Getting used to a reorganized kitchen (a short post)

 

I wish my kitchen was this useful.  Sadly, I have too much stuff in the kitchen to make it truly useful.  It would make things easier for me if I were to get rid of items I don't use.  But to do that would mean making hard decisions that I'm not ready to make right now.

This weekend, RQS straightened out my kitchen.  But I hadn't yet had the chance to use it.  Today was my chance.  First, I had to drop RQS off at the station to return home.  And then, I could go home to rest.  Given that it was a dreary day AND that I had no plans to go out later, I got dressed as Mario just to drop RQS off.  After a quick stop at the deli to get a breakfast sandwich, it was home for the day.

Once home, I took a needed nap, and then started work on reorganizing information I'll need to create another cruise tool.  So, that killed some time until dinner.  There was some salmon in the fridge, but I wasn't interested in that.  Instead, I was more interested in the "more than" half chicken from last night.  Cutting off the remaining right breast (RQS doesn't carve a bird well) and full left leg, I proceeded to prepare this part of the bird for nuking.  Next, I made some flavored rice, then cobbled up some gravy to ladle over the bird.  Finally, I warmed up the bird and had a hearty meal.

Regarding the placement of some items in the kitchen, I switched the garbage can's spot with the original place for the rolling cart, Now, I don't have to move the cart each time I want to get utensils from the drawer.  RQS is good at finding the energy to do this kind of reorganization, but not as good at figuring out a practical final state.  Maybe that's why we work well together - we complement each other in our areas of weakness.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get out and (maybe) get my nails done.  Then, it should be another week as Marian.

Saturday, a trip to IKEA. Sunday, a brunch not eaten.

 

Saturday would be a day spent presenting as Marian.  But first, RQS decided to help organize the clutter which was my kitchen.  So, for half the day, I didn't bother doing much.  But at 4 pm, we ended up driving to IKEA to look for a rolling cart.  $143.00 later, I had the cart and other needed items coming home in my car with us.  Both of us knew NOT to work on any IKEA assembly (including simple ones) until after we had a chance to sleep and get some more rest.

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Sunday would be a day spent as Mario.  We had negotiated noon as a mutual time for brunch, as RQS's friend insisted that we meet no later than noon because her grandchild would need her 1 pm nap.  I was a little miffed, as I knew that the friend didn't want to bend or accommodate our needs.  But, since this friend was down from Boston, I said OK to having lunch at noon, missing church for the nth Sunday in a row. !0 minutes before we were to arrive at the diner, the friend called asking us if we could meet at 1:30 pm.  Both of us were annoyed.  We altered our plans for the friend, and now she wanted to change things.  Both of us were peeved.  Her friend didn't care what she was doing to our schedules.  Only her schedule was important.  So RQS said we'll have to get together another time, and we proceeded to have lunch on our own.

What to do next?  Well, we hung out until 5 pm, assembling the rolling cart we bought the day before, then drove to BJ's to pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner, and then went back home to eat.  For the most part, it was an OK day.  But one that could have been much better if we had been able to keep our original plans for the day.

The day started with phone calls

 

Anyone who knows Commercial Street in Provincetown, MA will notice something very wrong about the AI generated image above.  I gave ChatGPT instructions to draw me in front of the Lobster Pot restaurant in Provincetown and got the above picture.  Can you tell me what's wrong with the image?

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There were several things on my docket for today, and two of them involved phone calls.  First was a call to RQS to tell her NOT to bring up her fancy dress, as we'll be a little bit more casual tonight when we go out for dinner.  The second had me being more apprehensive, as it was to return a call from my doctor's office.  I found that the assistant couldn't get the GLP-1 drugs cheaper than the prices I found, and was asking me to check with my mail order pharmacy to see if they had a better price for the drugs.  So, I have another phone call to make soon.  RQS would be coming up later in the day, and that meant that I also had some laundry to take care of before  I picked her up at the train station. 

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Around 1 pm, I put laundry into the washer, and started my process of getting ready to go out.  By 3:30 pm, my laundry was done and I was ready to go out.  At 4:30, I picked up RQS at the station, and we drove to Chappaqua for dinner - French Food on the last Friday of Restaurant Week.  It was a good thing we got there when we did, as the place was empty when we got there, but getting full by the time we left. The food was very good, but I made one mistake in my choices: I chose the wrong liquid in which my mussels were prepared.  I chose the white wine sauce, when I had a craving for something like the Dijon mustard sauce.

