Some like it hot, but I don't.

Today and tomorrow are going to be brutally hot (again), and the wisest thing I can do is to present as Mario as much as possible.  If it weren't for the fact that the brain generates a disproportionate amount of a body's heat, I'd be comfortable wearing a wig and presenting as a female.  But, with temperatures bound for the upper 90's/low 100's, it doesn't make sense to risk getting heat stroke.

But first....

I had two things on the docket for today.  First was a doctor's appointment.  Second was a co-op board meeting.  Neither of these appointments were desired, as I  would rather have stayed cool and in my jammies and in my apartment.  Instead, I had to get dressed to see the doctor.

Around 11 am, I went to the doctor, and this time, he didn't hector me about my weight.  He must be a little glad that I am losing some weight.  I mentioned an issue I've been having with my legs (he didn't say much about this), and then we discussed a refill of a medicine I've been taking.  When he noticed how much the drug was costing me, he changed the prescription to a generic - and that will save me $150/month.  Yay!

Next, I decided to take a drive while I was out, and went to BJ's for some retail therapy.  I didn't buy anything I didn't need.  But I did buy some things I could have delayed purchasing if I needed to do so. And then, it was back home for the rest of the day.  The air conditioning was cranked up to the max, and it was tolerably cool inside.  But I knew that it would become unbearably warm in the afternoon, and that I'd stay in air conditioned comfort as much as possible.

Finally, it was time for the co-op board meeting.  Tonight, it was a quick one - most of our big problems are nearing resolution, and our next meeting won't be until September.  I was glad it was over.  Yet, it was the type of meeting we should be having every month.  I learned more than I wanted to about one board member - she couldn't even afford to turn on the air conditioning in this heat.  Her lights were off, and she was dressed in a way that allowed as much perspiration to evaporate as possible.

And yet, my day was not finished.  After finishing the bulk of this entry, I decided to take a rest.  And guess who called me....  TCL!   She has no understanding of electronic technology, and had to replace her Cable TV remote.  Around 10 pm, she called me with a problem.  After she replaced her cable remote, the volume control wasn't working.  It showed a different volume level bar on the bottom of the screen, and when she raised or lowered the volume, nothing happened.  I knew exactly what the problem was, and I was not in a position to fix it.  Instead, I directed her to call the cable company's support line and ask for help programming the cable remote.  Guess what...  They guided her through the process of fixing her problem, and I didn't have to spend an hour on the phone with her.  Yay!

 

 

 

Lunch with TCL, with a home without internet or cable

 

Recently, I celebrated by ##'th birthday.  Today, TCL and I scheduled lunch together at a local (for her) restaurant to celebrate.  Sadly, this meant that I'd be dressing as Mario for the next 3 days.

But first....

As usual for a Monday, I dropped RQS off at the train station for her ride home  On the way to get a quick buttered roll at the local deli, I noticed the following:

Guess what's coming to town?   

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Once I had my buttered roll in hand, it was off to TCL's place.  It took less time than expected, and I had to kill time before pulling in to TCL's driveway.  TCL asked me to bring something small and light into her house.  The place reeked of cat!  I'm glad I don't visit that often.  I was glad to be able to get back into the car and drive to the new Italian joint in town. Both of us wanted to try the new place, but we found it underwhelming.  The food was good, but the portions were small.  We'll likely end up going to the "usual" hang out next time.  And then I drove TCL back home. 

I decided to take the Bear Mountain Bridge home, as I expected fewer traffic jams going North, instead of going East.  Although the road was detoured due to a washout,  it didn't take much longer to get to the bridge than it usually does.  And then, it was the "Goat Path" to Peekskill, a 5 minute drive to the library to pick up a book on hold, and a 5 minute trip to the supermarket to pick up food for the week.

Once home, I started on this blog - and then the internet went out for a couple of hours.  There went the Zoom with my Texas friends.  But I didn't want to try to stay awake for them and not be at the top of my game.  So, I sent a message to say that I've postponed things until next week due to an internet outage, and then I tethered my main computer to my phone to catch up on things. 

 

 

A Summer's Weekend With RQS

 

RQS and I agreed that she would come up this past weekend, and I would go to her place the next.  Often, when RQS comes up for the weekend, we choose to go out to eat either on Friday night or on Saturday.  This week would follow our usual pattern, but in ways we didn't expect. We would take advantage of the opportunity to visit a restaurant on City Island and have broiled lobster for Bronx Restaurant Week.  However, things would not go as planned for us, although we did have our lobster. 

