9:34 a.m. Merge from Spring Mountain East onto I-15 South. The new ramp meter, one of several red/green traffic lights installed last week at Charleston, Sahara, Spring Mountain, Flamingo, Tropicana and Russell, is nonoperational.
9:35 a.m. Fifty-five mph speed limit. Traffic's moving at 20.
9:36 a.m. Exit 38A: West Flamingo. All-Star revelers fill the black SUV to the left. Cries of "Hey, baaaby!" spill forth from the open windows.
9:37 a.m. Exit 38B: Flamingo East. Five lanes including "exit only." We're crawling.
9:38 a.m. Exit 37: Tropicana. Orange barrels on both sides. Orange arrow signs. We painstakingly merge from four to three lanes.
9:39 a.m. Tropicana on-ramp merges. Yield sign, more barrels, onset of concrete barrier, which blocks off the entire right lane. A few weeks back, this segment featured no-passing lane changes and the merging of three lanes into two. A yellow backhoe now sits idle. Actual Nevada Department of Transportation workers have rarely appeared on the other side of the concrete barrier.
9:40 a.m. "Hey, baaaby! Hey, baaaby! Hey, baaaby! Hey, f--k you, bitch!"
9:41 a.m. Exit 36: Russell. Still at three lanes and a concrete barrier. More orange.
9:43 a.m. Russell on-ramp merges, and we're back to four lanes. Detour sign. Fifty-five mph sign. Traffic's moving at 40. Now 50. Now 60. We're making progress.