Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

On Thursday morning of Worldcon Seattle 2025, I attended the final meeting of my term as an elected member of the WSFS Mark Protection Committee. There was a fair bit of confusion about where the meeting would be, but we did eventually end up at a meeting room in the Sheraton.

As is typical these days, all we did was receive some reports and punt most decision on to the MPC's next term. I did address the members at the end and thanked them for having been able to serve as an elected member for so many years. The MPC then officially thanked me and I got a round of applause.

I told them at the meeting that they might want to take a good look at me, as there's a non-zero chance that this would have been the last time they were going to see me.

After the meeting, Don Eastlake and I both had errands best suited to Walgreens, and since I knew where is was, we walked there together and got our stuff. I'd initially considered getting a burrito from Chipotle to have later, but the lunchtime queue there was out the door, so I thought better of it.

That was the sole item at Seattle 2025 for which we needed my membership badge. Kayla will do the rest of the work this week.

Today I flew from Reno to Seattle on Alaska Airlines. It was a very good flight: traveling in first class is something I could get used to, although in this case it was primarily because I had a lot of extra stuff to carry, so the two-checked-bag allowance made the bigger seat almost incidental extra expense.

I was running so far ahead of schedule that I almost was too early, but the check-in desk opened just as I got there. With my first class ticket, I went though a shorter queue, and even though I had to once again take out my computer, camera, and put my shoes through the belt, I was still through Terrorization only 15 minutes after dropping my bags. That gave me loads of time to have breakfast before heading down to the gate, where I still had an hour to wait for my flight

( Heritage Fleet and Hotel Upgrades )

I then walked down to the Sephora to confirm that I had understood the map properly and to figure out how long it would take to get there. After that, I located a Walgreens that wasn't too far away. I'd forgotten a couple of toiletries items that were easy to replace there, and I also bought some milk and soda. Across the street from Walgreens was a Chipotle, and I got a burrito to take back to the hotel. I was pretty tired already, and besides, having such a nice room, I wanted to get some use out of it.

Anyway, that was the trip to Seattle. I do not expect to update daily on this trip, for the reasons I've already given.

Today I pack the bags for Worldcon. I have to pack the two bags I have (first class upgrade) so that stuff doesn't shift around, but not completely full because I expect to bring back more things than I take.

I'm still running on the Day Jobbe sleep schedule, so being up early enough so that I get to Reno airport with plenty of time for my flight to Seattle shouldn't be a problem.

Because of my schedule at Worldcon, I am not sure if I will update my journal daily. I personally only have one commitment other than dealing with travel and with hotel check-in on Sunday and Tuesday. Everything else is Kayla's responsibility, and I expect to leave the reporting to her.

I listen to KCBS (San Francisco all-news radio station) on the Audacy app in the mornings while I'm getting ready for the day. They localize ads, sometimes with hilarious results (like when it was serving up ads for a Portland, Oregon car dealership). For the past week or so, though, I was impressed that it was serving up an add that was localized for Lyon County, Nevada, where I live. That's pretty specialized! There's also one for a regional health service serving Carson City and Washoe, Storey, Churchill, and Lyon Counties, which is a little less surprising.

Lisa's trip to Slovenia ended today, which a marathon trip back from Ljubljana that involved several trains and the dreaded Bus Substitution due to construction. Lisa said it took a long time and was not much fun at all.

The Crowne Plaza was a good hotel, but by process of elimination, Lisa figures that the bed linen must have been laundered with something to which she reacts badly, leaving her feeling off much of the time. It's really annoying to have a nice bed with sheets that make you sick!

She's back in Munich now and recovering before starting her next planned excursion.

So just as I was getting ready to go get the battery charger and put it on the Astro yesterday, the auto repair shop called to tell me that they had a cancellation and that if I could bring the van in they could at least diagnose it. I was there in less than fifteen minutes and handed over the keys. They charged the battery and called me back just before they closed at 5:30 that afternoon, and the news is pretty good, in that it looks like a straightforward repair and not something esoteric.

