Is This A Bad Sign?
Last winter my 2001 Kia Rio gave out on me when the timing belt broke, conveniently enough just after the warranty ran out. Needing transportation, I was forced to make a quick purchase of a cheap used car.
I went to a small used car dealer on Kietzke Lane, Reno's car dealership row. I found what I felt was a pretty good bargain on a '96 Suzuki Sidekick with pretty low miles and a reduced price because of some imperceptible damage to the driver's side door. I give a name to every vehicle I own, and I named this one Grond, Hammer of the Underworld (check your Tolkien for an explanation of this name).
The car has held up well over the last year or so, and I have no complaints. However, something happened today that made me a bit nervous.
I happened to be driving down that part of Kietzke where the dealer that I bought the car from was located. I say "was located" because it is now gone. Entirely. No cars, no offices, nothing but an empty asphalt parking lot. And no explanation. The only indication that a used car dealer ever occupied the now-empty space is the dealer's sign which still stands at the entrance to the lot, a sign that even now advertises "Lowest Prices Anywhere." Otherwise, it's like the whole business just flew away into space. That makes me feel really confident about the sort of people I find to do business with.
Let's talk about more positive things. The Wolf Pack won their big showdown with Fresno State last night in thrilling fashion, coming out on top by a score of 38-35 and winning a share of the WAC title. As expected the gametime temperatures started at bone-chilling and plummeted from there, but Nevada appears to have managed to get enough people through the door to average 15,000 for the season, thus preserving their Division 1 status with the NCAA. Still, the announced crowd of 17,765 was pretty sparce, even when the cold weather, vacation weekend and the fact that the game was nationally televised are factored in. I like to think that it was my last-minute appeal on this blog that managed to put the attendance numbers over the top. It isn't true, but I like to think it.
Hopefully the Wolf Pack has put the days of perennial losing seasons players getting busted for robbing banks behind them for good. But then again this is Reno, so you never know.
I went to a small used car dealer on Kietzke Lane, Reno's car dealership row. I found what I felt was a pretty good bargain on a '96 Suzuki Sidekick with pretty low miles and a reduced price because of some imperceptible damage to the driver's side door. I give a name to every vehicle I own, and I named this one Grond, Hammer of the Underworld (check your Tolkien for an explanation of this name).
The car has held up well over the last year or so, and I have no complaints. However, something happened today that made me a bit nervous.
I happened to be driving down that part of Kietzke where the dealer that I bought the car from was located. I say "was located" because it is now gone. Entirely. No cars, no offices, nothing but an empty asphalt parking lot. And no explanation. The only indication that a used car dealer ever occupied the now-empty space is the dealer's sign which still stands at the entrance to the lot, a sign that even now advertises "Lowest Prices Anywhere." Otherwise, it's like the whole business just flew away into space. That makes me feel really confident about the sort of people I find to do business with.
Let's talk about more positive things. The Wolf Pack won their big showdown with Fresno State last night in thrilling fashion, coming out on top by a score of 38-35 and winning a share of the WAC title. As expected the gametime temperatures started at bone-chilling and plummeted from there, but Nevada appears to have managed to get enough people through the door to average 15,000 for the season, thus preserving their Division 1 status with the NCAA. Still, the announced crowd of 17,765 was pretty sparce, even when the cold weather, vacation weekend and the fact that the game was nationally televised are factored in. I like to think that it was my last-minute appeal on this blog that managed to put the attendance numbers over the top. It isn't true, but I like to think it.
Hopefully the Wolf Pack has put the days of perennial losing seasons players getting busted for robbing banks behind them for good. But then again this is Reno, so you never know.
posted by Yukon Sully | 11:45 AM
5 Comments:
So the Nevada Wolfpack football team managed to pull in over 17,000 at their game against Fresno?? The last Alabama home game against LSU saw over 80,000, and when the stadium addition is complete, it will hold 100,000. We know where our priorities lie.
BYW, the Gonzaga basketball team is ranked 5th or so. Cool.
I voted for the empty shopping cart.
You have to remember, Anonymous, we're working on a sliding scale here. Alabama is a traditional national power playing in the best football conference in America (sorry Big 12, Big 10 and Pac 10; it's just a fact) with an even dozen National Championships. Nevada plays in a stadium that seats maybe 25,000 people and plays in a conference where Boise State and Fresno State are annual powerhouses. Considering where Nevada is starting from, I think they're doing pretty well.
I kind of like the abandoned shopping cart too.
You tell 'em Yukon! I might also mention the Nevada smack down of UNLV in men's basketball the same night.
Let’s not forget the cranked out 4th street hooker or the eternal train trench construction as possible mascot candidates.
i voted for the angry panhandlers since the "fighting abandoned shopping carts" are already the official mascot of the residents of quincy, mass. i wish i was kidding when i tell you that there is a shopping cart in front of my apartment building 200 days out of the year. why don't people ever get fined for stealing those things?
I had considered the cranked-out 4th Street Hooker as having some mascot potential, but so many people in this area are cranked-out that I didn't think it was fair to single out the hookers.
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