Reno

So, last blog post I talked about seeing the Beach Boys in Reno. I talked about the Beach Boys. Let's talk about Reno. Reno is like Las Vegas only scaled way, way down. There are similarities, but a lot of differences too. I can do some things in Reno, like see concerts and walk

through casinos and look at all the pretty lights, but that's about it.

I don't drink alcohol because I never have found any type that I thought tasted good. Plus I saw examples in college that made me think it wasn't a habit that seemed good for me anyway. I got to see the mornings after for a lot of people. It wasn't pretty.

And I don't gamble. I know too much about probability and I'm too cheap to put money into the games. There is a chance of winning big, I know. But I could also buy a metal detector and see if I could come up with some buried doubloons or something. David Letterman was talking about buying a lottery ticket and mentioned that the chance of winning the lottery is only slightly greater than if you didn't buy a ticket at all. You're paying money just for the fun of playing a game. But I can stay home and play Hungry, Hungry Hippos for free.

But Reno is a fun place to walk around. I think they've eased up on where kids can go nowadays. The first time I was in Reno was in college. Our track team went there for a meet. We had free time the night before and I would walk around with my track roommate. He was a black sprinter with a beard. I was the opposite in every way. We were both the same age, though - Freshmen. We would walk into a casino and he would just stroll in. When I got two or three steps inside, I got accosted by some bouncer guy. Happened several times. I saw a lot of casinos from the sidewalk. Still cool, though.

If you do the walking around thing like I do, try to do that at night. The lights are fun and exciting. To see those same people sitting and gambling for hours in the light of day just seems a little sad.

Go to Reno sometime, if you haven't. It's fun. In a court of law, their claim of being "The Biggest Little City in the World" might not hold up. Try to overlook that. Dishonesty is not the only sin happening there anyway.