Construction worker found dead at CityCenter

This past Saturday a construction worker was found dead at the CityCenter project. The man was identified as Mark Wescoat, an electrician from New Jersey working for Fisk Electric. He reported in for work at 6 am and about a half hour later he had fallen to his death from the 27th floor down to the 25th. This is the fifth construction death at CityCenter (last year there were four fatalities). OSHA has been called in to investigate and there has been no comment from MGM Mirage. In the prior cases, OSHA found numerous safety violations. The project has work crews there working around the clock to meet their November 2009 opening date.

Perhaps its time for CityCenter to put the safety of its workers ahead of its time table. Unfortunately, its not uncommon for their to be a death at a large construction site. However, to give you some perspective, only one worker died working on the Eiffel Tower in the late 1800's but 114 workers died during construction of Hoover Dam.

Vegas Pool Season ‘08: Oh Yeah, You Can Swim, Too

Filed under: Nightlife, Dry Heat, Sexy Vegas

Vegas Pool Season ‘08: Oh Yeah, You Can Swim, Too

Filed under: Nightlife, Dry Heat, Sexy Vegas

More updates and additions

Trying to keep up several sites at once gets old---fast. If you are a regular subscriber to several blogs, you've noticed blog burnout on at least one of them at some time or another. A friend of mine lives in Spanish Trail (not Spanish Trails) and were talking about foreclosures. Even in his neighborhood he is seeing a few, plus there are quite a few Spanish Trail townhomes up for sale as well, although I didn't notice if there were any short sales mentioned. Not surprising really, since there are quite a few townhomes available for sale right now. Beacon Hill in Mountain's Edge is a perfect example. Normally most large master planned communities include a few townhomes in the mix.

Home sales are slowly creeping back up again. I think some of that has to do with some of the unheard of deals being offered. For example, Flagstone Manor by Pulte has half acre lots and had the price dropped by 100k in some cases. Other developers are taking it even farther. Manhattan West is offering a couple of very interesting programs. If you are already a home owner and are worried about selling your home in order to buy a condo, the community Guaranteed Sale program guarantees to buy your qualifying existing home if it doesn’t sell within 180 days (of course there are qualifications). Another interesting program is the Downside Price Protection™, which lets you lock in today’s prices and interest rates while reducing the risk that your condo will drop in price. With Downside Price Protection, if the market is lower two years from when you buy your Manhattan West residence, you get a cash refund of the percentage the market is down, up to 10%. There is also a program for investors to cover the mortgage difference if the rent doesn't. In all, there are a total of six programs. I have to admit, it's pretty slick.

Sharpen Your Sensi

Sensi at Bellagio is considered casual dining, at least by Bellagio standards. My husband and I have eaten there twice now, and overall we enjoyed it. While eating at the Bellagio, it’s hard not to compare everything to Picasso, which is an amazing gastronomic experience. One of the things my husband liked the most was the gratuitous use of granite. Walls, floors, countertops, rough cut, smooth, granite was definitely a favorite medium of the designer. Also as a design element, a live lobster and shrimp tank was prominently displayed in the restaurant. Many places will show lobster, but seeing the shrimp was a new twist. The kitchen in also visible, separated only by a pane of glass. Though in a small space, it gave the restaurant a slightly more open feel.

We were told by the check in clerk to try the Chilean Sea Bass, as it is a house specialty. Therefore my husband ordered it. It is served in a bowl with a miso reduction, water chestnuts, wilted spinach, and a nifty ginger foam on top. Although the fish was cooked through, the asian flavors reminded me very much of sushi. I would recommend that dish, as it was delicious. It was priced at $40. I ordered the dry rubbed ribeye steak. It was a bit grizzled, and in places difficult to cut, but the dry rub had an exceptional flavor. It came with about 3 thin waffle cut fry/ chips, and a garlic crème sauce to dip the steak in. We chose not to order an appetizer so that we could get the dessert tower. Anyhow, we filled up on complimentary bread and goat cheese. Yum. Back to dessert. Tåhe “try everything for $38” dessert was a bit overwhelming to look at and disappointing to eat. Neither of us could identify anything that was amazing. The presentation was very nice, it came on a three tiered rack with little bowls and cones of various bite-sized samples, so I can’t complain about the quantity. But the desserts were too untraditional. There were 3 crème brulee, but no original. There was green tea, raspberry, and butterscotch. I would have preferred regular. They were too weird. We both agreed our favorite item was some pistachio ice cream, but it was only about 2 tablespoons worth and we had to share it. The chocolate mousse was decent, and the tapioca pudding was good, but as I said much of what they had used strange flavor combinations, and weren’t that great.
Overall, we enjoyed Sensi. On my own scale of 1 – 10, it probably earned a 7.

Links for 2008-04-12 [del.icio.us]

• Cool and informative Las Vegas site with an active forum community

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• Trip Advisor Las Vegas Forum
  Active community

Links for 2008-04-09 [del.icio.us]

• The Venetian Hosts Second Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament Benefitting Nevada SPCA No-Kill Animal Shelter

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• Prof's Las Vegas News Blog: 7 Flipchip HDR Las Vegas Strip Photos
  HDR Photos of the Las Vegas Strip