amusedI asked Lisa if she wanted to put on one of her costumes and have us go out a little bit. She said we could do that and do some things here in Fernley rather than go clear into Reno as a storm was rolling in over us.
And thus it was that Colonel Chinstrap and his long-suffering aide-de-camp Lieutenant Hayes, with the regimental mascot Private Bear, set out to do the rounds of Fernley's casinos. Luck was with us. Lisa won $10 on the Monkees at the Nugget, another $10 on Willy Wonka at the Silverado, and I won about $15 at blackjack at Terrible's. We spent our winnings on dinner at Denny's and a few small groceries at a mini-market on the way home, and when the clerk took our picture (she'd been taking pictures of all customers in costume), I asked her to take ours. I don't know why other people using my camera-phone end up with slightly out-of-focus pictures.
People seemed quite taken by the matched threesome. We've worked out that Colonel Chinstrap must be the ancestor (through my mother's side, I guess) of WSFS Colonel Standlee of the Chicon Ground Crew, who is in turn an ancestor of WSFS Captain Standlee. All three hold equivalent ranks, although Captain Standlee is a civilian space cruise ship commander. Maybe he commanded a space navy ship before retiring to the cushier life of sitting at the Captain's Table on long interstellar voyages with rich passengers.