20 Books To 50K Convention, Day 2

 

Tuesday was a quiet but busy day.  I attended several talks/panels, but did so virtually, using the livestreams from the various rooms;  and, while listening and noting main points, I sat in my room and wrote on one of my works in progress.  It seemed the most productive use of my time.  I managed to write about 2,000 words of military science fiction while getting informed about things that interest me and that I need to know in order to perform better as a self-employed writer.

The opening ceremony was a pep talk from the organizers to the attendees, urging us to lift our game and our income and, in doing so, lift each other.  The theme of the conference is "A rising tide lifts all boats", and they did their best to make that point.  I agree with them, as long as the tide's coming in evenly.  Sadly, in today's economy, it isn't, and it's not likely to do much better in the next months and years.  No matter what work we do, we're going to find it difficult to keep our heads above water - particularly with attempts by the powers that be to destroy the fossil-fuel-based economy we share at present, with no prospect whatsoever of a worthy replacement waiting in the wings.  The longer-term consequences of the COVID-19 vaccines also look worse and worse, if analyses are to be believed.  The fallout from that is going to take years to fully develop - and writers, like everyone else, will be affected by it.

That leads me to consider Las Vegas as a city.  I can't help thinking that this entire place could disappear off the map tomorrow morning, and its loss would make virtually no difference to America.  Everything here is fluff and tinsel, an outward show of opulence that has no substance backing it up at all.  Local incomes would suffer if it all vanished, but on a national scale, nothing worth having is produced here, nothing we really need as a nation and as a people.  It's all smoke and mirrors.

It's also geared to reaping tourists of every dollar in their pockets, in an unashamed display of greed.  Take local restaurants, for example.  In the entertainment district, menu prices are utterly ridiculous compared to many other cities.  They're at least double, if not well over double, what I pay in northern Texas (even the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex).  A single slice of pizza is $8;  an adequate, but not exceptional, dish of shrimp scampi, $36;  a hamburger with normal ingredients but no side dishes, $32.  When tourists discuss those prices, as I've overheard several times in recent days, the general reaction seems to be to shrug and say, "Well, that's Vegas!"  I don't agree.  I don't enjoy the sensation of being a chicken plucked alive, but that's what local tourist business models appear to be.

As I said . . . if Las Vegas were to vanish overnight, I don't think we'd miss it at all, in terms of being deprived of something we really need.  Given how much money is soaked up here, that's a sobering thought.  How many other cities and districts like it are there in the States, and how much money do they all soak up that could be much better used?  When I hear and see people complaining about how hard times are becoming, and moaning about the economy, and then turning right around and willingly paying those prices for a meal, or buying cheap tourist tat dolled up to look like opulence . . . it makes you wonder.

(Fortunately, Miss D. and I were warned in advance about such costs.  We brought some canned food with us, plus a cheap little microwave oven, so we can eat at least one meal a day in our hotel room.  Those expenditures paid for themselves on the very first day we were here, in terms of local restaurant prices.  Over our week's stay, I expect they'll save us at least $400 - enough to pay for gasoline over our four days of travel to get here and get home, and then some.  When you're on a limited budget, that means a lot!)

Quite apart from economic considerations, there are some places around here that are just . . . creepy.  I can't describe them any other way.  For example, I mentioned earlier that when we arrived, we accidentally wound up at the Bellagio instead of Bally's, where the convention is being held.  Both Miss D. and myself had the same visceral reaction after walking into the Bellagio, being informed of our mistake, and returning to our car.  We both felt an overtone, a miasma, if you will, of something very nasty in that place.  I've no idea what it was, but we both felt it very strongly.  Frankly, it felt grimy, as if just being there was tarnishing our spirits.  As a Christian and a pastor, I could put a name to that, but in the absence of evidence, I'll just pray accordingly.  (Interestingly, neither of us have the same reaction to staying at Bally's.  Don't ask me why.)

Anyway, so far, so good.  More tomorrow, God willing.

Peter