New Location, Old Fun
I was going to head down to the PBoF before they transitioned out of the old location, but my plans changed when there was a substantial influx of tourism here in Vegas, and I thought I might lay low and see how things unfolded. Now that we’re 100% open and the pandemic is over1, though, well why not check out the new location for some classic pinball?
Even better, you’re reading this post on or near by birthday, so why not celebrate a trip around the sun with a few alleys and spinners and maybe a top hole?
I will be headed down to the new location some time during the week of 21 June 2021, so where better to follow up on this trek than in The Thursday Newsletter, published on Revue (a newsletter platform acquired by Twitter), to which you might subscribe if you’re already reading this newsletter…
Pinball was a fun part of my days at Harvey Mudd College, with Night Rider and Evel Knievel the two machines in our lounge on the other side of some cinderblocks as I didn’t sleep in my dorm room… many quarters, many delayed homework problems. Good times. I was happy to see a Night Rider there at PHoF, though I would be more happy if it was fully functional. Maybe another time.
Here is their official website if you’re looking for the details:
There is, by the way, a working Evel Knievel machine at Evel Pie on Fremont in Downtown Las Vegas.
Birthday Travels
I would have headed to play some pinball over the weekend, but instead I took the plunge into the Southwest Airlines 737 MAX pool to see what would come of a trip to visit the family in Phoenix. You’re probably wondering why I would go from one very hot place, to a different even-hotter place, and I’m afraid I have no good answer for you.
I will say that, the theme for this part of the year (not aligned on a month, more a cloud of contemplation) will be more birthday-oriented than I’m normally aiming for, mostly because there have been so many before this one and it’s getting weird.
Perhaps there will be pinball and other updates in The Thursday Newsletter, maybe you should check that out after all, eh?
Keto Update
As expected, I’m finding it slightly easier to enter “light ketosis” now, so long as there’s a glycogen-burning exercise session during a fast (that is, a keto-friendly meal at least 12 hours prior to headed to the gym). This after a 50-hour fast to take a shot at resetting my metabolism (and in this case, two vists to the gym fully-fasted through that 50-hour interval). My serum ketone measurement showed right around 1.0 mmol/mL.
I do have several articles I’ve written about my Keto Adventures on Medium, I’ll add an update to bring it current and post a link in a newsletter a posteriori. If you’re interested in this topic you’ve already managed to find those articles, and while I am definitely not giving any advice here, I will say that if you’re rebooting after an extended period of sheltering in place or letting your exercise regimen slip for 2020, there’s no time like the present to get back in there.
Heat
There is one caveat: please do check the weather and your personal health situation and be sure (with input(s) from your doctor(s) perhaps, certainly none from me) you’re good to go! I usually walk to the gym after midnight when the weather is cooler, but the heat wave has left very warm temperatures right up until sunrise (at which point they begin to get even warmer).
The weather we’re experiencing in some parts of the US (and beyond, your mileage may vary) has been a bit of a shock, but as I often remind myself when people point out how hot it is in the desert (I grew up in Phoenix and live at present in Las Vegas) that in these places the near-ubiquity of air conditioning (heat pumps, evaporative coolers, high volume chillers) makes it a small matter of moving between cool places without forgetting to put shoes on. Touching anything inside a vehicle is maybe the only thing worthy of exclamation, because we all make mistakes sometimes.
I have found summer in Las Vegas (any, not only this one in 2021) to be one of many examples of the amazing decadence we have on display here. If you happen to visit and you take a walk on the older side with a visit to Downtown Las Vegas (Fremont Street, East Fremont, etc), you can walk close enough to casino entrances to feel blasts of cold air several meters from the airflow exit. They literally dump cold air outside, and to be honest, it sort of works.
Thanks!
You’re reading my newsletter, which is awfully nice of you. Time is money and we never have enough of either.
Are you reading my Other Newsletter? The Thursday Newsletter is a good way to follow up toward the end of the normal week, and as it happens I also publish weekend newsletters for the three (so far) podcast projects I’m in on. If you’re subscribed to this Monday newsletter, why not add on Thursday at the same low, low price?
The Thursday Newsletter via Revue
As I just mentioned, there are podcasts and more newsletters… the show notes for each episode are recently published as a companion newsletter, which means more flexibility that sticking a bunch of poorly-formatted text into your podcast application’s display of the episode description.
Would you like to know more? You are not obligated in any way to put your money where your interest is, but as a matter of impulse convenience I keep a profile page with project links on Buy Me a Coffee, with a hint that all of the items listed (and most not-yet listed) are caffeine-powered, as am I. Despite the psychology of the text in this button, it will take you to the profile page, at which point you decide what comes next.
Artwork Attribution
Photo taken by Me at Evel Pie in Downtown Las Vegas
For some definition of “over”