Once we were done with dinner, we went to the supermarket to do some shopping.  And finally we were home for the night.  It was nice to take off my bra again.  RQS will never understand why I want the headaches of being female, but then, how many people understand us TGs?

 

 

Lunch with "Short" Vicki and finally a Game Night

 

I really didn't want to get up today.  The weather was dreary, with intermittent showers punctuated by periods of drizzle.  But, it would be my one chance to have lunch with "Short" Vicki and see her before she goes on her cruise.  

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The other day, Vicki asked me if we could change our lunch date from Friday to Thursday (today), as one of the pregnant ladies she has been helping (Vicki is a Doula) was expecting to go into labor this evening. I had no problems saying "Yes", as this would give me more time on Friday to get things ready when RQS comes up for the weekend.

Just after I took my shower, I got a text message from Vicki.  Basically, it said: "WTFRU? in much more polite language.  I told her that she was an hour early, and I'd be there at 1 pm.  Although I was getting interrupted by messages, I was out the door and in Scarsdale a couple of minutes late.  One problem - the parking meter ate my quarters and wasn't showing that I had time on the meter.  To be safe, I ended up moving my car to a spot with a working meter, and ended up entering the restaurant at 1:15 pm.  AARGH!

We settled down and started chatting service at the restaurant wasn't rushed, and we both enjoyed a nice Italian meal.  Both of us had to go out and check the meter after we finished the main course, but that was only a minor interruption for us.  All too soon we had to go.  I'm not sure if Vicki was going to head straight out to the hospital where the baby would be delivered, or whether she'd go home to wait for the phone call.  Either way, I knew she would have a busy evening in front of her.  As for me, it was time to go home and relax before game night.

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This would be the first time I'd be going to game night (if I recall correctly) because of cruising and uncleared snow.  So I put this high on my priority list of things to do today. 

Around 600 pm, I got up and got ready to go to game night.  Arriving around 7:45, I was just in time for the first and only game of the night, and enjoyed playing it (although I lost as usual.)  It was nice to see familiar faces again.  But all too soon, I had to go home.  And that was just as well, as I had had enough of people for the day. 

Rule of Acquisition # 34: War is good for business.

 

A wise scriptwriter once wrote something like this: 

"Rule of Acquisition # 34: War is good for business"

"Aren't you confused? Rule of acquisition # 34 is: Peace is good for business."

"Yes, it's  easy to confuse the 2 rules."

Corollaries to this include: "War is good for business, but less so closer to the font lines you get."

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The "Special Military Operation (read: War) in Iran is proof of this.  Once America burns through its stockpile of arms, we will be placing orders to refresh our supplies - with kickbacks going to the Orange Snowflake and his family (of course).

Right now, I'm very glad that my nephew is long gone from the military, and has built up a nice civilian life.  Soon, this war will become very asymmetrical, and I expect to see terror attacks occur around the world.  (God, I hope I'm wrong about this.)  But when one side has outgunned the other, what other way can there be to inflict pain upon an enemy?

I believe strongly in the law of unintended consequences.  The orange snowflake keeps making errors which would force normal politicians out of office.  But, as the leader of a cult, he has the support of a lot of under educated Americans  who hold grievances against the society that has left them behind.  Closing the main business in a "One Horse Town" often results in unemployment and a town that can no longer provide needed services to its residents.  With no opportunities available, this class of people becomes economic surplus and not worth investing in.  These people become alienated from the larger society, and will follow any "leader" who promises this group a new prosperity and the restoration of their social class and its privileges.

Many Americans see the Iran war for what it is - a distraction from the Epstein Files.  With a submissive House and Senate, there is no effective check and balance on this demented megalomaniac. He only wants to be able to say "I AM the State!"  So far, he has had a good run towards his goal.  But this comes at a cost - he has destroyed all of America's soft power, as well as people's faith in a government that would work for the people.

Luckily, and I hate putting it this way, he will likely trigger a world-wide recession.  Americans will not be able to afford foreign goods, and America's role as the "Consumer of Last Resort" will have ended.  America will cease to be first among many democracies.  Instead, it will be a lesser power among the democracies of the world, as we will need to regain the trust of the world.  Yet, the entire world will have a large price to pay for the snowflake's aggression. People will starve because they can't afford food. Nations will need to build up their militaries because we no longer live in a rules-based world.  And freedoms will be curtailed because authoritarian regimes will have more power over people.  Does the end justify the means?  I don't think so.

