Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

While Lisa and I often try to do our larger-scale grocery shopping at WinCo in Reno, which is open 24 hours a day and thus suitable for going to shop in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes there is stuff that has to be done during the day, and today was one of those days. As soon as I could get clear from Day Jobbe, we headed to Reno, with our first stop being to dump recycling, which has to come first because it closes at 3 PM. We then went to West Marine, where Lisa looked for replacement light switches for her travel trailer without success. From there it was on to Cost Plus World Market where we had $5 store credit that was about to expire. Over to Sparks we then went to the Ace Hardware, and Lisa bought some nuts and bolts we were unable to obtain in Fernley. Finally we shopped at Raley's for groceries we can't get at WinCo, cashed in a number of coupons and a 5x bonus points offer.

As we were coming out of the store, a few flakes of snow started falling, so we headed for home. As we headed home, we remembered a few things that we meant to get, but none of them were important enough to back-track, particularly because we preferred to get home before dark

Yesterday, we tried once again to establish a new dentist for Lisa. Traffic into Reno was light.

( Short Trip to Reno )

Unfortunately, once again the description and assurances about preserving patient health did not match the reality, as everyone seems convinced that COVID is over and moreover, it never existed in the first place, so let's all forget everything we ever learned about keeping people safe. Lisa walked out.

Trying to make the most of having made the trip, we went to two grocery stores, ending with the Raley's at McCarran and Pyramid in Sparks. We got away from the store about 3:30 PM and I hoped that we'd be able to get home as fast as we'd come to town. However, as soon as we got on the freeway, traffic ground to a halt. At first we thought it was just a short backup, but things got worse. Having spent 45 minutes to go the roughly 6 km from Raley's, I turned on the radio to hear the traffic report. There had apparently been multiple accidents starting just past Vista Blvd (where I-80 leaves Sparks and enters the Truckee River Canyon) and continuing as far as Mustang (another roughly 8 km east). Traffic was at a standstill.

Alternative routes are long, but at the rate we were going, it would have been faster to walk home, so we decided to bail out. Thanks to Lisa catching the eye of a friendly truck driver in the lane to our right, we were able to exit at the last possible Sparks exit (Vista Blvd.), and from there we went on a very roundabout alternative route.

( Long Trip Home )

I did not learn whether the multiple accidents on eastbound I-80 between Vista and Mustang were cleared by the time we got home, but even if they did, I know I liked that drive up to Pyramid Lake and back home much better than I would have liked sitting in stalled traffic for two hours.

Today is the last day of my vacation; I return to full time work next Monday. Late this morning, Lisa and set off for Reno to return the U-Haul trailer, after which we had many more errands.

At U-Haul, I pointed out where we dented the left front fender in a run-in (literally) with another trailer. It was this incident that required the pry-bar I mentioned a few days ago. (Note to self: If you do this again, don't park so close to a bunch of other trailers; it invited problems when they moved out.) This was a minor dent and was covered by the Safe-Tow insurance anyway, so there was no additional charge (other than the additional rental day I mentioned yesterday). This closed the rental and we were good to go.

The Rolling Stone was ready to go, so after a nearly $3000 charge to my credit card, we were ready to move on, or would have been. I had to wait until a tool-delivery truck finished his work, because he was blocking me from leaving.

When I started the RV, I was abruptly reminded that the catalytic converter was still missing by the roar. In order to minimize shuttle trips to Reno-Sparks, Lisa and I changed plans on the spot. (We were carrying our amateur radios to stay in contact while convoying.) We drove to the Meineke Car Care Center in Sparks where I'd previously spoke to the manager and got the vehicle into their work queue. We're not in any hurry. They'll contact me with an estimate next week.

Since we were in Reno on a weekday, we decided to go to Grainger (which now sells to the public, not only to businesses) to buy a hand truck for moving the large propane cylinder. They had one in stock and we bought it. Unfortunately, when we got home, Lisa realized that it was the wrong size for our cylinder and we'll have to take it back and buy a different one next week. Oh, well, we spotted some other things they have that we'll probably want to get as well, so we'll deal with it then.

We'd planned to do a large grocery run, but by now our limited stamina was flagging, so we instead went to Raley's and did a much less extensive grocery purchase to get our immediate larder restocked, and then we went home.

I want to go lie down and get some rest, but it's too warm, and because of the time that Westercon has taken out of our lives, we haven't had time to get the swamp cooler running for the summer. That's a project for this weekend.

