Everything's getting old these days.

 

This morning, I took off a half day from work for a doctor's visit.  After checking me up a bit, he noted that I needed to have some tests done, and I had to take care of going to another place in town to have them done.  AARGH!  I hate doing this.  But I will do so.  But this is not the only thing that's growing old - my car is getting on in miles, and it's time to get a replacement. I'm not happy about what needs to be done, as it will cost me time and money.  Time is now the most precious commodity in life, as we will never have enough of it.

It's amazing that the more I have to do, the less time I have to do it. This is the life of a busy person, even when s/he is not doing that much anymore.  Yet, I keep getting surprised by things.  This morning, I received some snail mail from Social Security about monies I had in a pension plan with the bank I once worked for.  The information I received was from 7 years ago - regarding a 401k I have with the bank.  It's nice to know that our government is trying to make sure that our citizens know about the retirement funds they have already earned with other employers.

The two remaining tasks I have to take care of before going to work is finding out when I can go in for the tests the doctor prescribed AND when I can bring the car to the mechanic.  I guess that getting old will involve many more appointments for things that are starting to break down....

The end of a long weekend

 

This was my best weekend yet with RQS.  Not only did she get to meet me in Marian Mode, but we went shopping for dresses together.  Hopefully, she won't get spooked when she has time to think about things by herself.

Today was a lazy day, where we stayed in our jammies until after breakfast, and then took a drive to see if the tire shop was open on a Holiday (I wanted to chat with the person in charge to see if this shop does certain work I need done.)  Of course, as I expected, the shop was closed for the holiday.  But we enjoyed getting out in the sun before tomorrow's oppressive heat comes.

If you were to think about today's image, that's the feeling we've both been craving for years.  (However, you'll never find me with a beard anymore.) Right now, I think we've found it in each other.  And I missed her when I dropped her off at the train station, barely in time to catch the train home.  Hopefully, she misses being with me as much as much as I miss being with her....

Dress Shopping

 

Today was the moment of truth.  Could RQS and I spend the whole day together with me in Marian Mode?  That was the question of the day.

We both started getting dressed around noon.  At various stages during the dressing process, I popped out to say hello.  She wasn't shocked.  However, I made sure NOT to go out to see her with my makeup on, but not my wig.  And I think that was the right decision.

Off we went to Karina Dresses in Kingston. It was a nice day for a drive, and I took it slow, so that RQS could enjoy the scenery. By the time we made it there, it was shortly after 3 pm. And that's when we both started trying on dresses.  Although I couldn't find anything that fit me perfectly (their sizes are slightly small), RQS found 2 dresses she loved.  So it was she who made the best out of the trip.  

Our next stop was in Peekskill.  We wanted to find out if ShopRite was still selling lobsters at $12/lb. If they were, we'd skip the lobster truck and cook some crustaceans on our own.  We ended up buying 3 tasty critters for me to cook.  For my own edification, I decided to find the lobster truck that was servicing the area.  And it was in the back of beyond in a place I'd never find without google maps.  

When we got home, we got comfortable while the water was getting to a boil.  Once the water was hot enough, in went the 3 lobsters.  A few minutes later, we pigged out on fresh lobster.  Instead of spending $50 on 2 lobster rolls, each containing 4-6 oz. of lobster meat, we had 3 x 1.5 lb lobsters to chow down on.  YUM!

All in all, it was a very nice day, and hopes for future nice days like this - with me in Marian mode.

Some more car shopping

 

So far, I have test driven 3 cars.  If the dealerships weren't so understandably greedy these days, I might have dropped the hammer and bought one of these cars.  No, I am not knocking the dealerships.  They are doing exactly what they should be doing when a product is in short supply - raising prices to reach a stable point on a supply/demand curve.

RQS and I stayed in most of the day, as the weather was dreary.  It was raining hard throughout the morning and early afternoon, and it was not good for taking test drives.  By 3:00 pm, the weather started getting better, and we went to Central Avenue to start our car shopping expedition.  The first of the cars I drove was a Hyundai.  As much as I liked the Kona, I felt that there was something missing.  (It is still on my list of possible purchases.)  Next was the Elantra (shown above).  I liked the car, but had my usual problem of bumping my head upon entry.  This dealer was willing to haggle a bit, but didn't seem too greedy.

