Text 3035, 66 rader
Skriven 2013-07-30 20:23:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: entering California 947
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Lilli had two (actually three, she found another later) senior
citizen BART cards, so though I don't qualify for some months,
I got to use one anyway. This cuts an extortionate trip in
third, putting it in line with the regular rates in cities
such as New York and Boston.

It had cleared up a bit when we got to Oakland, so we decided
not to call for a ride and walked the scant mile down to my
friend Fisher's. He and his wife had cleaned up the living
room, vacuumed the nastier of the dogs, and generally made
the place nice for us.

I offered to take Fisher to lunch, but he declined, saying
that he would maybe accept something if I brought it back.
I guess he was roasting coffee that day or something.

We went back up to College Avenue and browsed around a bit
- it's got that gentrified vibe and has cafes and bars all
up and down the street all the way to Berkeley - before
deciding on Dan and Nick's, a bar that seemed to offer
something for both of us - her first choice had been Mexican,
mine Chinese, and beer and burgers was a good compromise.

She had the house wine, which smelled cloying to me but cost
only $5 for a third of a bottle, and I had the Albany Old
Town brown ale, which was very malty but exceedingly unsweet
and quite bitter in a caricatured English way: as a session
ale, it has alcohol only in the 4 range, good given my
convalescent condition. Later, I switched to Henry Weinhard's
root beer (somewhat mildewy as that brand tends to be, but
otherwise okay), and Lilli's wine was okay enough for her to
get another glass.

Her half-pound burger rare was quite good, the sesame bun
sturdy and a couple notches above the usual commercial one;
fresh tomato, lettuce, and red onion and quite good, crisp
fries on the side. A blob of decent slaw, a peperoncino (I
got this), and a pickle spear. I ordered The Obama, whose
naming escapes me - a focaccia sandwich with well-done but
real roast beef, two slices of Swiss cheese, sauteed onions,
slices of avocado, and a sauce that was said to be garlic
aioli but seemed more like a mustard mayo. It was surprisingly
good, and a generous handful of homemade chips made it better.
Lilli gave me a third of her sandwich, so I packed half my
sandwich and a bunch of potato products for Fisher for later.

On arrival home, Fisher thanked me profusely for my offering
and promptly ignored it, so it was still waiting on the counter
when his wife Kandy came home from work, so as we were still
not hungry, and he is like a small wayward child when it comes
to eating, she deserved it, and she ate it.

We picked up a bottle of Viano Vineyards Cabernet 08, whose
main virtue is its cheapness. Actually, it reminds me very much
of the extra reserve homemade wine that households of Italian
extraction bring out for special occasions - i.e., not bad, but
certainly not what I am accustomed or want to be accustomed to
drink. Stemmy, dark spicy, lots of prunelike overripe fruit.
Unfiltered, so almost grainy in texture.

And so to bed, this time a blowup mattress on the living room
floor for me and the dog-ridden but fairly comfy leather
recliner couch for her.
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