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The current administration is floating the idea of resurrecting the draft.  If I were of draft age and had a useful skill, I'd visit a few foreign lands (Canada being one of them) and look to leave the US for these countries.  Being TG, I'd get as far away from the US as possible, as I fear that the snowflake will seriously consider annexing Canada before his term ends.  I hope that Canada takes this threat seriously, as the snowflake is following the 1930's German History map which includes Austrian Annexation.  (You may want to translate the page into English first.)  

Although part of my family background comes from the Caribbean, it is way too close for comfort.  Most of the Caribbean is inside America's "Mare Nostrum",  So I wouldn't feel safe there as a cisgender person, much less a TG.  All I can say is that I have my exit route planned, and am waiting on paperwork to make it easy to do so in a hurry.

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Last night, I was talking with my friend Vicki about current events, and she sees the danger we are now facing.  I mentioned the movie "Casablanca" and its cast, mostly made of European exiles forced out of their countries by the Nazis.  Right now, I expect to have my "Letters of Transit" soon, and I hope my readers in America are making similar plans. 

Another Doctor Visit, Another Prescription. Another Co-Op Board Meeting, Another Evening Dinner Delivery.

 

There was no chance that I'd spend any time as Marian for the next day or two, so I moved my license and insurance card into Mario's wallet, showered, shaved, dressed, and headed off to my doctor's office.  I always dread this, but today's visit was a little worse than usual.

Around 10:15 am, I drove to the doctor's office, and there were no parking sport near his office.  This was an omen if there ever was one.  I had to drive an extra 5 minutes before I could get a nearby spot on a side street.  Several minutes after I arrived, I was shown to one of his rooms where he took my weight, my blood pressure, and proceeded to check my liver and some glands on my throat.  Now, he wants me to get another ultrasound.  AARGH!  To make things worse, he prescribed a medicine that's going to run me another $200/month - without consulting whether I could afford it or not.  When I mentioned the outrageous GLP-1 drug price, he wanted me to spend another $500+/month on the drug, something I will not do.  Until doctors start pushing back on drug prices being charged to patients, there is no way health care prices in this country will drop.  They are at the front lines of health care, and they should be our primary advocates for what we must do to maintain our health AND to keep the overall cost of that healthcare down low enough for the average person to afford it.  (Although I will soon have another $700/month coming into my pocket, do I really want to spend it on 2 drugs?)

When I was done with the doctor, I went home to rest.  I had a co-op board meeting starting at 5:30 pm, and there would be a lot to do at the meeting.  One good thing: We should be able to sell an abandoned apartment as-is, and help deal with our financial issues.  But I knew I would be very hungry afterwards, so my plan for the evening was to use the Slice app to order Italian to go, and have some Chicken Parmigiana and Penne pasta delivered - I would be in mo mood to cook or reheat food.

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Tomorrow, I'll be heading to my tax preparer, and then back to Croton for the yearly co-op dinner.  Yes, it'll be Italian food again, but I'll order something very different from what I ordered tonight. 

    

Parting is such sweet sorrow

 

RQS had to go home today, and both of us would have liked for our weekend to last longer.  So, I showered, made up my face, and got dressed to bring RQS to the train station.  However, this was not the only thing on my docket - I had arranged to have dinner at the Brazilian BBQ with Vicki, and it would be an evening I'd be tempted to overeat.

It was much warmer than I expected when I dropped RQS off, so I decided to change into something else for the evening.  Instead of a tunic dress over leggings, I decided to wear something different.  The first dress I tried didn't work well with the bra I was wearing.  So, I took another dress out of the closet and wore that instead.

Vicki arrived at 6, and I did the driving to get to the Brazilian BBQ in West Nyack.  She didn't believe how easy it was to cross the river, and I noted that it's usually backed up during rush hour, but not at other times.  We found the restaurant where I expected it to be, and almost as soon as we were seated, the meats started coming to our table.  I could have easily pigged out.  But I didn't want to be processing last night's dinner when I arrive at the doctor's office tomorrow.   

After dinner, we stopped at the store, so that I could pick up a thumb drive for my tax files.  This way, I'll be able to avoid carrying a lot of paper as I go to my tax preparer.  (That's on the docket for Wednesday.) 

 

PS: I'll be presenting as Mario for the next couple of days.  I can't wait until Thursday where I can get back to wearing something pretty again.