By Joe Scalzo

February 14, 2008

As I write this, it’s almost 1 a.m. Thursday in Ohio and just after 10 p.m. in Tucson, Ariz., which, according to most maps, is not located on the same spot as Las Vegas.

This is a problem, particularly if you’re a newspaper reporter who thought he’d be in Las Vegas by now.

So, for the two people who were hoping this blog would have a Pavlik update, my apologies. But if you’d like an update on the Tucson airport, you can scroll down a couple sentences.

Vindicator photographer Bill Lewis and I flew out of Cleveland at 2:15 p.m. (EST) and made stops in St. Louis, Houston, Austin (Texas) and, finally, Tucson. Because Las Vegas is experiencing 50 mph winds, which makes it difficult to land planes, we had to make our Arizona detour.

Because we stayed on the plane (we didn’t have connecting flights), we basically subsisted on Wheat Thins, peanuts and ginger ale. I also finished a terrific book called “Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne, a book that, if I were to rip out the pages and eat it, would taste only slightly worse than Wheat Thins.

Fortunately, Bill and I were able to buy some prepackaged sandwiches in Tucson, which means I just got a six-inch turkey sub for the incredible bargain of $6.95. Even more fortunately, this will be covered by our expenditures budget.

Incidentally, if you’re thinking about visiting Tucson for the 54th Annual Gem and Mineral Show, I’ve got bad news -- it ends today.

The only other thing of note in the aiport is the gift shop, which is offering an 8-inch cactus for the equally terrific bargain of $39.95. If you’re like most people, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Geez, I’d much rather have an 8-inch cactus than money! Also, I have tapioca for brains!”

Fortunately, you’d still have enough money left over to pay for this blog, which is worth every penny of the zero cents we’re charging.

Stay tuned later today for (I hope) a live update or two on all things Pavlik, presumably from Las Vegas. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and read our Pavlik coverage on Vindy.com.

And if you happen to see my wife, wish her a Happy Valentines Day for me, will you?