Saturday, October 13, 2018, and we were at sea.  It was about time.  Sea Day, Office Day.  I would have liked to have walked “On Deck for a Cause”, but, instead, I set up shop at my desk at 10:00am.  First in were two women who aren’t at all happy with their travel agent and wanted to recruit me.  I explained the ethics to them, and they got it, but they weren’t very happy.  Apparently, they have given this agen a lot of business over the years, and this is the first perk they have seen, and she didn’t even tell them they were getting it.

A few more people came to sign up for the Shore Excursion.  There was a Mariner’s lunch at noon, so I closed up shop a bit early and went to it, with the Martins and Fairchilds. When I got back there were some phone calls to return and I had to get a final count for the Cellar Master’s Dinner, as it’s tonight. Most of the people were out at full price.  Sheila Martin and Andrea Fairchild dropped out, too, but Bob Martin and Page Farchild were coming.  They and the Tsengs were the half price takers, Richard Dixon and Sue Widmore were coming on his four stars, and I paid full price.  I returned what money I had to and dropped a Shore Excursion Flyer for Monte Carlo on Joanne Gardiner’s desk, hoping she and Michael would take my second bus.  I had a spare ticket for them.

Finally, I got on the Internet and found there a delightful invitation from Tony Kilgallen, to appear on his Napa TV show.  I’ll let you know when it will air.

The Cellar Master’s Dinner was a blast.  First of all, it was six courses, paired with appropriate wines, and every one of them delicious, both food and wine.  We had:

• Seared Foie Gras, with blackcurrant reduction and parsley foam, accompanied by Veuve Cliquot
• Porcini, Chervil and Artichoke Soup, with chicken dumplings and crème fraiche, accompanied by 2013 Cellar Master’s Blend, Chateau Ste. Michelle, WA
• Warm Lobster Salad with Truffle Vinaigrette, asparagus spears and artichokes, accompanied by 2016 Domaine Laroche Premier Cru Chablis, France
• Roasted Tenderloin Beef with Sweetbreads, salt baked celeriac, crispy onions and mushroom foam, accompanied by Flanagan Beauty of Three, Proprietary Red, CA
• Chocolate Pot de Crème, grand marnier and marshmallow, with Emilio Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Spain
• Artisan Cheeses, dried fruits, nuts, crackers, with Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Ruby Port, Portugal

But that wasn’t the half of it.  It was our table that was so fascinating.  My clients, Bob Martin and Page Fairchild are a lot of fun, and they have interesting lives and interesting wives.  Both their wives are retired university professors, and assistant heads of departments, both have PhDs, of course.  Then Bob was President of Iron Ore Company of Canada, in Sept Iles, where I traveled, one day a week for about six months, to teach his people how to program their new IBM 360 computers, back in the day.  Page made his money in Banking and Insurance, which is a good way to do it.  Both of these guys can be very funny, and they were.  Sean and Grace Tseng, were a lot of fun too, and we learned that to immigrate to the USA from China, you need a couple of Masters degrees, at least.  Sean just wanted to be a builder.  There’s more money in it.  Grace was in IT, like me.  They live in Houston.

Our most interesting table mate, by far, turned out to be Richard Dixon, by his own account, a 5 Star General, and Commander of the United States’ Global Anti-Terrorist Force.  Gee, I would have thought he’d have to kill us, after telling us that.  He says there are secure communications on the ship that he can use, and a stealth helicopter scoops him off and takes him to meetings, on occasion.  We had to get a picture:

So here we are: Helen, Page, Bob, Richard, Sue, Grace and Sean, having a wonderful time.  I do have to note, though, that there were more than twenty vacant seats at the diner, meaning there would have been plenty of room for all our people who wanted to come, Holland America Voyages and Distinctive would have profited from a lot of goodwill.  Instead, HAL just looked like a welcher.  I didn’t get any bad reviews.

The next day we docked in Barcelona, Spain.  I like this port a lot, but it was time for another newsletter.  So, I wrote it and delivered it.  Then I went to the gym, pulled my email, wrote a bit, etc.  It was a longish shuttle to the bottom of Lsa Ramblas, and I wasn’t going to have time to do much.

Dinner at the Pinnacle was wonderful, too.  The Waltemaths, Aimers and Wolfs were fabulous people, too.  Doug Waltemath and Al Aimers are both engineers.  Doug builds bridges and overpasses, and Al builds large commercial buildings.  Sue Waltemath is a Dietitian, which matched with the Wolfs.  He was a high school teacher and she a nurse, when their five sons started in to university.  They quickly realized they would need a third source of income and have been very successful selling supplements.  Our fourth couple never showed up, but seven is a better number for a dinner party, anyway.  I surprised them with a couple of bottles from my wine package, and we were all very happy.

On Monday, October 15, we were in Marseille, and the weather was absolutely foul.  It was pouring.  To add to that, the shuttle was long and expensive.  The Med is not as much fun as it used to be, since there are more and more cruise ships.  In the larger ports, we often find ourselves berthed in the container port, instead of downtown.  The cruise lines don’t build the cost of these shuttles into the fares, and they end up with a bunch of disgruntled passengers.  I just stay aboard, especially if it’s raining.  By the time it cleared, it wasn’t worth paying for the shuttle.  I used the time to get the post shore excursion farewell and comments card letter mostly written, as I was going to have to finish, print, collate and deliver it tomorrow afternoon.

Richard Dixon called in mid-afternoon, with his regrets, for the shore excursion.  Something had come up in the world, and he had to stay near his command post.  A few people called wondering if we needed tender tickets, and I assured them we did not.  Anne Cordani wanted to know if she could stay and shop in Nice, and I told her about the train that runs along the Côte d’Azur, and stops in both Nice and Monte Carlo.  It would be an early call in the morning, so I packed everything I would need for the Shore Excursion before dinner.

Tamarind delivered again and we had a very nice meal just we five.

Upcoming:

For those of you who have been asking where I go next, that’s Buenos Aires to San Antonio, on Celebrity, December 23, with add-ons in BA and the Chilean Wine country.

If you want Asia, I don’t have one booked yet, but I have four exceptionally nice ladies from L.A. who are going, Shanghai to Singapore, also on Celebrity, in February.  I have been working with these gals for a few months, and they are all lovely.  They like to travel well, and they don’t quibble.  I have some pretty nice stuff lined up for them.  Read my own Asia blog from last February, to get the flavor.  They’d be happy to have a couple more people along to share private tours, etc.

Email me about either of these, or anything else you want.  I do work from at sea.  I just booked a cruise for clients today.

Wednesday, October 10 – Happy Birthday to me in Cartagena, Spain

Many thanks for thinking of me.  Makes me feel good to know I have so many friends who care.  Lord knows when I’ll pick my electronic cards or get to Facebook.  I am saving my Internet at Sea for plain email, sending my blog, and booking cruises.

In the morning, I called Giawa about the oversold Cellar Master’s Dinner.  He wasn’t in.  I updated my manifest and picture file, while I waited for his call back.  I fielded some calls, and did a bunch of paperwork, updating the manifest and starting a letter that I would have to get out tomorrow about the Cellar Master’s dinner.  Then I went to the gym for an hour.  I didn’t get out in Cartagena, until after four o’clock, and had to be back aboard at 5:30pm.

The guy I spoke to yesterday called back to make an appointment before dinner, with me and the Dining Room Manager.  We met in the Tamarind Bar, before my dinner appointment.  The Cellar Master came, too.  There was no way we could have another date, because the venue was booked every night, and they were almost sold out for Cellar Masters.  I was having trouble believing that part.  It felt like they were holding out to get full price for the dinner.  I explained once again, how much face both I and Holland America were losing.  They said they would take it higher up and we would meet again at 9:00 am tomorrow in the Dining Room.

