The joy of chocolate ...

I'm not the only one who's enjoying chocolate ... 

Ankha wrote:

"It's official.  My number one favorite chocolate in the WORLD is Gianduja by Cote d'Or ... WONDERFULLY AMAZING ;-)

This bar is widely available in the US ... for those who don't know Cote d'Or ... they don't know what they are missing ;-) ... Google is your friend ;-)

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Fortune cookie of the day:

You are admired from afar ...

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I wouldn't mind being admired from a bit closer ;-)

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Picked April up from her shoot with Jason Fassnacht ... I absolutely love Jason's work and it was a delight to finally meet Jason and J

Sacramento ... crazy drive ... loads of fun ... and my little car got over 29 miles/gallon ... not bad for a MBZ roadster ;-)

April is in town

Images from our previous shoots in Los Angeles and Fremont ...

She's tall, has strong lines and is absolutely fun to work with ...

Boston

R&D speaking engagement ... snow ... cold

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Fortune cookie of the day:

Your mind is ingenious and you learn easily

Who makes these things up ?

My dungeon ... continued 2

A shoot with Elley S

As you can see ... Elley is a lot of fun ...

Loved working with her and I'm looking forward to do this again ;-)

Shoot was in Los Angeles, in Lucinda Wedge's old studio in the Ghetto ... loved that studio ... miss the size, the brick walls, the wooden floor and the window light ...

Chuao Chocolatier ~ Chinita Nibs

The second bar I'm trying from this chocolatier.  If you like nutmeg, then this is a hit.

I spread the degustation out over two days ... ;-)

The Spicy Maya aftertaste from the previous bar was too much rear upper palate for me ... this nibs bar with nutmeg and caramelized cacao delivers.

The caramelized cacao nibs are clearly present and give this chocolate a great texture ... the nutmeg infusion works and gives a very pleasant front upper palate tingle ... just right for me.

So in spite of the average chocolate quality, a highly recommended treat ... try it out ...

Continued ...

My dungeon ... continued 1

Chuao Chocolatier ~ Spicy Maya

Tried another chocolate bar out of the Christmas survival package from Ankha.

The packaging is appealing for all the Chuao bar's I've seen so far and their tag line did get my attention ... ;-)

Unusual, Unexpected and Delicious experiences ...

These bars are quite large ... so proceed with caution ;-)

I went through half a bar over the course of an evening and I have to admit, at first I fount the spicy Maya ... well ... too spicy ... overwhelming the chocolate

Then again, the chocolate is quite dark and misses the smoothness I so savor in a good bar.  The spice made up for the shortcomings of the chocolate if you're up for extreme spice ... this one clings to much to the rear of the palate and get's a bit heavy for me.

Second day I knew what to expect and things went a bit smoother but then I got that rear upper palate heaviness again and that spoiled it for me ... 

Next bar shortly ... continued ...

3400 Phinney Chocolate

I savored this bar in one 30 minute session ... pure indulgence ...

If you believe this is a crazy combination ... dwell on it for a second ... no ... make it two ... good quality chocolate with coconut and the spicy curry aftertaste biting your tongue ... to die for ... OK ... lol ... almost ...

This gives a new meaning to curry ... always loved curry chicken ... even more love this chocolate bar

Highly recommended ... taste-buds tickled to the extreme in a smooth barely creamy chocolate texture ...

Thanks Ankha ...

Brussels - Philiadelphia - San Francisco

Yes ... on my way back home ... long travel ahead ...

It was good to see all the family pulling together ... it was also good to see my two sons on the occasion and spend some time with them talking about what's important in their lives at this point.

I have 4 sisters and I sure hope that the passing of mom doesn't mean we don't get to see each other together anymore ... everyone would get together out our mom's home of 40 years ... things will be different now ... we'll need to come up with a way to continue somehow this tradition of getting all together around the table once and a while

Brussels Airport lounges are high-way robbery when it comes to Internet access.  Just paid 20 Euro for 4 hours of wireless access ... need only an hour but this is the smallest package available ... corporate greed ?

Edited some pics on this trip ... need to send them out when I'm home ...

Time to go to the gate ...

Continued ...

