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Jon and I spent most of the day on the couch with the dogs.  Sasquatch was very happy to be back in his favorite spot which is somewhere between the couch arm, and my lap.  Pippin curled up between Jon and I, sandwiching himself along our legs.  We had a fire going, hot tea, and a lot of silence.  We didn’t get a lot of alone time in Vegas, so we enjoyed it today.  We caught up on Tivoed television.  We also had a strange hankering to watch CSI on DVD.  We kept pointing out landmarks to each other. 

Shawn went with us to Vegas, as research assistant.  He’s ex-marine and current cop, so for what we needed, his background was good.  He speaks much better cop than either of us.  He also translates my writer type questions into military or cop-speak.  I get my answer, but it puzzles my experts less.  He got the joy of trying to set up research at the Clark County Coroner, Las Vegas and Las Vegas SWAT, at short notice.  The original trip had been planned, on our end, for early January, but people in New York let me know that they couldn’t really wait that long for the finished draft.  I could have dug my heels in, but a lot of factors added up to make it a good thing to really try to stay within deadline.  So, we got to fly to Vegas a week before Christmas.  It was interesting to see Vegas duded up for the holidays.  We’d only been there in summer, or I think once, in autumn.  Either way, it was fun to see all the decorations in among the neon.  The short notice meant Shawn earned his paycheck on this trip.  I knew he would do what I needed, or bust something trying.  We’ve been friends for decades, and one thing we both share is a large stubborn streak.  We will do, what we say, we will do.  He delivered.  He also saw why, I wanted someone to be the research assistant.  It is a third job, that Jon and I usually divide between the two of us.  This time, so that we could keep up with the comic, the current book, and a thousand other details that are involved in other parts of this little industry that is becoming our lives, we got help.  Oh, and for those of you wondering where Charles was in all this, he was tied up with his other and more time-consuming job, plus family obligations.  A week before Christmas is a hard time of year for most family men to get away.  I was lucky that Shawn’s wife and kids could spare him for a few days.  I do appreciate the loan, by the way. 

So, the three of us caught planes, and flew to Vegas for what would turn out to be an adventure.  I promise more details tomorrow, but for now, we’re off to bed.  I’ve been fighting a headache today, and in the interest of it not turning into the migraine it keeps threatening to become, sleep in a darkened room sounds really good.