I joined the Fairchilds and Marins for a Tamarind dinner to celebrate my birthday.  It’s an Asian restaurant, serving sushi, alongside dim sum, Peking Duck, Pad Thai, etc., pretty decent quality.  It’s not Hong Kong, but it’s good.  I got the sparkler in the little cake and the “Panjang Amurnia”, too.  Kristian Grey, an Irish Magician/Comedian was on the World Stage at 10:00pm, and he was no good at all, at all.

Thursday, October 11, we were in Ceuta, Spanish Morocco.  My 9:00am meeting with Tan was disappointing, to say the least.  He offered me 10 spots at full price, for the Cellar Master’s Dinner, and said I could come myself and bring one more person for half-price.  I got that up to 4 at half price and 12 total.  Then we dickered around some more and I ended up with a grudging 12 in the Pinnacle at half price and 10 in Tamarind for 25% off.  I had just taken 5 people for 50% off last night, so I was underwhelmed, but my arguments fell on deaf ears.  I gave up, finished my two-page, somewhat embarrassing, but very clear, newsletter, and delivered to all cabins.

Soon after I got back, I got a call from Richard Dixon, to book the Cellar Master’s dinner as a 4-star Mariner.  That gave us 6 at half-price.  I called it in to Tan and got these two seats added, for a total of 14.  I did get to the gym, and I managed to get out in Ceuta for an hour, where I bought some pretty sexy pantyhose. Tan’s intransigence had cost me another day, when I could have been enjoying a nice port.  This was one of the better ones, as the shuttle was short, and free.

Angela Corso called back to ask me to just return the money, so I did.  Karlan Zahorka and the ladies in 8032 confirmed the Shore excursion.  Lawrence Wilkinson booked the Tamarind dinner.  We could have had dinner on shore but, thanks to the Cellar Master’s Dinner kerfuffle, I didn’t have time to do the research., Hence, the Dining Room.  It’s good and the price is right.

On Friday, October 12, we were docked in Cadiz, Spain.  Charles Miller called to confirm that we would be going to Florence from Livorno together, taking a taxi to the train and on to Florence.  We can decide on the time later.  There will be 5 of us, with the Zahorkas.  Sheila Mason called to book Fairchilds and Martins for Tamarind.  Page Fairchild called that in, too.

Around 10:00am, I went out with the Fairchilds and Martins.  Our plan was to take the brand new Hop On Hop Off bus, and I couldn’t wait to have Churros again.  Well, I just gained some good local knowledge.  There were three ships in port, and City Sightseeing couldn’t jam the port gate, so, they just sold you the ticket at stop Number 1, and made you walk to Stop 2 to get the bus.  That way, you didn’t notice how long the line was until you were in it.  We waited almost an hour to get on the bus.  The better strategy would have been to walk across town and get on at Stop 7.  It wasn’t more than a ten-minute walk, and walking is easier than standing.

Sheila got out at Stop 5, to go to the beach, so it wasn’t a dead loss, at least for her. She got a nice swim, while Bob had a beer, and Andrea, Page and I rode the HOHO around its full circuit.  Sure enough, by the time we got back to Stop 5, Sheila and Bob were getting back on.  We got off at Stop 7 and stopped for a beer at a side walk café.

Then we ambled around some more, looking for my churros.  When we found the place, we also found out they didn’t serve them until 5:00pm and we had to be back on the boat by 4:30pm.  The gelato we found up a side street was a pretty nice consolation prize, though.

There were no more calls re the Cellar Master’s dinner.  I might have as many as 13 if 6 people, plus me, are willing to pay full price. So far, no takers, but I called the 13 in to Tan, for now, along with 9 for the Pinnacle and 5 for Tamarind, me and my own clients.  If I don’t get more for Tamarind tomorrow, I’ll cancel it and take my people, on my 5 stars.

We went to dinner in the Dining Room at 6:30pm, and to the Production Show, 1000 Steps, at 8:30.  It was good, but I’ m not up on my modern music, and not sure I care to be.  Good dancers, though.

Upcoming:

For those of you who have been asking where I go next, that’s Buenos Aires to San Antonio, on Celebrity, December 23, with add-ons in BA and the Chilean Wine country.

If you want Asia, I don’t have one booked yet, but I have four exceptionally nice ladies from L.A. who are going, Shanghai to Singapore, also on Celebrity, in February.  I have been working with these gals for a few months, and they are all lovely.  They like to travel well, and they don’t quibble.  I have some pretty nice stuff lined up for them.  Read my own Asia blog from last February, to get the flavor.  They’d be happy to have a couple more people along to share private tours, etc.

Email me about either of these, or anything else you want.  I do work from at sea.  I just booked a cruise for clients today.

For any friends of Paul’s who haven’t seen it, in the Montreal Gazette, here is Paul Terni’s obituary.  Thanks to Roslyn for sending it to me. I’ll be speaking at his Memorial Service, and the title of my eulogy will be “Paul Terni, my boss, my mentor, my tenant, my travel buddy, my client, my patient, my friend.”  I’ll post it here, when I get it written, which will likely be on the plane to Montreal.  It’s rolling around in my head, though.  He was such a special friend.

http://montrealgazette.remembering.ca/obituary/paul-terni-1938-2018-1070558866

Monday, October 8 – Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, a little late now

The Cabroma driver was half an hour early. I scrambled to get out of the room, texting the Martins and Fairchilds, as I scrambled.  Bless them and our driver, we all came together earlier than planned and were on our way to Civitavecchia.  That was an easy ride, too, and soon we were on the nice, new msKoningsdam, launched in 2016.

I had got the Martins a significant upgrade to a Spa Verandah, because Sheila actually has a condition called Loudness Hyperacusis, which means moderately intense sounds are perceived as being uncomfortably loud, and her original cabin, just above the main stage, could have been a real problem.  My five stars, or my super sales performance on HAL, thanks to Joan Westgate, gave me a significant upgrade, too, from sleeping with the fishes on deck 1, to a nice unobstructed verandah on deck 7.  So I traded with the Fairchilds, for their obstructed balcony on Deck 4.  I didn’t think I should have a better cabin than my own clients.  I don’t do anything in the cabin but work and sleep, anyway.

I booked us some specialty dinners and investigated how many people I could take to a group dinner, using my five-star 50% off privilege.  The gal at the desk, brought out a flyer on the Cellar Master’s Dinner, for $89, six courses with wine pairings.  I thought that would be just the ticket, and asked her how many people I could host at 50% off, for that.  She didn’t know, but she went off to check with someone higher up.   She came back, and, to my great delight, told me I could have as many as I wanted, on my privileged tab.  It’s wonderful to have something really special, especially as this ship already has galley tours and a virtual bridge tour, that even includes parts of the engine room.

I met with the Assistant Beverage Manager, the Assistant Shore Excursions Manager, and the Entertainment Coordinator.  I went back to my room, and adjusted my welcome letter, mail-merged,  had them printed, stuffed them in their folders, and delivered them to the staterooms.  On this ship, that takes 45 minutes.  It’s pretty big.  I didn’t finish until almost 8:00pm, so I ended up going to the dining room alone and eating with four Aussies and two Americans, Patti and Todd Hutchison.  Patti and I share a birthday, and we’re both Monkeys.  She’s just the Monkey that’s 24 years younger than I am.

Tuesday, October 9

I returned Helen Wang’s call, which was moot, because she had now read her Welcome Letter, and was clear on everything.  I went down to man the desk.  People came by to talk about the ports, especially Barcelona.  That’s a city that I love, so I was happy to have that conversation.  My people are interesting.  One is involved in an organization called “Feed the 9”.   That’s the 9,000,000,000 people who will be on this planet by 2050.  It’s a scary thought on many levels.  Another told me a very sad story about how her husband died on a cruise ship.  It was a ruptured gall-bladder, so he was probably a goner from the time it happened, but I didn’t like her story about how the ship handled it.  It’s not a cruise line that I promote.

