Making it to Mira Loma

            Wednesday, 19 September.  Moving on at last.  After waiting for 2+ days for Saturn of West Sahara to get their act together and add the bits I wanted on my new car, I was able to hit the road again.  —  I have decided to more or less end my trek down 66 here.  I may do some in the LA area, but will have to see how things work out.  It has been fun.  —  I was finally able to hit the road, after repacking my new car, about 1500.  I was at my friend’s home about 40 miles east of LA proper in less than 4 hours.  The new car runs fairly well.  I discovered one minor item to be fixed.  —  The drive took me thru some really pretty scenery even if I was on the superslab.  I listened to some music and relaxed.

Wombat smitten [bitten] by Werewof named Kitty

One of the pleasures of attending any SF con is meeting new folk.  One new folk was Carrie Vaughn whom I met at BUBONICON.  After chatting with her for a while I went out & bought the first book, KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, in her series about a werewolf named Kitty.  [I’ve always thought werewolves were a victim of bad press.]  I, of course, had her sign the book.  —  After reading the book I picked up the next two in the series.  I enjoyed those as well.  I look forward to her 4^th coming out during the early part of 08.  I highly recommend these books to you.

Go forth and sin no more!

Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other “sins” are
invented nonsense. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (1907-1988)

Bored, tired & annoyed in Vegas!

            Sunday through Wednesday, 16 to 19 September.   Bored, Tired & annoyed in Vegas.  That may sound a little bit unusual in this is what happens when one is sitting around waiting for one’s new-car.  Saturn of West Sahara originally promised me the car Monday morning.  Whether or not I get to leave today, Wednesday, is still to be seen.  —  Along with all the other delays and minor hassles at experienced from around mid August on, I’m just going to head directly to LA to visit with friends and relatives before heading home.  I will have some time and may drive portions of 66 in California, but this is no longer a prime objective.  I’m just burnt out by the hassles and delays.  —  I have enjoyed the company of my friend in Vegas, but as I was waiting for Saturn to call me this limited my options during the day.  With lots of luck I will be out of here shortly after noon, at least I hope so.  The trip has been fun notwithstanding. —  I hope you will continue to check my blog from time to time and look at the other categories.  I show continued to write here any further adventures down 66.

New Mexico, that is a foreign country, isn’t it?

Ranting is fun.  This time I’m looking at the apparent incredible ignorance of folk, Americans in particular, when dealing with geography. —  I was driving  in Santa Fe and stopped at a stoplight when the penny dropped.  I must be true!  Everyone thinks New Mexico is a “foreign” country.  Why?  Well, of all the states only New Mexico is forced [?] to add the letters “USA” after the state name on the license plate.  —  I realize that NM has only been a state for 95 years.  It was even admitted prior to Arizona.  One might think, one might learn the names of the states, besides the state one lives in, in something called a “civics” or “history” class, but apparently this is not taught in American schools any more.  I guess, it isn’t “relevant.”  —  I had heard apocryphal stories about the chap from NM wanting to buy Olympic tickets and told to get them thru his Embassy or, even better, the NM Senator being told by the IRS to submit a certain form as he was living in a foreign country.  I guess, all those stories are all true.  So sad!

XSTACY, Ecstasy & Niggardly! [I did get to use it! :-)]

Today’s rant is about the ignorance and bigotry of the “average” person.  I’m staying in Las Vegas with a friend of mine.  I’m taking a short detour from my trek down Rt. 66.  While listening to the news, I heard about the lady named Stacy, who had gotten some 19 years ago a vanity plate with
‘XSTACY” on it.  —  She is now being told that she can’t have any longer.  One [1] person complained that she & the license plate are promoting the drug “Ecstasy.”  —  You can see the story at http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/14103088/detail.html .  —  Hmm, I wonder if we can get the Bible banned, it does contain the word “ecstasy.”  Doesn’t that constitute the promotion of drug use?  If not the whole book, maybe any portion containing the word.  Come on folk, we can’t allow a book to be published that promotes drugs & drug use.  —  [I’ve been trying to work in the word “niggardly,” but I just can’t see how.  :-)]

Cute & cuddly werewolves.

At Bubonicon I met Carrie Vaughn.  After chatting with her I decided to give her “Kitty & the Midnight Hour” a go.  I very much enjoyed it and purchased the next two in the series at Coppercon.  I enjoyed these as well and am looking forward to #4 next year.  —  If you are not familiar with the books, Kitty, a blonde college student, gets attacked by a werewolf and turned into one herself.  She has a job as a late night DJ.  One thing leads to another which results in her coming out of the doghouse, er, closet and admitting to be a werewolf.  Then the fun begins.  I recommend the books

Hmm! Sounds familiar!

Political history is largely an account of mass violence and of the
expenditure of vast resources to cope with mythical fears and hopes.
-Murray Edelman, professor, author (1919-2001)

Smoke, Another Car Hassle & a New Car!

            Saturday, 15 September.  I went out this morning to get some photos of the smoke blowing in from a fire.  It turned out that there is a wildfire in the San Bernardino Mountains.  It was the most impressive cloud of smoke streaming in from a couple hundred of miles away.  As I drove out west of Vegas, I realized the cruise control wasn’t working.  Sigh!  Back to Saturn.  —  About 7 hours later the cruise control was working, it was easily and cheaply [free, under warranty] fixed.  and I had traded it & the rest of the car in for an 07 Saturn Red Line.  Carpe Diem and all that.  🙂  —  The car is basically the same as the one I had.  I was going to look for one when I returned.  No need to look any more.  I’ll break in the new car on the way to LA.  I got a bunch of frequent flyer miles as I purchased the car on my credit card.  🙂  —  Yes, this trip has been a little bit unusual.  🙂   —  I was a little bit dazed by how quickly all this happened.  And the hardest part of all this will be packing my old car and packing the new one.

Kicking back Vegas

            Thursday and Friday, 13 and 14 September.  While a little bit stressed out from the detour, yet another little hassle, it was nice to do nothing for a couple days.  The problem with the car was minor.  I had simply let the car idled too much while I was taking photos and the throttle body got clogged with carbon.  I let my car sit while I did some reading, e-mail, web browsing and going out for dinner.  It was nice being lazy.  My plans now called for me to resume of the trek on Monday.  Or so I thought.