As you read this, it'll be a week later....

 

Normally, the United States would have celebrated Flag Day on June 14th.  This year, the Orange Monster is turning what should have been a celebration of America's 250th birthday into an unmitigated disaster.

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As I write this, there is a UFC Octagon being erected on the White House lawn, where only service members meeting our "Secretary of War's" idea of what a soldier should look like would be admitted to the matches.  One of my Facebook friends is appalled at this (as so am I), because it cheapens the image of what the White House (and its property) should look like.  (She also hates MMA, but that's a different story.)  The MMA Octagon on the lawn signals "TACKY" in the extreme, and the selection of image over function shows how far down the ladder of a people deserving respect we have become.

I don't care who will win or lose these matches.  But I am glad that even some MMA fighters are distancing themselves from these matches, as they feel that their sport shouldn't be used to satisfy the ego of the Orange Monster.  We've already seen America's 250th birthday bash lose virtually all of its musical performers, and being turned into an Orange Monster pep rally for his MAGA hordes, many of whom are deserting him.  This can't happen soon enough!

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Sadly, what should have been a year for Americans to celebrate with pride has become something which many of us are ashamed of.  Hopefully, by our 253rd birthday, we'll have something we can be proud of again.

Cleaning out some of the mess

 

To start, the above is NOT my living room.  This is the way Ex-GF-M had her living room when I was last there over 15 years ago.  My apartment may be a cluttered mess, but it never got as bad as her mess.  When I met her, she had a small den which was so crammed with stuff that she couldn't enter the room. This is not meant to say that my place is devoid of clutter.  Instead, it is a reminder how much worse my life could have been had I stayed with my ex. 

 

Today, I took about an hour to get rid of some of the clutter in my place before showering and dressing to go out and pick up RQS.  She is keenly aware that I am a clutter bug, but she tolerates it to have me in her life.  Yes, there are some shoe boxes I might wish I had kept.  But, I plan to be tossing out more than I bring in to my space over time.  And that will allow me to gradually clear out the clutter in my place.

 

Things got really bad for me when Covid hit. as I no longer had the need to straighten up the place for the cleaning lady to do her magic.  I hope to get to the stage where I can have another trustworthy cleaning person come in again on a regular basis.  Until then, I have to gradually work at pruning the stuff in my space, so that I can again have a place in which I feel comfortable inviting guests..

 

Recently, I looked behind my loveseat and found that I have at least 2 more storage containers filled with summer clothes.  It's almost impossible for me to get rid of a nice dress.  But, if I can lose some weight, I'll have the incentive to do so - if only to replace much of which is in my wardrobe.  That will be a fun, but expensive experience, as I may finally have shrunk to a size where I can walk into a typical women's department and find pretty clothes I want to wear.

 

Until then, I'll be dealing with the clutter in my apartment and in my closet.... 

Lunch with Vicki

 

Often, Vicki and I will choose either Japanese or Greek restaurants for our periodic lunches.  Today, I had trouble confirming lunch with her, as she was already in an exercise class.  But once we confirmed our get together, I rushed to get showered and dressed to meet her at 12:30.

Today's lunch was at the local Japanese restaurant.  Given that Vicki had a minor GI-Tract issue recently, she decided to pass on the sushi we usually have and instead went for the hibachi steak.  Since I've had that dish before, I decided to try the scallops for something easier to digest.  And then, we got to discussing more serious matters such as my relationship with RQS, my former relationship with XGFJ, and my former friendship with FCP.  She talked about her family issues and where she might live if her husband were to pass away first.  (Hopefully, that won't happen for a long time.)

Once finished with lunch, I drove to Kohl's to pick up a dress I had on order.  Now that I knew the routine, I knew the process of locating my item.  One problem, my pickup location was on the main aisle, and not in the smaller aisles to the side.  This was a minor issue, and I drove home to rest for a while.

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Around 6:30, I put my dress back on, and was off to a Red Sauce joint for dinner before proceeding to Walmart to look for some undies (actually bike shorts to avoid chafing).  Unlike my last visit to Walmart, I encountered no females looking to chat.  Instead, I had to rush to the lavatory for an emergency bio-break.  AARGH!  At least, Walmart's stalls were clean and safe. I mention a bio-break, simply because I no longer worry about going to the women's room - I'm confident enough in my gender presentation to be accepted as a female in most places around where I live.

