The Leave 10 (Final One)

I am sure you will be happy to know this will be my final "The Leave X" post and I will be "returning to regularly scheduled programing" after this point.  Here, I have decided to wrap up the adventure with a smattering of odds-and-ends that were not key players in the trip, but are still (in my mind at least) worth my jotting down to remember:

• It was so VERY pleasant to see my beloved pup upon returning home.  I had so worried about her.  It gave me a lot of joy to see her wagging tail.
• As you may recall, INSECTS are definitely not my "thing".  I especially hate ants..... but truth be told... other than fruit flies and honeybees which I do (have) (currently for fruit flies (or have previously in terms of bees)) work(ed) with.... I generally do  not like insects.  So IMMEDIATELY upon return home, the first thing I did (and always do upon return) is to put our luggage out on the front porch.  I then brought out two garbage bags and began to sort... one for dirty clothes that need washing, and a second for clothes that are clean and do not need washing. The dirty clothes are immediately put into the washing machine (or if there is more than one load, kept in the garbage bag on the front porch until available space is in the machine).  The clean clothes are shaken, hard.... multiple times... OUTSIDE in case an errant insect might be lurking... and once I feel (reasonably) confident there are no pests,  they are returned to their closets/drawers.  Returning toiletries are then inspected and when deemed "safe" are returned into the bathroom. Gifts, do-dads, trinkets, etc. are then inspected and sorted and when deemed "safe" are brought into the house.  Work related items (computer, papers, conference books etc) are inspected and sorted and when deemed "safe" then put into the trunks of the appropriate vehicle(s).  Then the actual luggage is taken down to the end of the driveway and while open, each is shaken like hell to try to dislodge any potential critters and then returned open to the front porch for a day or two.
• Now, the reality is I do not EVER recall staying in ANY place that had NOTICIBLE insects in our rooms.... but I feel the above is a good added safety measure to TRY to not have migrated any errant insect from some distant place into our abode.  
• Then, a very nice, cleansing shower is the next order of the moment.
  

  Some other odds and ends of the trip itself:

• It is common to be "badgered" upon arrival (especially in the big city we were in) by the Concierge's Assistant to sign up for a "special offer".  We have never done this in the past, but, the promise of a free pair of tickets to a show (typically costing ~$200 for the two of us), had my wife and I decide to try it out.  
• The reality is, I KNEW to get the tickets, there would be a very "HARD SELL" session to buy into some sort of "time share" situation associated with the conglomerate hotel.  But, I also know that I CAN be STUBBORN AS HELL about getting talked into sales pitches.  
• So, we scheduled the very earliest "sell session" at the very earliest time we could and went.  We saw the presentation, which was to buy timeshare in "luxury hotels globally" for a set price.  I will not elaborate on the details other than their original pitch was for us to spend "$154,000" (plus a yearly into perpetuity $3500 "maintenance fee") for the privilege of these spaces.  My answer through each of the four different tiers of salespeople who came to hard sell us was a variation on "Well, it does sound wonderful, but I really do not feel comfortable acting rashly nor on the spur of the moment.  May I get some literature from you... so that I may contemplate this for several days and get back with you?"  My wife, who is much easier to convince, promised me as we navigated, that she wanted me to handle this whole task... because she knows she is a somewhat easy "mark" for salespeople.  Eventually, the fourth salesperson (a supposed "head honcho" in the company.... but he had a "peachfuzz" scruff of beard on his young face) had us down to a deal of approximately "$15,000" plus (roughly) a ~$1,000 maintenance fee for nearly the same product. My reply was the same refrain as listed above. Finally, they gave up..... BUT we DID get our gift!  One evening we were able to see "Mrs. Doubtfire - The Musical" at one of the venues.  My wife and I were debating between that show or watching Penn and Teller.  We felt a musical would be more enjoyable, and it was very good.  But... I do not think I would purposefully try the adventure of this type of "hard sell" tactic again.... it was very tiresome.  I unfortunately know they promise the moon and the stars.... but their realities are vastly different.  And, I do not like to spend money unwisely.
• I think there must not be too many folks in Nevada who sport a bigger, bushy beard like mine is currently.  Over the course of the trip, I truthfully had ~15-18 different folks COMPLEMENT me on my beard in one way or another.  Most were just a "Great beard!" kind of comment.  But, three of the more noteworthy of the comments included, "You're Rockin' a Great Santa!", and a second fellow who had a dark beard that was shorter wanted to "fist bump" me as he called me "Beard Bro!", and late one evening when we were walking back, a young kid (perhaps ~20 or 21) came up and hugged me saying he "wanted to have a beard like that someday".  Overall it was rather odd, but flattering. 
• One evening, because of the heat, we did not feel like traipsing about, and decided to eat and relax in our hotel room and then swim in the late evening.  On that evening, there was a wonderful (and by appearances, brand new) pizza place nearby our hotel that we decided to try.  They specialized in sourdough pizzas that were baked in a fire-oven.  It was also here that in addition to the extremely delightful pizza (with lots of whole, fresh basil leaves on top), my wife had a most gorgeous and enormous "house" salad that was an amazing sort of "chef's salad"...  and I was able to have a delightfully amazing and enormous arugula salad!  I really love arugula, but have never had a salad with ALL the greens consisting OF ONLY arugula.  It was absolutely amazing. We SO enjoyed the place.... that two days later, when it took us too much time to get TO the venue for "Mrs. Doubtfire" to have dinner before hand.... we decided to again have the exact same pizza and salads as a very late night dinner when we eventually ambled home from "Mrs. Doubtfire".   

PipeTobacco

Addendum.... I almost forgot to mention..... I also was able to attend yesterday, the Retiree's Cigar Group..... like I also did (and think I mentioned at the time) last week as well.  Both days were great. Yesterday was an extremely pleasant, fun time talking with the guys.   I am quite glad my friend from Mass got me involved with the group.