After Nancy had gone on her way, we scouted about for some salvage
for supper. Dale and I went down to the cellar, where he found a
package of cube steaks labeled "2 meals" from 2015 and I a bottle
of Beringer white Zinfandel 2006, which I figured would have dried
out a bit but might provide oomph to a stew or gravy or something.

A taste of the wine yielded that it was, though still a bit sweet,
probably better and certainly more interesting than it had been
when it was fresh made. The fruitiness had mellowed and subdued
itself, and there was a hint of rancio that I thought would make
for a good sauce but actually also made it quite potable.

I ended up cooking chicken fried steak and serving it with a brown
gravy made with the bone broth that Gail had made and a reduction
of that white Zinfandel. I oversalted the flour a little, which
necessitated the gravy. Gail found a box of Goya beans and rice
for the side; it was salty but pretty good. I ended up taking a
half teaspoon of Nu-Salt to compensate for the sodium-rich meal.

Gail did Duncan Hines fudgy brownies for afters, to accompany which
Dale found some Turbodog for me in the downstairs fridge.

Bryan came by for a check-in between work and his commute and,
knowing I like hot things, gave me a jar of sriracha sesame seeds
from JFC. These are designed as a shake-on flavor accent for salads,
sushi, and so forth but, as it turns out, make a nice out of hand
snack - just hot enough to make one want a beer but not so as to
cause any discomfort.

Next morning at about 1430 we made a scheduled pit stop at Pioneer
Pit Beef, where while we were walking from the car to the shed,
some lady pulled up and said, I'm mobility impaired, can you get
me a sandwich, waving a 20, so we did, getting her a sandwich and
13.75 change, and on delivery she blessed me up one side and down
the other, which was amusing and embarrassing at the same time.

My usual order is a super, rare, plain, and root beer on the side.
This time, as I had been a carb hog, I asked for a super, rare,
light mayo, light bbq sauce, water. Dale reports that on hearing
the word rare, the slicer man took off the medium-rare that he'd
used for the lady's order and put on a new roast, shaving off the
well-done ends until he struck pink. Still it was more done than
the medium-rare had been. Light mayo was a big blob on one side
of the sandwich and none on the other, intersecting with a similar
blob of sauce, so I got four taste sensations, plain, with mayo,
with sauce, and with both. It was still fine and hit the spot.

On to the airport, as the Shipps wanted to get home before rush
hour started in earnest; there they had shut down security for some
kind of breach, but that resumed shortly, and I was through before 4.

During the next hour and half, there were 6 more trespassers, all
accompanied by sirens and flashing lights and a very loud recorded
announcement (different depending on which portal had been crossed).

I had camped at the quietest electric outlets, which was closest
to one of the doors being illegally entered. This was annoying, but
also was some guy who came and sat near me and proceeded to have a
loud telephone meeting. Back in the olden days, if you saw someone
talking to himself, you'd think, what a loony, but now, it's oh,
Bluetooth.

AA4861 BWI PHL 1810 1909 ER4 6A

Ten before boarding, I took a bathroom break and went to the gate
at boarding time, where everyone else but me and one or two others
were already in their seats, the plane balanced and almost ready
to take off. The two others were found, and we took off a few early.

And landed 30 minutes early, so I forwent my plan to visit the
United club to see if either of my favorite bartenders were there
(after November 1, I will no longer have access to this club unless
I'm flying on United, which is hard to do out of Philly); instead I
went to the Centurion, where I don't have such a history but which
stocks both Remy Martin and Hennessy, and a good assortment of
snacks, of which I had three excellent sesame shortbreads and a
number of passionfruit malabis for which I paid dearly later with
an hour of porcelain.

AA1874 PHL BOS 2055 2223 763 12G

I didn't get the bed upgrade but at least got into premium economy,
which was half full, with every seat having either a window or an
empty seat next on both sides, so that wasn't too bad, plus there's
free booze. Having had a Cognac or three I asked for just a red
wine, which was the really tasteless Madame de Ste. Helene Merlot,
red ink at its worst, despite being from the Languedoc region of
France and supposedly 100% Merlot. Should have had a Woodford on
the rocks, my usual order on this airline. I took most of the split
back for Bonnie to try, so she could see what true awfulness was.

Premium economy, by the way, is my likely future, because upgrades
are getting hard for all but the biggest spenders, of whom I am
definitely not one.

We landed on time or a little early, and the Silver Line came in
just a few minutes, and I made a good connection, so was at Bonnie's,
unpacked, showered, and ready for bed by midnight. Bonnie wanted the
full report, so actual bedtime wasn't until past 1.

I was surprised to find that I'd gained less than 2 pounds for
the week.
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