A second visit to Chazz Palmentieri's restaurant (a short post)

 

Last week, I went to Chazz Palmenteri's restaurant in White Plains, NY and said that I wanted to go back there again with RQS.  Today, I had the chance to do so.

The day started with us getting up slowly.  This was going to be a day spent as Marian, so I made the appropriate plans which allowed me the time to shave, shower, get fully made up, and dressed for a lunch at a nice restaurant.  Neither of us wanted to go out in a drizzling rain, but we had 1 pm reservations made late the previous evening.  So, out the door we went, and we arrived at the nearby parking lot around 1:05.

Walking from the public parking lot to the restaurant in a drizzle was annoying at best, especially when part of the sidewalk was closed for construction.  But being at the restaurant made the getting there all worthwhile.  We sat down, and the waiter mentioned that it was nice to see us again.  (Did he remember me, or was this a way to give a polite warm welcome?)  I ordered my drink, then we ordered our meals - Calamari, Chicken Parmigiana, and Cheesecake for me; Salad, Chicken Francese, and Ice Cream for her.  Both of us loved our meals.  We will be there again soon for sure.

We walked back to the car and went home for the day.  It wasn't the kind of day that either of us wanted to go out again.  And we didn't....

 

 

 

A dress came in with UPS delivery today.

 

The other day, RQS and I bought identical dresses (in our sizes) from Lands End.  It is described online as a High Impact Crew Neck Active Dress with the following blurb:

When your clothes have built-in performance features like UPF 50 sun protection, moisture-wicking and stretch, you’ll be ready for every activity. Built-in shorts with pockets give you added functionality, and the zippered back makes it effortless to put on and take off at the end of the day. Sport, yet chic, this dress is made to move with you and gives you the flexibility you need in your day – go from court to café without having to change your outfit.

Both RQS and I figured we'd take a chance on this dress, even though it would require that we zip (and unzip) this dress every time we wear it.  Given that I already have 3 exercise dresses and 3 unitards, I thought twice about buying the dress.  Given its style, I could wear it for occasions other than exercise, as long as I can get in and out of the dress without help.

When I got home, I saw that UPS had delivered the dress a day early, and I had to try it on. It fit acceptably well, but I'll have a hard time with the zipper if I don't place it perfectly before stepping in to the dress.  Yet, I think I'll be wearing it for times other than for exercise - it looks that nice.  RQS ordered the dress in both green and black, and had one comment - the black dress looks like one of many little black dresses she could wear.  (I wonder now whether I should have ordered the black dress as well.)  Neither of us intends to return our dresses.  And it will be interesting to see if we both wear the same dress one day when we go out for our walks.

 

 

 

Steak dinner with Vicki

 

Vicki and I scheduled a second Restaurant Week dinner at Benjamin Steakhouse in White Plains.  Neither of us had been here before, and we wanted to have a good meal to make up for last week's disappointment at Saint George. So, I took out one of my unworn Universal Standard dresses, and dressed up a little for the evening.  (Too bad I didn't take a selfie - the dress looked quite nice on me.)

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It was my turn to pick Vicki up at her place.  So, I drove to her place around 5:30 and waited a few minutes for her to come out of her house.  On the way down to the restaurant, we talked about my brother, his upcoming trip, and the family homestead.  It was a pleasant chat, but Vicki got in the way of my driving by suggesting where I should turn (or not turn) when near the steakhouse.  This was not a big deal.  But it shows in a subtle way a hidden side of her personality - her intelligence can be a weapon if she wants to use it that way.  Luckily, I knew enough about the area to get us to the place on time and to hand my keys to the valet for parking.

We entered the place and were quickly shown to our table around 6:30. Within a few minutes both our drink orders and dinner orders were taken. Shortly afterward, our starters were delivered - a wedge salad for her and lobster bisque for me. Both were very good. Vicki commented on the atmosphere of the place, loving almost everything except for the reflected sounds which made it hard to speak.  Once done with our main courses came - Filet Mignon for her and NY Strip for me. Again, both were very good.  So far, this place succeeded in both the quality of the food and in service. When we finished our mains, the waiter came over to take our dessert orders - chocolate cake for Vicki and cheesecake for me. Both were very good, and on a par with the rest of our meals.  This will be a place we go back to again when restaurant week comes again, or for special occasions.  

On the way home, Vicki talked about the medical problems her dog is having.  For a 3 year old, he has gotten quite expensive.  But like most fur parents, Vicki loves her dogs and will do almost anything for them.  As for me, I am done with raising fur babies, as I love being able to travel at will - money permitting.

 

Mexican lunch and a new Bra

 

I had only one thing on the docket today, and that was lunch with CCS, my friend from the US Census.  Around noon, I made sure to get shaved, showered, made up and dressed for a 1:30 lunch.

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CCS and I aren't that close.  We're not the types who need to be at each other's beck and call.  Instead, we are the type of friends who can keep each other up to date on what's going on in each other's lives, and be there for each other when we need a small favor from each other.  So a friendship built on workplace camaraderie has evolved into something that nourishes us years after our involvement in the census.

When we got together, we talked of several things - current affairs, her upcoming trip to Atlantic City, my life with RQS and our upcoming trips, and issues one faces when one holds dual citizenship in the US and another country and wants to travel.  I learned how I'll be dealing with passport issues once I have my second passport.

Once we finished lunch, I took a long, overland route to Lane Bryant in Paramus to see what is in the store.  Nothing I would have liked was selling at a price I wanted to pay.  About the only thing I wanted was a new bra, and they were on sale.  Even more interesting, they actually had my size in store stock for a change.  So I bought the bra in the above picture.  Just before I left, there was another woman in the store who was shopping for a bra in her size - 38-I.  I can't imagine having breasts that large on my chest. The saleslady was trying to tell her to try on both the 38-I and the 40-H sizes, as sometimes a "sister size" bra will work better on some frames.  (I wasn't going to get involved in this conversation, as I've already had to deal with sister sizing when buying my bras.)

