Happy Anniversary, J!

BigEd has been generous enough not to share the bug he has contracted. So far, anyway. We laid in a new supply of Purell, yesterday, and my fingernails are about to dissolve from all of the hand washing.

He is taking his antibiotic. There is some light showing at the end of his tunnel. He stayed home on Thanksgiving so as not to share with a larger group. Zeta kindly sent him a care package of really good feastings. I have to say, I helped him out with the stuffing - just a little bit.

We will finish up today with turkey and yellow rice for dinner. There is not much that yellow rice can not improve for us, leftover turkey being prime in that group.

When I was slicing the turkey breast on Thursday, I dropped a bit by accident. Mew was watching but forbore to dash in and grab it. I don't allow her in the kitchen when I am cooking. She knows she is welcome any other time. Smart kitty. So I dropped the forbidden piece in her food bowl.

It was Catsgiving, after all . . .

Up, up, and away

It's early and quiet. I plan to be at the store when it opens to pick up a few things. (Okay, pecans which I forgot to buy.) I had failed to find turkey wings at my local Publix, which is small. Zeta called me while she was shopping in the mega-Publix near her work and I asked her to look. It was so crowded she pulled her basket instead of pushing it in some places. I felt badly for asking but she cheerfully braved the crush of people and found some. Yaayy, Zeta!

The wings will be boiled with onion, celery, seasonings, and carrots to make stock for stuffing and gravy. If they are boiled until they are a tasteless bony mush, all the flavor moves into the stock. Discard those tasteless solids, though. I think even our cat would turn up her nose if I offered them.

However this is not Catsgiving, so I won't . . .

The wrong side of the crossbucks

I took the train back home. In my little(!) roomette were two chairs that faced one another and which could recline until each one was absolutely flat, touching to become a bed. The conductor pulled out (and down) the chair facing my chair and put a towel across the seat so I could use it as a footstool and still keep my shoes on. If you locked the door and pulled a curtain across it, your roomette became a private bathroom with a sink that folded down to fill and up to empty. Beneath a step which swiveled up was a commode - hidden but welcome for a long trip.

Of course, our family's usual experience held true: as in when we buy something, it goes wrong (or breaks) and is replaced with a substitute that is great. When I showed my ticket stub to the attendant who was supposed to tell me where car 9710, room 2 was located, he looked perplexed.

"We already have someone in 2," he half muttered to a fellow trainman standing next to him. He turned to me and asked if I had already had breakfast and offered to show me to the dining car while they made up a room for me.

There, I learned two things. Eating aboard a moving train is fun. But, eating while sitting on the side of the table moving backwards is not. I switched sides so as to face the direction of travel and scarfed up a hot breakfast. I was, so I was told, the person that closed the kitchen. Last to eat before lunch.

It was a strange experience to sit on the wrong side of the crossbucks at a level crossing and watch the traffic pile up while waiting for us to move. I felt like waving but settled for sipping some coffee, instead. Oh yes, there was an ever full coffee dispenser at the end of the car. I learned to get refills while the train was not moving very fast. I once found myself surfing from wall to wall down the smooth sides of the narrow corridor while trying to keep the coffee inside its lidded cup.

I did the crossword in the newspaper that was provided but it looked as if someone who was over a hundred years old had written it out. Trains tend to shake, rock, and roll. So did the handwriting. I was worried about being able to read but that was not a problem. I believe I could read while hanging by my thumbs. It's a vice.

Next time, I will bring water and more snacks. The two bottles of water in the window cup holders held maybe half a cup each. There was lunch provided but I left the dining car before dessert in sheer self preservation. The waiter stopped me and asked if I was sure I wanted to leave without dessert.

No, I wasn't, but I did anyway . . .

Arrival, yay!

Jarden Corporation sent us the 18" Patton fan. It arrived yesterday afternoon. Unlike our previous fans, we had to assemble the base. Or rather, J did. It is working fine and I want to say a huge

THANK YOU

to the customer service department at Jarden Corporation. They do care about their customers.