I went back to my room and wrote my cocktail party speech.  I was excited to tell them about the Cellar Master’s Dinner.  I invited him to come, as well as the Future Cruise Consultants, old friends Joanne and Michael Gardiner.  Journeys Ashore bowed out because the first day is a paperwork nightmare for them.  That, I believe.

I also called every single room, reached some people, left more messages, and went to the Cocktail Party.  The venue was half of the Crow’s Nest.  It’s not a disco on this ship.  It’s just a reading room, and a place to access your devices and enjoy the view.  It was perfect.  45 people came out of 62, which is pretty good.  The Cellar Master came and charmed them with his knowledge, and our good deal, and Joanne Gardiner always gives a nice enthusiastic presentation on Future Cruises, then they all introduced themselves.   By the time that was over, 19 people had signed up for the Cellar Master’s Dinner, and a few more signed up after, for a total of 23.  The Cellar Master got nervous, and called his manager.  I got a call, right there on the Crow’s Nest phone.  The caller told me there were not that many places left, as they had had a Wine Tasting that afternoon, and were almost sold out.  I could expect, at best, ten places.  I told him everything I knew, how much face we would all be losing, and asked him if we could find another date and repeat the event, just for Distinctive Voyages.  He promised to get back to me tomorrow.

I went to dinner in the Dining Room, with my friends and clients, Page and Andrea Fairchild, and then to BB King’s Blues Club, which was a lot of fun.

Upcoming:

For those of you who have been asking where I go next, that’s Buenos Aires to San Antonio, on Celebrity, December 23, with add-ons in BA and the Chilean Wine country.

If you want Asia, I don’t have one booked yet, but I have four exceptionally nice ladies from L.A. who are going, Shanghai to Singapore, also on Celebrity, in February.  I have been working with these gals for a few months, and they are all lovely.  They like to travel well, and they don’t quibble.  I have some pretty nice stuff lined up for them.  Read my own Asia blog from last February, to get the flavor.  They’d be happy to have a couple more people along to share private tours, etc.

Email me about either of these, or anything else you want.  I do work from at sea.  I just booked a cruise for clients today.

Thursday, October 4

I had a quiet morning at Symanskys, catching up with myself, and packing for Rome and the Med.  In the afternoon, I spent a couple of hours with Paul and Andrea, to give Peter a break, as he had a 14-hour shift.  He needed to get out for a walk or something.  He stayed for a while to snack with us, though.  The treats are really good at Ternis.  Paul was in good humour and we talked longer than ever.  It’s kind of surreal, but he knows what he is doing is right, and he never wavers.  His doctor called in around 4:30 pm, and I asked her if she wanted to speak to him.  She did.  His end of the conversation was “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”  When he hung up, I asked him for the other side of the conversation for notes.  He was agreeing to the assisted suicide, the transport Friday morning to have the pick line put in, the timing of that, the final procedure and the timing of the final procedure.  We had a laugh over the fact that they don’t take “yes” for an answer.

I stayed another hour and a half, until it was time to join Adam and Judy for dinner at their local “Touceh” at the corner of Prince Albert and de Maisonneuve, an easy walk from 63 Chesterfield.  It was delicious, calf’s liver and caramelized onions, a treat I don’t get very often.  There was a fabulous chocolate cake sitting on the counter, like you used to see in Woolworth’s, when it was good.  Our waitress, an engineering student, was proud to tell us that she had made it herself, and it was excellent.

Friday, October 5

Paul Terni’s assisted suicide it will happen tomorrow morning at 11:00 am.  He is in good spirits, no pain, and happy to be going this way.  A brave, wonderful friend.  His celebration of life will be October 19, at 5:00pm, in Montreal.  I have duly changed my flights and will be stopping in Montreal, for a couple of days, on the way home.    Expect me back in Santa Rosa, October 22.  United Airlines were nicer to me this year than last, when I had to fly home early with Elvon. I told them it was a death in the family, which is true, to me.  They waived the change fee and only charged me 12,500 points and about $30.  It’s a nice non-stop flight, too.  They even improved my flight to Rome tonight, reducing my time in Munich from nine hours to three hours.  The nine hours did not look like much fun, so I was grateful.

The Lufthansa flight to Munich, however, was its own special hell.  I couldn’t get it upgraded at check-in time, as I always hope, and the plane was a sardine can, in economy.  I like to work, blog, whatever, on planes, but they are making it almost impossible to use a computer.  The edge of it was up against my tits, and my hands had to come in around them.  I could wish them smaller, but I kind of like them the way they are.  They balance my pot.

Then there were the “travel socks” I had bought in Montreal.  Judy warned me they were uncomfortable.  I thought they were OK, wearing them around town, but on a seven-hour flight, she was only too right.  I never got a wink of sleep for the discomfort I was in.  At least I didn’t have to eat the food.  I had had a very nice pulled-pork sandwich in the airport.

I took the socks off in the Munich airport, which helped for the next flight, but it was only an hour and a half, anyway.  So I never got to sleep on it, either.  I got to the hotel without further ado, did a little more work, and decided to eat in, as it was raining cats and dogs.  The Crowne Plaza provided a passable lasagna, and I went to bed at ten thirty.

I woke up after a couple of hours, and couldn’t get back to sleep, thinking about Paul, so I got up, cleared email, and blogged for a couple of hours.  It’s probably what he would have done.  Then I slept like a log.  One of the items in my email was very timely.  It came from Flyers’ Rights; an organization I support with a small but monthly donation.  I know they are for real.  The organization was started by Kate Hanni, a Silverado Club member, ten or fifteen years ago.  Here’s what they wrote:

Helen,

Flyers are one step closer to minimum seat standards, but we need your continued help!

On Wednesday, the New York Times credited FlyersRights.org with leading the charge for seat size standards in both the courts and now in Congress. Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Bill, directing the FAA to reevaluate seat sizes and emergency evacuation standards.

On September 19, the New York Times reported on FlyersRights.org’s efforts to enact reasonable seat size regulation to protect passenger safety and health.

As soon as the President signs the bill into law, all three branches of government will have now ordered the FAA to reevaluate its current stance in light of increasing passenger size, shrinking seat sizes, and serious questions over the emergency evacuation testing process.

We have made this progress thanks to the contributions from passengers like you. We ask that you give again so that we can keep pushing the FAA to do its job to ensure passenger safety and health.

Please make a generous tax-deductible contribution of any amount to FlyersRights.org and we will make sure every dollar is used to protect passenger rights.

If the spirit moves you, you’ll be helping yourself and your fellow travelers.  The pain is real, now, never mind the safety aspect.

Saturday, October 6

The Crowne Plaza, Rome St. Peter’s, is a spa hotel, which I had thought was a good idea.  My room overlooked the fabulous swimming pool, that I never got to use.

For one thing, I had forgotten to pack a swimsuit, and for another, there was just too much work to do.  I wasn’t done until after five.  I lay down on the floor and exercised for an hour, then went out to dinner.  I managed to miss the last shuttle to T rastevere, so I just walked out the front gates to the hotel’s local.  My waiter was totally charming, and my Spaghetti a la Carbonara, was delicious, as was the Tartuffo, I had for dessert.  I needed to be in Rome one more day to see anything.  Next time.

Upcoming:

For those of you who have been asking where I go next, that’s Buenos Aires to San Antonio, on Celebrity, December 23, with add-ons in BA and the Chilean Wine country.

If you want Asia, I don’t have one booked yet, but I have four exceptionally nice ladies from L.A. who are going, Shanghai to Singapore, also on Celebrity, in February.  I have been working with these gals for a few months, and they are all lovely.  They like to travel well, and they don’t quibble.  I have some pretty nice stuff lined up for them.  Read my own Asia blog from last February, to get the flavor.  They’d be happy to have a couple more people along to share private tours, etc.

