Good morning from the twentieth floor of the Treasure Island Hotel, over looking the Las Vegas strip. The sun is coming up and is highlighting Red Rock Canyon and the Spring Mountains to the northwest. It is beautiful. We'll be here in the TI for tonight again and then tomorrow we will move across the street to the Palazzo Resort. The TI is a nice place but by now is getting to be a bit old. The rooms here are standard sized rooms and well appointed. But, they don't compare to what we will have at The Palazzo. It is just luxury; big rooms, lots of marble, clean as can be; and without being "snooty", they have a slightly different clientele. TI has changed so much of the things they had years ago. They used to have one of the best buffets and changed that to almost entirely Asian. Now they have changed it again and what used to be a $10.00 breakfast buffet is now a $25.00 breakfast buffet. The day of a cheap Las Vegas buffet are long gone. Heck the casinos are now charging you to park while you come in and lose your money to them. Sigh!!

As I told you, Ms. Kate and I are here for a reunion with guys that I was stationed with back in  1967-1969. That has been fifty years. Only a few of us made the military a career. One eventually became a doctor and retired as a Colonel too, or so I'm told. I've not met him and he caan't make it to this reunion. He came into the unit after I had already left. Another fellow got his commission and I think retired as a Major. And a couple of the guys remained enlisted; one retiring as a CMSgt and the other as a SMSgt. So, that means that a little over 10% of us are retired military with distinguished careers. Other members went on to work in the civil service industry with the Air Force so we are a dedicated bunch of folk and I think each of us can trace some of the characteristics that made us a success back to the job we were doing all the way back then. We certainly weren't heroes, but I like to think we made a difference in the way things were at that particular time and place.

This morning folks from church posted pictures of the work that has been done on our out-door chapel. The new concrete has all been poured and it looks beautiful. Too bad that we won't get to use it until next spring because fall has finally arrived. But I am proud of how hard the folks have worked to bring it up to a quality level.

Time to get ready for the day. We need to do something besides sit around here. I hope your day is going well. I also encourage you to lift up prayers for the victims of Hurricane Michael. The path of destruction and loss of life is horrible.

Have a blessed day. Shalomn.