Monday, August 15, 2016.
Where Is My Phone?
To make a long story lengthy, about a week ago my cellphone number disappeared from the universe and my smart phone went dumb. Since then, I spent many, many hours getting advice from both the service providers, sometimes in a conference call. One or another says that it's simple to fix. . .until they actually try to turn the trick. This shuts even the highest supervisors down. For some reason, this has really gotten under my skin.
I decide to put an end to the problem by physically marching into the offices of the companies involved. One was very accommodating, but could not figure out what to do next. The other, much larger company said that I was wasting their time, that this was a simple matter. But when they tried, they hit the wall yet again.
They told me to have a police report issued, then to call the legal department of their phone company. At the last of three police headquarters I visited, I was laughed out, told that this is a phone company glitch, that there is no criminal aspect. I had to agree with them, but this was the only open route I had.
I should have listened to something Mary Ann told me a few days ago, when she was involved in her own dilemma. "What I have in my hands is a crisis," she said."Your phone isn't a crisis. It's an irritant."
At noon, I threw in the towel. The nicer phone company made me an offer for a new line, and said that I should just forget about my old number and tell everybody it's changed. I don't get all that many phone calls anyway, except from Mary Ann. (Who can always find me, unless she really, really needs me.) I took the offer. My blood pressure went down forty points.
[caption id="attachment_33681" align="alignnone" width="480"]
The spicy, fake-crabmeat-free Porter Roll at Tchoupstix.[/caption]
I calm down further with a lunch of a big sushi roll and a cup of consomme and noodles at Tchoupstix. The roll has slices of jalapeno inside. It's the spiciest sushi I think I've ever sampled.
The rest of the day goes down pleasantly normally. The radio show is slow. A lot of people are tuned in to the reports on the astonishing flood surrounding Baton Rouge. The I-10 is impassable from Lafayette into Texas. Tens of thousands of homes have been inundated. Sounds familiar.
Then it's singing time with the Northlake Performing Arts Society. I am very happy to discover that among the songs we're rehearsing for our October concert is "Ghost Riders In The Sky." The theme of the concert is Country and Western. My input is that actual Western music--cowboy songs like those sung by the Sons of The Pioneers, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry--should be part of the program. "Ghost Riders" certainly fits. But then our conductor tells me that she loves my submission of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"--one of my favorite songs. She said I should go ahead with forming a trio or quartet. She even has a lady who has volunteered to be part of it. Now I have to decide whether to sing my part in the voice of Bob Nolan. He wrote "Tumbleweeds" and another famous cowboy song "Cool Water." Yes, the Cool Water Ranch is named for that song.
The day ends happily after all.
Tchoupstix. Covington: 69305 LA Hwy 21. 985-892-0852.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2016.
Eat Club's Pre-Cruise Dinner.
A month from now, fifty-one people will join me for a ten-day cruise from New York City to Boston, New England, the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and finally Quebec City. I find this a very enjoyable, relaxing, and usually beautiful itinerary. The main draw, of course, is the autumn foliage. Somewhere along our path, the colors should be riotous. We may also encounter cold weather, which will perform a time-out-of-place effect for us Orleanians, who won't feel cold for another four months.
Before the cruise, we have a dinner at which all the passengers can meet and make friends, and where questions can be answered. These dinners are often as much fun as parts of the cruise itself.
This one takes place at Andrea's. It's a tradition for something irritating and goofy to go wrong during this dinner (but not because of anything Andrea does or doesn't do). Once, I had the wrong day for the event in my invitations. Another time, many more people than I was expecting showed up, and I had to do my presentation three times in different rooms. Stuff like that.
Today, the Causeway shut down because a a powerful storm at midlake. I saw this as I approached the North Shore terminus at around one p.m. I waited for a long while, trying to figure out how to make a phone call with my new phone, in case I would be made late for the show. I never did get it working, so I went back home and did the show from there. When it ended at six, I had to haul body and soul across the now-reopened bridge to make it on time for the Eat Club affair. Fortunately, our travel agent Debbie Hilbert--a math teacher who can talk interminably when she needs to--kept the program going until I pulled up.