Email me about either of these, or anything else you want.  I do work from at sea.  I just booked a cruise for clients today.

Monday, October 2

It was a nice day, for a change, so Adam, Judy and I took a big spoon and a little bit of Elvon, and buried him in the garden at 63 Chesterfield, which he had lovingly tended for many years, while the Symanskys were in Cape Cod.  I was on the road to Cornwall, for another dental appointment, by 10:30 am.  This was to pick up a splint to minimize the effects of TMJ, which I seem to have developed, another of the joys of living so long.  We fall apart by degrees.

Rosemary was waiting when I was done and she took me to Esca, Gourmet Pizza and Bar, which may be Cornwall, Ontario’s best restaurant.  I had a Philly, which was an all white pizza. I mean no tomato sauce, just béchamel, mozzarella cheese, slices of roast beef, mushrooms and caramelized onion.  There were a few leaves on it, but they were easy to take off.  It was probably the best pizza I have ever had.  I ate all but the two little slices that Rosemary ate, with her Caesar salad.

By two-thirty, I was back on the road again, bound for Ile Bizard, and Ginger Petty’s resort.  No, you can’t pay to sleep here.  You have to be Ginger’s friend, and I have been lucky enough to have been that for 46 years.  It’s a fabulous property, 35 acres on the waterfront, with a lovely old stone mansion to sleep in, and all mod-cons.  Ginger had planned an early dinner, (God, save me!), and had invited Barbara Matheson, another old friend.  I wanted to invite Monique Milette, too, and that was fine with Ginger.  It was fine with Monique, too.

Before dinner, we four widows buried another part of Elvon.  I had planned on spreading these ashes on the Lake of Two Mountains, from Ginger’s sea wall, but, as usual, she had a better idea, and she had it ready.  Behind the stone lion, to the left of the house, as you drive in, 700 feet, was a grave she had had dug for Scruffy and herself, taking advantage of a handy back hoe.  She welcomed a bit of Elvon as its first occupant.  I’m sure he likes this spot.  Monique took the best picture, so I PhotoShopped her in from another one.  You do what you do, with what you have.  She’s on the left, with me, Ginger and Barbara.

Ginger had paté and cheese appetizers, steak on the BBQ, baked potatoes, etc. We didn’t have dessert, because it was an election day, and the pastry shops were all closed.  No one needed it.  It was just lovely to all be together again.  We all fought development on Ile Bizard in the seventies, and became friends in the process.

I slept well in my waterfront view room, at Ginger’s, and had another work day on Tuesday.  Debbie Brousseau came over for a glass of wine before dinner, but couldn’t stay, so Ginger and I had a very nice Presidents’ Choice Osso Bucco, by ourselves.

Wednesday, October 3

Jennifer Terni went back to the states on Tuesday, to touch bases with her job, leaving a schedule that gave Andrea a partner every day, and Wednesday was mine.  The CLSC, a Canadian Government Service that provides home health care, and the equivalent of Hospice, was supposed to be in from 9:30 am to noon, giving me time to drive in, without fighting traffic.  Marc Edery, a good neighbor, was covering the hour-and-a-half from when the night person left, until Jamina, the CLSC person, arrived.

I was in the Patisserie de l’Ile Bizard, by 10:00 am, and on the road at 10:15, as scheduled.  On the Decarie Expressway, when I thought I was 15 minutes out, the phone rang.  It was Marc.  The CLSC person had not shown up to bathe Paul, and do any other necessaria.  Marc had called them, and they hadn’t called back.  Would I be on schedule, he hoped?  I was happy to report that it looked like I’d be ten minutes early.  Well, I wasn’t.  The City of Montreal had decided to tear up another street, and it was Sherbrooke, right in my path.  It only cost me about twenty minutes, though.  So I was there at ten past eleven, parked for 12 hours in the Grand Seminary across the street, for $14.

There was a nurse there, and she was on the phone, trying to organize a procedure for Paul.  She could only find one vein, and you have to have two good ones for assisted suicide.  I can understand why they don’t want anything to go wrong, and so could Paul.  Fortunately, he had gained quite a bit of strength, on his diet of treats, and felt he could go to the hospital, between then and Saturday.  They’ll come for him in wheelchair transport, with strong men to lift him, chair and all, down the six stairs to get out of the apartment building.  He went for it.  The man is very strong mentally.  I am awed and humbled. Right after that he ate two-thirds of a mille feuille and a piece of fresh fruit custard tarte.  He actually helped himself to the second piece, declaring himself “a little piggy”.

A different CLSC person did come at 1:00 pm, and he got bathed, etc. and was asleep, finally, by 2:30 pm.  Andrea and I told her we could manage from there.  There was no point in her staying her full shift to watch him sleep.  He woke up around five, and we shared treats and a very nice visit, talking about the good times, and the work we had done together at IBM.  We were on some big projects together.  Every good manager finds a few subordinates they deem competent and can trust with any project.  Paul found that in me and took me with him, from the Education Center to the Air Canada proposal team, to the Canadian Pacific installation and support team.

A little after seven, Peter arrived to relieve me, and I was happy to meet him in the Grand Seminary parking lot to give him the ticket with four hours left on it.  The Parking Thieves have got quite enough money out of me.  I use every minute that I can of it.

Ginger and I had dinner at Ristorante Beatrice, which is her local, and it’s a good one.  It’s on Sherbrooke, at the foot of her street, and full to overflowing with movers and shakers.  This is an expense account place.  You could see the corporate diners all around, and dates to impress, rich tourists, etc.  The food was beautiful and tasty.  I had tuna tartare and veal cheeks, and we shared tiramisu and a meringue thing with a sparkler in it.  Both of our birthdays are coming right up, so I bought her dinner and she bought me dinner.  She also bought drinks for the nice couple from Michigan at the next table.  She wants the American visitors to get a good impression.

Wednesday, September 26, continued

I got ahead of myself.  When I came upstairs to meet with the Symanskys, I brought my computer and my breakfast up with me.  When I am traveling, I often have a meal replacement shake, like Ensure, for breakfast.  It’s a good vehicle or swallowing all those supplements I take, because I don’t eat veggies.  It’s handy, and it holds me until dinner time, with just a tiny snack in the afternoon.  I set myself up on the kitchen table, Ensure beside computer, and I shook the thing.  It’s a shake, after all.  Only I didn’t notice the cap was off, and I shook it all over my clothes, papers, computer, etc.  Yes, computer.  I have killed a few laptops in my day, first with Coke, then with wine, and now, Ensure.  It’s the circle of life.  The good news is that Ensure is very viscous, and over a week later, the computer is running fine.  But, oh, the shame of it all.

I wiped down the computer, and everything else in sight, and changed my clothes, while Judy put the chocolate soaked ones in the wash and wiped the table and floor.  Then she put what was left of the Ensure into a glass, to protect me from myself  I finished my breakfast, and got busy on the cruise.

Cruise booked, I went back to Ternis’ for a couple of hours but I had to leave at 2:30 pm to get on the road to Ile Bizard, before the traffic made that a 2-hour project.  My Royal Banker had given me a good route, that became better, when I missed the turn off to Hwy 40, which would have led me west, then up St. John’s road, to the Société des Alcools du Quebec, and Ile Bizard.  There would be a lot of traffic on St. John’s, which usually has its own share of orange cones.  I was on the phone, you see.  I realized my error, when I passed the last exit on the Island of Montreal, and crossed the bridge to Laval.  Luckily, I used to live on Ile Bizard, and had clients in Laval, so I knew there was a ferry if I could just find it.  Google Maps doesn’t always work for me here, and it kept telling me it was offline, so I just followed my nose, and called Rod and Claude.  I had trouble following what they were telling me to do, but following my nose west worked just fine, and soon Boulevard Samson turned into Bord du Lac, and I knew I would find the ferry from there.

