Not home yet

"Las Vegas...I'm still only in Las Vegas." - probably not Captain Willard

Well,  as departure days go, it was a pretty good one. Packed up my stuff (but forgot to pack my knife in my suitcase, alas. Insufficient sleep will do that,) and headed over to the Waffle House on Buckeystown Road, where I had a minimal breakfast with Brian and some conversation before heading down US-15 to Leesburg and points south. One of those points was Chantilly, where Mark Taylor and I discussed Balticon and lunched on BBQ meats. I had the ribs, which were much better than those at Mission BBQ, which are pretty good. 

Picked up a sub and some gas at the Sheetz off Old Ox Road, turned in the Jeep at Dollar/Hertz/Thrifty, and caught the shuttle to the Dulles Terminal. Much to my joy, Southwest was not only able to pre-board me all the way back to Vegas but give me the adjacent seat as well, which was nice. Flights back were mostly good and quiet, and I actually napped a little bit after finishing The Histories. (Brian was amused by my recounting of the Scouts' persistence in the Changed world of S.M. Sitrling's Emberverse.) Unfortunately, I forgot my hat on the airplane and maybe lost my main glucose meter as well, though I haven't looked in the suitcase to see if I maybe packed it in there.

Got picked up promptly by Uber at McCarran and was whisked off to the Rio, where the desk clerk kindly gave me a room next to the elevator. On the one hand, it was in the Masquerade tower halfway across the building, but it was also closer to the parking ramp where the new Uber pickup location is. Also, the power outlets are more convenient than they were in the other tower I've stayed at here. 

The plan is to chill out, catch up on blogging maybe, maybe run up to the VA and get some syringes to tide me over until I get home (been out since yesterday), maybe just be inert and unproductive. Tomorrow I'll pick up the Kia at Pep Boys, maybe hit Walmart and/or Sam's Club on the way home to Tonopah, maybe just hit Sonic & Murphy Express. 

General observations about the week that was

Well, I managed to see most of the friends that I had hoped to see, with the exception of Toni (possible COVID), Dutch (the babysitting signal summoned him), Doug (lack of comms/time/who knows) and Martin (my failure to follow through and confirm) but at least I got to have a good, extensive phone call with Martin. 

Judging from what Mark and Martin had to say, I didn't miss much by not going to Balticon. Attendance was down, of course, and the science track was evidently not as beefy as usual because of that, and apparently there was some hooliganism over the weekend by the locals, but both of my friends who attended seemed to think it good. So maybe next year I'll actually go, but the lure of hanging out with John and Stacy to do the podcast (plus possibly seeing other friends on Friday night/Saturday/Sunday) is powerful.

I had some hilarious misadventures with hotels while out east, mostly pertaining to being spoiled by Las Vegas hotels which will cheerfully check you in no matter when you show up. DC hotels aren't like that - on three separate occasions I was inconvenienced by showing up at 0300/0400 of the day I had a reservation and being told I couldn't check in early. You'd think I would have learned after the first time, but it's hard to get things though my thick skull when I am tired. 

The financial problems I was having with NSB and PFCU resolved themselves on Saturday, and cash flow was not an issue for the rest of the trip, though there is some fuckery afoot with Sheetz and the latter that I hope will get sorted before the weekend.  

More specific details to follow, maybe.