We started with vitello tonnato, an interesting warm-cold appetizer in which medallions of roasted veal are topped with a tuna mayonnaise. This is not something Andrea's does well. The sauce is too salty and too strong, wiping out the flavors of the veal.
[caption id="attachment_14719" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Pasta Carbonara.[/caption]
But Chef Andrea made good for that with penne pasta Carbonara, with its creamy sauce and bacon-like guanciale--cured hog jowls. Everybody loved this, and having it as the second course is very Italian.
We have three entrees to choose from, all of them house specialties. One is a chicken version of veal saltimbocca, one of the best classic Italian entrees in America. A duck confit with a Barolo-based red sauce received a lot of applause from those who ordered it. But the best entree is a nice speckled trout with basilico sauce and crabmeat. Given the quality of the fish Andrea routinely brings in, this couldn't help but be excellent.
Interesting dessert: zuppa inglese with zabaglione and berries. A number of people wanted to know what zabaglione is. I used to say that it's the same thing as sabayon--a thick custard sauce. But nobody serves sabayon much anymore. Fortunately, one taste does the trick for most inquisitive minds.
I am very pleased that almost everyone going on the cruise is with us tonight. One group of six people from Ocean Springs is here, to my pleasant surprise. They have been on many of our past cruises, and are always in the spirit of friendship.
No pun intended.
Friendship. Get it?
Andrea's. Metairie: 3100 19th St.
504-834-8583.
The spicy, fake-crabmeat-free Porter Roll at Tchoupstix.[/caption]
I calm down further with a lunch of a big sushi roll and a cup of consomme and noodles at Tchoupstix. The roll has slices of jalapeno inside. It's the spiciest sushi I think I've ever sampled.
The rest of the day goes down pleasantly normally. The radio show is slow. A lot of people are tuned in to the reports on the astonishing flood surrounding Baton Rouge. The I-10 is impassable from Lafayette into Texas. Tens of thousands of homes have been inundated. Sounds familiar.
Then it's singing time with the Northlake Performing Arts Society. I am very happy to discover that among the songs we're rehearsing for our October concert is "Ghost Riders In The Sky." The theme of the concert is Country and Western. My input is that actual Western music--cowboy songs like those sung by the Sons of The Pioneers, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry--should be part of the program. "Ghost Riders" certainly fits. But then our conductor tells me that she loves my submission of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"--one of my favorite songs. She said I should go ahead with forming a trio or quartet. She even has a lady who has volunteered to be part of it. Now I have to decide whether to sing my part in the voice of Bob Nolan. He wrote "Tumbleweeds" and another famous cowboy song "Cool Water." Yes, the Cool Water Ranch is named for that song.
The day ends happily after all.
Pasta Carbonara.[/caption]
But Chef Andrea made good for that with penne pasta Carbonara, with its creamy sauce and bacon-like guanciale--cured hog jowls. Everybody loved this, and having it as the second course is very Italian.
We have three entrees to choose from, all of them house specialties. One is a chicken version of veal saltimbocca, one of the best classic Italian entrees in America. A duck confit with a Barolo-based red sauce received a lot of applause from those who ordered it. But the best entree is a nice speckled trout with basilico sauce and crabmeat. Given the quality of the fish Andrea routinely brings in, this couldn't help but be excellent.
Interesting dessert: zuppa inglese with zabaglione and berries. A number of people wanted to know what zabaglione is. I used to say that it's the same thing as sabayon--a thick custard sauce. But nobody serves sabayon much anymore. Fortunately, one taste does the trick for most inquisitive minds.
I am very pleased that almost everyone going on the cruise is with us tonight. One group of six people from Ocean Springs is here, to my pleasant surprise. They have been on many of our past cruises, and are always in the spirit of friendship.
No pun intended.
Friendship. Get it?
