Possible I Hate Dialysis.com ANNUAL Meet?

[Sluff]

Meeting location established.


October 13th 2007
5pm

Olive Garden
1545 E. Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119

702-735-0082

[goofynina]

Meeting location established.


October 13th 2007
5pm

Olive Garden
1545 E. Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119

702-735-0082

Hey, we can all go and just eat their breadsticks and salad, since they never stop serving it, at least we'd save some money      lol, J/K

[Sluff]

What am I going to do with you Susie...tsk tsk tsk always an angle geeezzz 

[okarol]

 Vegas tourists turn to scooters

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press WriterThu May 24, 3:49 PM ET

There's lazy, and then there's Las Vegas lazy.

In increasing numbers, Las Vegas tourists exhausted by the four miles of gluttony laid out before them are getting around on electric "mobility scooters."

Don't think trendy Vespa motorbikes. Think updated wheelchair.

Forking over about $40 a day and their pride, perfectly healthy tourists are cruising around Las Vegas casinos in transportation intended for the infirm.

You don't have to take a step. You don't even have to put your drink down.

"It was all the walking," 27-year-old Simon Lezama said on his red Merits Pioneer 3. Lezama, a trim and fit-looking restaurant manager from Odessa, Texas, rented it on day three of his five-day vacation, "and now I can drink and drive, be responsible and save my feet."

The Las Vegas Strip is long past its easily walkable days. Casinos alone are nearly the size of two football fields. That doesn't count the hotel rooms, shopping malls, spas, convention centers, bars and restaurants.

And that's just inside. For tourists who plan to stroll from one big casino to another, there are crowds, construction sites and long stretches of sun-baked sidewalks between.

A tourist could accidentally get some exercise.

"We're seeing more and more young people just for the fact that the Strip has gotten so big, the hotels are so large," said Marcel Maritz, owner of Active Mobility, a scooter rental company whose inventory also includes wheelchairs, crutches and walkers.

Most of those using the scooters are obese, elderly or disabled. But many are young and seemingly fit.

The number of able-bodied renters has grown in the past few years to represent as much as 5 percent of Maritz's business, he said. The company, which contracts with some casinos, has a fleet of about 300 scooters.

"It makes it a lot easier for people to see everything," he said.

At full throttle the scooters open up to about 5 mph, though crowded sidewalks allow little opportunity for such speeds. They can go anywhere wheelchairs can — elevators, bars, craps tables — but are banned from streets. They come with a quick operating lesson, an instruction booklet, a horn and a basket.

"At first, I figured it was for handicapped people, but then I saw everybody was getting them. I figured I might as well, too," Lezama said.

Las Vegas has other transportation options, although each has its problems. The Strip is regularly clogged with cabs and drive-in tourists. A double-decker bus system, dubbed the Deuce, often gets stuck in the mess. A $650 million monorail with stops at eight casinos has been plagued by poor ridership, perhaps because it runs behind the resorts, well off the Strip and out of sight.

Police and casino workers often use bicycles.

Some find the notion of using a device intended for disabled people unethical.

"It's the same principle as parking in a handicap spot," Mike Petillo, 64, a disabled tax accountant who recently visited from New York City.

Several hotel bell desk workers — who handle most of the rental requests from tourists — said they try to discourage people who do not appear to need the scooters from renting. But refusing the self-indulgent is not really an option.

"You can't really discriminate against anybody," said Tom Flynn, owner of Universal Mobility. "We don't require a prescription or an explanation of why they need it."

Michelle Bailey, a slender, apparently healthy 22-year-old, used a scooter to get around a recent pool tournament at the Riviera hotel-casino. "Four-inch heels," she explained with a laugh, pointing to her lipstick-red pumps.

But Troy Burgess, a 21-year-old optician visiting from Detroit, said he considers it "immoral" for an able-bodied person to rent wheels. And not only that, but "you probably wouldn't pick up too many chicks on that scooter."

--------------------------------------------

[Sluff]

The way people drive...a lot of inexperienced riders = accidents.

[Hawkeye]

Vegas tourists turn to scooters

Don't think trendy Vespa motorbikes. Think updated wheelchair.

I think it would be cooler to use a Segway.

[goofynina]

Most of those using the scooters are obese, elderly or disabled. But many are young and seemingly fit.

