One of the interesting things that he mentioned was about histamines, which contrary to what most blame on sulfites, is what gives certain people headaches from drinking red wine. What I didn’t know was that histamines decrease over time in the bottle. So, after three years, almost none remain which is why people often say that they don’t have problems with European wines – because the Europeans hold theirs back for a couple of years whereas most US wines tend to be released young (mostly for cash-flow reasons).

There is your wine lesion for today.

After work it was home to change for the opera. Playing dress-up two nights in one week. Damn.

Wonderful picked me up and off to dinner were we – made a little more challenging by the closure of Highway 99 this weekend. It made the Mercer Mess messier.

Dinner at Bahn Thai where it was actually warm enough to sit on the front deck:

Then it was off to Madama Butterfly:

Think Italian take on American Imperialism. As you can see from the picture, she certainly doesn’t look 15 as the story goes, more like +30 on that and the sets cheap (I think they are saving all the money for the next Ring cycle). And, of course, she dies in the end. Lovely music though.

Home to bed after the news and Saturday Night Live with Mick Jagger hosting. Speaking of +30 (or would that be +60).

[212.1]

Basically it’s a 500 postcard mailing, most in the US, some in Canadaland and six overseas.

By 5:00pm the cards were printed, taken to FedExOffice to be cut, then to the post office for $185 in postage, reverse side mail merged from the mailing list complete with return address, and finally stamped.

Next stop is the post office on the way to a birthday party/house centennial party with friends of my from Dublin (Ireland, not Ohio) attending.

Good to see the kids, but I ducked out of the party around 8 and headed home with the top down – our run of sun continuing for another couple of days yet.

Spent the rest of the evening making changes to the Gathering Website (http://www.cascadiafaeries.org) for the summer gathering. Now all that’s left it the true pain-in-the-arse electronically submittable PDF of the registration form.

But that’s tomorrow.

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Tonight’s gig at The Evergreen State College is the annual recognition dinner – and it being the 40^th anniversary of the college, I thought I’d go and drag CaddyDaddy along with me.

Time to get dressed up (though I left the sport coat at home):

We clean up pretty good, and the food was pretty good as well.

Needless to say, I’m spending the night down in Olympia with all the free wine that was flowing.

[208.9]

So, reservations made for both Fridays (8^th and 15^th), now I just need someone to use condo with who can go up on Friday and then pick me up at the Clipper terminal (using my 50% off coupon) on Monday so I don’t have to ask for Saturday and Sunday off. I suppose that I could just delay checking in until Monday assuming they permit that.

Other reservations made and unmade:

Turned back in my frequent flier mile First Class ticket from SF to Cabo San Lucas for after my birthday cruise

Booked Rich and I from SF to Seattle for after the birthday cruise (still need to make train reservations to get to Vancouver) using miles, though I might buy tickets if the price comes down

Booked Rich and I from Seattle to Cabo San Lucas the next day using my $99 companion fare, coach down, but used my last two Guest Upgrades to return us in First

Booked myself to Santa Fe early next month to go through the parents’ house to see if there is anything else besides speakers and the sewing machine that I want

Whew. Still need to tell everyone else what’s happening.

Finished up weed-eating the rest of the yard now that I have more trimmer string. Hopefully the sun will stay out and just turn the lawn a nice brown.

Dinner with Wonderful tonight. Braised lamb shanks – the two hour cook time melt in your mouth recipe. Now what to do with all the leftover stock/soup/liquid that it cooked in. Lamb stock? Just add more vegetables and make soup? Who knows.

Long after dinner call with RobinHood over the planning of the summer gathering at Breitenbush. Looks like I’ve roped myself into sending out the call – at least it’s via postcard this time.

[209.0]

According to my mother, they Photoshopped in the fire in the fireplace.

The other amusing offer to cross my desk today was an opportunity to camp out at the South Pole.

The cost?

• $ 46,450 (Same price single/double)
  
• $ 4,290 (6-day Pre-Expedition Cruise – Single)
  
• $ 230 (Pre-Expediation New Year’s Eve Stay – Single)
  
• $ 300 (Expedition Gear Rental assuming you don’t have your own parkas, zero degree sleeping bag, boots)

The itinerary?

2013 Expedition To Antarctica Overview

Sounds fun, but a little pricey.

Dinner with Swanda tonight. Steaks, asparagus in Alfredo sauce, cole slaw. All good until the Humpty Dumpty moment but all was fine by the time I left.

And FYI, I’m back in “must book travel” mode.

Stay tuned for details.

[209.1]

I looked into that “Around The World” fare on United to get some of those 107,912 miles I need. I made one itinerary of about 23,000 miles for $3-4K, or almost 39,000 miles (which I could do in a week and a half) for $7K. The later equals 18 cents a mile which is a little high, the former is close to 15 cents a mile. What I didn’t add is the 25% bonus which would be a free first class ticket in the US for the 39,000 mile option.