It’s a funky little ferry, and it only fits three cars, but it uses the current for power, so it’s nice and quiet and does the environment no harm.  I got right on and was at the Andersons’ house by 4:15 pm.  I was a terrible guest.  All I wanted to do was hop onto their Internet, catch up, and finish my travel work.  I worked until 7:00 pm, when Ginger and Scruffy got there for dinner.

Claude had really knocked herself out. The table was gorgeous.

Her passed hors d’oeuvres were home-made savory pastries, filled with cheese and either olive, ham, or a huge blackberry.  For a sit down appetizer, she had made foie gras millefeuilles, with layers of spice cake and foie.  The main course was braised lamb shank, and she had made tarte tatin for dessert.  I was very impressed.  I was also very exhausted, to the point that I didn’t drink much, nor did I tell many stories.  I actually went to bed at ten-thirty and slept around the clock.

I woke up refreshed on Thursday, got a blog out, and did a full set of exercises.  I was in fine fettle for the next party.  It was at Chris and Marge Mapp’s house, just across the bridge in Pierrefonds.  I got Rod and Claude to muster a bit early, so I could make the SAQ stop I missed on Wednesday.  The party consisted of JoAnn Dery, Adam & Judy Symansky, Rod and Claude, and moi-même.  Four of us were AOPis, three from McGill and Marge, who met Chris, back in the day, at McGill’s French Summer school.  Adam and Chris were at McGill when I was there, too.  These are seriously old friends, I want you to know.

The Mapps had knocked themselves out, too.  We had duck rillettes and shrimp dip for starters.  The rillettes came on crackers and the shrimp dip with veggies.  Luckily they had extra crackers.  Then we had broiled bacon and basil wrapped shrimp on skewers, which was wonderful.   Our main was grilled filet mignon, baked potatoes with all the trimmings, and green beans.  Marge made her own apple pie for dessert, too.  I am very spoiled.  We rolled out of there pretty late, Rod and I propping each other up.  It was a good idea, until I fell into the ditch and he fell in after me.  Yes, Claude was driving.

Friday, September 28

I didn’t wake up in the pink of condition, but a couple of Advil, a long shower, and another full set of exercises helped a lot.  I stopped by the Patisserie de l’Ile Bizard, on the way out, where I had been told I could get pastries to rival the now defunct Gascogne.  I bought three custard millefeuilles, and an apricot tarte, which were very well received at Ternis.  Paul has been steadily improving on a diet of treats.  He can have dessert for every meal, now, for all that it matters.  He can’t get well, but he can get stronger and livelier, as he faces his planned end.  It’s kind of surreal, and stressful in a way I cannot describe.  I just feel the need for more sleep that usual, which is why these blogs are so late.

I stayed for most of the afternoon, entertaining Andrea, Jennifer, and Paul, each in a different way.  With Jennifer, we plan Paul’s celebration of life, with Andrea, we talk about our upcoming trip, and with Paul, I hold his hand and we talk about our adventures at IBM in the early days.

I took the Symanskys to Le Quartier Général, to repay their extraordinary hospitality.  Their basement apartment would be my base for three weeks by the time I leave.  The restaurant is on Gilford, in the East end, near where I went to grade school.  You bring your own wine and eat fabulous French food.  I had foie gras, for the third time, rabbit for my main course, and churros for dessert.  OK, so they’re Spanish.  We’re not actually in France, so the restaurant could get away with it.

Saturday, September 30, I worked away, on my computer and on my body, and spent the afternoon at Ternis.  Paul has limited visitors to people he has known forty years and more, as he has limited energy.  He is still with us, though, very alert when he isn’t asleep.  He needs a lot of that.  Andrea had gone to Magog to get a couple of days off from the stress, and to pick up pictures that would be needed for a slide show for Paul’s Celebration of Life.  She had seen the venue, atop Montreal’s mountain, and was well pleased with it.  I had left this weekend free for Terni projects, and wanted to try a new Thai restaurant in Westmount that the Symanskys love.  I proposed Thai take-out to Jennifer and it was the perfect idea.

Ordering was easy.  The menu was online.  Pick-up at “Pick Thai” was a nightmare.  Though it was not at all far from where I used to live, and though I haven’t forgotten how the city is laid out, I couldn’t find the place.  Between the orange cones and the double bike lanes right in front of it, I circled four times.  They were big circles, too, the same ones I had to make to get to the hospital, earlier in the week.  Eventually, I made it and got the food.  To my delight, Paul liked it, too, and had a healthy, for him, portion.  Jennifer and I were both exhausted, so we made it an early night.

Sunday, October 1, I met Roslyn and Real for Dim Sum at Kam Fung in Brossard, again.  It seems to be all I ever do with these guys, but it’s not broken, that idea.  I brought food, and their love, back to Ternis’ around one.  Then I went back to Westmount to exercise, and have a little walk around the old hood.  There was a snotty French woman in my favorite clothing store, so I saved a lot of money.  My optician wasn’t there, but I had a great experience in Lululemon.  I found two tops I liked, to replace those which I had forgotten to pack, and a charming sales person called around to get my size from two other stores.  I’ll have them to travel with.  Lulemon is a Canadian company, manufacturer of casual and exercise clothing, in innovative fabrics.  They started ten or fifteen years ago and are all over the continent now, if not the world.  Nice.

Judy and Adam were hosting Symansky family Sunday, and I enjoyed cocktail hour immensely, with this wonderful family.  All three of the Symansky daughters have charming significant others and there are three grandkids:  Alex, who is in the midst of choosing where she will go to high school, Malcolm, who is still in the very middle of grade school, and very charming, and Oliver, who’s still a kid, and the life of the party, noise-wise.  I would have stayed but Andrea was back from the country, and I joined her, Jennifer and Paul for duck confit, salad and yummy treats, of which there are never any shortage there.  It would have been an early night, but Adam and Judy were cleaning up when I got back, so it was more wine and more great companionship.

Sunday, September 23

Sunday morning, the three little AOPis, JoAnn, Judy and Helen, were scheduled to go to Three Rivers to see the painting I commissioned last April, at a show in Fort Mason, San Francisco.  JoAnn, however, wound up in the hospital Friday night, suffering from a fever of unknown cause.  They fixed her up, but not so’s we could take her on a road trip today.

It was a busy road trip.  I did the fulfillment for the two cruises I sold on Saturday night, using Judy as my administrative assistant, while I drove.  By the time we got to Three Rivers, both cabins were bought and paid for.  That’s a good day’s work.

Zabel’s atelier is the front room of her house.  Her husband, Jean-Francois, is delightful, and gorgeous, and they have four lovely children.  They all came out to be introduced in English, so cute.  My triptych was almost finished, and I took pictures, but I don’t think I want to spoil the vernissage, by showing one here.  You will all have to wait to come party with it.

We sort of skipped lunch, but I stopped by a “patate” and bought French fries and gravy.  That’s poutine, without the cheese curds.  We shared it.  Judy had about six fries and I ate the rest.  Urp.  We took the side road along the river, going through a few small towns, and more bedroom communities.  We ended up coming in to Montreal, along Sherbrooke street, just in time for the Symansky family dinner for Judy, and dinner with Snell and Bev, for me.

Linda Snell and Bev Rowat have the most gorgeous new apartment on Wilder Penfield.  That’s downtown, but up the hill, near the Old Royal Victoria Hospital, and just up the street from Ginger’s town house.  It’s bigger than all three floors of their old house, very bright, well laid out, and it has a wonderful, ginormous patio.  Wendy Sissons was there, too, and we all ate warm dead bird and drank wine.  I can easily do that every week.  Linda and Bev have been spending so much time in Japan, these past few years, they waved me out.

