wombat_socho: SSuiseiseki (SSuiseiseki)
As usual after conventions, I am feeling a bit lonely and depressed tonight. The long drive from Las Vegas home (interrupted by a victorious series against the Hated Yankees, which I did on the phone at Lida Junction) didn't help, of course. It never does.

I caught a couple of panels that Glenn Reynolds was on, and he was every bit as good a guest as I thought he would be. Insisted on taking him out for a drink on Saturday night by way of a gesture of thanks for all he and his readers did to support me during the months I was struggling with homelessness and related problems in 2019-2020, and we had a good chat over wine. I didn't attend any other panels, because I wasn't interested in them, and skipped the Baen Roadshow due to inertia on Saturday afternoon. Also didn't buy anything in the Dealer's room, because I thought I could pick a couple of things up Sunday, but by the time I managed to get downstairs around noon, both the dealer's room and consuite were packed up, Mike and his extended family were off to the range with friends, and the convention was basically over. Mike is going to do a second print run of C6 shirts after the con, so I will have one after all, and we discussed sharpening kits, so I'll have a couple more things to owe him money for.

I did spend a little money at the Walmart: needed to get a USB C/C cable for the rental Corolla, some yogurt, some cream, and I also grabbed a liter of Diet Coke. Saturday night I went to Publix to get a sub for dinner and got more liters of Diet Coke there as well. So now I have the Publix and Circle K apps on the phone.

Monday I slept in a bit, checked out at noon and refueled the Corolla at Circle K (only got a $0.03 discount because the Easy Pay was being a pain in the ass to set up), then stopped at the Publix for another sub. Hung around BNO for an hour after dropping the car off before losing patience and asking if I could go home sooner via Space-A, which it turns out I could. The flight to Phoenix was crowded, but I managed to sleep through most of it, and then just about everyone got off there which meant the flight to Vegas was nearly empty. Got my suitcase, paid for parking, stopped by the McD's on Paradise for a couple of Big Macs, and checked into the Strat, where I barely managed to get the nose hose set up before falling into bed.

Slept in again, checked out at noon, got breakfast and coffee at Dunkin; gas, Danish, and fluids at Maverik, more fluids at Sonic on Decatur, and a couple of subs (one free) at Jimmy John's, and then headed home. Stopped at Indian Springs for more fluids and pooping, Lida Junction for baseball, and Goldfield for pissing. Did catchup blogging when I got everything unpacked (except the suitcase which I'll retrieve from the trunk tomorrow) and now I'm going to bed.

Oh yeah: got an email over the weekend from Anime Fusion about their commitment to DEI and exit from X in favor of Blue Sky. Despite objections from [personal profile] troika I have ordered a T-shirt with the symbol and slogan of 17 SS-Panzergrenadier Division "Goetz von Berlichingen", which almost nobody at AF will recognize, but I think it's an appropriately silly response to silly virtue signaling. 
wombat_socho: Happy! (Happy)
Having arrived in Nashville a couple days early for Confinement, I took the opportunity to drive 90 miles east to Crossville, TN, which is the nearest Buc-ee's to Lebanon. I had been to a Buc-ee's previously, as the Red Menace* blew out its water pump in the parking lot of a Buc-ee's in Bayport, Texas while I was on my way to Las Vegas, but I had been more concerned with getting the RM off their lot and into the hands of a local Jeep dealer than scoping out what looked like a cross between a Love's Travel Stop and a Walmart, so I didn't go inside.

In the meantime, I had seen a lot of YouTube videos and memes about the famous store chain, and decided that if the opportunity arose I would go forth and check out The Buc-ee's in Crossville. Now, back home in Nevada, I am loath to drive 90 miles to anywhere, because frankly the options are Hawthorne (notable only for the Army depot and the McDonald's), Bishop California (absolutely haram), and Beatty, which has a great barbecue joint and the World's Largest Candy Store, but neither of those motivate me to get off my ass and drive for 90 miles through the desert and foothills. Here in Tennessee, though, the trees are starting to bud, the grass is green, and there are actually a few creeks and streams to look at along the way that have flowing water in them. So it was a much more pleasant drive, and the Toyota Corolla I'm renting for the long weekend is a nice set of wheels.