The next dealer was a Honda dealer, where we tried out their HR-V.  This car said "Buy Me at the right price!"  But the salesman said that the dealership was asking $3k above MSRP.  There is no way I will pay that much as the manufacturers are ramping up production and that supply chains will soon get back to normal.  The salesman had his obligatory meeting with the salesman, and said that they had some wiggle room.  (I figure that if I offer $1k over MSRP, I could get the car for $1.5 if I hold firm.)

As you can guess, I hate paying MSRP for anything.  So I'm not in too much of a hurry for now.  But I want to get a new car purchase done by the time I leave my job.  Keep your fingers crossed....

The beginning of an interesting weekend

 

It was a very interesting weekend indeed!  At least, it was for me.  

I had told RQS that I'd pick her up at the train station in Marian mode.  Would she be shocked?  Or, would it be a non issue.  In a way, this was make or break time for us, as she needed to find out how she'd feel about seeing me in Marian mode.  So, it was with a little trepidation that I got ready for work on Friday. I wanted to look my best for when I met RQS in Marian mode for the first time.

The end of the work day approached, and I got ready to take a long weekend off.  At exactly 4:30 pm, I shut down my work station, grabbed my handbag, and out the door I went.  After taking care of a couple of things, such as filling up the gas tank, it was time to meet RQS.  She didn't recognize me at first, but she recognized the car.  And, she saw it was the same person inside - but she had to get used to me wearing a wig and speaking in a more feminine voice.

Once we got back to my place, I switched back into Mario mode for the rest of the evening.  We had passed our first test with me presenting as Marian, and I didn't want to overwhelm her.  There would be more to come over the weekend.

How things have changed

 

This is not a flattering picture of me.  But it is a reminder that I need to do something about my weight.

Why do I mention this?

First, I started going out in the world as Marian, knowing I was far from perfect.  It took a lot of internal energy to start going out in the world as Marian, and I was very scared to have people know about me where I live. Now, I don't care who sees me in either presentation.

Second, at the beginning of the pandemic, I was having problems with an ex girlfriend regarding meetup groups which she didn't want me attending.  Although she was able to blackball me from the one surviving group from that time, it really doesn't matter much anymore.  I don't have the time or energy to go to many of these functions any more.

Third, as much as I like having a job to keep me from getting too lethargic, I'm now at the point where I'm planning to retire for good.  It's a strange feeling for me, as I have almost never left a job on my own volition. The census was a job that I knew was going to end as soon as I took it.  I was laid off from most of my other jobs, as I either didn't perform up to standards, or that I was caught up in a purge - as happened at the bank I worked for 30 years.

Now that I have other things to do with my life, I may end up changing the frequency of published entries here, as I do not have enough to say for all of the 7 days of the week.  I'm out and about socially as Marian these days, and I am fully comfortable in the role of Marian.  There is not much new to me as Marian anymore, so I've been talking about other things than my life as Marian.  So to keep publishing new entries, I will be talking more about things going on in the world than what's going on in my life.  Hopefully, my readers will find this interesting....

Medicare - AARGH!

 

Turning 65 is a big pain!  Not only do I have to realize that I am an old person, but I have to change my insurance provider - and not by choice, but by effective mandate.  This is not as bad as it sounds, but it is a confusing mess.

- - - - - -

I always knew that I'd be going on Medicare, but am confused by all the options available to me.  So I registered for a traditional medicare plan (parts A&B) and drug coverage (part D).  But I have also looked into a supplement plan, even though that will cost me extra money.  Could I have gone with an "Advantage Plan" (part C) instead of the others?  Yes, but I have been told that there are issues going down that route.  So I'm buying time by leaving options available to me to choose from in the future.

But what has that to do with being transgender?  Virtually nothing.  One of the things about the transition process is that most of a life continues running as if a person was cisgender. About the only thing different for me is that my ID still has Mario's name on it, and that I still see my internist as Mario.  I can only imagine what will happen if I go towards medical transition.  That's a topic I don't want to think about right now, as I'm not sure if I'll ever go that far....