Text 14959, 101 rader
Skriven 2011-08-20 01:35:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: concluded june tr 773
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old stuff not sent before

The beds were comfy, and we got a couple hours' snooze and
were somewhat reluctant to pry ourselves out of there and
reenter the US a little early. International first class
is perhaps not such a wonder as it sounds to the uninitiated,
but it is still nothing to be sneezed at.

Customs and immigration were easy; reentry through the
security checkpoint, however, has become so much more
chaotic than it was until recently.

We had plenty of time to enjoy the lounge - coming off a
front cabin flight and connecting to another of the same,
we were entitled to use the fancy lounge, so we had the
chance to sample decent cold cuts, a pretty good-looking
array of cheeses and crudites, an open bar with fairly
prestigious brands (Remy VSOP, for example), and so on.
I grabbed about 6 oz of medium-rare filet, which was far
better than that served onboard.

B-Side Cabernet (Napa) 09 was decent, middle of the road,
mint and berries, too bright for me. This is a well thought
of wine, but I thought that Sebastiani offers better stuff.

Kuyen (Syrah, etc.) (Maipo, Chile) 07 - quite overripe,
raisiny, decent: not for me, though Parker might tout
this style.

Malbec de Ricardo Santo 08 - very pleasant, though the least
expensive of the trio.

The Champers was Taittinger Cuvee Prestige, a fairly nice
blend. I enjoyed several glasses.

UA 751 IAD BOS 1702 1830 320 2AB

Our final flight together was pretty uneventful, though it
took off 45 late and made up only about 10 of that. During
the delay I asked the captain for Channel 9; he was genial
enough but said that he wouldn't do it because of legal
issues. He made some arcane comparison with congressmen's
underwear.

Lilli and I had planned on having a nice goodbye dinner, but
neither of us was particularly hungry, so we took a walk
instead that took us to various places including the 9-11
monument right by the Hilton; then we parted not tearfully,
but not eagerly, either, and off I went.

US2131 BOS LGA 1400 1515 E90 3D

Legal Seafoods in terminal C. The special of the day was a
soft crab sandwich at a reasonable price. A medium, nicely
fried, fresh-tasting. This came on a bun with a smear of
pesto, and enough fixings for half a BLT, so I scraped off
the pesto, ate the crab alone, and fixed myself half a BLT.
Sides were crisp, tasty, but somewhat greasy onion rings and
pretty tasty jalapeno-Cheddar polenta of which I had little,
only wanting and tolerating a taste. Then off to Terminal B
and US Air. I'd been booked on a later flight, but things
were not looking so good. Penny at the club put me on the
2:00, of which there was one seat left in first.

They had the peculiar and odious TSA secondary check metal
table out, and the announcement was made that a life vest
had fallen out of its pouch, and maintenance had to come and
fix that. Somehow I doubt. Was there a suspicious package on
the inbound? Why the TSA? Anyhow, that gave us a 30-min hit.

Boarding was not that much slower than normal, with the TSA
guys picking well I suppose. But as we were ready to go,
some guy in about row 7 tried to get his too-large carryon
into the overhead, and somehow the door got broken as it was
slammed shut (I have no idea by whom). He schlepped the
thing to a bin up front that a speechless FA found for him,
stuffed it in, and slammed the door again. Luckily the door
didn't break this time. Nonetheless, he apologized loudly,
to no one in particular. They called maintenance back, and
eventually, bin duct-taped shut, we were off. We took off
an hour late and shaved half of that.

Time for a beer at the club in New York, but I cleverly
passed, whiling my time by waiting for the excruciatingly
slow wireless. The guy at the desk told me not to bother
showing up at the gate until scheduled departure. Just to
be safe, I showed up 5 min ahead. Shouldn't have - the
plane didn't arrive until departure time.

US4529 LGA BWI 1730 1855 DH8 2F

I slept through this flight, which took off and landed about
40 late, even though it announced on time to get everyone to
the gate (then slid 10, 20, 30 ...). As a result I barely
had time to hustle to the snazzy new MDOT bus, better and
cheaper than the Metro bus, which dropped me off at Shady
Grove and the beginning of reality again. 

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