So I got there, was blessed to find a parking space right by the east entrance, and took a selfie with the beaver statue out front. Inside, OMG. There is an entire quarter of the store devoted to Buc-ee's swag (none of it in my size), the wall of jerky is indeed yuge and contains many flavors of jerky never before seen by Yr. Humble Blogger, and the selection of soda fountains puts any other truck stop/gas station to shame, even Sheetz. I did not make it to the coolers in the back, but they lined the entire west wall of the building and seemed to contain every refreshing fluid known to man. The barbeque station was large, had dozens of  brisket, turkey, and pulled pork sandwiches hot and ready to go (I grabbed a pulled pork and a brisket sandwich and they were MAGICAL) and there were signs advising that the meats could be purchased by the pound. I don't know how I resisted the temptation. There were other parts of the store I didn't get to, where no doubt the deadly Buc-ee's Nuggets lurked, but I was beginning to get sensory overload so I headed to the cashier's station and barely remembered to snag a soft-sided camo cooler with the beaver logo, which I expect to put to much use this summer. 

tl;dr: Buc-ee's is every bit as wild and crazy as the hype would have it. 5 stars, do recommend. 

*The Red Menace was a '96 Jeep Cherokee Carlos gave me after the Toaster died from an oil leak. The A/C didn't work, but that was OK because by the time I got into the Southwest, it was a dry heat and there was Sonic. Wound up trading it in on the Hyundai Elantra that got totaled while I was Ubering in Vegas. 
wombat_socho: (Las Vegas)
I spent most of the week driving to and from Las Vegas for the NSSAB meeting, but at least I got a couple nights of good sleep at the Stratosphere. Next week I'm headed back there again en route to Nashville for Confinement VI, but this time I have to stay at the Alexis Park because for some reason every hotel anywhere near the Strip is hella expensive. Hopefully on the way back the Stratosphere will be more reasonable. 

Need to take some time tomorrow or Sunday and pick up some of the garbage in here. I've got at least three large bags and some smaller ones that need to go. 

Missing three days out of the work week and clocking in late today has put me behind the curve in a bad way. I'll have to kick some ass over the weekend so I can download some more easy returns and/or get some TPRs...speaking of which, I need to get cracking on some of those state qualification exams. I can do some of those while I'm on the road, which is good because the deadline is 2/28 and I can't do any work on the road. 

Took two out of three from the Bravos, but then Pete's Brewers came to RFK and took two of three; the sole winner in that series was (of all people) Jim Kaat who won a 2-1 squeaker with a lot of help from the bullpen. 

Well, if I'm going to get up early and do all this stuff, I better go to bed right about now. 

wombat_socho: (work)
So on the first weekend of the month, things are picking up at work. Did four returns yesterday, and another two today, so I had five hours on the clock total. I think I'll wait until mid-month to peek and see what my progress toward bonus is, since it's really too early to be sweating that kind of stuff. I also need to do better at getting to bed at a decent hour so I get enough sleep before my shift starts; both days this weekend I clocked in a lot later than my shift started, and I can't imagine my new OM is going to be happy with that continuing. On the other hand, I'm getting work done in a timely fashion, so...

The Romanov Rising is good, The War in Heaven is good, and the next volume of Komi is waiting for me at the post office. I think the final volume of Larry's Son of the Black Sword is due out this month as well. Plenty of good new reading. 

The Senators got whupped by the Cubs and swept by the A's. I am really starting to hate RFK. We're 3-8 at home, but 10-11 on the road, and we're underperforming our Pythagorean by one game (we should be 14-18 instead of 13-19), so I am hoping the bats catch fire against Minnesota, which is scoring a lot more runs but also coughing up a lot more than we are. Guess we'll see. 