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Earlier in the year, RQS picked up a "Backup" phone she could use in case she had problems with the cell phone she normally uses.  (I have the same thing with my backup phone, using a cheap phone/text only plan.)  Well, she brought her backup phone with her, instead of her normal phone, and tried to connect with me on the way up to my place using my backup phone's number.  When she reached me, she asked whether I had received any messages, and we discovered that she was calling the wrong number.

Next, we went to the supermarket to pick up some food, then went back home to relax.  I could finally take off my dress and my bra and get into something comfortable. (RQS never tin her wildest dreams thought that she'd ever be intimate with someone who'd be saying THAT!  Score one for us TG's.)  And then I proceeded to cook dinner - assorted seafood in marinara sauce over angel hair pasta.  Yum!  That was filling!

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Saturday came, and we took it easy most of the day.  Around 4 pm, we got dressed to go to the City Island Lobster House restaurant in the Bronx. Now, for those of my readers unfamiliar with the NYC area, the Bronx is the only NYC county located mainly on the mainland.  The rest of NYC consists of island based territories: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island (making up the other 4 counties of NYC).  City Island is a small community in North East Bronx which is isolated from the rest of the Bronx by a large park and a narrow road that leads to the island, crosses a bridge, and then has a perpetual traffic jam during summer months.  And we decided to visit City Island at its busiest time.

After we suffered the traffic jam leading to City Island, I handed my key fob to the valet who parked my car.  (I hate valet parking, as I have to detach my key fob from my handbag to that s/he can park my car.) Then we entered the restaurant.  Both of us considered this to be a big mistake, as the staff was totally overwhelmed by the mob of people looking to have a good meal.  Yet, we hung on for 30 minutes before we could get a table.  (Reservations mean nothing in this place when it's busy.)  Once seated, service was less than desirable - it took forever for us to place our orders, then it took even more time for us to get water, and our food.  Normally, I might blame the wait staff for not caring to bother with customers.  But today, they were running around the restaurant like whirling dervishes.  There were too many people there, and they set no limits to the number of people the restaurant would serve on a busy night.  Yet, when the main course came, we loved the food - but not the service.  They didn't bring us lobster crackers, nor bowls for the shells.  I had to ask several times for them, when if I had seen them, could have grabbed them myself.

Would we go back?  For the food, YES!  For the service, NO!  Yet, we feel that the place is worth trying on a weeknight when the place is not as crowded.

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No church for this Sunday - both of us stayed in bed until 11 am.  It was a jammie day for both of us, and we relaxed - as usual for a Sunday afternoon and evening.  We figured out much of our game plan for next week, as well as making sure that RQS had everything ready to go for her trip home on Monday, 

 

My schedule might collide with a house sale.

 

My brother and I have "owned" our family homestead for years.  Yet, we didn't have control of it for years, since my dad was living there.  After he went into the nursing home, we fixed up the place to rent the place out.  When our tenants moved out (into their new home), the house has sat vacant.  Recently, we've been paying taxes on a non-performing asset.That's part of why we decided to sell the house.

We went into contract in late May, and the clock has been ticking.  Our lawyer told us that the buyers have 2 months to close on the deal unless their bank refuses to give them the loan.  And now, my schedule conflicts with the last 2 weeks of this 2 month period.  So, I sent an email to my brother to let him know which days I can and cannot be available for the closing.  Hopefully, this won't cause the closing to be delayed any further.

I have a lot of memories of living in this house.  And I will miss having a connection to the house.  But for everything, there is a season.  Yet, that season is over.  

- - - - - -

My apartment has been my home for much longer than the family homestead.  Like the family homestead, I have held back on doing many of the renovations and modernization that most properties go through over the years.  My kitchen looks like any kitchen did in the 1970's, and my bathroom looks a little older than that due to the color scheme of the toilet and bathtub.  It'll need a hard core renovation when I eventually leave this place.  But that'll be someone else's concern.

If I had had children, I know how my property would need to be divided.  This is not my reality in this universe.  My niece and nephew will get most of everything, with the proceeds of the house sale going to RQS upon my demise. (And I hope that's not anytime soon.)   

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Memories are important things, as that's all any of us can take with us when we pass.  If there is something afterwards for us, no one knows.  But I want to be rich in happy memories when that time comes. 

 

As a lark, I contacted someone I once knew

 

The other day, I sent out texts to several people I hadn't heard from in months, if not years.  And I was surprised to hear from one of these people.

Maria #2 and I met via a dating app, but we already knew we were going to be friends and not lovers.  (She was out of my league in many ways.  But she did tell me some things about living near XGFJ.  But that's another story for another day.)  Maria got busy with her life and had no room in her life for a friendship at that time.

Two years later, I reach out to her to say hello, and found out that she and her boyfriend (now husband) had moved to Ireland.  When he lived here, he was the immigrant looking to become a citizen.  Now, she's the immigrant looking to become a citizen.  Amazing, huh?  Yet, with the political shit storm generated by the Orange Monster and the GOP, it makes perfect sense to leave the USA.

