Best Western

On February 4 I made a reservation at the Best Western in Park City UT for a Feb 15 stay; I called the hotel directly rather than through the 800 line. I called back just now to cancel it and they said that, for a cancellation less than 30 days in advance, I would forfeit payment for one night plus taxes. Interesting, in that I made the reservation only 10 days in advance; also, no one mentioned that to me when I made the reservation.
I said "If you charge me, I'll call Visa and dispute the charge". The girl put me on hold for a minute, came back and said rather huffily "All right, sir, we won't charge you", and hung up.

Now Reading

Finished Tom Kratman's State of Disobedience and Caliphate. The first one postulates that a thinly-disguised Hillary won the election and quickly moved to impose a radical Leftist agenda; after a David Khoresh-style fiasco by heavy-handed federal troops, Texas revolted. The second book postulates that Europe becomes Islamic over the next hundred years due to demographic pressure, and America becomes increasingly fascist in response. Both books have some violence in them; they're not for the squeamish. They're also unabashedly politically conservative. Even if you can't cope with reading the stories, though, it would be a good idea to read through the afterwords and Kratman's proposed constitutional amendments.

UPDATE: see the Comments for a clarification. Thanks for stopping by, Tom.

I gave up on For Us, The Living. Yes, it's Heinlein, but it's a lecture with a pretext stuck on the front. Apparently there's a story buried somewhere in there, but I didn't get that far. When I'm in the mood for a lecture, I may go back and try again. Otherwise, it's recommended for devout Heinlein worshippers only.

Coyotes and Town Dogs tells the story of the environmental movement and the founding of "Earth First!". The story jumps back and forth in time and seems a bit disorganized, but the author's passion comes through clearly and the book does a good job of giving the environmentalist's point of view. Unless you're interested in the history, you don't need to read the whole thing, but it would be worth going through a few chapters just to get a feel for the movement.

Close Action battle report

We fought the DeTernay vs Graves scenario at the Old Dominion Miniature Society's first con, the Williamsburg Muster. The Brits started upwind and on a broad reach with the wind coming over their starboard quarter; the French are closehauled with the wind on their port bow. I was admiral of the French. I intended to try to maintain a neat, linear battle rather than get into a melee. So much for good intentions.
The British position was perfect for attacking our van while the rest of our fleet crawled upwind to get into the action. Why they didn't try that, I don't know. They maintained course until they were parallel with us, at which point I decided to order the French fleet to wear and come around to the same course the Brits were on; if they didn't have the nerve to come to us, why, we would go to them. At the same time that I ordered the French to reverse course, the Brits turned in succession to attack our rear. That sounds a lot neater and more precise than their maneuver actually was, but it was adequate. Their lead ship passed just ahead of our first ship; our new line leader decided to pass through the British line, leading to two collisions. One Brit turned into the middle of the French fleet instead of following his squadron. Both fleets collapsed into two furballs, one around the lone Brit (who was quickly battered into submission) and the other a few hundred yards away where the two lines met. Both sides fought well, but the only ship to strike by game's end was that imprudent Brit, and that gave the French a convincing lead in victory points.
A fun game and one which vividly illustrated why you should stick with the rest of your squadron. As for the melee...I suspect that players read so much about Nelson that they think breaking the line is normal; and a melee seems to be inevitable once the line is broken. Next time I may try telling my captains "do not break the line unless ordered" and see how that works.

Jail, halfway done

She called tonight and sounded a little quiet, a bit more subdued than she usually is, but much better than she has been for the last ten days. She is getting along with at least some of the women there, although "putting nine women in a small space is a poor design." She's gotten the books we sent, and the first few letters.
I called the jail this morning to see about sending cash, say $50 or so, so she could get a taxi when it's time to leave. But any cash we send will get deposited to the city's bank, then they write a check when she leaves. Which is useless on a Sunday, of course. Even if we say "Please put this envelope in her personal effects for when she gets out", they won't do it. I asked "At 5am on a Sunday, with no cash for a cab and if she doesn't have friends or family in state to be able to pick her up, how do you expect her to be able to get to town?" The answer was, verbatim: "That's not our problem." I leave you to imagine what my reaction was. His boss doesn't have to imagine.
As it happens, we can prepay the cab company, so she'll be okay.

How to sell a burned out lightbulb

From Marginal Revolution:
For most of us, it is hard to fathom the rationale for a market in burnt-out light bulbs. But in the scarcity-driven Soviet economy, the market was entirely reasonable. Light bulbs were rarely available to individual consumers, but were obtainable for state-sponsored activities. Thus, it would be difficult to purchase a light bulb for a new lamp in one's home, while burnt-out bulbs in state-run offices or factories were routinely replaced. So if someone purchased a new lamp and needed a bulb, he would buy a used light bulb for a small fee and replace a functioning bulb at work with the dud. He would then take the functioning bulb home for the new lamp, while the burnt-out bulb at the office/factory would be replaced with a new functioning bulb. Meanwhile, the maintenance person at the office/factory would take the used bulb and sell it on the used light bulb market.

Sixth night in Jail

Our friend called Sunday night and talked to Diana (I was flying home from Nashville). She's doing better, and is getting along with the other women there. It sounds like she's bored; she's read several novels, and she doesn't ordinarily read fiction (ed: except the newspaper). The jail provides AA meetings and she's been going to those, I think primarily for something to do. She said that she was amazed by what some of the other women have endured. They're not allowed to call cellphones so she gave us some messages to pass along to people she can't call.
Two weeks to go.

Nashville day two

Blueberry pancakes for breakfast, Hooters mushroom swiss burger for lunch--I'm not losing any weight on this trip. Must get Jon's pancake recipe. Between breakfast and lunch, we walked around a rocky area for an hour, finding stones with fossilized shells, and talking. In the afternoon was a birthday party for Miles, with nephews and niece and miscellaneous other kids running around. Once things quieted down, Jon and I watched The Bourne Identity, and that finished the day.