Weight has been lingering in the low 390s, and probably would be better were I not eating so much cereal lately. 

This week I have a video appointment tomorrow at 1430 and an wound care appointment at 0800 Thursday. I've already booked my room at the Strat for Wednesday night. Next Thursday I have an optometry appointment, and two weeks from now an NSSAB meeting on the 19th. So I should be pretty flush with two VA reimbursements and a DOE check as well before Confinement; I paid for the SWA tickets with points, so my only expenses should be food, the rental car, and the hotel. I'll be in pretty good shape since the VA disability check drops on 2/28 and I'll also have sundry Block paychecks on the 7th & 21st. 
wombat_socho: SSuiseiseki (SSuiseiseki)
I spent most of Saturday immured in my room, splitting my attention between Slack, the Google spreadsheet tracking other players' draft picks in Pete's league, and a couple of text files, one of which listed my desired players and the other one having my roster. The first round of the draft actually started yesterday, but the timed draft started late in the morning and took up most of Saturday afternoon. I barely had time to dip out to the local Waffle House and grab breakfast. I got through the sixth round yesterday and traded my seventh round pick and Tim Foli to Pete for Ed Brinkman. So this is how the roster looks:

c  Hundley, Herrmann, Etchebarren
1b Epstein
2b Rojas
SS Brinkman
3b McMullen

CF Unser
LF Scheinblum

SP Coleman
SP Dobson
SP Kaat
SP Cleveland
SP Morton
Italicized players were drafted, players in bold were acquired in trade. I still need a right fielder and a closer, plus some arms for the bullpen, but there's enough players out there (plus my rookies listed below) that I'm not too worried about being able to fill the holes. None of the rookies are going to be keepers, I think, but they'll be useful fill-ins in case one of the regulars goes on the DL. 
2b Vic Harris
cf Joe Lovitto
sp Don Stanhouse
lf Grieve
2b Harris
ss Jim Mason
2b Jim Ragland
p Lawson
p Panther

As for Confinement...well, I don't think I actually attended any of the panels, but I hung out with a lot of good folks, shot the shit, and talked at least one of the authors in attendance into coming to Son of Silvercon. May get some other folks to throw money at us later.

This morning I went to Dunkin' for breakfast and tried the chorizo & egg empanada, which was okay. Wound up going to dinner with folks at O'Charley's, where I ate lighter than I did Saturday night, when I was famished and demolished the salmon dinner along with a plate of potato skins. Tomorrow I think I'll get up early, change my bandages again, and go have breakfast at Shoney's before I head back to BNA. Maybe I'll see if I can muster the enthusiasm for a Buc-ee's run; there's one an hour up I-40 from here, but idk.

Tomorrow, I dunno.





wombat_socho: SSuiseiseki (SSuiseiseki)
The wound care appointment took a whole hour as they debrided my wounds, cleaned them, and wrapped them up in ABD pads, Kerlix, and Coban, which meant I missed my podiatry appointment. Welp. Picked up melatonin and benadryl at the canteen since I forgot to pack them, got a bunch of sushi & Claritin-D at Sam's Club, and wound up passing out early without doing blogging. 

Made arrangements to drop off the Kia at Pep Boys for various checks and minor services, which I did after breakfasting at the Omelet House, and then I caught an Uber to McCarran. I volunteered to get bumped from the flight since they'd overbooked it, but they couldn't find my suitcase in time, and I had foolishly stuffed my nose hose in it. So it was an uncomfortable flight to Nashville. 

My rental vehicle this time was a Ford Escape, which is an improvement over the monster SUVs I've been saddled with lately, and once I had it I made a beeline for the nearest Waffle House, where I had breakfast for dinner. Got to the hotel a little after midnight (I forgot the time zone change) but I got checked in with no problem - my room is next to the con suite, but I have confidence that I can sleep through any noise, especially with Benadryl and melatonin helping. Had the hotel breakfast this morning - eggs and raisin bran and coffee and Bad Things - and I think tomorrow I'll just hit Dunkin or (more likely) Waffle House. An expedition to the local Office Max failed to produce flyers but did yield a door poster for which they didn't charge me. Stopped at Walmart for dairy products, Post-It tape, a new Blender Bottle, and water enhancers. 

