MINE expo 2008

Peterbilt Service Truck
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Well for a change we were up bright and early to head to MINE expo 2008.  First stop was breakfast and I thought it would be a real American experience to take Mr Jones to Denny's Diner.  I had taken him to Hooters the night before and he wasn't that impressed, even with the girls. What is wrong with him. I thought that every red blooded male would want to be served fried food by a little female pocket rocket that looked like she had an inflatable chest.  I was very amazed at how short they all were - maybe it was Hooter's Hobbits?  If he thought that Hooters was bad then he wasn't going to be fussed about Denny's.  However, to his own surprise he thought it was pretty good grub.  Maybe because it was Steak,Eggs and Chips which is pretty standard Kiwi Pub Fare.

CAT993 Loader
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Walking down Convention Centre Drive to the expo when we spy a shiny Peterbilt parked in a motel parking lot.  I was very impressed.  I don't care too much for many things mechanical but i really like these trucks.  We ended up meeting the driver of the truck who happened to be a very nice man from North Carolina.  I didn't want to offend him by saying that i really like Peterbilts after seeing one morph into Optimus Prime in the blockbuster sensation "Transformers".  As we walked away I looked back and secretly hoped that it would have turned into a transformer and was crouching behind a bush or the motel but alas somethings belong in fantasy i guess.

Grader simulator
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Finally we navigated our way to the correct section of the Convention Centre (the place is bloody massive).  We basically followed the hoards of people, it didn't take a lot to figure it out.  I could tell that Mr Jones was uber-excited about the whole event and i knew that he was like our family cocker-spaniel Monty who could smell food from all directions and could not decide which way to go first.  We decided to head to the Underground exhibits first.  Seeing as we are not underground miners we pretty much got around this section in an hour. Next we ventured into the Open Pit Mining section where it was to Mr Jones what the totally edible garden was to Augutus Galoop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sensory overload! I must admit that I was very impressed and was quite intrigued by certain exihibits through out this section.  I was particularly impressed by the service trucks.  I think that I have found a new fleet of service trucks for Col the Service Pig to manage at Mt Keith!  As Mr Jones and I wandered around we raped and pilliged the freebies (stickers, hats, keyrings etc..), had a turn on the simulators.  Mr Jones had a turn at the new CAT truck simulator and boldly requested to back under a rope shovel whereas most people were just happy to drive on the flat road.  All I can say is that shovel operators should stick to being shovel operators I guess!  Nah he wasn't that bad but it was more difficult than he thought. I only had a go on the grader simulator and if i only had to grade a dead straight bit of road that was about 200meters in length with absolutely no traffic on it whatsoever including tumbleweeds, then i think that i could quite happily grade all day!  However, this is never ever going to happen and I am chained to the dispatch office for the rest of my natural life at Mt Keith so I'll just keep that perfect little scenario in my dreambox!

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As we wandered around it seemed that even though this was a mining expo it was Las Vegas and it is important to have eye candy everywhere!  There was a multitude of gorgeous women with their breasts pushed up to their cheekbones promoting many of the exihibits.  They looked as though they should have been at a porn convention but no they were here at the mine expo!  I may be wrong but i was very dubious that these girls knew very much about what they were supposed to be promoting but hey if your waist is that tiny and your hooters are that large it doesn't really matter does it?  I don't think that it really managed to the Russian convention goers who were lining up eagerly to get a photo with Miss Komatsu.  If there was a Miss Komatsu that went with every large machine that was sold then Komatsu sales would skyrocket!

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Mr Jones was a little disapointed that there were no diecast models on sale.  I was very happy about this as I was thinking about the hiding that the credit card would have received.  Besides it is far important for me to find a pair of Manolo Blahniks on this trip (they would be shoes for those of you who don't watch Sex and the City i.e. men).

We thought that we would have seen a little bit about the EX8000 but there was nothing!  Mr Jones did generate a wee bit of attention with his "Hitatchi EX8000 First Down Under " shirt but not enough to score a freebie stuffed toy digger that I was so desperate to have!  However, it was pretty cool to go on board and sit in the excavators as I am never allowed to do it at work(hint hint Craig).  I did think that I could get used to sitting in the seat of a Hitatchi all day  - it's like an armchair!  So watch out Bishop you've got stiff competition!  I think that the next EX8000 should be mine(another fantasy that will NEVER come to remotely close to reality).

Miss Komatsu.
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All in all we thought that it was better than we expected and we learned about many new products.  Most importantly we learned that if you are going to go to a convention or an expo then make sure it's in Las Vegas because they put on a pretty good show!

The last couple of days have been wandering up and down the Strip.  Went to Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay to see the Komodo Dragon only to pay like $17 to stand in front of an empty enclosure!!!!!  The sign said that it was closed due to maintenance but Mr Jones was sure that the resident Komodo had died or been deported for a gambling addiction.  I was rather annoyed. However, we crossed over to Paris for a look and there was a man standing on the street with a Komodo Dragon/Monitor type reptile.  He had it on a harness type leash and he was holding it like an infant child that needed to be burped after feeding!  I was freaking out as visions of the Bungarra that stalks me out at the ladies toilets outside the workshop all came flooding back!  I took a wide berth and headed into Paris for safety.  They tried desperately to get us to go to a seminar to buy a condo at the Luxor in order to get very cheap tickets to Mama Mia the Musical and if I wasn't there then I think that Mr Jones would have been there in heartbeat!  I quickly put on my dispatch face and flatly said "we are not interested thank you".

Hitatchi EX5500
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Breakfast was at "Paris" this morning and then the rest of the day was spent lounging by the pool where we marinated ourselves in carrot oil to maximise the tanning process.  However this only resulted in bad sunburn and Mr Jones with bad racoon eyes.  He now looks like a member of the Bomb Crew. Tonight dinner was downtown Las Vegas where we ate far too much AGAIN but the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza was so worth it.  Mr Jones was curious about chilli cheese fries, I informed him that would be crap and they were.  We wandered up and down Freemont Street to find a nice little spot to take in the infamous light show.  It didn't disapoint and Mr Jones gave it a definite 5 out of 5.  As we drove back to the strip it became very obvious that the stretch of Las Vegas Blvd between the Strip and Downtown is not one to be walked on your own at night.  However, it was quite cool to see the tacky wedding chapels speckled along the way (in amongst the pawn brokers).  I think that it maybe retail therapy tomorrow who knows in a city that never sleeps there is always something to do!