Thursday, January 08, 2004
OK, New Years Resolution: get back to posting regularly.
December was giving and grading finals, followed by frantically finishing holiday presents and packing, followed by 2 weeks of visiting relatives. I'm glad to be home.
Travelling was a thrill - I have the ICD/pacemaker, and that makes airport security a hassle. The problem is, I don't *look* like a heart patient. I'm not elderly, I am otherwise healthy-looking (normal weight, not staggering or coughing or using a walker or wheelchair...). So anyway, nice long hand pat-downs at security, while spousal unit patiently drags all our luggage and coats through regular security.
Philadelphia-area temps were in the 50's, never went below freezing even at night. My sister Steph made lots of delicious food, either leaving out salt altogether for the dishes or putting aside a portion of things before adding salt. She did a great job. We had an organic turkey, uninjected - no salted butter basting sauce injections. Lots of vegetables. I really raised some awareness there on the amount of sodium in food!
One of the gifts I got was a pair of Lands End shoes, the "drivers moc" thingies. Those turn out to be great for airport security, even easier than sneakers. Lightweight, easy to slip on and off - I think their versatility in airports must be part of what has contributed to the huge success of these shoes.
We flew from Philadelphia to Oakland, CA by way of Houston - yes, that's 39th parallel to 38th parallel by way of the 31st parallel, but that's airport hubs for ya. Oakland is a smaller airport than San Francisco, as well as being closer to Jer's home. Emily was just turning 3, and she's a delightful little kid. Occasionally any 3-year-old is annoying, but she's nicer than most, if I say so myself.
Eating in Oakland was a bit more of a problem - they eat out more often, and since B is Asian-American, when she cooks at home it tends to be stuff with soy sauce. I finally convinced her not to try so hard - shredded wheat for breakfast, not scrambled eggs and homemade sticky buns. She made a stir-fry with a ginger sauce that had only 35 mg of sodium per serving, and then separated a portion out for me before adding soy sauce to the rest. That worked pretty well.
Did you know that airlines don't bother serving special meals any more for anything shorter than international flights? You can specify "low sodium" all you want on your reservations, it doesn't make a bit of difference. You get what they serve everyone else. Well, at least the bananas with breakfast were good. On the trip home, we had a long enough stop-over in Houston to eat supper in the airport, rather than depending on airline food, so I was able to find salad and fruit salad. Good old reliable fruit salad!
Well, back to catching up. New Year's Resolution: post here at least once every week, don't fall behind!
December was giving and grading finals, followed by frantically finishing holiday presents and packing, followed by 2 weeks of visiting relatives. I'm glad to be home.
Travelling was a thrill - I have the ICD/pacemaker, and that makes airport security a hassle. The problem is, I don't *look* like a heart patient. I'm not elderly, I am otherwise healthy-looking (normal weight, not staggering or coughing or using a walker or wheelchair...). So anyway, nice long hand pat-downs at security, while spousal unit patiently drags all our luggage and coats through regular security.
Philadelphia-area temps were in the 50's, never went below freezing even at night. My sister Steph made lots of delicious food, either leaving out salt altogether for the dishes or putting aside a portion of things before adding salt. She did a great job. We had an organic turkey, uninjected - no salted butter basting sauce injections. Lots of vegetables. I really raised some awareness there on the amount of sodium in food!
One of the gifts I got was a pair of Lands End shoes, the "drivers moc" thingies. Those turn out to be great for airport security, even easier than sneakers. Lightweight, easy to slip on and off - I think their versatility in airports must be part of what has contributed to the huge success of these shoes.
We flew from Philadelphia to Oakland, CA by way of Houston - yes, that's 39th parallel to 38th parallel by way of the 31st parallel, but that's airport hubs for ya. Oakland is a smaller airport than San Francisco, as well as being closer to Jer's home. Emily was just turning 3, and she's a delightful little kid. Occasionally any 3-year-old is annoying, but she's nicer than most, if I say so myself.
Eating in Oakland was a bit more of a problem - they eat out more often, and since B is Asian-American, when she cooks at home it tends to be stuff with soy sauce. I finally convinced her not to try so hard - shredded wheat for breakfast, not scrambled eggs and homemade sticky buns. She made a stir-fry with a ginger sauce that had only 35 mg of sodium per serving, and then separated a portion out for me before adding soy sauce to the rest. That worked pretty well.
Did you know that airlines don't bother serving special meals any more for anything shorter than international flights? You can specify "low sodium" all you want on your reservations, it doesn't make a bit of difference. You get what they serve everyone else. Well, at least the bananas with breakfast were good. On the trip home, we had a long enough stop-over in Houston to eat supper in the airport, rather than depending on airline food, so I was able to find salad and fruit salad. Good old reliable fruit salad!
Well, back to catching up. New Year's Resolution: post here at least once every week, don't fall behind!