Mike appreciated the Sibuyan Sea pic and passed on getting a printout. Just as well, given Office Max's ineptitude. I napped for a couple of hours and missed opening ceremonies, hung out and talked with people, and presently went out to O'Charley's where I ate about $40 worth of seafood for dinner. It was good, and kept me in compliance with the Law of the Fish.

The casual part of the draft went by today; I recovered Mike "Super Jew" Epstein and am trying to decide whether I want more offense, another year of Eddie Brinkman, or one of the few stud pitchers left out there when the draft resumes tomorrow. 
wombat_socho: SSuiseiseki (SSuiseiseki)
Went out to do laundry Thursday and Sunday night, so now everything except for a T-shirt, shorts, and a sock are clean. I put the work shirts and pants aside (except for one pair of pants I'm packing for Nashville) and am going to throw the Confinement and Son of Silvercon T-shirts in the big suitcase for tomorrow. I'll pack a change of clothes in the backpack along with drugs and insulin  and the laptop; have not decided whether or not I'm going to bother with the range bag. (Probably not.)

Emptied the kitchen and bathroom garbage and also bagged up a lot of medical waste from the bedroom, but didn't make it outside today because I was hanging around waiting to see if I was going to get either of the appointments Amanda had teased me with (I didn't) so I guess I'll have to get up early and dispose of all the garbage then, because I don't want to leave it around the apartment for (another) week. There was an ad for a cleaning service on the Raley's bulletin board, and I'll call them when I get back. 

Tax refund came in a day early, and I mostly split it between the two big credit card accounts, and then on Friday did the same with my paycheck. Throw in some dinners at the Stage Stop, SWA tickets to Nashville, a couple of grocery runs for (mostly) beef and fluids, and some random acts of charity, and I still have around $600 left for the rest of the week. Not sure when the VA check will arrive, but for sure the SSDI will hit on 3/3, and there will also be a small HRB check on Friday of the convention. This should be more than enough to cover dropping the Kia off at Pep Boys Thursday on the way to McCarran so I can get the battery, tires & AC checked, wipers and oil changed, and hopefully nothing else is wrong with the old jalopy. Better than leaving it at the airport and not having work done on it. 

I'm into the third book of the Helldivers series, which is a unique take on post-apocalyptic survival tales. So far I'm getting more than my money's worth out of KU with it. 

Cooked up some pasta with the hamburger over the weekend and turned the rest into meatloaf which will sit in the freezer until I get back. Also going to throw the rest of the bread and ground turkey in the freezer too, so they don't go bad in my absence. 

Time to sort the pills and hit the rack for an early wakeup. I'd like to be on the road to Tonopah before noon if at all possible. 
wombat_socho: (Tonopah)
The last couple of days in Dayton were pretty busy, and I actually finished most of the returns I started in those two days. I still have stuff in my WIP file, but I did what I could to finish the ones that could be finished. I put in almost 91 hours in Dayton, which means I'll pull down around  $2600 in gross pay next Friday. Reimbursement for second week meals should show up before that, and according to the credit union my refund is on track to show up on the 23rd.

All of this is likely to arrive after the NSSAB meeting next week, which I think I'll Zoom into instead of driving down for because I don't think I'll have either the cash or the flex to afford the drive down & back, to say nothing of a hotel room. I'm also hella tired after being (effectively) on the road for two weeks. 

On the other hand, I'll have plenty of financial muscle for the trip to the VA the following week, which will morph into the Confinement excursion. The way things have been going, I expect the reimbursement for last month's VA visit will show up after I get back from Nashville. Speaking of Confinement, Kukuruyo finished "Battle of the Sibuyan Sea (1944. colorized)" and it looks gooood. I'm looking forward to printing it out and presenting it to Mike. 

