The Grand Tavern is located next to my usual IHG when I stay in the Greater Detroit area, and Deborah and I had a late dinner there, trying out their version of prime rib. While it was okay, Luck’s is better. The bartender was happy to see us, and we shared a bread pudding and ice cream finish. After that, Deborah went home with one more task to complete for work, and I had to unpack and adjust to once again living in the Eastern Time Zone.
Note: I was in NY just over a week ago, and my body and mind are still confused about what time it is; I slept through this Friday morning’s alarm. Six comes relatively too early for me. I managed to rise at 7:30.
I started Thursday by waking up minutes before my 7:00 alarm, and then popping into the shower to get ready. I also remembered to put my coat, swimming trunks, and shorts in my luggage. I had realized I had forgotten them after I was in bed on Wednesday. I switched the AC to vacation mode and the hot water to the same setting. My habit is to leave the network up, still protected by a UPS, and I left the new Raspberry Pi 5 computer in sleep mode.
I forgot to run the dishwasher until it was too late; I unloaded it. I put my laptop and my last few items into my carry-on red Nike gym bag and left. The keys for Air VW the Gray I remembered to put on the hook and not take with me.
I also decided that the rescheduling of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival to September did not work for me. I passed on paying $350 to play an adventure for the Call of Cthulhu game and be a VIP. I will miss this year. The last chance for that was this morning (it is now sold out). I did not want to overload September, as I was planning to focus on housework, teaching classes, writing, and coding during that month.
I rolled my bag and carried my gym bag on top of the luggage to the bus stop. I prefer to use public transit for my trips, save money, and utilize existing transportation. I caught a bus in a few minutes, TriMet’s 57, and then the MAX towards the airport.
I sat in the folding seat, and when a gentleman arrived in a powered wheelchair, I folded up the seat, moved my belongings, and stood for the last few stops. We also got to experience a reboot of the train. We were told via the announcement system that the train was being turned off and back on to fix an issue. I am for fixing issues on trains! Everything worked, and we were on our way. I had time to check, and I could have ordered an Uber for $22+ to get me to PDX from the Gateway station. A group next to me agreed to share the cost of a larger Uber. All good.
I arrived, tagged my bag, walked back to the printing machine, grabbed my phone, which I had left on the machine, and then dropped off my bag. Yikes! It is so easy to do that. It is the third time I have done that.
The usual hawking of Clear and PreCheck was provided and ignored. The wait was short (not much longer than Clear), and I was soon patted down for the sin of wearing suspenders, but this time the machine did not ask to check my junk like in JFK. Just checking two places where my suspenders had metal (I do wonder why it never gets all six locations).
Free coffee with Breakfast (they were wrapping up, and the coffee was near the dregs) was again at Grassa. I was wearing my hat, and they remembered me. I got one of the last breakfasts. At 10, they switch to lunch and start serving pasta. I was tempted to get some meatballs and/or garlic bread for lunch on the plane, but the memory of many spilled and dropped items on planes had me forgo the challenge of keeping a meatball safe in turbulence.
I wrote a quick, rushed blog there while at a table in Grassa. I had less than an hour. I also had some bids on some stamps (I lost all the bids) that would have gone for less than a quarter of the usual price, including one that’s rare to see for sale at all, for under $100.
The rest of the flight is not that interesting. I watched the horror/comedy The Menu, which is a fantasy of foodies getting what they deserve. I loved it and was laughing through it, though I was shocked a few times. I also watched The Big Lebowski, which I had never seen all the way through. It was fun too, another fantasy.
My flight was put in a circle pattern for twenty minutes due to a thunderstorm. I looked at the in-flight map, and it went right over Laingsburg, my old hometown. We arrived the usual way, and soon Deborah and I were hugging and were so happy to be together again.
We landed with another flight on the other runway. I have not seen that in Detroit before.
The trip out of the airport is always more complex than the rest of the journey. Deborah discovered that the valet is about $12, plus a tip. Perfect.
And that takes me full circle.
Thanks for reading.
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