It was Mario's day out. (A short post)

 

A financial issue with the co-op forced me to go out as Mario this afternoon (Wednesday).  I was asked to move a small amount of money from our savings account and wire it to our operating account.  This would allow us to make a payment from the operating account that had to take place by the end of the week. Unlike most days, I didn't mind so much going out as Mario, as I had several errands of my own to take care of as Mario.  So, when the president of the co-op called me while she was away, I used this essential excursion to the bank as Mario to also pick up a suit from the cleaners and a blazer from the tailor. 

My first stop was at the bank, where I performed the wire transfer.  And then, it was off to the cleaners to pick up my suit.  This stop took more time than expected, as my car had just downloaded an update to its software, and I had to give it 10 minutes to complete after the download.  So, this was a perfect excuse to have a slice of pizza before picking up the suit.  Fifteen minutes later, I was back in the car (with my suit), and off to the tailors to pick up my blazer.

Once I had everything in hand, I drove to BJ's for a shopping expedition.  Although there may have been 1 or 2 items that I might not have needed right now, I figured that I'll eventually use these paper plates as my old stash runs out.

I've been trying to avoid dwelling too much on politics

 

"Hail! Hail! Freedonia, Land of the free and the brave."

Around 90 years ago, the 4 Marx Brothers made a movie called "Duck Soup" which lampooned the lead up to war and the absurdity of fighting that war.  I wonder what witticisms Groucho would say if he were still around to see the Orange Snowflake make a mess of America and the world.

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Only a fool would take the GOP speaker of the house seriously when he blamed the House of Representatives' shutdown on Zohran Mamdani's run for Mayor of NYC.  How could a man from an opposition party, not involved in the Federal Government be the cause of the shutdown?  Sadly, this is the level of lunacy that passes for GOP logic these days.

As I see it, we will have some interesting pain points for DC politicians coming up as I write the entry:

• 11/01/25 - SNAP Benefits (Food Stamps) & ACA Healthcare Subsidies End.
  
  This is going to hurt poor people, especially in the GOP run states.  Families will not have the funds to buy enough food for their families, nor will they be able to pay the healthcare insurance premiums coming due in 2026.
   
• 11/04/25 - Election Day.
  
  Although there will be no nationwide election, several local elections may indicate how disenchanted people are with what's going on in Washington, DC and tell us who they blame for the impasse.
  
  
• 11/05/25 - The Shutdown becomes the longest in American History.
  
  It will be over a month since the last full paycheck for virtually all Federal workers (save for the Post office).  Given that most people in America live paycheck to paycheck, and that they are 3 paychecks away from financial disaster, the pain becomes very real for most government workers.
  
  
• 11/21/25 - The day the GOP's Continuing Resolution Bill expires.
  
  This is an interesting date.  The speaker of the house has kept the house out of session, so that the newly elected representative from Arizona can't be sworn in.  Why is this?  He doesn't want the 218th vote to be cast, so that a house resolution makes it to the floor, calling for the Epstein Files to be released.
  
  If the house stays out of session, there is no Continuing Resolution bill for the senate to approve, so the House GOP line that the Senate Democrats must pass the bill to reopen the government.  At this point the speaker has a hard decision to make: Does he keep the house shut down and be THE cause of the shutdown?  Or, does he bring the house members back in session, and see the Epstein File resolution pass?  
  
  

Sadly, the Democrats in the Senate caved before this entry was to go live.  In one sense, this is a good thing, as the GOP didn't decide to "Go Nuclear" and eliminate the filibuster. (I did not support this option, as I was "all in" on the shutdown.)  At least, we'll get some movement towards releasing the Epstein files, now that the congresswoman from Arizona has been sworn in.

 

Lunch with "Short Vicki". (But not tomorrow with "Tall Vicki".)

 

This is not anywhere near what I had for lunch.  It's an illustration of what I'll likely be eating this weekend as part of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.  But first....

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I woke up early today, and wish I could have stayed in bed for another 3 hours.  However, RQS had to go home, and I had to meet "Short Vicki" for lunch.  So I got dressed in a tunic length dress and leggings (I almost always see Vicki in female presentation) and started to feel tired as soon as I got moving. After dropping RQS off at the train station for her trip home, I had time to kill before my lunch with Vicki.  So, I went to Walmart to pick up a few things such as makeup remover wipes before heading down to Scarsdale for lunch.  On my way to Scarsdale, I knew that I would need to rest before lunch, as I was already feeling the urge to nap.  So, once I got to Moscato, I decided to rest for 30 minutes before entering the restaurant.  Although I didn't fall asleep, I had the energy I needed to get out of the car and have lunch. 

