Text 1602, 105 rader
Skriven 2008-01-31 02:26:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: visiting Tacoma 784
===========================
UA 322 SFO SEA 1040 1243 733 1C
I got to the gate really late and blended in with the polloi of
zone 3 only to have my boarding pass rejected. The agent looked
puzzled, whereupon her colleague said, "he's been upgraded."
She looked at my scruffy tired visage and replied, "impossible,"
but the guy reiterated that I'd been upgraded. She shrugged
and tore up the pass and gave me another one. Rather dazed,
I sat in 1B (a less good seat, as 1C has a cutout for your
feet, and 1B doesn't) but was quickly kicked out. A perfectly
nice flight, but we landed a bit late.

Hap was there to meet me - as there had been snow in Tacoma
with more forecast, he'd taken the bus up; a quick consultation,
and we decided, as Annie had had school cancelled, not to go to
Seattle but to take the 574 bus to Tacoma to have lunch with her:
met her at Freighthouse Square, and after another consultation
we decided that it would be fun to go out and look at the
stormy weather over the water, so we ended up at the Ram,
which is known for its big tasty burgers. They ordered
various kinds of big burger, which looked good, but insofar
as we were looking at the bay, I figured I'd have cod and
chips, substituting Ram chips (house-made crisps) for the
regular. The chips were fried dry and hard crunchy; the fish,
beer battered, had soaked up a bit of grease and definitely
was not the healthiest of choices. A pale ale went nicely.

Then back to the house for a visit with Jones and Scuppers
and a bit of a bull session and a listen to KING, the
local Classical station, during which I heard a piece that
I definitely want to perform - a Schubert Polonaise for
violin and orchestra. Hap told me a heartwarming story
about how the old lady who owned the station had stuck with
it even when Classical meant losing money, with the eventual
result that the station has just about got a lock on the
market, thanks to a loyal listenership.

Hap got some salmon candy (sweet and smoke cured fish)
from Metropolitan Market, which we snacked on. Also pulled
out a bottle of Point Reyes Cabernet 97, which had been
gotten on a visit to Amanda down in California. A most
interesting wine, the tannins having been mellowed by
age but the grapy quality (which I don't care for) of
some midrange wines quite prominent. There was a powerful
floral aspect as well - Annie was the first to mention it
and pronounced it rose, whereupon I suggested perhaps
camellia, but rose won the day). In addition there were
the usual fruit suspects - I detected blackberries and
plums, while Hap held out for plums and blackberries. We
agreed on an artificial cherry finish (Hap said Luden's
cough drops), which Anne likened to plastic - you can see
this, as plastic solvent (and various kinds of glue) do
remind one of artificial cherry. The finish was long and
smooth, with just a bit of tannin surfacing now and then.

After a good visit, Hap took me to the bus stop, and I
headed back to the airport. Got there really early, as the
snow had held off, and the bus zipped right along. I took
advantage of the "restricted" security line and had time
for a snack at Anthony's: a plate of oysters and a 
Leavenworth Pilsener. The oysters were half Snow Creek and
half Bay Point (?) Sweets; I couldn't tell the difference
aside from some of them being tiny and round and some of
them being smallish and oblong. They were all fresh, very
briny, not exceptionally marine, but thankfully they didn't
taste of cucumbers the way so many Pacific oysters do. After
downing this almost noncaloric meal, I decided I was still
peckish and asked the waiter which of the appetizers I
could get in twenty minutes: he sort of rolled his eyes,
gestured at the rather laid-back and rather underage kitchen
staff, and said essentially, no way Jose. So I nursed my
beer and eventually moseyed to gate A2, where there were
about 3 other people.

Around 10, tumbling to the fact that maybe there had been
a gate change, I looked at the monitor; got to A4 just at
the start of boarding.

US1548 SEA CLT 2230 0609 321 2F
This has to be the most cramped first class section in the
air. It sure doesn't seem like the official 38" pitch, and
I felt squashed throughout. My seatmate was a 70-year-old
retiree who ordered a coffee, and so I told the very
agreeable flight attendant that I was approaching the
flight in the exact opposite way and asked for a Glenlivet.
Whereupon my seatmate changed his order to wine, and a
couple of the others within earshot did likewise.

The snack basket was the usual; I complained about the lack
of the famous Ruger XOXO cookies, which got a sympathetic
cluck from the attendant; swilled down my double; fell
asleep for 3 hours.

US1678 CLT BWI 0945 1116 734 3A
The nice agents at the front desk of the big US Airways club
encouraged me to get on the 8:00, but I wanted to relax and
do my e-mail and turned them down politely. Guzzled a bunch
of grapefruit juice, tapped on the laptop a bit doing flyer
and food BBS stuff, and made a feeble attempt to do some
work. How quickly 3 hours pass.

Boarded up a bit tardily, but it was a quick trip, and we
landed a touch early; I'd snoozed pretty much all through
the flight.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)