jay | Revenge of the mutant fungi...

After six hours of meetings,

hopeforyou and I still lacked lunch around 3pm. I had planned on lunch elsewhere with a friend that was cancelled, which I would have missed anyway. Okay. So Jen ran errands, stopping at a bank in Sunnyvale. Across was a P.F.Chang's restaurant. Time for lunch.

Jen orders chicken with broccoli in ginger sauce. I order beef low mein from the lunch specials, because it was cheap and had no mushrooms. (both of us are allergic to otherwise-edible fungi... mine is mild, Jen goes into shock and stops breathing) Both dishes arrive. Mine has obvious mushrooms -- sent back. Waitress apologizes. Jen shares some of her dish with me, while I'm waiting.

Waitress returns in a couple of minutes. "I'm really sorry, but the cook thinks that the ginger chicken is made with a mushroom stock mixed with soy sauce." We ask her to confirm. At this point, Jen has eaten several bites and I've eaten two forkfuls... it did have traces of a funny flavor, but I never expected a brown mushroom gravy base to be used in nominally Chinese cuisine. Waitress also brings my redone low mein.

Jen springs up and runs out of the restaurant, jaywalking across El Camino traffic to get to the car. The waitress wants me to pay for the food, at least for mine plus beverages. I give her cash (including a tip, because it wasn't *her* fault) and run likewise. Jen has driven away, headed to a pharmacy about 1.5 miles away. I try to calm her on her cell phone... she gets there, throws up, and takes Benadryl as her throat is closing. Meanwhile... I'm on the corner of Mathilda and ECR with a take-out bag and no wheels. No taxis show, so I start walking.

Eventually, I get to the drugstore and find her slumped in a chair. I feel a bit queasy myself, so I take a Benadryl. I call H and ask him to send out an email postponing our 5pm meeting. We drive to

insomnia and

iceblink's house, where I leave Jen in their care... the Benadryl has effect, and I'm woozy and drowsy. I doze intermittently as Kirsten drives me back to the office...

Sigh. Half a day lost. At least Jen seemed stable and not too threatened. And PFChang's is now on my "do not trust" list of restaurants...