Text 30280, 99 rader
Skriven 2015-08-27 02:39:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: off to AK 148
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Still yearning for a rare steak, and being early at the
airport, I went to Sam and Harry's, where a genial bartender
took my order for a ribeye extra rare, spinach, onion strings,
and a Sam Octoberfest. The steak came medium, and I sent it
back: pity, because it had been a pretty nice-looking piece of
meat. The spinach tasted sour as though it had been cooked
with vinegar and came with a huge blob of unmelted grana on
top. The onion strings were sort of rare but okay. Sam was
fine. The second steak came out essentially raw - the outside
had been lightly killed, as Monty Python would have it,
slightly discolored, and cool, and the inside was cold raw.
This was okay with me, but I couldn't eat all the copious fat
in this piece, as it was congealed raw and beyond even my
capabilities. A chat with the manager ensued - Herschel
promised to reeducate his kitchen staff.

The long walk - maybe half a mile? no, I just measured it on
the ancient but presumably accurate Streets and Trips to be
1/3 of a mile - to the Alaska-Delta-United neighborhood; a
visit to the United Club (sugar cookies and Evan Williams
Bourbon; then to the gate, where I was given priority
boarding because Alaska still had me down as an MVP.

AS   3 DCA SEA 1840 2125 738 6F

There were a couple of youngish techie folk next to me who
kept looking forward past the curtain - apparently they were
MVPs out for an upgrade, and rather obsessing about it they
checked repeatedly, and the lady was #1 on the waitlist and
her gentleman #2, and she knew that the last person to have
gotten an upgrade was a MVP, and what were those two empty
seats doing there in the last row of first?

Eventually those seats were filled, to their disappointment,
and I commiserated but pointed out that people who already
had their first-class seats often don't hurry up and board
early because they already know the seats are theirs. These
two turned out to be perfectly nice folks just a little bit
overenthusiastic about playing that game.

Smooth flight with a few bumps toward the end. Lots of
shill - for premium entertainment (handheld rental for $10),
booze, the Alaska credit card, lunch. No free goodies; smoky
mac and cheese for sale for $7, which might also buy a
Courvoisier, a glass of Canoe Ridge wine, an Alaska Summer
or Amber, or various other potables. I had a ginger ale for
free - tasting it I discovered that it was taste- and calorie-
free as well.

We landed half an hour early and spent all of that waiting for
our gate. Considering that my next flight was supposed to
board at 2130, I felt a touch of pressure and hoped that 

AS  89 SEA ANC 2215 0042 739 6F was 734

was going to be parked nearby. It was and it wasn't - the new
gate was diagonally across the terminal from where we parked,
but at least it was in the same terminal. I hustled over there
to find that the previous leg was just deplaning, so actually
I had tons of time.

It turns out the flight was only half full, and they were
selling the premium seats for the bargain price of $30
including a coupon for a free drink. I got a very chatty old
lady in 6D gone up to visit her cousin who has a food
concession in Denali - she has never been to Alaska, and
this was #2 on her bucket list, the first being the Holy
Land, which she got a few years back. I got her life history
and was somewhat surprised to find that she was in fact one
year younger than me.

The aircraft switch was good for me, because the bulkhead
in the newer plane had much more storage and legroom. I am
not thrilled with the new slim profile seats, though - they
hurt my back as no other seat has ever done.

In the middle of the flight, my seatmate started causing a
ruckus because she suddenly (after her free Budweiser) came
to the realization that she had left her purse in Seattle.
She tore the area around us apart, mumbling that her husband
would never let her live this down. With the aid of a flight
attendant, we got her to focus on what she had to do next
day after seeing if the airport lost and found could help
out at all. She calmed down a bit and was actually smiling a
little by the time we landed.

Which was a half hour early, but we frittered all of it away
waiting for a gate. Eventually we deplaned, and last I saw
my seatmate was conversing earnestly with the gate agent. I
wished her well and was on my way.

Swisher had been waiting since forever, as he had looked up
the flight, and it was supposed to be half an hour early.
Ah, well. We headed to the house and chatted and had beers
until past two, which meant past six for me.

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