Vicki arrived shortly after 1 pm, and we proceeded to have a nice lunch from the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week menu.  For $29.95, we each had an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert.  It was well worth the money we spent.  I'd have the Pappardelle with meat sauce any day, as well as the Veal Parmigiana and Italian Cheesecake that came afterward.  We talked about several things, such as our trips, her non-binary offspring, and politics.  She gave me information on a food bank for which I will likely contribute some money, hopefully helping some needy people during this time of crisis.

Around 2:45, we left for our homes.  By the time I got home, it was all I could do to stay awake enough to get undressed and fall asleep on my bed.  A little over 3 hours later, I still had my bra and breast forms on, but I felt much better rested than before.  After stripping these items off and putting on a pair of trousers, I went downstairs to pick up a delivery from Universal Standard.  However, my UPS delivery went to the wrong address - ¼ mile away!  So I ended up contacting them, and got 2 call backs, with a hope that they can find the parcel and deliver it to me in the morning.

I could have gone apple picking. Instead, I picked an apple pie.

 

When we got up, we had one thing to do: Pick up 2 of RQS's dresses at the cleaners.  So, we had a lot of time to relax before we got moving.

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Often, our weekend routine has us relaxing, watching TV (or Youtube videos) until noon or so. Neither of us has much energy when we get up, so we're lucky to be retired and have the freedom to get up when we please.

As usual, this would me a day that I'd present as Marian.  When the weather chills down, I find it hard to dress in an obviously feminine way, and not look out of place. One thing I tend to do is wear dresses as tunics, and leggings underneath them,  If I feel like being a little more dressy, I'll wear a dress with stockings or tights underneath. In many ways, this is a compromise I make to avoid looking more like a female then a person who has the body of a typical overweight male.

When we finally got moving, it was 2 pm, and we didn't have much sunlight left.  Our first stop was at the cleaners, and RQS got her dresses.  I had forgotten to give her the receipt for the suit I dropped off the previous day, so I'll have to pick it up next week.  After a brief stop back at the house to pick up my cell phone, it was off to the North for some residual leaf peeping.  Sadly, as expected, the colors were muted, as many of the leaves had already fallen.  But it was enough to make the drive worthwhile. My GI tract was telling me that it was mildly upset at me, so I knew not to go too far from modern plumbing.  So, I decided to make my turnaround when I reached Fishkill.  

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Years ago, I became familiar with the Fishkill area when I moved to Croton.  During the American Revolution, the Fishkill Supply Depot was one of the largest encampments during the war.  However, like much of America's history, it has been mostly plowed under in the name of progress.  When I moved here, there was a small mall nearby that has also been plowed under, being replaced by a Home Depot, a campus of the local community college, and some derelict buildings. 

Since my stomach had stopped bothering me, I figured that we'd make it to Fishkill Farms to pick up an apple pie.  I remembered this place from the time I dated Patty, my ex-girlfriend of 25 years ago. The place was mobbed, as many people were going there for the corn maze and for some apple picking.  As for me, I knew I could get a good apple pie here, as well as some other farm fresh food to eat. 

I was glad that my stomach had settled down, as RQS had to use the facilities at Fishkill Farms.  Who ever wants to use a port-a-potty?  It was time to head home so that I could take my bio break.  But first, it would be a stop at Trader Joe's.  After navigating the roads from the farms, we got on the highway and headed home.  TJ's was busy, but we got out of there relatively quickly. And we were home for the night just before dark.

PS: The Apple Pie was just as good as I remembered, and worth the drive to get it.

Game night - This time, I just kibitzed.

 

This was a half and half day, where I started out as Mario and bought a lightweight blazer for my upcoming cruise, took it to the tailor to get altered, then took a business suit to the cleaners to be fresh in time for the cruise.  The other half of the day was spent in Marian mode, so that I could have dinner with MAR, then play games in Yonkers.