Surface Miner

is what Speedy Bob aka Metal Man calls himself.

Speedy Bob scavenges the streets around the Civic Center in San Francisco.  I met him at the BART station when I was waiting on a ride on New Years Eve ...

Bob, long curly unkempt brown hair and beard, dressed in jeans and a pullover that had seen better times goes on and explains me in a very animated way that he's sick and tired of being called a homeless, bum, dumpster diver, recycler ... he simply prefers "surface miner" ... I never heard the term before so I found it funny and wrote it down

Bob mines the surface of San Francisco ...

We're both looking at an empty pack of cigarettes lying in the gutter ... Bob says ... "let me show you, I'm sure there's still a cigarette in there ..." 

Bob stoops down, scoops the pack up and opens it ... a big smile appears on his face and he yells ... "See I told you" and he holds the pack my way ... I take a peek and count 12 cigarettes and 2 joints ...

Bob pulls the joints out, sniffs them and says ... "There's good weed in here ... I get $10 for the two of them" ... we start laughing ... my ride shows up ... 

Happy New Year Bob, keep mining that surface ...

Happy New Year ...

Writing this from the beautiful US Airway Envoy Lounge in Philly ... on my way to Belgium again for my mom's funeral.

How did I end up with US Airway while being a United 1K flyer ?  Long story somewhat short ...

Called United Airlines on December 28th for a ticket and I was told that if I needed to fly SFO-BRU from Jan 2-Jan7, the ticket was going to be $2200.  Since I'm a 1k member and I've flown bereavement rates before, I asked for one.  The 1K customer service representative then proceeded explaining me that there are no bereavement rates at this time for international travel, only domestic.  Bummer, so next question

What is your lowest rate on this flight ?  (I don't have $2200 and I just flew the same route a week ago for $997 with a last minute reservation) That would be H rate @$1400, yes but we don't have this rate available any longer on this flight.

You are flying with empty seats, why can't you get me as a loyal customer a ticket at that rate ?  Response; I can't change our policies and processes.  (I do have a written response detailing this statement from the 1K customer service desk ...)

This is where I called BS.  Customer service always has an option to be flexible and ask a manager to sign off on it.  This rep just refused to do so after asking.  He's missing a sale and not meeting expectations of a repeat customer.  (I flew 44 segments in 2007 and 45 in 2008)

He finally recommends calling a day later and gamble on a H rate becoming available.  Nothing to loose, so I call back on Dec 29th to be told the rate for this flight is now $3200+.  No surprise, the closer to the departure date, the more expensive the rate, the online seating chart still shows 40+ seats available.

I ask for other options and the United Airlines rep comes up with an alternative solution flying Jan 1-7 for $2200, one day longer away from home with 2 stops each Atlantic crossing.  

I asked to check if there were any Star Alliance partners with an alternative but I was told that the customer service desk had no access, I had to check with the partner airlines.

So I did and booked the flights I'm currently on.  Jan 1-7.  Leaving SFO over Philly to BRU. Longer travel, loosing a day since the plane arrives late morning rather than early AM but the rate was what I could afford ... $1147,70 ... a steal compared to what United was trying to sell a loyal customer.

The funny thing is that every single flight I'm flying today/tomorrow and my return is a United / US Airways code shared flight ... there is no reason the 1K customer service rep wouldn't have seen this flight in his stock as there is a corresponding UA 4 digit flight number ... 

Remaining questions ... did I goof up by asking for a bereavement fare and giving away that I *really* had to be somewhere or is this simply a matter of total customer service apathy ?

We'll find out ... emails on their way to 1K customer service (United), regular customer service (United) with carbon copy to the CEO ... we'll see ...

There are reasons why people remain loyal to their airlines ... customer service is one of them ... 

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As for the aged, hand tinted photograph above, my mom in 1947, age 17 by an unknown studio photographer in Gent.

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They actually have food in the US Airways Envoy lounge ... 

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There's a mouse running around in the lounge ... lives in the floor AC duct ... funny to see it run in and out and chase the cookie crums on the carpet ... so far I'm the only one here who's aware of the little thing ... I'll keep it a secret, don't want any trouble ...