On my way home, I called RQS to catch up on the day's events.  It was a nice day out presenting as female, and I will be doing so tomorrow as I pick RQS up from the station.

A long, rambling chat with my brother (and a conversation missed).

 

After a day in which I did almost nothing, I decided to continue a long this path and order dinner from a local "Red Sauce" joint and have it delivered to my door.  As expected, the portion size was so large, that after a small salad and some soup, there was no way I could finish the main course.  So now, I have lunch or dinner for tomorrow or over-morrow (the day after tomorrow).  

Just after I finished my meal, my brother called to tell me that he finally landed a job.  It's not what he would have liked, but what he needed.  What do I mean by this?  Well, the position pays a little less than the last position he held. It is also with a firm which was almost killed by the Covid-19 pandemic.  (No, I will not say more about the nature and details of the firm's business, so that my words cannot harm it.) The conversation shifted to several things, such as the sale of the family homestead, a potential visit to my cousin (once removed) on the weekend that RQS is visiting her cousin, my brother's second citizenship paperwork (something which might be of interest to my cousin (she has automatic citizenship, as her dad was born in the same country as my grandmother), and both my niece and nephew.  It was a rambling chat that took over 2 hours.

During this chat, TCL called.  I was glad not to be able to answer her.  Her latest issue is an acquaintance who has a nasty habit of cancelling appointments at the last moment.  In a local message board, someone posted a similar problem with a friend, and TCL responded to the post.  Unfortunately, TCL's acquaintance saw TCL's response and asked TCL: "Were you talking about me?"  Well, I told TCL that this acquaintance knows what she does and doesn't care about how it affects her "friends".  TCL worries about how she should respond to this, and I advise her that she should focus on her needs, and not this woman's feelings.  So, I was lucky to be on a call with my brother when TCL called, as I didn't have the energy to rehash this issue with TCL once more.

Did I have the energy for either of these chats?  Not really.  But the chat with my brother was tiresome only because I needed to rest for a bit.  With TCL, it would have been emotionally tiring as well,  as I could not be a passive listener.  At least, I had some energy left for my nightly chat with RQS.

I didn't go out today.

 

I'd have loved to have Julia Child cook for me while she was alive.  Sadly, she's been gone for many years, but she left us with a cookbook with the essentials of French Cooking.  When I was young, I was a reverse snob, thinking that French Food was needlessly pretentious.  But that's simply because of cultural influences defined by many of New York's (and America's) early restaurants - French food was a sign of high culture.  I had yet to see French food as "Vittles" or "Grub" that the average French person might eat. Luckily, the more I got to know about the world, I learned that she was not as pretentious as my impressions of French Cuisine were.

Living in New York, I find it hard to see Italian food as anything but "Stick to your Ribs" food - there are way too many good inexpensive "Red Sauce" joints in the New York City area that allow me to think of Italian food (even its' American bastardization) as anything but everyday cooking.  So, when I go on cruise ships, I tend to avoid the ships' Italian restaurants for good reason - I don't want to be disappointed by a specialty meal which is not so special   In fact, the one time RQS and I ate at NCL's Italian restaurant, La Cucina, it was one of the worst meals I ever had on a cruise ship.  Yet, Princess's Italian restaurant, Sabbatini's had some of the best Italian food I ever had on a cruise ship, well worth the premium it would cost to dine here.  (I shouldn't leave out main dining room selections from MSC, where their Italian selections are always good.)

Tonight, I got dressed for only one reason - I placed an order for delivery from one of the Red Sauce joints near me.  This place is predictable and good.  But it has absolutely no atmosphere.  It's a place where one can order a slice of pizza to stay, eating in a marginally comfortable booth, or have a pizza made for takeaway. This is my one indulgence for the day, as I don't want to cook anything tonight.

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I mentioned that my friend Maria had medical issues.  Today, she had a CT scan, and will have the results next week.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her. 

I saw the doctor today, and....

