It was a slow day, but I accomplished a little something.

 

As most of my readers know, I am a Marxist at heart.  No, I have nothing for the words of Karl.  Instead, I cherish the words and antics of Chico, Harpo and Groucho.  Their absurdities prepared me well for the insanity we live with today.

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If one were to see the interior of my apartment, they would see an absolute mess.  Clutter is all about, and I am shifting one pile to another while I prune the contents of many storage containers, reducing the space  needed for the things I want to keep.

Today, I moved a large, irregularly shaped chest from behind my loveseat to an area next to my dining room table.  This caused me to examine the contents of each of the storage containers blocking it, and then toss out what I no longer want to keep. Even though I'm keeping a lot of stuff, I can make my way behind the loveseat and get at the individual storage containers, something I couldn't do before.  While doing this, I went back and forth between the living room and bedroom, taking care of cleaning tasks in each room.  I was able to empty 2 large storage containers, making the bedroom feel a little bit more open.  Now, I can get at the storage containers holding my winter clothes and put my summer dresses into newly empty containers to go in back of the loveseat.

Working in a cluttered room presents its difficulties.  While moving the chest, I knocked over a standing lamp and broke it.  (Thankfully, I didn't break the fluorescent bulb in the lamp, or the glass in the bookcase which was hit. Those would have been messy things to clean up.)  To fix the lamp, I had to disassemble it even further, putting the bulb receptacle in the correct position, then finding a way to keep the receptacle, stand, and shade in place, so that I could reinstall the bulb and have a working lamp again.  (Even after everything was back together, I still had minor problems turning the lamp on/off again that were fixed with a little effort.)

Right now, I have a few bags to take to the dumpster, as well as a large suitcase to bring back upstairs.  Will I do it tonight?  Who knows?  But I'm seeing slow progress in decluttering my place, and that's a good thing. 

Dim Sum in Parsippany, NJ

 

It's been months since RO and I have been able to get together, in part due to sinkholes on I-80.  For both of us, it's a 90 minute drive to a midpoint destination.  If one of our key highways to Parsippany, NJ is out, it can add at least 30 minutes to the trip. For both of us, spending 2 hours to meet an acquaintance would be a non-starter.  So, we waited until I-80 was repaired fully before we scheduled lunch again.

I wasn't in the greatest of moods when I woke up.  Current affairs is very depressing, as one can't escape mention of the Orange Snowflake in the news.  I limit my interactions with the news, while RO tunes it out.  That doesn't mean that she doesn't care about what's going on.  Instead, it means that turning off the news is her only way of escaping the monster and his childlike voice.

While driving to the restaurant, MAR called me.  She doesn't have a stable job, and we have been trying to find a time and date when we could meet.  Even though this upcoming weekend is a rare open one for me, she was booked up already.  So, after a long conversation over the phone, we rescheduled our get together for 3 weeks from now.

Eventually, I reached the restaurant, and RO arrived a few minutes later.  It was as if little time had passed since our last get together, and conversation flowed like water.  We each had a bowl of hot and sour soup, and then split 4 dishes of dim sum - including some soup dumplings.  Yum!  All too soon, we had to leave, and we will try to schedule something within 4-6 weeks.

On my way home, I decided to explore the items in Lane Bryant.  Only one catch - I was trying to avoid the tolls on the Garden State Parkway.  This was a mistake, as I drove through the bowels of Patterson, NJ -from one side of the "hood" to the other. Eventually, I made it to the road I was looking for, and then made it to Lane Bryant (with a pit stop at Panera Bread.)  Luckily, I escaped the store without spending anything, and went home for the evening without further delay.

The end of a weekend with RQS (a short post)

 

Monday came, and it was time for me to leave RQS's place.  Both of us woke up early, as we had a task to take care of before I left for the day.  Instead of cooking something traditional for breakfast, RQS warmed up pizza left over from Friday night.  It was a filling breakfast, albeit something we wouldn't have normally considered.

Once done with breakfast, we took care of the most important task we had before us: Making a deposit on next year's British Isles cruise. So, we called our travel agent around 10:30, and made him a happy camper.  However, our delay may have caused us to lose a freebie: a cruise credit given to people who book a new cruise within 30 (?) days of completing a cruise booked through the travel agency.  We'll find out after we make our final payments next year, as we have 8 months to make our payments.

While I'm on the topic of cruise payments, I scheduled an email to be sent to Princess Cruises' "Move Over" area saying thanks for the cabin upgrade on the moved over cruise. In that email, I also asked when we would be receiving checks for our refundable onboard credits (the free cruise refund).  At noon, I received a reply.  Our checks would be coming in 6-8 weeks, and that's fine with me.

Around 2:30, I left for home.  Big mistake in timing - I forgot that school was letting out, and it took me 10 minutes to get get through an intersection due to problems from traffic light timing, children crossing the street, and commercial traffic on the street I was turning on to, all combined to screw up traffic flow. Once through the intersection, it was relatively clear sailing until I reached the "Lobster Truck" for lunch. $35 later, I was on the road again, and heading for home.  

Given that my refrigerator was empty of stuff for dinner, I decided to detour to Trader Joe's to pick up food stuffs.  If anyone believes the Orange Snowflake's claim that we don't have food inflation, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.  I ended up getting home at 5:30, which I consider a good time for this time of day.

Now to wash my wig and (maybe) do some laundry....

The only time we went out on Sunday was to pick up veggies for dinner.

 

Yesterday (as I wrote this, RQS and I went out and disposed of some e-waste.  On our way, we passed by this building, where one tenant keeps up a campaign, calling his/her landlord a slumlord.  What I found interesting about this shot is that the downstairs apartment is supporting the landlord.  (You may want to enlarge the windows to see their signs.)  Given NYC's lack of affordable housing (and housing types), it's not hard to understand why this person may be staying in a substandard apartment.

