Back from Reno; Facing Zombies; Ted Cruz Encounter; End of the World; Heading for Spain

We had a fairly uneventful few days in Reno, Nevada. It was my first time there. It's kind of a, well, not very appealing place to live--at least to me. Not a very charming city, with lots of mentally ill zombies roaming the streets at night. My son and I had an encounter with one at a McDonald's drive thru at about 4 am as we returned from a casino. Idling in line, we heard a loud metallic bang, and saw a zombie slamming a gate in the restaurant's outdoor garbage shed. He went into that shed from which we could hear loud voices, and some more bangs on the metal door from inside the enclosure; then, the zombie emerged, screaming at the top of his lungs. He, apparently, had lost his sleep-spot to another, presumably a competing zombie. He made a beeline for our car, yelling, waving his arms, and then throwing his backpack at us, just missing the rental car. My son and I decided, as did the driver behind us, to get out of line and drive away. As we drove past the zombie, he hollered some unintelligible gibberish, and shook his fists at us. I hope he wasn't one of this blog's six readers upset by something I wrote. Let me know if you were he. 

Reno has a construction boom underway which could transform it. Would that change be for the good or the bad? 

We'll have to see if all those people fleeing the woke dumpster that has become California don't make Nevada follow in San Francisco's footsteps. 

Some of the surrounding countryside, however, is spectacular. We enjoyed our half-day in Virginia City; nice, though touristy, cowboy town with an interesting past and a fun museum. Also fun was the Reno classic car museum, run by some extremely friendly people, and having some amazing cars dating back to before the 20th century. Some of those cars prove absolute works of art and engineering. It's stunning what we used to make in this country.

Forgot to mention, on the flight from Dallas to Reno, I had a brief conversation with Senator Ted Cruz. He was flying economy, by the way. He proved a very nice man, very respectful, and with a good sense of humor. We didn't discuss anything too deep or contentious, as we stood in line for the plane lavatory. We agreed the country was in terrible shape. 

While in Reno, of course, we witnessed the end of the world. 

No, not talking about my results at blackjack and poker. 

No, not talking about WWIII in Europe. 

No, not talking about the disaster on the southern border. 

Yes, indeed, I am talking about Elon Musk's apparently successful bid to buy Twitter and take it private.

Watching the wokesters on MSNBC and CNN catch fire, and either melt or explode was worth every dollar of the purported $44 billion Musk has put on the counter for the purchase. I hope that it goes through, and that Musk fulfills the expectation of turning Twitter (from which I am banned) into a true town square. 

The wokesters have made as plain as possible their fear of and hatred for freedom. If you don't agree with them; if you don't endorse all their lunacies, e.g., men can be women; if you, yourself, don't see each and every opponent of wokism as a vile racist, misogynist, homophobe, Islamophobe, science-denier, then you, yourself, are a vile racist, misogynist, homophobe, Islamophobe, science-denier, to whom the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights do not apply. All very weird.

Back in North Carolina, just in time to prepare for our trip to Spain next week. I have not been there in years, and look forward to it. I always have had a great time in Spain, even met the wife there. We will spend most of our two weeks in Madrid with a couple of days in San Sebastian. I hope to pick up a chess set in Toledo, where they make some beautiful ones. 

Hope the mad reaction to Covid, a madness still rampant in Spain, doesn't interfere with the travel.

Sorry this post wasn't very interesting. Hope to make it up to you.