Monday night found us at the same dinner table again, but this time in Chinatown.  Our old “Dump” has closed after about forty years, so we went to Keung Kee, about as authentic as it still gets.  Linda has Chinese Residents, and they know.  By Residents, I mean young Doctors.  She teaches Medicine. Our Crew Dinners, get smaller every year, like everything else from the past.  It was just Linda and Bev, Kathie and Peter, and Theresa Benedek.  It was so wonderful to see everyone again, and the lobster with ginger and shallots, was as good as ever.  They had Dungeness crab, done the same way, and I wanted to try it.  It was just as good as the lobster, but no better, and twice the price.  Don’t bother with that.

Tuesday morning, I had an appointment with Linda in her professional capacity.  I like her checking me out, knowing how my medical life is progressing.  It’s nice to know that I am very healthy, for someone my age.  She always shakes her head, as my diet and alcohol consumption should likely have killed me by now.  But here I am, still trucking along.  Rod Anderson gets the same diagnosis. We laugh about it and try to do better, but we’re having too much fun.  I was late for my appointment.  I had checked out the whereabouts of the new McGill University health centre and had proudly told Linda the night before that I knew exactly where it was.  Knowing where it is, didn’t mean I knew how to get there, though.  First I couldn’t turn left, where I wanted to turn left.  Then I couldn’t turn right, where I wanted to turn right.  Then I ran into another detour, etc.  I was fifteen minutes late.  I could probably have walked in the half-hour it took me to get there.  I parked in the short term parking lot, because I was late, and when I was done with seeing Linda, the paperwork and the waiting, it was two and a half hours and $25 later.

I spent a couple of hours at Ternis’, as I do every day.  Paul is still very bright, and seems to be getting a little better every day, as we all spoil him with treats.  I was supposed to be at Justine Sentenne’s at 5:30 pm but I was busy getting Andrea’s air for our Christmas get-away, and you can’t get off the phone in the middle of one of those calls.  I was finally released by the Royal Bank’s rewards person, because his computer was acting up, and he couldn’t finish the itinerary.  So, I was late meeting Justine, and he called back just when my main course was hitting the table.  I think it took another half-hour, during which time, Justine finished her dinner, while I watched her eat, and agreed to everything the man said, which was what we had agreed to before, but he had to repeat it all.  The food was great, when I finally got it, and she watched me eat.  They have a good chef at “Vistas”, which is an assisted living facility for seniors, with much the same structure as FGL, only it’s a high-rise, near the center of the city.  I had roast pork and it was lovely, but I didn’t get to sample their desserts, Justine had been shopping at the Patisserie de Nancy, and look what she brought home:

If I hadn’t been so busy the last couple of days, selling cruises and booking air and hotels, I would have invited a couple more people, but I never got it done.  So I pigged as much of that as I could and took the pistachio cake in the foreground for Rod Anderson, who had called Justine an hour ago, as he expected to find me there.  Well, Justine’s sister Helene, had died two years ago, and she thought Rod wanted to speak to her.  Apparently, it was quite the conversation. She felt a peace offering, of the pistachio cake in the foreground, was in order, and we were never going to finish all that.  I didn’t mind it being just us one bit, though.  Justine is always very interesting.  What a great friend to have.

I went back to Symanskys, took my computer out and looked at cruises with them.  They already knew pretty much what they wanted.  Wednesday morning, I called Viking and got a quote, looked at air, etc.  Then we had another meeting and finalized.  They’ll be on Viking Ocean, in the Baltic next May.  Nice itinerary, Stockholm to Copenhagen, with three days in St. Petersburg.

Thursday, September 20

Got up at Rosemary and Nick’s in Long Sault, did a bunch of exercises, taught Rosemary a couple of my favorites, and presented myself in John’s dental office at 11:15 am.  I got a clean bill of dental health, but my jaw will need a nighttime splint to keep It from slipping, which is sometimes quite painful.

Then I was back on the road and made it into the center of Montreal, where the Ternis live, in one hour, instead of the two it took to get to Cornwall.  The whole city is a construction zoo (not a typo). You never saw so many cones and detour signs.  Even the people who put them up can’t cope with it, so there are signs missing, all over the detours.  People get lost and make matters worse, etc.  Add to that the fact that Montreal has a new mayor and she likes pedestrians and bicycles far better than she likes cars.  Not only can you not turn right on a red, you can’t even turn right in the first 30 seconds of a green, in case you might hit a pedestrian.  You’re a car.  You have no rights.  You can’t drive over the mountain any more, either, because someone killed a cyclist with a car.  My friends tell me it was the cyclist’s fault.  The car was, of course, blamed.

You can, however, pay to park, and pay, and pay, and pay.  It’s $3 an hour outside the Ternis’ door.  Elvon would be pleased, though.  Manulife Financial are sponsoring the bicycles that you pick up in one place and drop in another.  The Manulife logo is all over the place.  Elvon was on the committee that selected it, probably 30 years ago.  He likely chaired it.  They had names for the various logos presented by design firms for their consideration.  Elvon was the proud parent of the one that won.  He christened it “The three Sperm.”

I spent about an hour at Ternis.  I showed Paul Elvon’s slide show, which he liked, but it was late in the day and he was tired.  I had to leave, anyway, as I had an appointment with the Royal Bank of Canada at 5:00 pm.  The only way they would accept Elvon’s death certificate, close his account and transfer the money to me, was if I showed up in person, with an original and a copy of his will.  We got stuck on the fact that the will was a copy, but I have never had an original, and it would have cost me lawyer’s fees to get one.  I had cleared this with them on the phone last February, but…oh, well.  It got done.

I just made it out in time to meet Marilyn and Ted Salhany in St. Laurent at Il Boccalini.  They look great, which was nice to see.  I am having quite enough of dying, this year.

Friday, September 21

I had managed to pick up a 6-pack of wine, between Ternis’ and the bank, on Thursday, but I needed a few more things.  So, I did a little shop and got to Ternis around 2:00 pm.  I offered Jennifer her choice of dinner out with me, or a date night with her husband, who had driven up from Worcester, Mass, where they live.  She took the date night.  I spent some time with Paul and walked down to St. Catherine Street for a bottle of wine and a couple of Montreal treats.  Andrea had some nice salmon to cook, so we three back at the apartment were all set.  Jennifer and Phil saw “Crazy Rich Asians”, and brought back take-out.  The night out was good for them, and nice for Andrea and Helen, too.

Saturday, September 22

I was up at the crack of dawn to have my hair cut by my old coiffeuse, at her home on Bellechasse.  She’s a teacher now, but she still sees a few old clients.  I had a little time before I had to be on the South Shore for Dim Sum, so I drove down the street where I lived from the time I came home from the hospital until I got married.  It’s a very ordinary Montreal neighborhood, but it’s clean and pretty, with nice mature trees.  We lived upstairs on the right in the stone one and downstairs in the brick one, which is twice as big.  These are triplexes, one flat on the ground floor and two on the second floor.  It’s typical Montreal housing, with outdoor staircases, in one of the fiercest climates in the world.  Go figger.

The best Dim Sum in Montreal is now in Brossard, where the Chinese population is centered.  It’s a lot richer Chinese population than it was forth years ago, and it’s reflected in the food.  Oh, yum. Roslyn and Real and I pigged out, like we have been doing for more years than I can count.  We bought a bunch of extra dumplings, spare ribs, spring rolls, char siu, etc. for the Terni house.  Jen and Phil were delighted, and Paul was happy to eat some, too.

Andrea was coming out as my dinner date.  We ate at Le Margaux, a yummy BYOW (bring your own wine) restaurant on Park avenue in Outremont.  Rosie Morgan and Patrick Brunet, who have been feeding Elvon and Helen tirelessly for years, chose it.  I was paying back.  I also invited Jean Paul and Ellen Morneau, for the same reason.  We are all friends because of the Ternis, and JP and Ellen have extended plenty of hospitality to yours truly, too.  The meal was terrific.  I had foie gras three ways, pork at least two ways, and three profiteroles for dessert.  We drank Sancerre for Elvon, and three other bottles, for ourselves.