There are piles of more Westercon work to do. We need to get the printer out of the box, clean up where ink spilled out of it, and investigate the cause. We hope it was a one-off spill. I didn't try to poke at it during the convention because the printer was working and I didn't want to do anything to make it not work during the convention when there were no alternatives. We need to finish unpacking and putting things away, and classifying what stays here and what needs to eventually go back to SFSFC in the Bay Area. We need to figure out how many more program books to print and get the post-con mailing done this month, if only because the advertisements for the NASFiC bids are timely and need to be get before the members who didn't attend. And I have quite literally thousands of dollars of expenses to copy/scan/submit to find out if we have enough money to reimburse me. I'll start chipping away at the pile of work tomorrow.

Meanwhile, there have been more COVID cases submitted to us, and my job has included keeping our COVID case page updated. I'm sorry that anyone has come down with COVID, and I'm grateful that so far people aren't blaming our committee for causing it, but instead are thanking us for collecting and publicizing cases. We required everyone to be vaccinated, and kept begging people to follow our mask guidelines, but COVID is insidious. I hope everyone's cases who contract them are mild and that they recover quickly.

The DSL came back online around 11 AM Saturday, as Lisa discovered when she got a call on her internet phone line around that time.

We walked to the post office via the fire station, where there was a new sign.

( Who Would Have Thought Otherwise? )

We decided to attempt a trip to WinCo Foods in Reno. We initially also thought we'd try to return the broken light fixture to Lowe's Reno where we bought it, but the number of cars in the parking lot was so large that we decided it was too risky.

WinCo had a lot more people wearing masks than last time, but the store seemed way more crowded, and people seemed to think (as some feared) that a mask was perfect protection from all problems, and keeping separation was difficult. Lisa and I wish they would make the aisles directional. Even though WinCo has wide aisles, every time we had people passing, we got nervous. The staff are pretty good, with more lines open and thus less crowding. We thanked the clerk. As WinCo is employee-owned, there is possibly less emphasis on simply generating more profits for the shareholders than in serving everyone (including the employees).

We then went to Raley's Sparks, which was not too bad. Raley's seems to be taking things pretty seriously, even if their customers are not.

Two groceries stops were more than enough, and we went home. I felt completely fried and tried to take things easy for the rest of the day.

The "battery needs replacing" light on the UPS came on today along with the beeping alarm (which thankfully shuts off after a few minutes). The unit still works as a surge suppressor, so it wasn't a crisis, but this afternoon when work ended, I shut everything down, pulled the battery, and Lisa and I went into Reno/Sparks to replace the battery. It being a weekday afternoon before 5 PM, Lisa took the opportunity to make a few stops for things only available during regular work hours, like stopping at a welding-supply store to buy new safety glasses. (She generally wears a pair of shaded safety glasses as sunglasses, because the wrap-around portion shades her eyes from peripheral light.)

While making the rounds and driving along I-80, we spotted something along the railroad that is both ordinary but also out of place, and at Lisa's suggestion, I got off the freeway and managed to find a place where we could access the tracks.

( Lonely Amtrak Locomotive Wandering Sparks Yard )

After our various shopping trips and impromptu railfan side trip, we went to dinner at the Nugget Oyster Bar, as trying to fight our way across town to the Peppermill at the peak of rush hour seemed like a bad idea. Lisa drove us home after dinner and put the battery back into the UPS, then vacuumed under the desk while things were handily out of the way. Everything came back to life correctly, and we should be good to go for a couple more years of battery life.

Because we called off the originally planned trip to the Bay Area by train today (it's just as well; the train was three hours late), we instead went and did a fair bit of shopping. travelswithkuma and I got to hang around a bit.

( Hanging Out With Kuma Bear )

By the time we finished all of the grocery shopping, we were getting hungry, so we went to the Sparks Nugget and had a very late lunch or early dinner at the Oyster Bar. The food is as good as usual there. How well the resort is doing overall is another story. They're doing a big renovation. It sort of looks like the Gilley's "cowboy" nightclub they put into the space where Trader Dick's Polynesian restaurant used to be is closed down. Whether that's permanent or not, I haven't heard. Not that I was ever going to go to Gilley's. I wouldn't ride the mechanical bull even before I hurt my back a few years ago playing "whirlyball" at a company outing in Chicago, and the music there was both too loud and not to my taste. The Nugget just hasn't been the same since the Ascuagas sold it (and then the new owners resold it not long thereafter). But we'll keep going back to the Oyster Bar as long as it's there.

