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 Maybe I should have gone to see the Governor and had some tacos anyway...but I didn't, and still didn't get out of Tonopah until about 3-ish, which meant after stopping in Beatty for gas & fluids, Indian Springs for razors, soap, & crackers at the Family Dollar, and China A Go Go for Chinese, I didn't get in to the Strat until around 8 PM. Didn't sleep well (probably because of all the carbs in the Chinese), but got up at 0600 anyway, shaved, went to the McD's on Paradise & Sahara for breakfast, and then it was up the 15 to the VA. Got there in plenty of time, checked in on the phone and filed my travel claim likewise, then enjoyed having the claws trimmed and the calluses sanded down. 

After that I probably should have gone to the Maverik on Tropical and then gone home by way of the Sonic and Walmart, but instead I doubled back to the Omelet House, ate a truly excessive club sandwich with their proprietary fries, and then headed back to the Maverik on Lake Mead before heading west. This was a bad decision because there was a lot of road destruction, so I turned off on MLK Jr. Drive and got on 11/95 headed west. Got off at Craig, hit the Neighborhood Market (which was out of #2 filters and I forgot the dishwasher pods) before going to Sonic for fluids and a corn dog, which I wound up not eating until Amargosa Springs, which was my only stop on the way back. 

Got home about 4-ish, e-mailed George to let him know I wasn't going to make the Zoom meeting, unloaded the car, scanned in all the stuff I hadn't before, and crashed hard. Woke up 14 hours later feeling pretty well rested. Heading out to Hometown Pizza, the post office, and Raley's to get the things I couldn't/didn't in Vegas, and then back home for more catchup blogging. Or Civ. We'll see. 

I was pleased and surprised that the DOE reimbursement dropped today, which allowed me to pay down a couple of the Capitol One cards and have some cash left over for fuel on the way to and from Las Vegas. I'm tempted to leave a little late since Governor Lombardo is coming to town tomorrow for an open house at the El Marques, but I think I'll be better off just grabbing my backpack and cooler, stopping by Raley's for tea and chicken salad sammiches, and getting the fuck out of town. I've already made reservations for a night at the Strat, and expect to be home tomorrow afternoon well in advance of the N3F Zoom meeting. 

Don't have much to say about the Charlie Kirk assassination. I didn't follow him closely before, and I am not in the target demographic for TPUSA, but watching the furious reaction from people on the right who are realizing their kid's teachers, college professors, doctors, and sundry politicians are A-OK, nay, even enthusiastic, about conservatives getting gunned down in public...this is not going to end well for the Left and particularly not for the troons, who are going to see what little sympathy they were getting from average Americans just dry up and blow away. SecWar Hegseth is also going to be busy rooting out leftards who made rank under Obama and Biden, too. Interesting times.

In F/GO, I used the free 4-star pick to draw Don Quixote, and didn't have much trouble ascending him and getting him to Bond 3, which were the requirements to keep him. 

The foam mattress topper I bought a while back is disintegrating. I think in November I'll order another one and this time get a bag to put it in so I don't have chunks of foam going all over the place. 

1. What is your favourite fruit?

Marionberries, although blueberries are a close second.

2. What is the last book you read?

Regent's Mate by Glynn Stewart. Love that series.

3. Do you like any of your school photos?

As photos of me? Not terribly. As memories and reminders of the time? Sure.

4. Do you ever blowdry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?

Wh -- what?

5. What was the last film you watched?

Unless watching over my son's shoulder as he does instructional videos for online school counts, that would be Five Nights At Freddy's. Also with my son, as it happens.

 Last night's NSSAB meeting dragged on for nearly five hours, only part of which was caused by the Lincoln County Commission's liaison getting a bug up her ass about Nevada being "the national dumping ground" for radioactive and other waste, but between that and some discussion of The Mountain We Do Not Name, we got badly behind schedule. Also, I lost the vice-chair election to an inarticulate education major from Pahrump*. The good part of that is that I don't have to show up early for the intergovernmental meetings any more or log in for the fall NSSAB Chairs meeting; the bad part is that I miss out on the spring chairs meeting, which will be at the Hanford Site in Washington. I suppose I can write the DOE folks at the site and see if I can pop up and get on a site tour with the locals. 

I stayed at the Strat, as usual, and actually took advantage of the $25 food credit Wednesday morning before I changed my shirt and went off to Jiffy Lube to get the Forte's oil change. It occurred to me that there might be a market for cute oil change techs in ears and tails (but not full fursuits, because those would be too damn hot) running an oil change place; we could call it Yiffy Lube. Anyway, the Strat Cafe does a good breakfast and better coffee than the Starbucks, and all it cost me was a $5 tip and the tax. The room was right across from the elevator, which was good, but it had the big blue ottoman instead of the desk chair, which sucked, and because the ottoman is a pain in the ass, I got no blogging done. 

Thursday morning I got up, packed up, and decided since my blood sugar was high (no doubt a result of packing a lunch from Jason's which included a decent strawberry shortcake) I'd skip breakfast and just head for the VA. Which I did, arriving on time, and was introduced to my new ResMed AC11 nose hose, which is slightly changed from the AC10 I have that's dying of old age. 

Following that, I hit the Maverik on Tropical for E15, iced coffee, and various Bad Things by way of breakfast because I really didn't want pizza. Wound up stopping at the McD's on Skye Canyon Drive on the way out of town for burgers and a McChicken (I'd had one of the Gold Sauce McCrispy chicken sandwiches Tuesday night and wasn't impressed) since I was still hungry after that. One stop at Indian Springs for pooping and fluids, and I was home by a little after 3. Got a lot of stuff to write, but I am tired af and going to bed after I assemble the new nose hose. 

*Mark was amused by my misquoting the Russian officer from The Hunt For Red October; Frank expressed his unhappiness with my loss by telling me that as far as he was concerned, the Board was fucked in the head. I appreciated that.