We talked travel, as I had invited Andrea to share my cabin from Buenos Aires to San Antonio, Chile, December 23 to January 6.  I figured that Andrea would need serious distraction at Christmas, as it was Paul’s birthday, to make matters worse.  It’s pretty good, 3 days in Buenos Aires, with a nice Tango Tour, already booked, followed by 14 days on Celebrity, Buenos Aires to San Antonio, around Cape Horn, then a 3-day wine tour.  The Chilean wine valleys are above and below the straight line that connects San Antonio and Santiago, from which the planes fly out.

I am going to be able to deduct that meal come tax time.  Both the Morneaus and the Brunets are going to join us and help us widows over our first Christmas alone.  What fabulous friends.  The Scalbergs are considering it, too.  Anybody else?

Monday, September 17, 2018

I flew on Elvon’s points, which are easier to use than to have transferred.  I wasted enough time on that to know.  I got routed through Calgary, which wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t get to Montreal until midnight, and I had left the Lodge at 8:15 am.  The United points algorithm allocated me seats at the very back of both planes, so I upgraded them to Premium Economy for about a hundred bucks, total.  This gave me more leg room, and, in both cases, a free seat between me and my seatmate on the aisle.  If you pick a row, where one of the aisle or window seats is taken, and book the other one, odds are no one is going to pay for the middle seat.  If you are a couple, pick both of them for the same result.  Don’t say this blog isn’t educational.

Hertz gave me the choice of a Corolla, or a mini-van, and I picked the Corolla.  It’s a good bit bigger than the one I had 20 years ago.  Nice.  Montreal is still a full-blown construction zone.  The Turcot interchange is downright scary at 1:00 am, with almost no one on it.  It’s a little like a roller coaster, without the rails to keep you in line.  You have to do that yourself and it’s not easy.  You can’t go the way you want to go, either.  I managed to get on Decarie, where I was expecting to have to cross three lanes in a hurry to get on to Sherbrooke, one of the stupider traffic circles in the entire world.  Well, I guess they are fixing it, because I was past Sherbrooke when I got on and had to cross three lanes of traffic, in a hurry, to get off at the next exit up, Côte St-Luc – Queen Mary.  Then Côte St-Luc was blocked, so I had to take the service road to Queen Mary, ride that east to Victoria, and come down on my destination. I know the territory, and Adam had generously ceded his parking spot, and called Westmount for permission to park on the street.  We are close to downtown, right in Victoria Village.  Parking on this street, and all the ones around, is 1 hour, overnight by appointment.

I crawled into bed and slept like a log, until woken by a client at 10:10am.  Dealt with her request, as best I could, greeted Adam and Judy, got on the Internet, and sent out all that I had been writing on the plane.  The important thing was to get my schedule out to my Montreal friends.

Then I went to see Paul Terni.  He is dying of cancer, and has elected palliative care, at home.  He’s very weak, but still as sharp as ever, and still my manager.  His nephew, Peter Aglaganian was there, having lost his job of 38 years.  He managed three large datacenters for CGI, one if the biggest Canadian firms in that field.  But companies change, new management teams get control, and next thing you know, you’re out looking for a job at 50.  I asked him if he knew of Roslyn.  She got me good people when I was DP Manager at Direct film, and she got me my job at Tandem, when that fizzled.  She also brought Paul a lot of good people for the places he managed.  Roslyn’s a hard ass, but she knows her job, and she doesn’t mess around and waste your time.

Peter thanked me and said we could take this off line in a day or so.  Paul, who you would have thought was sleeping, said “Call her now”.  So Peter’s initial interview was played out over my speaker phone, in front of Paul.  It seemed to please him immensely to be getting something going from his deathbed.  He has no illusions, whatsoever, and is ready to meet his fate.  After all, no one gets out of here alive.  His daughter, Jennifer, missed her calling as a nurse, she’s fabulous.  I’m sure she prefers her real career, though.  Her email signature reads, in part: Jennifer Terni, Ph.D., Associate Head, Department of Literatures, Cultures and Languages, Associate Professor French, University of Connecticut.

I stayed a couple of hours, picked up some pastries, sadly not from the Patisserie de Gascogne, which is no more, and three warm dead birds, from Chalet BBQ, with fries, sauce and coleslaw, and pointed the car towards Cornwall.

Mine is a very small family and these are most of it, my cousin, Rosemary, her husband, Nick, their son John, his wife, Joanne, and their daughter Lily.  John’s two sisters live in Kingston, and his daughter, Sarah, is off in Nova Scotia, at a super private school.  Cornwall is a very working-class town, and they didn’t think much of its educational possibilities.  Joanne’s parents live nearby, so it’s all good.

Traffic getting out of Montreal was hideous, and it stayed so most of the way off the islands of Montreal and Ile Perrot.  It took me two hours to get to Long Sault, arriving at 6:30PM.  Out came the wine, duck liver mouse, cheese ring, crackers, and Sancerre, Elvon’s favorite wine.  We toasted him, and I loved the idea.  I’ll be buying Sancerre, myself, this trip.  The warm dead bird was its usual nurturing self, and Rosemary was happier than a clam, not to have had to cook. We don’t drink like we used to, I am sad to report.  I was in bed by eleven.

Wednesday, September 18

Since I hadn’t touched the computer in three days, and I had travel business to attend to, I spent most of the day on the computer, apart for an exercise hour and a 20-minute walk.  Next thing I knew, it was cocktail hour, and I hadn’t even started this diary.  We dropped some of Elvon’s ashes, from their dock, into the St. Lawrence, opposite the Eisenhower Dam.  He always liked it there.

Lily’s birthday was coming up in a couple of days, so we celebrated it early.  I love this picture of Lily and her father with the plastic cake form.

Wednesday, July 11th

We were ready for another adventure and so we set out in three cars for Ballymaloe house in Shannonbridge, Cork.  Marilyn Hotard had noticed its founder Myrtle Allen’s obituary, in the New York Times, and brought it to my attention.  I remembered Ballymaloe House from 2004, when Elvon and I, Pat Gustafson, and Mary and Sean had given ourselves an overnight treat, there.  It hasn’t changed much, but the shop is significantly expanded, and just what Cheff Scott needed.  He picked up a lot of interesting bits and bites to enhance our Lisheen culinary experience, among which, an oyster shucker.  I got a nice sweater and a jar of good mint jelly, two, actually, one for the castle and one to take home.

The house and grounds are beautiful.  Lunch was nicely served, by a motherly server, who really seemed to care about us.  It was unexceptional, though.  We are very spoiled.  We passed on touring the cookery school, and made for home.

Our car decided to stop at the Rock of Cashel, because Carolyn has friends by that name, and she wanted to photograph a few gravestones.  It’s one of Ireland’s better ruins, so we crawled all over it and watched its video, before we realized we might be wanted back home at the castle.  Don’t you love how that flows out of me?  To the manor born, I am.

This was Chef’s night off, and the plan was for us all to eat in Thurles, and go to the pub later, when the music started.  There’s music once a week in Thurles, and it’s on Wednesday night, you see.  Scott wasn’t totally on side with that idea, as the leftovers were accumulating in the fridge and he had a plan for them.

We had drinks on the patio and a meeting, punctuated with phone calls to the pub and Ritchie Fogarty, who had a van to take us there.  The music wasn’t to get going until at least ten o’clock, and O’Gorman’s Pub doesn’t serve food after eight.  We could have gone to Mitchel House, Thurles only five-star restaurant, but Scott really did not want us to.  He promised it would be no work at all to make a curry out of Monday’s left over leg of lamb and Sunday’s left over risotto, from the chicken dinner. Add a salad, left over potatoes, and some homemade chutney and raita, and we were done.  We even had mango sorbet in the freezer for dessert.  It was a real treat, and it took Scott all of about twenty minutes to whip up.