Well geeze, that is two strikes against me dammit   I'm taking my wheelchair (hope you all are strong)  

[kianhu]

Bring good shoes seriously.  LOL  I havent skated in over 25yrs but maybe I should consider it for Vegas.   

[thegrammalady]

The way people drive...a lot of inexperienced riders = accidents.

people don't "see" you when you use one of those scooters. i had to rent one the last time i went to disneyland.  because of the heat, i had an asthma attack and couldn't walk more than 2 feet without having to stop and wheeze for 5 minutes to catch my breath. it was wonderful to have a way to get around, but people kept walking right in front of me. they saw me if i was sitting still. but it didn't register if i was moving that i could run them over.

[tubes]

i dont know whats wrong with my comp but i cant get a quote to insert.

So to SUSIE.....

i'll push ya hon, then when i get tired, i get to sit on ur lap and Sluff can push the both of us.

lmfao 

[paris]

I want a segway! I could keep up with everyone - I always am 10 feet behind my family. 

[goofynina]

i dont know whats wrong with my comp but i cant get a quote to insert.

So to SUSIE.....

i'll push ya hon, then when i get tired, i get to sit on ur lap and Sluff can push the both of us.

lmfao 

Tubes, you are my hero, thank you so much amigo,  i like the idea of you sittin on my lap, never had a lap dance while in motion, sheeit, i bet i'd be the first person to ever get a lapdance, while being pushed in a wheelchair, in Vegas, on the strip, and sober (ok, maybe not sober)   

[Sluff]

Sheeeit.. goofynina sober?   Alert the media cause this ain't never happened before. Oh and Susie don't forget the whips and handcuffs.

[goofynina]

Sheeeit.. goofynina sober?   Alert the media cause this ain't never happened before. Oh and Susie don't forget the whips and handcuffs.

*hiccup*  how can i forget *hiccup*  those,  how else am i going to keep Sam locked *hiccup* in the room? 

[tubes]

Sheeeit.. goofynina sober?   Alert the media cause this ain't never happened before. Oh and Susie don't forget the whips and handcuffs.

*hiccup*  how can i forget *hiccup*  those,  how else am i going to keep Sam locked *hiccup* in the room? 

Finally, it worked! ! ! 

Awwww phooey, I was hoping the whips and handcuffs were for me.  No lap dance for you if I can't be handcuffed to the chair.
 

[goofynina]

Sheeeit.. goofynina sober?   Alert the media cause this ain't never happened before. Oh and Susie don't forget the whips and handcuffs.

*hiccup*  how can i forget *hiccup*  those,  how else am i going to keep Sam locked *hiccup* in the room? 

Finally, it worked! ! ! 

Awwww phooey, I was hoping the whips and handcuffs were for me.  No lap dance for you if I can't be handcuffed to the chair.
 

*shakes head*  Tubes, Tubes, Tubes,  dont you know me by now?  It's MEEEEE baby, Goofynina, i thought everyone knew i always carry an extra pair of handcuffs for unsuspecting victims  

    but keep it on the downlow my friend

[tubes]

Sluff, so we have a meeting place, but do u know which hotel yet?

Thanks for getting this all situated. 

much appreciated! ! !

[Sluff]

Sluff, so we have a meeting place, but do u know which hotel yet?

Thanks for getting this all situated. 

much appreciated! ! !

Nope I will be approaching several places to get the best rate when I get back. I hope to have this squared away by June 22nd 2007.

[tubes]

Sluff, so we have a meeting place, but do u know which hotel yet?

Thanks for getting this all situated. 

much appreciated! ! !

Nope I will be approaching several places to get the best rate when I get back. I hope to have this squared away by June 22nd 2007.

COOL! ! !  Thankx Sluff, U the man! ! !

[Sluff]

Just wondering how many of you would like to take the tour on Sunday October 14th of the Grand Canyon?

Kitkatz will be checking on costs and scheduling, but I'm sure we will need a head count.

[Jill D.]

Probably not for me....been there, done that!

[goofynina]

Not I (says Goofynina) 

[George Jung]

No thanks.

[lola]

no thanks

[thegrammalady]

it would be great fun but daughter and son-in-law are coming and must be back to work on monday. so unfortunately no time