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I got out of the house late, and dropped off my suit at the cleaners.  The place looked almost empty, as if the owner wasn't getting enough business to stay open.  So I'll be sure to get my suit out of there as early as possible, maybe this Saturday, as I doubt the shop will remain open to the end of the year.  (RQS's dresses are in the shop, having been hemmed last weekend.)  Next, I drove down to DXL to buy a blazer, and $225 later, it was hanging in my car and on its way to a tailor I could trust.

There is a dry cleaning shop in the heart of Croton that does its cleaning on premises AND has a dedicated tailor on site.  This was the shop I wanted to take up the cuffs on my blazer.  $40 later, I was out the door, and able to pick up the blazer next week.  So, by 2:30 pm, I was ready to change into Marian mode and prepare for dinner with MAR.  One problem - she was hurting badly (cramps), and wanted to postpone dinner (again).  I suggested rescheduling dinner, and she jumped at it.

At this point, I had a couple of hours to kill before going to game night.  Just as I was about to put my makeup on, my brother called.  This caused me to get out of the house late, and arrive too late to participate in the one game being played tonight.  Just as well.  I was more in the mood to hang out, and kibitz a little.  (Note: "Kibitz" is meant as idle conversation, and not as providing unwanted advice.)  Even though I didn't play any games, it was a nice evening. 

I didn't bother getting out of my jammies today.

 

I only wish I could have looked like the woman in the picture above.  She is in the prime of young adulthood, she is pretty, and she looks good in whatever lingerie she models.  Instead, at best, I look like a frumpy old woman with a non-conforming body.  At least, I now feel comfortable in wearing the clothing I want to wear, and I am accepted as a woman by many people I meet.

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With the above being said, I stayed in the slip I slept in and then hung around the house all day.  Yes, I did reload my bookcase with the books I took out in preparation for a visit from the cable company's service technician.  Although I have read 90% of the books in the bookcase, there are still some I have to get around to reading when I have (or make) the time to do so.

Once I was done with reloading the bookcase, I went into the other room to work on the co-op's web page.  First, I had to make sure that the current edition of the newsletter was properly inserted into its page, and then I had to make a blog entry which contained some of the items from the page.  Soon, I will discuss an idea I have for the blog: putting less "sensitive" from our meeting minutes into entries we can publish on a monthly basis.  It'll be nice to be able to publish things on a monthly basis, instead of the sporadic basis we now publish entries on the blog. 

Tomorrow may have me venture out in Mario mode for a while, only to bring a suit to the cleaners for pressing and to shop for a lightweight blue blazer, both of which I will wear on an upcoming cruise.  RQS asks me whether I have my dress shirts yet, and I keep telling her that I have two of them somewhere in the house.  (I ordered them from J.C.Penney's a while back, and now have to find where my pooka has put them.)  Given that I have a dinner date, and then game night, I will be out of the house, no matter what.

 

I can't believe someone would let an apartment get this bad (a short post)

 

The above pictures are of a hoarder's apartment that my co-op will have auctioned off by the time you read this post.  Several years ago, we became aware that this person wasn't paying his rent, nor did he keep his apartment in habitable shape.  

A few years ago, we had to enter his apartment, in order to deal with a leak that affected the apartment below this person's apartment.  We found the place in a total mess (much worse than this), and had to pay someone to clean out enough of the place in order for the plumbers to do their work.  Over the years, we have tried to find the owner to serve him notice that he either had to pay the co-op the money owed to is, or surrender his shares in the co-op.  It wasn't until the Spring of this year that we were able to send him the appropriate notice, and that we could put the apartment up for auction to recover our uncollected maintenance fees.

As you can see, this place is not habitable at the moment.  As I see it, one would have to do a total clean out of the apartment, and then strip out everything in the kitchen and bathroom just to get started.  Molding and trim work in the place would need to be replaced, floors sanded and refinished, walls repainted, as well as other work needed to replace fixtures in the apartment.  

I can't see someone living in the apartment as it was when the plumbers first needed entry, nor can I see someone living in this apartment until a major cleanup and rehab is done to it.  SJM thinks it needs $30k-$50k worth of work to make it habitable, and thinks we should simply clean it up and sell it as-is.  As for me, I feel we can't do anything about this apartment until more pressing affairs are taken care of, and only then can we make decisions on what to do next if the place doesn't sell at auction.  We'll see what happens at month-end when the auction is held.