Chocdoc Sews Up Seattle

Kerry Beal · November 7, 2019

@Alleguede and I (along with Belle who you met here) are in the airport lounge - awaiting our flight to Seattle for the NW Chocolate Festival.

Same old, same old food.

Going to see what that Space Needle can sew!

Edited June 22, 2020 by Kerry Beal (log)

**Smithy** · November 7, 2019

Oh, good! I love these trips of yours!

Jacksoup · November 8, 2019

I love the alliteration in the titles of your trips!

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

1 hour ago, Jacksoup said:

I love the alliteration in the titles of your trips!

That's all @Anna N's doing. She's my wordsmith!

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

Airline food -

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

Kristin - our airbnb hostess of several trips now - always asks what we want in the house. So milk for tea it was!

First cuppa as we settled in.

I hopped into the bed to start my posting and began to cough - thus started the stripping of the bed - two down comforters and half a dozen feather pillows are now taking up the floor. I have the only two non feather pillow in the joint on my bed and a not very warm but not at all feathery comforter over me.

EZtemper containers have been thoroughly cleaned and filled with cocoa butter and are starting the softening process in the kitchen.

So off to sleep - it's well after 3 home time and we are attending a serious chocolate tasting course tomorrow - Level 1. Instructions are to get a good night sleep the night before, no alcohol, no perfumes. I think no feathers would probably apply too!

SusieQ · November 8, 2019

50 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Airline food -

That looks pretty darn good to me!

weinoo · November 8, 2019

I'm interested in the prep of your airplane seat area, @Kerry Beal.

Do you sanitize the tray table, armrests, etc.? It has been alleged that they are some of the most germ laden areas on a plane...

Quote

Seatback Trays

Are you ready to be grossed out?

Airplane seatback trays are the dirtiest place on the airplane. The same study shows that trays have 2,155 CFU per square inch. That's 8x higher than the toilet flush button.

In-between flights, the airline staff do a quick cleanup of the cabin. But this cleanup primarily looks for removing trash and a possible wipe down of the seats. They don't have the time to sanitize each tray in between boardings.

For a clean tray, plan on bringing your own disinfecting wipes or a cloth to cover the tray while it's unstowed.

Significant Eater and I are slightly germaphobic, so we usually do a pretty good wipedown.

How to Disinfect Your Airline Seat

Tri2Cook · November 8, 2019

27 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Do you sanitize the tray table, armrests, etc.? It has been alleged that they are some of the most germ laden areas on a plane...

I don't know about Kerry but I wipe the tray down with my bread just to make sure I get all that germy goodness. :raz:

Kidding, of course. I'm actually curious to hear what others have to say because I honestly very rarely think about things like that at all unless it's visually obvious that something has not received even the most basic level of sanitation. And even then, I may just shrug it off and be careful about keeping my food on it's plate or in it's container. Me and those free range germs have been coexisting for a pretty long time with no major conflicts. One sneaks through the defenses now and then, I fight it off, we go have a beer and it doesn't bother me again. Other than those pesky cold germs... they refuse to fully commit to joining the team and have to give it a shot once or twice every year.

TicTac · November 8, 2019

4 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I hopped into the bed to start my posting and began to cough - thus started the stripping of the bed - two down comforters and half a dozen feather pillows are now taking up the floor. I have the only two non feather pillow in the joint on my bed and a not very warm but not at all feathery comforter over me.

Sounds like you are plagued with similar allergies to me! No down/feathers for this guy!

Reminds me of a story many moons ago when my grandmother took me to Italy for my first EU trip, we were staying in this beautiful villa and I woke up middle of the night sneezing non stop and having the worst allergy attack - quickly did we realize that I am allergic to the pillows! Unfortunately they were not as diversely stocked as your AirBnB (this was 20+ years ago!) and rolled up bath towels had to suffice!!

**Smithy** · November 8, 2019

5 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Kristin - our airbnb hostess of several trips now - always asks what we want in the house. So milk for tea it was!

Too bad you didn't specify the non-feathers while you were at it!

When you get time, please tell more about your "airbnb hostess". I don't mean about Kristin specifically, but I wasn't aware that there could be any sort of personal connection for this sort of travel. (I have no experience with airbnb or any of its analogues.) Is she essentially the person who sets up your stay, like a travel agent?

KennethT · November 8, 2019

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

I'm interested in the prep of your airplane seat area, @Kerry Beal.

Do you sanitize the tray table, armrests, etc.? It has been alleged that they are some of the most germ laden areas on a plane...

Significant Eater and I are slightly germaphobic, so we usually do a pretty good wipedown.

How to Disinfect Your Airline Seat

Very interesting - funnily enough, I've never really thought about this... I've always worried about the guy 2 seats over coughing up a lung which will then get recirculated over to me...

