wombat_socho

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

 

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. 

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.