Went to visit a friend in Reno (after sleeping overnight in the Reno Ramada since I didn't want to drive home Friday night) and spent most of the afternoon getting zooted. Headed home via I-80 and Infinity Highway instead of going down 580 to 50; it may have been a little shorter, but I have my doubts. Got home around 2100 after stopping in Yerington at the Maverik and suffering an attack of the raving munchies. 

Lois had a pacemaker implanted, James went down to look after her, and evidently all went well.  

For now, I am going to take Digger and a bottle of water and go to bed. 

Or did it?

Feb. 14th, 2024 10:51 pm
wombat_socho: (work)
 I was only on the clock for about five hours today, but I did more work than I did yesterday, including a Second Look conversion, and a fat family return I snagged off the fulfilment queue. Word around the office is that while we're fairly busy, Damonte Ranch is just shambolic chaos, with a lot of calls not being made, appointments being dropped, and similar fun. Guess it's just as well I'm not up there this year. Saw that Elizabeth approved my expense report, and it looks like it's been processed. As long as they pay me by Friday I'll be happy. 

Didn't make it to Ash Wednesday services today, for which I have no excuse, but I did conform to the Law of the Fish. For whatever good that will do me. 

Changed bandages this morning, including the Aquacel on the right leg, which was beginning to smell bad. Got some blood on the carpet, but it couldn't be helped. 

Finally got around to plugging the Kindle into the laptop so I could convert a few books from epub to mobi format, but I screwed that up and deleted the books instead. Back to the drawing board. 

Weight was down to 396 this morning, and I didn't eat much today, so I'm hopeful that I'll be closer to 390 than 400 by Saturday. 

Kukuruyo finished the art this morning, including the ice cream cone. The Battle of Leyte Gulf never looked so sexy. 
wombat_socho: (work)
It was a very long shift in the tax mines today. Most of my scheduled clients were no-shows or rescheduled, and I spent about an hour doing prep for future appointments. The rest of the time I sat around twiddling my thumbs and reading X. Tomorrow I'm only in the office from 1500-2000, but Thursday and Friday it's normal hours. I think this was done in order to keep me from racking up overtime in this pay period, which will be good in the long term but is a pain in the ass right now when I can use the money. I may have to attend this month's NSSAB meeting via Zoom, depending on how the cash flows; if my tax refund or my VA travel reimbursement show up on or before the 20th, I'll be able to afford to pop down to Vegas (which will generate a reimbursement check the following week),otherwise I'll have to Zoom it.

Kukuruyo sent me a sketch of the Azur Lane/Piper Perri/Battle of Leyte Gulf cartoon, and it looks like he's got the concept down. Looking forward to surprising Mike with it at Confinement. 

 
wombat_socho: comfort eagle (Comfort Eagle)
Switching out the thermostat didn't work, so I guess I'll be waiting for a technician to show up and bang on the heat pump/inverter or the outside unit to get things working again. So that sucked. 

This week I've been unmotivated to do much of anything except play Civicrack, but I need to get off my ass tomorrow and blitz the Small Business certification, because it's due Monday. I also need to deposit some checks for the N3F and Son of Silvercon. 

I guess my lungs suck worse than I thought, because in the mail from the VA came a notice that they'd increased my disability for asthma from 10% to 60%, which means not only does my monthly check go from $140 to almost $1400, but I now get reimbursed for travel to and from appointments, which will be really nice. The additional cash flow will help not only with cutting the credit card debt, but will probably make it possible to head up to Minnesota to see #1 Son and maybe drop in on Anime Fusion. 

But, first I have to book a flight to Nashville, book a room at the Confinement hotel, and pay Mike for my shirt. 