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Today, neither of us were in the mood to go outside.  But we had to take care of two things: (1) Picking up vegetables for dinner from the local bodega, and (2) Making sure that my car is parked on the correct side of the street for alternate side of the street parking rules.  So, I got dressed in a frock I had stored at RQS's place, and we walked the block and a half to take care of things.  My car was parked in a place that would allow me to sleep late, so I walked back to the bodega to meet RQS and bring home veggies for dinner.

RQS was hurting - her knee was acting up, and it was a major effort for her to walk the block and a half to the bodega and back.  As for me, I carried the heavy stuff home (a 12-pack of soda), knowing that I'd have something cold to drink later on. I figured that the way RQS felt, we were going to be in for the night - and I was right.

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We took it easy for the rest of the evening, and watched a movie before going to bed.  On the whole, it was a quiet day.  But rest was something we both needed, as we are still recovering from our latest cruise. 

Carting off electronics for recycling, then figuring out what and where to eat.

 

One of the things RQS has been putting off was recycling her e-waste.  She had a printer not worth anything, 3 old cell phones which no longer work, and a broken all-in-one computer/monitor that had to be disposed of.  However, she would normally have to make a big effort to dispose of this stuff properly. This weekend, the stars aligned, and disposal would be easy for part of the day on Saturday.

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RQS and I woke up relatively early, but took forever to get moving.  Once out and about, we carted some e-waste out of her apartment and walked over to her storage locker.  She was having a hard time keeping up with me, as her leg was acting up again.  (I'm glad this didn't happen while on our recent cruise.)  But, we made it to the storage locker on time.  Once we put the dead computer in the cart, we walked a few blocks to dispose of everything.  Then if was off to lunch.

There is an operation called Wonder that is popping up all over the place. It is a ghost kitchen that imitates multiple restaurants, gearing its offerings for takeout and delivery.  Although one can eat inside many Wonder outlets, there is less service than at the average McDonald's - all orders are placed via an on-site computer screen, or on a mobile phone app. It is convenience in exchange for frugality. Although RQS was able to start placing my order (Chicken Parmigiana), she couldn't get her order (Eggplant Parmigiana) which was also on the menu.  So we walked out before finalizing our order and went to Wendy's.

Normally, we wouldn't be in for the day before 4 pm.  Yet, with RQS's leg acting up, we stayed inside for the rest of the day.  Dinner was Thai delivery, and then it was YouTube videos for the rest of the evening. 

Starting off another weekend (a short post)

 

I didn't have much to write about today.  It's hard to believe that we only got back from our New England / Eastern Canada cruise a little over a week ago.  And yet, it feels like forever in some ways.  RQS is finally replacing her bathroom sink faucet, something her landlord should be doing.  Now, she soon will be able to use her sink without having to play around, trying to get cold water out of a faucet that doesn't work right.

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Lately, I often wake up early in the morning, and feel very tired by early afternoon. Today, it wasn't as bad as usual.  Yet, I didn't start my drive down to RQS's place until 3 pm, and I hit traffic jams going to RQS's place which caused me to arrive 2½ hours later.  Luckily, I found a decent parking spot within 2 blocks of her house.

Originally, when we were getting to know each other, RQS wasn't sure about me meeting her at her place as Marian.  Now, it's a matter of comfort for me.  It's nice to know that I'm able to wear the clothes I want, when I want to wear them.  RQS is a keeper.   

So, why did I drive down today?  Well, I still had a large suitcase waiting to go home, and I needed my car to take care of that mission.  Additionally, I was traveling as Marian, and I wanted to be in air conditioned comfort on my way to Queens. Even though I tried a new route that caused me to lose a little time driving down, I was glad to have made the choices I did for this trip.

When I arrived, it was not yet time for dinner.  Yet, we decided to order a pizza and stuff ourselves.  It was an early end of the day for both of us, as we passed out before 10 pm. 

Lunch and Dinner with friends (a short post)

When I woke up this morning, I had only two things on the docket: Lunch with CCS and Dinner with Vicki.  And both were scheduled for today due to the timing of the Jewish High Holy Days.

But first....

Lunch with CCS is usually after 1:30 pm, as CCS has her exercise class scheduled during "lunch hour". Today, it was scheduled for 2:30, as her exercise class was later than it usually is due to the Jewish holiday.  So, I had much more time than usual to get ready, and made it to the restaurant at the same time her was pulling into the restaurant's parking lot.

We didn't have that much to say today.  I talked a little about my travels, and she told me a little about her travels.  Both of us feel the same way about what's happening in the world these days, and both politics and world affairs came up - and we both see the signs of loudly creeping authoritarianism, understanding what they could mean if left unchecked.  Lunch ended, and we set a new date, then we were on our separate ways.  I then went to BJ's to do a little shopping, and then back to the house to rest before meeting Vicki for dinner.  

Vicki and I met in Mt. Kisco at Lefteris for dinner.  Both of us ordered the Greek Salad w. Chicken, Vicki polishing it off more quickly than I did.  Just as we were finishing our salads, another diner asked me when I thought of NYC's mayoral candidate, and we had a polite discussion with Vicki taking on more of the lead in talking.  This fellow didn't like what Mamdani stood for, and Vicki mentioned that Mamdani will be checked by the realities of NYC.  As for me, I support Mamdani for one reason only - he can't be controlled by the Orange Snowflake.  

When I got home I had a decision to make: How will I present for the weekend with RQS?  As Marian or as Mario?  It'll be nice to stay in dresses while I'm able to do so comfortably.