Better Than Driving

The digest version of the California Zephyr (Denver-Emeryville only) arrived in Reno this morning on time, and Lisa's plan for us to stay at Circus Circus meant that it was easy enough to check out of the hotel, take her things to her van, and walk down to the Reno Amtrak station, where Lisa saw me off.

The train trip was nice and routine. Because of the disruptions to the Zephyr, the train was only about half full or less, and I had two seats to myself. For all that I'd rather watch the scenery on this route, I fell asleep after lunch for a good chunk of the trip. After waking up briefly at Sacramento, I fell asleep again until Martinez.

Given the number of slow orders and times we were stuck behind other trains, I was surprised that we got to Emeryville less than five minutes late, which actually counts as "on time" for statistical purposes. It shows how much recovery time (padding) is built into the train's schedule.

With an hour to wait for my Capitol train to Fremont, I walked over to the Public Market international food court and had a plate of lamb curry while watching some of the Giants-Padres game, then walked back to the station with lots of time to catch my train to Fremont. That "last lap" was also routine, just the way I like it, with no drama at all.

More Vehicle Repairs

I'd left my minivan with my regular mechanic while I was gone, as he was going to install a permanent fix to a bodged-together temporary fix the mechanics in Reno made during my Fernley Van Breakdown. I like my regular mechanic. He does good work, and I can see that his shop is so full that he's not hurting for business so he has no need to 'gin up unnecessary repairs, so I trust him.

While I was waiting for my connecting train in Emeryville, I got a call from my mechanic. While finishing up the work, he found that I have a leaking intake manifold gasket, and he recommends replacing it. Alas, this will bring the total repair costs on the van for this visit to Cory's shop (including what he's already done on other things) close to $1000. But it has to be done, because I need my van.