Do you sanitize the arm rests before you sit down during the boarding process?

chromedome · November 8, 2019

6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I hopped into the bed to start my posting and began to cough - thus started the stripping of the bed - two down comforters and half a dozen feather pillows are now taking up the floor. I have the only two non feather pillow in the joint on my bed and a not very warm but not at all feathery comforter over me.

Bummer. I always loved feather/down sleep things, but both of my wives had nasty allergies. Current GF, like me, is a fan of the feathers so we sleep on a feather bed, with a down comforter and feather pillows. It's a nice change (for me, for you I totally get that it would be hell).

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

5 hours ago, SusieQ said:

That looks pretty darn good to me!

Not the worst food I've partly eaten.

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

I'm interested in the prep of your airplane seat area, @Kerry Beal.

Do you sanitize the tray table, armrests, etc.? It has been alleged that they are some of the most germ laden areas on a plane...

Significant Eater and I are slightly germaphobic, so we usually do a pretty good wipedown.

How to Disinfect Your Airline Seat

LOL - I'm firmly in the 'eat a peck a dirt afore you die' camp.

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Sounds like you are plagued with similar allergies to me! No down/feathers for this guy!

Reminds me of a story many moons ago when my grandmother took me to Italy for my first EU trip, we were staying in this beautiful villa and I woke up middle of the night sneezing non stop and having the worst allergy attack - quickly did we realize that I am allergic to the pillows! Unfortunately they were not as diversely stocked as your AirBnB (this was 20+ years ago!) and rolled up bath towels had to suffice!!

For a short while I thought that was going to be my option! Every spare pillow I uncovered was down as well.

Darienne · November 8, 2019

25 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

LOL - I'm firmly in the 'eat a peck a dirt afore you die' camp.

Me too. And living on a dirt road in a 150-year old farm house with two big dogs, who are not washed unless they encounter a skunk...thank heavens neither is a roller...who sleep on the bed, we inhale far more than our share. I do have the occasional tick.

OTOH, the husband of a person I know sat in ER with C-Diff for a couple of hours, using the one and only public bathroom. He was quite ill and so probably made no attempt to wipe down surfaces after he used them. So we do what we do...and let the rest go pretty much.

weinoo · November 8, 2019

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

Very interesting - funnily enough, I've never really thought about this... I've always worried about the guy 2 seats over coughing up a lung which will then get recirculated over to me...

Do you sanitize the arm rests before you sit down during the boarding process?

That guy...babies asses also worry me.

I'd like to dip the whole plane into a vat of Purell.

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

Too bad you didn't specify the non-feathers while you were at it!

When you get time, please tell more about your "airbnb hostess". I don't mean about Kristin specifically, but I wasn't aware that there could be any sort of personal connection for this sort of travel. (I have no experience with airbnb or any of its analogues.) Is she essentially the person who sets up your stay, like a travel agent?

We've stayed here twice before - I don't recall having an issue with feathers before. Perhaps she's added them in her upgrades.

Some airbnbs are in the home of the host, others are clearly properties rented to make money. I think originally the premise was that it was your own place that you rented when you were away. We've seen a lot of different set ups over the years we've been staying in them.

When you make an airbnb reservation there is connection made with the host that allows you to exchange information. Kristin loves to chat so we had a lot of chatting under our belts even before we arrived the first time. She asked if there was anything we needed - I told her about the piece of granite I would need for my demo at the show and she got it for me! She often drives us around to the places we need to go while we are here - and we give her our spare vendor tags so she can walk the show with her hubby or a friend. I diagnosed her dog with a bowel obstruction before I left the last time. She and I often text - I've seen her through the dog's surgery, the horrific death of a niece in an MVC, death of a parent, a job loss (and now gain!)

Last year we stayed at another place since Kristin was booked - another interesting experience!

Kerry Beal · November 8, 2019

2 minutes ago, weinoo said:

That guy...babies asses also worry me.

I'd like to dip the whole plane into a vat of Purell.

And I believe that Purell is the root of all evil. I am anxiously awaiting the official removal of those hand cleaners from hospitals as infection control finally looks at the evidence. The alcohol in them drys your skin and makes it more permeable to bugs - not to mention knocking off our healthy skin flora. Better IMHO to wash your hands under water with friction and regular soap (not the antibacterial stuff). But the cost of putting sinks everywhere is probably prohibitive.

Babies asses are cute aren't they? I know they are smooth!

gfweb · November 8, 2019

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

I'm interested in the prep of your airplane seat area, @Kerry Beal.

Do you sanitize the tray table, armrests, etc.? It has been alleged that they are some of the most germ laden areas on a plane...

Significant Eater and I are slightly germaphobic, so we usually do a pretty good wipedown.

How to Disinfect Your Airline Seat