Before that, I need to go to bed. 
 
wombat_socho: SSuiseiseki (SSuiseiseki)
Weather was okay on the way down to Las Vegas, and acceptable when I arrived in Nashville, which is to say it was mostly overcast, occasionally rainy, and mostly in the high 40s. I slept through most of my flight thanks to the assholes next door at the Strat, who apparently fell asleep with the TV on so that it played about a minute of some annoying rap song, stopped, and restarted. That kept me from getting any sleep, so I got up at 0200, and waited 20 minutes in vain for an Uber before giving up and driving to McCarran, stopping along the way at the McD's on Paradise halfway there for a Diet Coke and a couple of Big Macs, because I figured nothing would be open at the airport and if it was it would be hella expensive. 

Having said that to myself, I left the Kia in the 4th deck's long-term parking, checked my suitcase, made my way through security, and promptly bought $36 worth of cables and earbuds from a robot along the way. It was worth it since one of the cables was a USB-C splitter that allowed me to keep the phone charged and listen to music at the same time, which I did, falling asleep to Klaus Schulze before takeoff and snoozing all the way to BNA. On arrival, I felt rested enough to be safe behind the wheel, and since Priceline couldn't find me any wheels, I went through SWA and got a mid-size car from Alamo for about $90/day after taxes and insurance. Mid-size apparently includes the Ford Exploder these days, and to my horror, that's what they gave me. I had to RTFM to figure out where the parking brake release was, but once I managed that, I cruised on out of BNA and hit I-40 East to Lebanon, stopping along the way at a Waffle House for an excellent All-Star breakfast. Got to the hotel early, but that was no problem; they let me check in anyway, and the room was pretty nice, with a nice little desk and plenty of power outlets, and right near the elevator. 

The Exploder came in handy, since I needed to get stuff from the nearby Walmart: cream, cables, yogurt, and a few other things which came in handy since I never managed to get up early enough for the hotel's complimentary breakfast. I spent a lot of time in the consuite talking to folks, bought a couple books from Kelly Grayson the morning after the "No Shit There I Was" panel during which he regaled us with various EMT tales. Don't remember what I ate for dinner on Friday; probably just a couple hot dogs, cheese, meats, and crackers from the consuite, even though I could have gotten something at or near the Walmart. Saturday I devoured the Danish I'd bought at Walmart with the in-room coffee for breakfast, and later went out for lunch at Whataburger  (triple with onion rings) and Sonic (pretzel and a couple Route 44 Sprite Zeroes) which got me through the day and into the evening thanks to the consuite, Sunday: yogurt and coffee for breakfast, dead dog/lunch at O'Charley's, and when I refueled at Mapco I picked up a couple bags of jerky, which I ate on the flight home when I wasn't reading En Route or sleeping. 

As usual, while some of the panels were interesting and the Baen Roadshow excellently informative (Toni drove several hours from her NC home to do it for us) I mostly spent my time in the consuite talking to people and enjoying their company. I got some very useful advice from Jess about domain providers and security, talked to some folks about Son of Silvercon, and just had a good time in general. 

Coming back, I turned in the Exploder, walked the ungodly long distance from the rental car area to the main terminal (stopping a couple of times to rest), turned in my suitcase, and took some time to hammer out the FMJRA in the C terminal while listening to Woods Weston, a gal with a voice very like Dolly Parton's. Hope she manages to make a career in Music City. When I got back to McCarran, I got my suitcase, got the Kia out of hock ($54, ouch) and went back to the Strat, where I quickly checked in at the counter (it was too early in the morning for the robots) and arranged for a noon checkout. Took me a little longer to get my act together, but by 1230 I was on my way to the Omelet House, where I had the 38 Special with extra broccoli plus a short stack of pancakes. Then I hit the road for Murphy's on Craig, got the car washed and dumped some trash, and headed north on 95. I had made the executive decision not to bother with Sam's Club or Walmart on this trip because after hitting Provo the week before Nashville, I was mentally exhausted and just wanted to go home. 