For the second week in a row, we were unable to do a "big grocery" shopping run in Reno, although we did get all of our other chores done.

( The Sparks Shuffle and Reno Runaround )

I was concerned that Lisa would be in trouble on account of us not having done a big grocery trip two weeks in a row, but she assures me that she can get by. We always keep a pretty large stock of non-perishables (having enough room to do so in Fernley House helps a lot), and she can run over to the local Scolari's Grocery if necessary. If she gets too far behind, she can drive herself into Reno/Sparks and deal with it. The pickup (or the Big Orange Van) needs to get out and stretch its legs periodically anyway.

Weather for tomorrow forecasts a chance of snow developing over Donner Summit in the afternoon, so I need to consider getting up relatively early (like my normal work-day early) and get on the road as soon as I can, to avoid the weather. I'm partially packed anyway, so it should be relatively easy to get going in the morning.

We're off to Reno/Sparks for dinner and the New Year's festivities at the Nugget in Sparks. Inasmuch as I've been awake since 4:30 AM this morning, don't expect to hear from me until relatively late tomorrow. (Fortunately, Lisa slept in and might drive us home. Neither of us drink alcohol, so only fatigue is an issue for us.)

Update, 22:00: We'd planned on having dinner at the Nugget Steakhouse, but they were backed up for three hours and we were hungry, while the Oyster Bar had merely a 30 minute wait, so we ate there instead. Lisa finally managed to give that $20 to the Nugget's slot machines she'd been trying to feed them for several weeks now. While there were some fun things going on, including people in interesting outfits (not just the staff like the "Nuggettes" showgirls), it didn't seem to have the same energy as last year's party, and furthermore they apparently weren't giving away anything like the $10K they did last year. On top of all that, both of us started feeling very tired, and so we went home early. On the bright side, the roads were nearly empty, whereas at 1 AM they're apt to have a lot more people heading home from parties in various stages of inebriation.

Last shopping day before Christmas for us as we headed in to Reno, although only one of our stops was explicitly a shopping for something for the holiday.

( Long Day in Reno/Sparks )

After a very full day of running around Reno/Sparks stocking up, we were happy to get home, and I was pleased that the walnut firewood had retained enough coals for me to get the fire going again without having to start from scratch, even after close to eight hours. Aside from deciding to book ahead for Christmas Day dinner at the Nugget (which I've done), we have no elaborate plans for Christmas this year. It's mainly a couple of extra days off at home for me, a rare luxury indeed.

My family no longer gathers for Thanksgiving since my grandfather died, for various reasons. So I'm spending the whole long weekend at home in Fernley. Lisa and I decided to go to Sparks and have the Thanksgiving Feast at Restaurante Orozko, first because it looked great, and second because due to the sale of the Nugget from the Ascuaga family to East Coast Interests, we have no idea what things will be like next year and the new owners may well decide to fire everyone and tear the place to bits.

The Nugget also does a huge feed in their main ballroom, for which you buy tickets in advance, but the Orozko menu looked better. What I didn't realize was that I could have reserved a time in advance by calling ahead, which I wish I had done, because when we arrived around 3:30, the first seating they had available was at 5:45. This left us with a lot of time to kill, and furthermore I was overdue for feeding already. We played slots, eventually ending up ahead a couple of dollars, and then I blew all of that and more killing time in the least-expensive way I know to do in a casino: sitting in the Keno lounge at $1/game. I timed it just right, too, as the last game ended three minutes before our seating time.

Dinner was superb. I never touched the turkey, as the many other things on the buffet were more tempting. I tried to restrain myself, but by the time we finished, I was overstuffed. We walked around the casino a little while to try and get the food to start digesting, and then headed home. My blood sugar was above normal, but below 200 (US scale), which is probably the best we can hope for.

We did vow not to do any shopping tomorrow, but it's possible that we will actually spend some money, as Lisa says we could due with filling up one of the propane bottles on the trailer. The oven uses propane rapidly. But rolling an empty bottle down to Hanneman's Service to refill it isn't the same thing as camping out at Target's doorstep to get those Doorbuster Savings that started this evening. Let those other people have it. I'm going to try and take the day off and write our Holiday Greeting letter and design our Christmas card.