Soon, I was on my way home, and dealing with rush hour traffic.  Luckily, I got home in a little over an hour, and was able to relax for the rest of the evening.

A Co-Op shareholder meeting - I couldn't wait for it to end.

 

Well, this was another day that I couldn't spend any time as Marian.  By now, the look on my face probably mirrors the look on the picture above.  OK, it's not that weird, but I feel that way after the weekend I've had.

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Around 3:30 pm, I finally got around to doing 2 loads of laundry while I got showered and dressed for the 6 pm board meeting.  By 5:30, I was out the door and off to the shareholder meeting.  We have had a problem for the past several shareholder meetings - not enough people attending for us to have a quorum. And this year wouldn't be different.

At 7:45, our attorney called the meeting to order.  He noted that we didn't have a quorum, and that the old board would continue for another term.  And then, the "fun" began.  Due to financial problems we encountered last year and that we are working to resolve, we have a shortfall for which we will need to make an assessment of all shareholders to cover this shortage.  Understandably, people were upset.  They were even more upset that our bank hasn't been able to give us final totals for us to work with.  So, we are going with our attorney's estimate for what we will need to pay, and we then gave an estimate of what we expect to ding our shareholders to make things whole again.

The meeting ended at 8:30, and I was able to make it to the diner for a chef salad before they closed for the evening.  It was nice to go there again, as it is a place I only go when presenting as Mario.  Yes, I ended up eating too much today, but I'll watch my diet tomorrow.

 

Replacing the water heater was the reason for another drive to Long Island.

 

Before plumbing work

After plumbing work

As I mentioned yesterday, I couldn't park near RQS's house, and I had to drive back to Croton to stay the night.  So, today, I had to drive back to Long Island to let the plumber into the family homestead to replace the water heater.  This meant that I would have to get up early and spend 90 minutes driving to Long Island instead of finding somewhere to kill 2 1/2 hours before the plumber arrived.  Since I'd be in a position where Mario would be expected, this took away another chance to spend a day as Marian.

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Rushing to be on time, I got showered, dressed, and was out of the house by 10:15.  What happens when one rushes?  One forgets to take one's morning pills.  This would make it the second day in a row that I forgot to take some of my medicines.  So I know to double check this before I leave in the morning and when I come back at night.  But I digress.  Something must be going on with Android Auto updates, as I couldn't get a clean connection between my car's head unit and my phone.  Twice on the way to the family homestead, I decided to reboot the phone, reestablish Bluetooth connectivity, but to no avail.  Figuring things out would have to wait until I was ready to go home.

Arriving at the house a little bit before noon, I had to double check to see whether the plumbers were coming.  They were a few minutes late, but got to work quickly.  About 3 1/2 hours later, the new water heater was installed and the gas lines tested for leaks.  (Sadly, we may need to run new gas lines within the house, as replacement will likely be cheaper than repairs.  Ouch!)  And then, it was all over for the day.  So, I fought rush hour traffic on the way home, and arrived at my apartment around 5:15 or so - and proceeded to rest for the evening.

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Given that we will need to have more work done in the house, I will need to coordinate a day which works with my schedule, RQS's schedule, and the plumber's schedule for the next visit.  Since the day would begin around 8:30, I'd have to stay over RQS's place the night before, so that I don't have to fight bridge traffic that morning.  Hopefully, this can be done before my next trip.  If not, it will be done afterwards. 

 

 

PS: My brother told me that the additional plumbing work will cost an extra $4,000. This means that we will not add a half-bath to the house.  Instead, we will either again rent out the house or sell it at today's high prices.

An overly short weekend (and a short post)

 

Yes, I know that this is not 2016.  But I wanted to illustrate that this past weekend was way too short for me.  Only being able to be with RQS on Friday night and Saturday wasn't good enough for me.  At least, I was able to get back to her for dinner on Sunday before going home for the night.

But first....

I had agreed to help my brother with power washing the foundation walls again at the family homestead, as the concrete he used for patching the interior wall was faulty and didn't hold up.  So I told RQS that we'd have a short weekend.  Strangely enough, we didn't do much of anything other than rest.  That was good enough for me, as I'd be working much of the afternoon on Sunday.

Sunday eventually came, and I had to give up a good parking spot in RQS's neighborhood to meet my brother.  After an aborted visit to Mickey D's due to their order kiosks not working for me, we went to the local Burger King - where the touch pads worked.  (Note to me: Do not let one's anger out at the crappy Mickey D's order kiosk - they force their franchisees to buy shitty hardware which annoys both the customer and the franchisee.  Note to reader: If you want to know if a McD's soft serve is working at a particular site, use the mcbroken.com site.)

Once done with our burgers, it was off to the family homestead for 3 hours of work.  This time, the power washing and new concrete seem to do the job.  My brother will apply a skim coat during the week, and will hopefully apply paint after he comes back from a quick trip to the back woods of Appalachia.

Quitting time came, and my brother was off to his wife, and I was off to RQS.  Although I could find a parking spot or two, I could not find one that would let me sleep late in the morning.  So I found a space nearby the house, and went upstairs for dinner.  All too soon, I had to leave, and I had an easy drive home until I hit the draw bridge on the Hutchinson River Parkway.  I lost 30 minutes in that jam.  And yet, even with a shopping trip at Walmart and the Supermarket, I was home shortly after 10 pm.  

Unfortunately, I'll have to go back to Long Island in the morning for the plumber, and then finally go home.  At least, I can see the day where I can again go out as Marian....