Made the obligatory stop at Indian Springs for acquiring & disposing of fluids; stopped again at Amargosa Springs for more trash & fluid disposal, and after that I was driving straight home - well, one more urination stop in Goldfield, where it was actually snowing, but the snow went away before the Gemfield turnoff and it was just cold when I got home. Unpacked everything, plugged in the external drive, did Rule 5 Monday, and then went to bed. 

I finally got the Friends of Fission-chan domain (fission-chan.org) registered, had John P. assist me in getting the website set up, and am stull fumbling with it. Not ready for prime time just yet. 

wombat_socho: (Tonopah)
Well, I cleared enough space on the desktop to set up the other monitor, but as luck would have it the two DP ports on the Optiplex are disabled with the Radeon, which only has a vacant DVI port. So after calling CRLV to confirm that I couldn't use the mainboard's DP ports, I ordered a DP/DVI cable which will replace the current DP cable on the HP monitor. (sigh) Nonetheless, I started a couple of returns, updated some others by sending messages/emails/making phone calls, and that was about all I could do. 

Thought about going out and doing laundry but decided against it. It's not like I have a shortage of T-shirts, and I can always wash out the two(?) dirty Confinement shirts while I'm en route or after I get there. I have plenty of socks and undies and other shirts I can wear. 

Still tired today - guess I haven't gotten my wind back yet - but I did manage to do a lot of cleaning in the kitchen. Bathroom will have to wait until I get back. 

Weight was down to 398 this morning; BG was on the very high side of nominal, but it came down to normal before I nuked a bowl of soup for dinner and stuck the frozen meatloaf in the oven. It looked a little weird under the plastic, and this turned out to be because it wasn't one big loaf but rather six smaller ones, about the size of hot dog rolls. I ate all of them, but didn't do anything with the gravy. Couldn't be arsed to make some instant mashed potatoes. Maybe I'll save it for when I come back. 
wombat_socho: Wombat (Default)
So after an exhausting drive from Tonopah to Reno, I checked into the Sands Regency and did dinner at Mel's Diner, which was lavishly adorned with memorabilia from American Graffiti At this point I have to take a brief detour an explain that I completely missed this connection. The movie came out in 1973, when I was in junior high school, and I had less than no interest in it. Not only that, the whole wave of nostalgia for the late 50s and early 60s left me cold; I didn't care for the whole "greaser" culture fad, and the Beach Boys were almost as annoying as the Beatles. (My mom was really into surf music a la Dick Dale and the Ventures, but I didn't catch on to that until years later.) We will not even speak of the monumentally annoying Happy Days.

At any rate, connections to annoying movies notwithstanding, Mel's is a damn fine diner. Good food, reasonable prices, and fine service. They make an excellent club sandwich with freshly sliced turkey breast, ham and bacon, and as I told the waitress, it was nice to find someplace that didn't substitute roast beef for the bacon in the club sandwich. I plan to hit the place again on the rebound from the EHC. I would have done breakfast there on Wednesday, but they didn't open until 0600, my flight was at 0700, and I didn't realize the hotel was so close to the airport. In fact, nothing in Reno was open at 0500, so I wound up grabbing a bottle of water, some protein bars, and a bag of cashews for breakfast and emergency rations.

Speaking of which, I picked up a couple of fellow attendees at the airport Thursday, made the death march to the Hertz/Dollar desk out in the parking garage, and got a Buick Contour. This is about the size of my old Kia Sportage, although it has slightly less cargo space, and is burdened with all manner of electronic geegaws that it took me most of the drive to Clarksville to figure out. It has a keyless lock and ignition system, which are annoying, but otherwise seems nice. I'm not planning on driving much; I passed on today's range trip because I didn't bring Masha, and I already went to Walmart to get a replacement glucose meter, since I appear to have left mine in Reno.

I may be doing a couple of panels, but we'll see how that goes. The con technically started with a heroic fiction panel at noon, and that was good, more of a discussion than a "We're the experts and we're going to lecture you" panel. Opening ceremonies are at 5, and I'll have to work hard to not blow a bunch of money on books and sharp objects in the dealer's room.

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