The shop reports that the alternator has gone bad, and that there is a broken bolt and bracket that they will have to repair. I told them to get the most powerful alternator they can for this model of vehicle, because in particularly the air conditioning uses a whole lot of power. They won't be able to completely price it out until Monday, but it's now looking more likely that I'll get the van back sometime next week rather than having to leave it with them for all of Worldcon and find a way to get to Reno airport.

For everyone who has been helpfully suggesting that I rent a car: there are no car rental places in Fernley. This is yet another case where we are too close to Reno/Sparks. There are 20,000 people in Fernley and no car rental places, aside from U-Haul, and I did consider that if I needed something for just one day. Fallon, another 30 mi / 50 km east of here, is much smaller than Fernley but has an Enterprise Rent-a-Car agency. I know that Enterprise will pick you up, but I suspect that doesn't extend as far as getting me from Fernley.

Essentially, if you don't have a car here, you're mostly out of luck, aside from very expensive taxi service (no shared-ride airport buses here) or some specialty services (members of the Paiute Nation, elderly people), none of which for which I qualify and that are highly limited anyway. On top of that, the once-a-day bus route between Las Vegas and Reno via Tonopah has been discontinued due to a dispute between the operator and the state of Nevada, so even that incredibly inconvenient timing for their stop in Fernley isn't a possibility.

A couple of years ago, a now-closed used car lot here in Fernley had a little smart car for sale. I wish I could have bought it to have as at least a backup vehicle or runabout.

Lisa was able to make the trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia by train. No thanks to DB, who triple-booked her seat reservation. She then moved to a compartment which was okay for a while, but then someone joined with a yappy little dog, so she spent time standing in the vestibule, which was preferable to dealing with the dog. However, she did make it. My first indication that she arrived was when IHG sent me a welcome message and credited my bonus amenity points. The room has its pluses and minuses, but it's overall a win. She managed to get a message out to me, but she doesn't have a phone. I hope she's able to see the sights and enjoy the trip.

I've been trying to book Lisa into IHG hotels when possible, as we seem to get better service from them (and the points are useful, too), but there's not always one available near the places she's going. In some cases, there is an IHG property, but it's out of town on a highway, which isn't very useful.

Lisa's planned trip to Ljubljana, Slovakia, which was to start tomorrow, is now on hold, and I had to cancel the reservation. She called me late in her day to tell me that she'd done more research on the hotel we'd booked and discovered that there was no lift, and that all rooms were upstairs. Lisa cannot climb stairs easily, and she definitely cannot do so carrying luggage, so that made it untenable. I was able to cancel the reservation without penalty. Thank goodness we found this out before she got there!

The trip might still be able to be salvaged, though. There are other hotels (an IHG property, even) that do have lifts. By the time I could get back to the computer, Lisa had long since gone to bed (and a good thing, given how stressful today was for her), so we'll have to discuss it tomorrow. At the best case, she might leave a day later than originally planned, particularly if I can make a reservation where I made it abundantly clear that they should charge it to my credit card even though the card will not be present. We've done this before, and particularly with IHG properties. I do have Diamond status with them for the rest of this year; it would be nice to get some use out of it!

Lisa called me a little while ago to let me know that she had stayed in her apartment in Munich today resting, and that she was not on the train that derailed west of Munich today.

( Bear Photos )

Lisa is traveling on a first class Eurail pass. While seat reservations are available for a fee, she has determined that as long as she rides at non-peak times, there are lots of unreserved seats in first class, so she can avoid the fee and just take a seat.

Edit: At least one person couldn't view the links I originally posted, so I downloaded the photos, then uploaded them to Flickr. I hope they're viewable now.

Today was mostly in Kayla's hands, with me along for the ride. There are more and more days like these days, but that's okay, and it's to be expected. Eventually, I may stop updating this journal, or at least not aiming for daily updates that way I've been doing for many years now.