Books and stuff

So I’m in Las Vegas this week for work. My company hosts a customer event here and most of us are here working more-or-less behind the scenes to make sure that all the technical stuff runs without a hitch. I work out of a home office and have been a remote worker for many years now, so it’s nice to work alongside other folks in person. The weather is nice, not that it matters much at these things. The hotel is also nice and the food is uniformly excellent. I’m not much of a gambler, but I can definitely see the appeal. I’m just too cheap, to be perfectly honest.

I’ve reached the point in the trip where I can reasonably begin thinking about the return flight home. Yesterday I checked the total drive time, just in case I had to rent a car and leave without notice. It could happen! You can’t be too careful. Alas, it’s a long - but simple - drive. Hit I-40 and head east until I’m basically home.

Making good progress through Haidt’s book. No surprises; all of this stuff has been very top of mind for a while. Very keen to start The Rings of Saturn when I get back. Connected with a co-worker who has very similar reading tastes and we title-dumped each other over drinks last night. I came away with a recommendation for Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday (translated by Anthea Bell!). Since travelogues were on tap I offered out Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon.

A tarot card/palm reader was featured at the event last night. She motioned me over and patted the seat next to her. I declined. “My bishop,” I said, “would not be pleased.”

“Your bishop? Would it help if I called myself a personality consultant instead?”

“It would not, but have a lovely evening.”

Check-in starts 24 hours from departure, says my airline app.