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Minivan Update
Aug. 2nd, 2025 07:56 amSo 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.
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.
