I don’t eat beans-on-toast anymore, but I thought I would try this California version: low-sodium black beans on a whole grain bagel flat. Still around 500 calories, but more filling, no sugar, and a bunch more fiber. It’s a cheat, but a small and satisfying one.
Pay no attention to the party wings on the left…
Dinner with the folks from Longjing winery, Winter 2019. It’s the infamous and dreaded ganbei with full pitchers of the local pour.
Yes, my face is red. I am told I managed to quaff about a liter of huangjiu between dinner and the unofficial meetings afterward. The next morning I was about as hungover as I have been in decades, but it was not as bad as it would have been if I had been drinking different or lower-quality spirits.
It is a bummer that really good huangjiu is hard to find in the US. It is very easy to develop a taste for the stuff, and at about 15% ABV it fills a niche between wine or strong IPA beers on one end and spirits on the other. This is much more like a richer version of sake than grain-based paint-thinners like Maotai or Wuliangye and is a superb substitute for brandy or port.
If you get a chance, give it a try. It will surprise you.
You know you are getting old when that thin, foil-wrapped packet that you diligently keep in your pocket or purse is a packet of Ibuprofen.
Hydration regimen starting with a half-gallon of ice water mixed with 2-3 scoops of XTEND BCAA powder. It’s like Kool-Aid for adults.
One field goal. 70,000 spectators. $1,000. He has now made more money playing sports in front of more people than anyone else in our family.
Thank you, #UCLAAthletics, #Allstate, and the Palmisano family!
It is amazing the things you find when you start going through your files…
Finishing up a Thursday night meeting around 8:30, we were both starving and I was way short on calories.
The sidewalks roll up early in our little beach town, so we found ourselves at IHOP. Unperturbed, Aaron ordered two full entrees: T-bone steak and eggs, and tri-tip ends and eggs. And yes, he ate it all.
He probably ate five times the calories I did, but I’m 58 and on maintenance, and Aaron is 21 and bulking up for intramural basketball. He can get away with it: I can’t.
As an aside: there is nothing like father-son bonding over late-nite diner food.
First fresh air stop of the day on the Eastbound Empire Builder.
Early. Brisk. And beautiful. Is it Montana, or is it the Alps?
Yes.
Was it a box dinner? Yes – we didn’t have a dining car on the Empire Builder out of Portland until we hooked up with the #8 in Spokane at midnight.
Was it awful? NO! It was phenomenal!
Another score for Amtrak: consistently better food onboard than in any business class menu on any airline I have ever flown.
A Bucket and a Pen 