away. Years went by and the company went public, setting a stock market record on opening day.
Hard to believe but this young brother was holding onto original stock in Yahoo. His personal worth went into the tens of millions of dollars. He went on to buy his brothers new houses and now the admiral was off his back, for good.
This rider gave me a good tip but his story was great.
HOTEL CRIME
Security officers do not discuss their hotel work with anyone, per hotel policy. People might be disinclined to stay in a hotel in which a crime occurred. So, as a taxi driver I was always curious when the local police paid visits to the hotels I served. The police usually parked their cars quietly in the back of hotels but occasionally they parked right smack in front. Mostly they would get a low level complaint to record and they went about it very discreetly at a back or side door where guests rarely go.
After giving several cab rides for a senior security officer for one of the newest and funnest hotels I thought that maybe now I would finally find out what goes on when things go bad in our adult amusement park. No dice. No specific information ever came out of him. Then one day he shared something in his own way.
He: "What size are these hotels?"
Me: "Vegas has 18 out of the 25 largest hotels in the world."
He: "How many rooms are in them?"
Me: "They have thousands of rooms. Many hotels have 3000 plus rooms. One even has 5000 rooms."
He: “At an average occupancy of 80 percent and two per room, how does this volume compare to populations of cities?"
Me: "Some of these hotels are bigger than many towns in America."
He: “What kind of crime happens in towns and cities in America?"
Me: "All kinds of crime occur.
He: "Exactly. Why would hotels be any different?"
Me: "You are saying felonies even like murder?"
He: "You are the one figuring it out. Does murder occur in towns and cities in America?"
Me: "Yes."
He: "You just answered your own questions."
Me: "People can get violent in a fun place like this?"
He: "Don’t assume all people are happy here. For example, some people have a painful break up happening. They sometimes come to Vegas to recreate the good times and save their marriage. When mending doesn't work, blaming can start and then anger can follow."
Me: "Well, that's a real buzz killer for those of us who like this fantasyland."
He: "Security never gets to relax and we don’t live in a fantasy."
I was bummed out about this when I first heard it. Then it dawned on me. This is exactly why we have these security officers. Even before 9/11 we needed them in places even as sweet as Disneyland. We have all seen it. If it can go wrong, one day it will go wrong. These guys are schooled to watch out for funny business and thereby, keep the fun in place for us. God bless and help them.
MOVIE MAKING IN VEGAS
A lot of picture taking happens in Las Vegas. Most cameras are for personal fun, but some are for the movies and TV shows. For example, casinos that are scheduled to be imploded make for great locations for spectacular shooting. The first casino I saw do this was the Sands Hotel, famous for its relationship with the "Rat Pack." We all saw Nicholas Cage crash his "Conair" plane into that casino lobby in a stunning scene that, of course, never really happened. But since this was before computer-generated filming Hollywood manufactured a scary scene on The Strip.
The set decorators brought a huge airplane fuselage to the real front door of the closed Sands Hotel and crammed it in. Fake police cars littered the driveway in a realistic way and that is how it all sat for weeks and weeks. Things were a lot slower in those days of real film, so I guessed they didn't want to "strike the set" until the movie
Hard to believe but this young brother was holding onto original stock in Yahoo. His personal worth went into the tens of millions of dollars. He went on to buy his brothers new houses and now the admiral was off his back, for good.
This rider gave me a good tip but his story was great.
HOTEL CRIME
Security officers do not discuss their hotel work with anyone, per hotel policy. People might be disinclined to stay in a hotel in which a crime occurred. So, as a taxi driver I was always curious when the local police paid visits to the hotels I served. The police usually parked their cars quietly in the back of hotels but occasionally they parked right smack in front. Mostly they would get a low level complaint to record and they went about it very discreetly at a back or side door where guests rarely go.
After giving several cab rides for a senior security officer for one of the newest and funnest hotels I thought that maybe now I would finally find out what goes on when things go bad in our adult amusement park. No dice. No specific information ever came out of him. Then one day he shared something in his own way.
He: "What size are these hotels?"
Me: "Vegas has 18 out of the 25 largest hotels in the world."
He: "How many rooms are in them?"
Me: "They have thousands of rooms. Many hotels have 3000 plus rooms. One even has 5000 rooms."
He: “At an average occupancy of 80 percent and two per room, how does this volume compare to populations of cities?"
Me: "Some of these hotels are bigger than many towns in America."
He: “What kind of crime happens in towns and cities in America?"
Me: "All kinds of crime occur.
He: "Exactly. Why would hotels be any different?"
Me: "You are saying felonies even like murder?"
He: "You are the one figuring it out. Does murder occur in towns and cities in America?"
Me: "Yes."
He: "You just answered your own questions."
Me: "People can get violent in a fun place like this?"
He: "Don’t assume all people are happy here. For example, some people have a painful break up happening. They sometimes come to Vegas to recreate the good times and save their marriage. When mending doesn't work, blaming can start and then anger can follow."
Me: "Well, that's a real buzz killer for those of us who like this fantasyland."
He: "Security never gets to relax and we don’t live in a fantasy."
I was bummed out about this when I first heard it. Then it dawned on me. This is exactly why we have these security officers. Even before 9/11 we needed them in places even as sweet as Disneyland. We have all seen it. If it can go wrong, one day it will go wrong. These guys are schooled to watch out for funny business and thereby, keep the fun in place for us. God bless and help them.
MOVIE MAKING IN VEGAS
A lot of picture taking happens in Las Vegas. Most cameras are for personal fun, but some are for the movies and TV shows. For example, casinos that are scheduled to be imploded make for great locations for spectacular shooting. The first casino I saw do this was the Sands Hotel, famous for its relationship with the "Rat Pack." We all saw Nicholas Cage crash his "Conair" plane into that casino lobby in a stunning scene that, of course, never really happened. But since this was before computer-generated filming Hollywood manufactured a scary scene on The Strip.
The set decorators brought a huge airplane fuselage to the real front door of the closed Sands Hotel and crammed it in. Fake police cars littered the driveway in a realistic way and that is how it all sat for weeks and weeks. Things were a lot slower in those days of real film, so I guessed they didn't want to "strike the set" until the movie
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