By the time it was time to go to the pub, there were only three people interested, John Hotard, Chef Scott and myself.  Richie Fogarty came to pick us up and had a nice conversation with Kathy and Jean, doubtless distant relatives.  The area around here is full of Fogartys, now.

By the time we got to O’Gorman’s Pub, there were eight or ten musicians playing.  They have a core group of four, whom the publican engages, and people come from all around with their instruments.  At the peak, which was around mid-night, there were nineteen musicians, playing various instruments, all acoustic.  There were four fiddles, three or four bodhráns, Uilleann pipes, a flute, two tin whistles, a harmonica, a couple of banjos, maybe, three, at least three guitars, and three very different accordions.  Yes, I know that’s more than nineteen, but some of the musicians played more than one instrument, you see.

We made friends, because you couldn’t help it, with one Patrick Fitzgerald, who was likely the town drunk.  He was an out-of-work engineer, because he had a DWI accident, and could not shut up about the Canadians who were there last week and only wanted to play golf.  He wanted us to experience the very spiritual ruin, Kilcooley Abbey, which we promised to do, and then didn’t, but we promised in good faith, and it seemed to help.

John Hotard got four local women to talk to our young, handsome chef, and it took me, John, the publican, and Richie Fogarty about a half hour to pry him out of there at 1:30 am.  It was a good night.

Thursday, July 12th

I didn’t get up any too early the next morning, so I don’t really know what the others did.  I stayed home, worked the spreadsheet, and caught up with whatever other travel work was outstanding.  Mid-afternoon Scott and I went to Kilkenny to meet the others at Smithwicks Brewery.  We got there too late to take the tour and still go to Kilkenny Design House, to see if Scott could find a present for his girlfriend.  He did, and I hope she likes her Irish earrings that look a little like spoons.

You can only get oysters on Thursdays in Thurles, which, by the way, is pronounced tur-less.  When Scott opened up the ones he got in the morning, they were mussels.  I made the run to exchange them for our order, which is why we missed the beer tasting.  The oysters, however, were well worth it.  They were tender and delicious and we had them out on the patio, where the weather was glorious, as it had been, ever since we got to Ireland. 

For dinner, we had Caesar Salad, a pork chop, with an excellent sauce, cauliflower, roast potatoes, and homemade peach cobbler for dessert. There were a lot of Irish coffees, too.

On Thursday nights, in the neighboring village of Upperchurch, Jim O’the Mill comes alive.  It was named Ireland’s best pub in 2015,There are stories you can google on the Internet.  Here’s one: https://www.irishcentral.com/travel/pub-with-no-beer-six-nights-a-week-named-irelands-best-pub  It looks like a great idea, but it starts even later than O’Gormans, and we only had two takers, John and Scott.  I probably should have gone, but even I run out of gas.  John was certainly glad he had gone, as it was very interesting.  It has expanded considerably, since the original article, and now the music is in the barn, with the house just used to serve the beer and provide necessaria for the elimination of same.  Jim greets you in the kitchen, as you go to the loo.  There are folk of all ages from too young to drink beer, to too old to sing.  This Thursday, there were no instruments.  The whole performance was a cappella and the participants just took their turns, some egged on more than others.  The regulars know who is good.

They got back from that one at two-forty-five in the morning.

Friday, July 15th

Half of our group went off in the morning to play golf in Thurles.  Carolyn and I were in the other half, and it was our day for KP.  We cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast and I begged another couple of hours to finish up the accounting.  In the afternoon, Candy, Carolyn, the Hotards, Scott and I went to Holy Cross Abbey, originally a Cistercian Monastery, where there is a relic of the True Cross.  It has been ruined and rebuilt many times over its thousand-year life, and what we saw proved it.  There were ruins of the Abbott’s house, and gardens, alongside a functioning church, where there had just been a wedding.  The participants were strolling the graveyard, when we arrived.  We visited it ourselves, when we were done visiting the church and ruins.  It was probably the most interesting part, with graves right up to the present.

Dinner was a kitchen salad of bacon, blue cheese, broccolini and whatever else Scott found in the fridge.  We had an excellent lamb stew, that had everyone coming back for seconds, and yummy Pavlovas for dessert.  Scott went around the table, asking everyone what their favorite meal had been.  It was hard.  The seafood extravaganza in the formal dining room won, but every meal, except maybe the rotisserie chicken, got at least one vote.  Scott got a lot of much-deserved applause.  Then he went out to play tennis with Zane Everard, the castle owner.  He’s unstoppable.

Saturday, July 14th

We didn’t see Scott the next morning, as he had left for Dublin airport and an early flight.  The rest of us were not all that far behind him.  Thanks to Google Maps, the cars got back to Hertz, and we re-united all the luggage at the Camden Court Hotel.  Carolyn and I had a pub lunch, with the Hotards,  at The Bleeding Horse, next door, and they went off to the airport.

We took a short nap, and walked over to The National Museum of History, which had been recommended to us.  It was good, but our backs and feet hurt, so we moved to the elegant Shelbourne Hotel for a cup of tea.  We followed that with a real drink, killing time until it was time to meet Candy and Ernie for dinner at Cliff Town House, almost next door.  I think we’ll stay at the Shelbourne, the next time we are in Dublin.  Dinner at Cliff Town House was excellent.  It’s just steak and seafood, but very well done and we were happy to be just the four of us, at last, kind of like winding down.  After dinner, we walked over to The Merrion, where the Hales had stayed before the barge.  It looks like nothing at all from the front, but has an amazing courtyard, and is a lot bigger than it seems.  It, too, would be a good choice, for a Dublin stay, maybe even better than the Shelbourne.  The Hales sure loved it.

Sunday, July 15th

And so, as all good things, it came to an end.  We took a taxi to the airport, had breakfast there.  Our plane for Rekjavik was late leaving, etc., the usual.  Thanks to all who came, old and new friends, and especially to Carolyn, who put up with me as a roommate.  There are things, up with which to put, all right.  My boat crew knows.

Today’s News – another cruise

I just signed on as the Distinctive Voyages Concierge Host for a holiday cruise.  I think I’ll be happiest at sea this year.  If anyone wants to join me it’s:

Argentina & Chile Holiday – 14 days on Celebrity Eclipse – https://tinyurl.com/2018BAtoChile

I think Christmas in Montevideo will be just perfect.  Are you coming?

My 2019 Assignment – Maybe a cruise for you?

Seas of Enlightenment – Oceania Insignia, March 4 to 31, 2019, yup, 27 days

Enlightenment or not, this is a dream of a cruise.  I got early access to this for long and faithful service, as a concierge host.  The starting and ending ports are Sydney and Tokyo, places I’ve always wanted to explore more fully, I love Indonesia and the Philippines, and what’s not to love about Oceania?

https://tinyurl.com/InsigniaAsia190304   Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan

Most categories are already wait listed.  That no longer scares me.  Three months before, plenty of cabins open up, and the wait list clears.  It is important to be on it.

And in October, 2018:

It’s a Mediterranean Cruise. We go Rome to Rome on Holland America’s Koningsdam.  I have clients booked in two cabins and it’s a Distinctive Voyage.  I bid for and got it.  Who else is coming with me? Take a look:
https://www.hollandamerica.com/details?webItineraryIdForAudit=E8M10B&fromSearchVacation=true&guestsCount=2&voyageCode=K862&selectedMeta=Interior&shipId=KO  October 8 sailing.

It’s seriously inexpensive.  Treat yourselves to a suite.  Comes with a free cocktail party and shore excursion.