So I am sitting in Lake Tahoe. This morning my brother-in-law ran his first of three marathons in three days, and Peter Lendway and I were his crew. Not just his crew but a crew to many of the other twenty people who were running at about the same pace as Jon. It was a really cool time and I am sure I will have many reflections on this experience.

But right now it is as if I am on a foreign planet. We are staying at the Horizon Casino which is in S. Lake Tahoe, the Nevada side. Most of the Casino's there were built in the seventies and have not been updates since. In other words everything is cheap, not thrift store cheap like you want to hunt around and find the deal, like crappy cheap. Our hotel charges $10 a day for internet service. So after we had lunch I grabbed my computer and found Neighborhood Bookstore which has free internet service.

Even my entrance into this place was shocking for me. A woman, as soon as I walked in the door, who is about my mothers age or older, says to me, "Can I help you?" I hadn't even walked through the door and didn't even know what to respond. Being off guard (I probably looked at her strange) I said "NO". I was just as shocked as she was, but it got me through the opening of the store and I was able to see some tables along the window I could make my home at. So I slide over there and very quickly I see that I am in the ROMANCE section of the bookstore. All the books are approximately the same size and the majority of them have Fabio or a look alike on the cover. The people who come over to browse the section are hillarious. I am not in Oakland any more, I'm not sure if the even have a Nom Chomskey (spelling??) section like most of the bookstores I am used to. I still am not sure if I will be able to get anything done sitting in this section.