If you are curious about what 39,000 miles looks like on a map:

The routing was Seattle-Sydney-Tokyo-Dubai-Johannasberg-Panana City- Seattle. That and a week and a half in the air and in airports.

After a lamb and salad dinner I took a stroll around the neighborhood to check out the construction on the new bridge:

They are working on the new approach and a lot of the concrete approach stuff is done so hopefully the streets will be open again soon.

The most amazing thing I saw was the recycling of street paving bricks, hopefully for use in the neighborhood.

In theory a 2013 opening for the bridge.

Maybe I’ll finish the weed-eating tomorrow. Or not.

[210.5]

Not quite that wild for me. It was a respectable day and a nice cap to the week.

Closed the door at 5, headed down the hill for some last minute shopping for dinner, got home about 5:35 or so. By a little after six I’d done the prep work for a dinner for five and was waiting for the guests: Erik, Hunter (a Facebook friend of Erik and now mine), and two friends of Hunters. All but Erik are in from Atlanta.

Mixed grill. Some pork, chicken, salmon (which the vegetarian Erik actually ate some), stuffed portabellas, grilled bell peppers, saffron/cranberry rice (not as good as I was hoping) served with a salad and SodoVino wines.

Ever had one of those dinner parties where it just doesn’t click and you are relieved when they all leave – that would be tonight. Nothing I can put my finger on, just relief.

With the boys gone, it gave me a chance to ponder something that hit me yesterday while I was travelling. I need 107,912 more flight miles on United to attain lifetime Premier Gold status (three free bags, advanced economy plus seats, bonus miles, easier freebie upgrades). Considering I haven’t flown revenue miles with them for at least a year… and the feeling that I’d have to hold my nose to fly that much more with them, I’m in a quandary. I certainly can’t get the 100,000 this year, I’d be lucky to bag 25,000 to keep my Premier status.

Maybe I just need to fly around the world and deposit the miles.

As for the worries of weight gain on the trip with the combination of being out of stock with Alli and 4 days of three full meals a day on the train. Not bad. The number below is only one pound up, but well within the usual swing of daily numbers.

[210.4]

After disembarking, it’s off to the Panorama Lounge to check email and sync up the Ken Doll.

They did a stunning job renovating the space.

But before I go further, a couple of pictures from last night when I dragged the Aussie ladies to the far end of the train to see the bullet shaped “Park Car. The first shot is of us in the bar section:

Looks like we are having way too much fun. It might be because of our bartender Sebastian:

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog post… put a couple of hours in the lounge confirming that United hadn’t once again moved my flight forward, posting blog stuff, checking mail, retrieving two more New Yorkers for the plane right home, and swilling down free espresso and Diet Cokes.

For CAN$3 you can catch the subway right across the street from the station that takes you to the airport. VERY convenient even if it is two transfers along with way. An hour door to door. Maybe next time I can figure out how to do this trip in the reverse order.

No troubles with checking in, or customs, though their Nexus machines were down so I had to do global entry, which might actually be easier. Luckily I was travelling with my passport, nexus, passport card AND enhanced driver’s license.

Picked up a liter of scotch at duty free and stuffed it into my carryon – the advantage of having already cleared US customs/immigration – you get to take it when you buy it because when you land in Chicago you fly into the domestic terminal rather than the international.

Lunch at the Molsen pub – cheeseburger, but swapped the fries for a Greek Salad to cut down most of the carbs.

Uneventful flight to Chicago arriving early so my worries about a 55 minute layover being too short did not come to pass.

The last leg to Seattle was much more amusing having a pretty gay boy as my seat companion. The only reading I got done was when he passed out for a bit, the rest of the time we were chatting like a couple of old hens (well, one old hen, on chicken). He’s a bag designer for Detour, a bike bag company here in Seattle. His partner was stuck in the back of the completely packed plane, at least in an aisle seat. He was nice enough to take a fresh baked cookie and a glass of red wine back mid-flight (with the blessing of the really funny girl stew). He and his partner like near the Arboretum and know the wine shop on 15^th that Jim used to be partners in. I might have just added two more customers to our database. I also steered them to the ViaRail Express Deals and the Quillayute River Resort.

Our flight got into Seattle a little early, nice to get a jumpstart on heading home to my own bed.

Since the car was at the apartment, texted Swanda to see if he was up (yes), for a visit (yes, again) so I stowed my bags, picked up some food for me (dinner was a long time back) and headed up for a short visit. Actually managed to get home before the 11 o’clock news, but didn’t make it past the monologue for Saturday Night Live, something about it being 2:30am East Coast time.

Want to see all the pictures from the trip? Click on the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/71686688/1/ViaRail2012?h=1e180c

[? ? ?] and worried about tomorrow’s weigh in.

Think “Lake Country” now that we are in Ontario.

Had breakfast with the three ladies from Australia (the usual) and lunch with the Québécois from lunch yesterday.

What I was craving after breakfast was a nice big salad, and I was rewarded with a Greek Salad with braised shrimp on top. Apparently I’ve been a good boy this week.

