Author Archives: Tom

Life in Reno, so far

I’m driving 700 miles a week, and that’s just for work, not including the driving around adventures on my days off. My home is 200 miles from my job, and my dad’s house is 50 miles from work. That’s a lot of driving.

But I think it’s worth it. My “Monday” morning commute (Reno to Pittsburg on Thursday morning) is 200 miles and takes about 3.5 hours, sometimes 4 hours depending on traffic in Sacramento. I wake up at 6am and hustle to get out of Reno as fast as I can, because my shift starts at 11am and I want to give myself plenty of time to not be late.

I’m lucky to have a 4×10 shift. I work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And then I have three days in a row off: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. So the long commutes work for me.

So I spend three nights a week in Hayward at my dad’s house, which is pretty great. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night when I get off work at 9:30pm I drive from Pittsburg to Hayward, about 50 miles. I usually stop at The Bistro on B St for a pint of Pliny. Then I sleep in my old bed in my old bedroom and get a good night’s sleep. I wake up extra early in the morning so I’ll have over an hour to sit with my dad and drink coffee and talk about whatever he wants to talk about. Then I jump in the shower, get ready, and leave for work. On Sunday nights, when my work week has ended, at 9:30pm I leave Pittsburg and drive 200 miles back to my home in Reno–which takes less than 3 hours and there is never any traffic. I get home around 12:30am and sometimes I’ll stop for a burger and a beer at one of the many 24hr sports bars in my neighborhood.

When I wake up on Monday morning my weekend has begun and I’m already in the mountains.

Eventually I’ll have to get a job up here. But honestly I’m not looking TOO hard. I have it pretty good. My job in the Bay Area pays a decent wage and I have really great benefits. I have nice, long, 3 day weekends every week. I get to spend at least an hour with my dad three mornings a week. I get to stop at my favorite pub and enjoy a pint of my favorite IPA three nights a week. A three hour drive back to Reno on Sunday is a piece of cake to a seasoned road traveler like myself. And when I wake up on Monday morning I have three full days in my playground–I’m already here!

Today I woke up to see that it snowed overnight, and all the local mountains have a beautiful dusting of snow. And I’m reminded of why we did such a crazy thing (like leave the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia).

Life is good.

Almost there, better late than never

Six years ago on this blog I announced my intention to move to Nevada. To Minden, actually. Well, six years later we finally made it. Almost.

Yesterday we signed the lease for our new apartment in Reno Nevada.

My wife, Miriam, accepted a job offer at the Peppermill Resort in Reno. She starts on the 16th.

For now I’m going to keep my job in Pittsburg CA. Luckily I work a 4×10 schedule. So I’ll be crashing at my dad’s house three nights a week.

It’s not quite Minden, but at least we’re out of the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia.

Yes, Baseball

The older I get, the more I like baseball.

I like the slower pace of the game. While watching a baseball game I can sit next to someone and have a conversation and not miss a play. There are regular breaks–between batters, between teams changing sides, between innings, between pitching changes, the 7th inning stretch–breaks that allow me to multitask. I’m watching the Giants game right now while typing this blog post.

I like that there is a lot of standing around doing nothing, with some exciting moments here and there. A pitcher might strike out a couple of batters over 7-8 minutes and then BOOM! inside the park triple!

Baseball is about math, and statistics, and averages. I like that a batter is considered really good if he only does something 3 out of 10 times. I like that a team like the Oakland A’s can have a full team of guys batting less than .300 and yet they are first in their division.

I like, most of all, the camaraderie that a good team has with each other. Take a look at the pitchers in the bullpen–chances are they are all leaning on a fence, watching the game, bullshittin’ and having a good time. Batters in the dugout awaiting their turn are acting similarly. You see, the game itself affords these players the time and the opportunity to build friendships.

I like that every ball park is different. What I mean is that the playing field at each stadium is different–it’s the only professional sport being played that can claim this. Boston has the Green Monster for example, and the Giants have McCovey Cove, etc.

Basketball is too fast. Football has too many things happening at once. Only baseball has a pace that allows me to observe and appreciate everything that is going on.

I’ve never been much of a sports watcher. Hey, I like watching the game and drinking beer with the guys or with my dad. But baseball just keeps getting better as I age.

I don’t just like baseball… I love baseball.