Reno

Finally arrived home from Reno. The hearth show was very worthwhile, as it is every year. What a long trip! To get there we went from Manchester to Philly, to Oakland, to Reno. We left at ten in the morning and arrived in Reno (with a three hour time change) at eight at night! Bleary eyed as we were we still caught up with a supplier from PA, then our canadian friends. The next day we did the PFI lunch. We had a congressman as a guest speaker talking about how we should go about getting government support, and how the time is ripe... Then the new lobbying firm that was hired to help in that regard. They got two people from the lobbying group to man their booth and get leg. packs out. I was very happy about that. We saw the new products. Bulk feed is the big thing in pellets this year. We have been waiting for that for what seems like forever. I am not much of a gambler, but A had fun. Once, when I went to the little girl's room, he hit a max prize on a quarter slot and won $250. Our canadian friends took him out and taught him how to play blackjack, and other table games. I think he ended up ahead by about $300 for the whole trip. I was up $3.00. Once A gave me a dollar to play the penny slots. After I won a buck I cashed out. The next day he gave me two bucks. I won about $3.50 before cashing out. The last day I took two bucks, and lost $1.50. We were supposed to have one day for PFI and one day for the show. But a little late season snow mess hit the Northeast. We got up at four am Friday so we could catch our eight o'clock flight. I called during breakfast at 6am and while I was on the phone with SouthWest they started cancelling flights. A very pleasant lady helped me rebook our flights for the next afternoon. No charge, no hassle. Got to love SouthWest. We were glad to have the extra day. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was 80 degrees in Reno, and snowing/sleeting like a mother in New England! ;) Unfortunately, we missed town meeting. We also missed the elections. To remind us that our vote was important, we had a tie in a controversial race. Our vote would have sealed the deal! (curse, curse!!) You can't do absentee ballot in this town. Your name is on it! That would not work! Anyway, with the extra day we got to spend time with S, who lives only a couple of towns away, but we have not caught up with each other in a very long time. We also got to talk to our rep from Lennox. They officially killed the Whitfield pellet stove. Whitfield is credited as the first pellet stove in the US. They dominated the market for over fifteen years. Then Lennox (Gas, gas, gas) bought them. Within five years they had ruined the name, and now they have bought another company and stopped even making Whitfields. We liken them to the tire manufacturers who started buying up the trolley car companies and put them out of business in the late 19th century. Got home late Saturday, or technically early Sunday as it was after three in the morning. Had to get up at eight to go rescue Po and O. Everyone is happy to be home.