A little update from yesterday after I posted. When I was checking email there was ANOTHER email from United telling me that they’d changed my flight to the morning flight AGAIN. Luckily we had a little time (45 minutes versus the standard two hours) in Winnipeg for me to track down a pay phone and get it settled with United that:

• No, I couldn’t take the morning flight as it leaves at the same time as my plane gets in
• Yes, 55 minutes is enough time for a connection as I clear customs in Toronto, not Chicago, and
• Yes, the flights do come into the same terminal.

Much typing later with notes in my reservation, I’m back on the 4:30pm flight, but by this time I’d lost my bulkhead aisle seat, but at least got a bulkhead window seat.

I’m blaming this on the United/Continental merger and different layover requirements. They are now answering the phone “The NEW United, how may I help you.” Answer: quit changing my flights.

As of the afternoon, we are running about an hour behind which isn’t a problem for me or the Québécois unless it becomes two hours behind and then they will miss their connection.

I’m doubtful this post will be made at Hornepayne as it’s a fairly small town. But I’ll try (and fail). But I did pick up a little more soda – to bad I missed seeing the larger grocery store where I might have picked up another half pint – guess it’s to the bar for me tonight after dinner.

ggg

Also as of Winnipeg, we have new train staff. Meet Jeremy, my new Porter (and his trainee, Paul), who are MUCH more responsive with the ice, and even brought me clean glassware:

Dinner tonight was again with the Aussie ladies – I’m beginning to like them – and they like me as well because I have my father’s flirting skills. The ladies had the rack of lamb (in short supply – wish I’d had it) and I opted for the substitute of the rib eye, which if it was twice as thick and half the width would have made for a better meal, but they did manage to get parts of it medium rare – as opposed to the ladies who wanted their lamb “ala Helene”, a.k.a. well-done. Chowder and a spinach/mandarin salad before, dessert in the room later – guess this diet just went down the tubes.

Arrive Toronto in the morning.

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Breakfast: same as yesterday but with ham. Should have had the mushroom/bacon/cheese omelet yesterday as today’s it total vegetarian. Maybe tomorrow as the omelet changes daily depending on what the chef has left over from the day before.

As is my train routine, up early, eat, back to bed – like a baby cow being prepped for veal.

Today’s big stops in addition to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is Winnipeg in Manitoba, where “in theory” we have two hours. With the number of “sidings” today, should be interesting. It is also the next wi-fi/supply stop (more Diet Coke). When the train isn’t in sidings it is going like a bat out of hell with every crossover track it encounters a large clank and a side sway. In the evenings one has to find a sleeping position that one doesn’t tend to roll – for part of last night the only one that didn’t bother my knee was on my back. Luckily the cabin has a door to cut down on the noise of me snoring.

Three pictures for you today.

This is what all of Saskatchewan looks like. Think western Kansas/Nebraska and eastern Colorado. Flat wheat fields mixed in with oil wells.

This is what all of Manitoba looks like. Think eastern Kansas/Nebraska and Missouri. Rolling hills.

And this is my porter Joannie, pronounced Jo-aann-e (that’s French, you know) on her last trip to deliver some ice for the lobster. New crew in Winnipeg, time to start the ice training all over again.

Finished the book on Fred Harvey, which appendix one is the tail of a recent trip on the Southwest Chief by the author and his wife, and then we roll into Appendix Two which are some of the recipes from the Harvey House restaurants. One that I grew up on is for Angels and Horseback:

Dry large oysters with towel, season with salt and cayenne pepper. Wrap in parboiled strips of bacon and tie with toothpick. Dip in flour, eggwash, and fresh breadcrumbs. Place on skewers, and fry in hot lard a golden brown. Serve on toast, and garnish with quarter lemons and parsley.

Not exactly my mother’s recipe as I remember it, especially the lard, but it would have been generationally appropriate.

The book itself is about 400 pages before you get to the back matter (including the Appendixes) of about 50 pages before you get to the index and citations, another 50 pages. I mention this because I think there are a number of other people who would like to read this book. The current list is Swanda, The Colonels, Dwight, Dad (maybe even Mom and Helene for the recipes).

Guess I should have thrown in a couple of more books as I’m down to the KenDoll and its couple of issues of the New Yorker and odd freebie eBooks.

Dinner is served early tonight so that the crew can get cleaned up for our supposed 2030 arrival (that would be 8:30pm). Not sure how this fits into the 7pm wine tasting which I might have to miss.

Caesar salad, prime rib, and beyond al dente vegetables was the dinner, with a split of Cabernet from Australia. Damn it, I hate paying restaurant or even retail wine prices these days. But it’s good for my heart.

And for the last picture of the day – toilet top dessert. I got mine to go since the Prime Rib filled me up and I knew I’d want a little sweet after checking email in Winnipeg.

That’s it for the night. Think I’m going to have to bing and purge when I get home.

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