In Fresno I had booked seven nights at the Best Western on Blackstone, but I stayed exactly one. The cable television package was inexcusable. I called the front desk clerk on the phone.
"Yeah, I don't know if we get the local stations anymore," he said. He said he could maybe find me another room, in the other building, where the cable system was different. But he said the Internet was not working very well in parts of that building. A shame. A typical Fresno kind of trade-off.
Somehow I fiddled around and found CBS hidden at 47-point-1, which one accessed by attempting to go to channel 7 using the keypad. But NBC, Fox, and ESPN never materialized in my searches. No way could I enjoy relax in the evenings with the channels they had. Better to be in the nearby Motel 6 for half the prices.
Moreover Blackstone Avenue, and the motel stripthere, were no longer my style. I wanted an upgrade. I decided that among the hotels from last year, the most appealing was the Ramada on Shaw, near the Fresno State Campus, on the other side of the freeway. It has a conference room---respectable. Probably a carb-only breakfast buffet, from what I remembered, but I could deal with that.
Easy check-in. Ample room. Bigger bed. Modern bed coverings and pillows. Power outlets inthe base of the lamp, and near the foot of the bed. Had to unplug the minifridge because of the noise it was making. As for the cable, it was old-style non-digital. Fuzzy ESPN on a strong signal. Watched the Louisville game last night. Perfectly acceptable.
And also a view of the sparkling swimming pool in the central courtyard, near the palm trees. I'd forgotten how much I love California.
In the meantime I'd texted Rick telling him I was in town.
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