Ode to Nevada...

At this point, easily my favorite state out of all the ones I've visited.  Great people, landscapes and a feeling of open space and freedom that I have yet to find anywhere else.

Is today, "Marketing Message Opposite Day??"

  Travel is almost as much a passion for me as owning and shooting firearms.  One of my credit cards sent me a marketing email today with a rather odd subject heading:
  "Get Away This Fall with Reduced Mileage Awards"  I'm sure that what they meant to say was, "make your existing mileage points go further with our fall getaway specials," but it sure doesn't sound that way.
  It's a bit like saying, "Shoot more with less ammo" or  "Have more food at our restaurants... with our new small-portion plates."
  I worry about the overall edumacation level in this country, and stuff like this doesn't make me feel any better.

Can't hold your liquor? Perhaps you haven't watched any news lately

Still working on a longish post about GBR VI, but I had to comment about someone ahead of me at the ticket counter here at the Reno airport (outbound).
 She was holding onto a half-finished bottle of grape juice (not allowed on the plane) and clutching an unopened bottle of some amber-colored liquor in a much larger than sample size (definitely not allowed on the plane as a carry-on item).
  When reminded politely by another passenger that she most likely wouldn't be permitted to carry any of it onboard, she remarked how she "always was able to do that when traveling back from the islands" and proceeded to tear Reno a new one, claiming to have received bad service at Harrah's and feeling like there was nothing to do and aside from that it was "too dry here."
   Really?  This woman, sounding like an experienced traveler, had absolutely no idea about the rules regarding liquids?  And had no idea what the climate and activities in Reno were like?  And didn't read any prior reviews of the property she stayed at?  Part of me wanted to say, "STFU, you clearly have enough money to travel often... don't be so damned miserable."
  Right before finding a helpful airline employee to try to marry up her high-proof would-be contraband to her checked luggage, she announced that she was going to open up the bottle and "have my own cocktail party."
  Good for her.  I'm sure her lack of preparation means that there's another rule she didn't know about: you can't fly drunk.  Pilots need 12 hrs minimum "bottle to throttle" as I understand it, but tipsy passengers are identified in the terminal, too, and are just as strongly discouraged from getting onboard, and frequently are forced to wait around until they sober up.
  Going back to her negative comments about Reno, she expressed a strong disliking of the place, and a desire to never come back.
  "Good." I thought.  "I'm sure Reno feels the same way about you."  Bon Voyage...