- - - - - -

Right now, I wonder if anyone is tracking all of the crimes being committed by the flunkies loyal to the monster.  The monster has given his Brown Shirts and Black Shirts effective immunity for the murders they have committed under the guise of enforcing immigration laws. We've seen them lie about their actions, with upper political echelons protecting these animals.  It is unsafe for virtually all immigrants to stay in this country now, and it is becoming unsafe for the native born as well.

RQS senses that I may have to leave the US if the monster if not checked soon.  But where can I go?  I'm too old to start a new career.  I'd have to worry about moving my money out of the US, so that I could have a comfortable retirement.  Yet, if I have to do so, I will.  At least, I know where to start finding resources to make this possible. 

Game Night - with a little celebration

 

 

OK - I'll explain about the celebration in a few....

But first, I'll describe the day.

Since I'll need to present as Mario on Monday and Tuesday, I held off on doing my own nails to prepare for the coming weekend.  Instead, I decided to sleep late, and then fold 2 loads of laundry from last night.  By the time I was done with things in the apartment, it was getting close to 5 pm, and I had to get ready to go to game night.

By now, I have my routine down pat to prepare myself to present as Marian.  First, I shower, making sure to shave as much of my body as possible.  Then, I prepare for my makeup routine and let my undercoat dry.  After I shave my face, it's time to put on my underwear, bra and falsies and start applying makeup.  I'm usually done in 15 minutes at this point, but sometimes I take more care to get everything right. Once done with my makeup, I spritz on some perfume, put on a dress, and am ready to put my wig on just before leaving the house.

I left the house around 6:50. and headed to Yonkers for game night.  There is a Mickey D's along the way that I'll often stop at.  But there's one problem I have to deal with - there is no left turn into Mickey D's driveway.  So, I usually make the left turn into a skating rink's parking lot so I can make a right turn into Mickey D's.  Well, there was some police activity at the skating rink, as there were 4 police cars in front of the door.  There was no way I was going to hang out here - even if I wanted to.  I drove through Mickey D's, picked up "dinner" and finished my drive to game night.

Game night was fun, even though I lost both games.  There were the 3 of us girls at our table (me the only TG), and we had a chance to chat.  One game selected the starting player by birth date - and this made me the starting player.  When the games wound down, we chatted loosely on current events, all of us having had fun watching Iran's Lego Block propaganda videos.  

Around 10, I left game night and drove home talking to RQS.  She has booked her trip to see her sister.  So, I can now book my cruise to Bermuda.  (Now to find some extra cash to pay for the cruise.)  My big question: Will I take the chance on traveling as Marian this time? 

We've hit the middle of the year. How quickly time has passed.

 

God, how I could have born to be the happy woman in this picture.  Alas, I was born with the wrong chromosome mix, and could not ever look as good as this idealized version of myself.  At least, I didn't have to deal with mood swings, monthlies, pregnancies, or any of the problems unique to a cisgender female.  And I would never have met RQS - that would have been a great loss.

When I look at today's politics, I see women's rights under attack around the world.  In some cultures, its a religious patriarchy that subjugates women.  In others, it's social values which insist that a woman must be subordinate to a man.  And in nations like the USA, women are under attack - and many don't see what's happening.

In the past few years, the US Supreme Court has effectively eliminated a woman's right to control her own body.  Some states are making it illegal for a woman to travel from her home state to get an abortion in a state where it's legal, putting the woman at risk of legal persecution if her home state's government finds out.  These states are attempting to prevent out of state sources from sending in drugs which can induce abortions, and will force a woman to carry a rapist's child if she becomes pregnant.

America's attack on women started with several religious fundamentalists seeing a chance to gain power by using Americans' strong religious beliefs (especially in what we call "Red States").  Trusted leaders easily manipulate people who only think in 2-3 second sound bites, getting them agitated in ways that they are willing to elect authoritarian leaders to impose their cultural values on those who don't agree with them.  And guess who benefits?  Not the common person.  Not society as a whole.  But, only the people manipulating the masses.

- - - - - -

Why did I start off sounding like a history teacher?  Well, the Orange Monster's attack on Transgenders is in full swing.  And I'm thinking of doing a peaceful act of rebellion - taking a short cruise as Marian.  I'm tired of obedience to a norm that the people did not choose.  Only by standing up for our rights, can we survive this hateful administration. 

But the choice of taking this cruise depends on RQS visiting her sister.  I would be booking this cruise ONLY if she decides to fly to Florida.  I'm not sure yet of what will happen.  But it'll be nice to get back on a ship again.