 

I realize that doctors' visits aren't always good news.  But the more I see my doctor, the more I feel that he doesn't pay that much attention to things anymore.  It's as if he's preparing to wind down his practice, and he may not be as committed to serving his patients' needs as he once was.

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This month, my doctor visit was scheduled for the afternoon.  This way, I knew that if I had to drive back from RQS's place, that I'd have enough time to make it back home, change, then drive to the doctor's office.  However, I ended up coming home on Sunday, so I could have scheduled Monday's appointment for any time during the day.

What first surprised me today was my weight - I had lost 10 pounds since my last visit.  Only God knows why this happened.  I haven't been trying to watch what I eat as much as I've avoided stuffing myself to the gills.  (It scares me a little, as my wife couldn't explain her weight loss until she was diagnosed with terminal uterine cancer.  I want explanations, and I have none yet.)  

There is a US Government test program for Medicare involving GLP-1 Drug subsidies.  I'm not sure if I want to participate, as I'm not sure if my Part-D plan (Drug coverage) will cover GLP-1 drugs when the program ends.  Yet, to lose weight in a healthy way, it might be worth taking a chance on the program.  But first, my doctor has to apply in my behalf, and he hasn't lifted a finger yet.

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After my doctor's visit, all I did was to take care of laundry before going to sleep.  Tomorrow's lunch with Maria has been cancelled due to a medical issue.  So I'm not sure of what I'll do.  As Scarlet once said: "Tomorrow is another day."

I had to go home today - and I would have delayed this one day

 

My car was parked in a Monday/Thursday No Parking spot, so I had to go home.  Actually, it was because I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, and my parking spot was a reminder that I couldn't postpone things this week.

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RQS and I spent Saturday by taking the subway into Manhattan and seeing the movie Pressure.  It's a movie about the Meteorologist who was tasked with the responsibility of  predicting the weather for D-Day in an age where computers had yet to be developed.  (I won't include the primitive computer being used at Bletchley Park to decode German Enigma messages, as this was top secret and known only to Churchill and a very small staff.)  I'm grateful that there were people like the British Meteorologist  on our side, as I would have hated to see a world where the Nazis won WW2.

After the movie, we were about to walk to Katz's deli when we saw a Chinese restaurant a block away from the subway station. I suggested going here, even though my knees would be killing me if we used the Essex street station to go home.  (It is not "accessible", and has a lot of stairs that need to be used to reach the platforms from which to board the trains.)  Both of us ordered pork dishes, and I think my dish of shredded pork with little buns was something I'd order again at this place.  RQS noted that a movie night and dinner would now cost over $100, and she'd be right.  When you factor in $40 for Manhattan movie theater tickets and $80+ for a meal nearby, it starts to get pricey. 

While taking the subway to/from the theater, we did some people watching .  Both of us noticed a young woman wearing a skirt so short that it barely would keep her modest standing on the subway platform.  I noticed while climbing the stirs that she was wearing a thong.  (Leave it to my gender preference to notice such things.)  There were other women we noticed, such as another young woman wearing lace trousers.  (I wondered how she could stay comfortable given the chilly weather earlier in the day.)  

When we made it back to RQS's place, off came the dress and on went the night shirt.  It was time to get comfy and relax for the evening.

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Sunday morning came, and neither of us really wanted to get up.  However, both of us moved into the living room before 10:30 (early for us on weekends) and took care of a little chore - slicing up cardboard boxes, so that the paper content can be recycled.  RQS was a little surprised at how I did things, but she liked the results.  So, once I got showered and dressed, we took the remaining bags of cardboard downstairs for recycling and it was off to my car to get a 12-pack of soda for RQS.  I then drover her back to her house, and was off on the road home.

Normally, going home from RQS's place is predictable.  But traffic jams in Queens leading to the Whitestone bridge forced me to take local roads to the Throggs Neck bridge.  And even then, I knew that I'd have to take a roundabout way home to avoid Summer Weekend Sunday traffic.  Instead of the 2 hours I usually need to get home, it took almost 2 1/2 hours to get to a nearby supermarket to get food for the week. I finally made it home around 7:30, and I was glad to strip off my dress, my makeup, and my bra (not in that order) and finally relax for the evening.

Tomorrow, it's off to the doctor - I wonder how he'll hector me about my weight this time....