Alright! I’ve escaped Reno for the weekend! As soon as I was done teaching the course on Friday, I ran back to my hotel room, threw some stuff in a bag, got in the car, and headed west.

Reno is interesting.. a cultural experience, I suppose. It’s all very tacky – gaudy in a run-down way. You can tell it was once trying to be a gambling destination like Las Vegas, but it’s long ago given up its dreams of grandeur and settled for mediocrity.

I’m staying at a place called Circus Circus. It comes complete with a skytrain that runs slower than a walk, a wedding chapel, free circus acts on the hour, and of course lots of gambling. Mostly this means slot machines populated by retirees. They all have loyalty cards that plug into the machines, which I assume give them back a small percentage of their gambling losses in lousy buffet meals. These are typically attached to their belt or wrist via a plastic chain, giving them the appearance of being truly tethered to the machine.

So I had to get out of there for a bit. Right now, I’m at a Motel 6 near jbailey and auzure_skies. Despite the name, it’s not actually a motel, but the rooms are better than I’d expect given the price. Last night I visited them, Leif (big), and Sandy (who’s also visiting them this weekend.) We stayed up too late and played Guitar Hero. A fun but uneventful evening and we’re heading into San Francisco today!

I biked home from J&A’s last night. I can’t think when the last time I rode a bike was. More than a week ago – too long for sure. I’m riding a fairly good Specialized, well setup for city riding, that belongs to Google. I find that last fact more amusing than it should be.

Anyway, time to start this day.