A trip in Manhattan for a bite to eat and a movie to watch

 

As one would expect, like many couples, RQS and I get bored staying in the house all weekend.  So she suggested that we see a movie, and I said OK.  But I caved when she wanted to see The Devil Wears Prada 2, as this was a more popular movie.  So, I put on my new dress (see below)  and we took the subway into Manhattan to see the film.

We got into Manhattan at 3:15, and walked over to the theater to pick up tickets for a 4:30 showing.  One problem: The only seats that were available were right in front of the screen, not a good spot to watch a film.  So we decided to bail on the movie, and then go to the restaurant for some food.

I was prepared for something more classy.  But RQS knew of this place called Tattoonette, a Middle Eastern fast food place.  Even so, I ended up spending a smidgen over $50 for dinner there.  The Chicken Schnitzel was good, but the Fwlafel was small for what one might expect.  Was it good value?  Yes.  But it is certainly a place where a couple would not go on a first or second date.

Given that everything was 13th street related, we ambled over to the Quad Cinema to watch Fantasy Life. I won't go much into the film's plot, save that it is a love story which could not and should not be consummated.  (Look up the film on IMDB if you want to know more.)  Both of us enjoyed the film, and then it was time to go home.

By the time I got home, I couldn't wait to take off my bra (and the rest of my clothes) and get into a nightie for bed.  Just before I stripped everything off, I looked into the mirror and thought - boy am I getting old!  I'd better try to lose my weight now, or I won't be ab;e to get the FFS I desire.  (I'd love to look like that woman in the picture, even if I have to keep my current plumbing to have a stable relationship with RQS.). 

The family homestead is virtually gone.

 

 

I'll miss this house when it's sold.  No, I haven't lived here in 44 years.  But it holds many memories for me and my brother.  As I write this, I'm at RQS's place, while my brother is carting off the remaining stuff we stored in the house.

I grew up here.  Both my brother and I have memories of the Oak and Pear trees we once had in the back yard.  My brother notes that the neighborhood is likely to change, as they have approved a 3-story building about a mile and a half away from the house on a main drag.  There will be much more resistance to over development in this community than those areas in "the city".

In my childhood, there were many undeveloped tracts of land in this area.  Now, everything has been developed, and we're not likely to see redevelopment into typical 5-borough multiple unit housing anytime soon.  Yet, one might find this kind of redevelopment near suburban railroad stations on Long Island.  It only makes sense - it subtly forces people to choose jobs, legal and medical professionals, etc. near mass transit, as many buildings are only required to provide one parking space per residential unit.

Soon, I will no longer have any ties to the town in which I spent my formative years.  It will be a loss, but I can still have a laugh about some posts about the town such as in the link below:

Floral Park PD - New Addition.

 

Lunch with Short Vicki, and dinner with RQS

 

No, I didn't order a "Hot Dog" for lunch.  But the menu I had for lunch wasn't what we planned....

- - - - - -

Vicki and I decided to get together today, as this was the only day she could be sure that her schedule and mine would mesh together.  Since I had planned to drive to RQS's place for the weekend, I packed up my stuff the night before and carted it to my car before meeting Vicki in Ardsley.

Ardsley, NY would have been a quaint, maybe picturesque village had the NYS Thruway had not cut through the center of town.  What was once its main street is now divided by the Saw Mill River parkway (which may have had a traffic light controlled intersection with Ardsley road many decades ago), and by the NYS Thruway (built in the 1950's). Ardsley road is routed over both of the two limited access roads now, but addresses on the old Ardsley road still carry the Ardsley road address.  This can be confusing to people not local to the area.

I had just enough time to get to Ardsley, even with the "confusing" route I had to take.   When one exits the Saw Mill River Parkway, one has to take a stub of old Ardsley road away from town to connect with the part of "New" Ardsley road to get into town.  Once one crosses over the highways, one has to make a sharp "U-Turn" to enter the other stub section of "Old" Ardsley road.  At least, parking is free for 3 hours.

When I arrived at the original restaurant, I realized that it would be impossible to eat inside.  So, when Vicki arrived, I suggested that we go across the street to Liebman's, an "Old School" Kosher Deli.  Vicki noted that it would be expensive.  But I was willing to pay for a good lunch - and knew the quality of the food at this place.  We sat down to eat.  I ordered the Matzoh Ball Soup with a half Pastrami sandwich, while Vicki ordered the Kreplach Soup with a half Corned Beef sandwich.  Both were yummy!  There is only one place that better pastrami, and Katz's in Manhattan is a matter of taste.

All too soon, lunch ended, and I was off to RQS's place.  It was hard to believe that I parked right in front of RQS's place by 2 pm.  And this was perfect timing.  Shortly after arriving at RQS's place, we went to the nearby Bodega to pick up food for the evening.  Once back at home, I showed RQS the dress I hoped to wear on Mother's Day (I can never be a mother, for obvious reasons - I only note which Sunday is being referenced.)  She liked how the dress and the shrug worked together, and I'm glad that I went out of my way to pick it up.

It was a long day, and I was glad to take off my dress, leggings, bra, etc.  This will be a weekend that I'm in full Marian presentation, and it's nice to be with someone with whom I can do this. 

Computers - Where would we be without them?

 

When I started this post, I was looking for a picture of me (presenting as a male) next to the very computer I used when in college over 50 years ago.  By today's standards, a first generation smartwatch puts it to shame.  But, in its day, it was a great machine for the scientific crowd.

But why did I start off with computers today?

The answer is simple: almost everything I did or saw today of note had computing as a theme.

- - - - - -

My first job had me working at a firm known for maintaining credit ratings for businesses large and small.  If one was born in my generation, you'd know the firm by the letters D and B.  In Computerworld (then a print publication), the firm was described as having "more money than god" - and for good reason.  At the time, it had one of the largest data centers in the Northeast, all in a suburban NJ location.

The only reason I was hired by the firm was that my college used the same computer system (not IBM), and it was impossible to find people who knew both Assembly and Fortran languages for the machine.  My one accomplishment of note was to develop a source code management system for the firm, one which was in place until they retired their XDS machines and migrated to IBM equipment.

The next time I visit the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, I will donate an original manual for their system.  At least, something I acquired 50 years ago will find a proper home.

- - - - - -

Because of my early experiences with computers, I am always amazed at how far we've come with the machines.  This morning, I had a Zoom meeting with my niece.  She lives in London and I live in the NYC suburbs.  And yet, it was like we were on a videophone connection imagined just 60 years ago.  The connection was clear, and she communication was flawless.  Too bad that many of the people who imagined these devices didn't live long enough to see them.

But with newer technology comes problems.  After my chat with my niece, I watched a video from Adam Savage (Mythbusters).  His guests showed that almost any computer can be easily hacked.  The average person should assume that he has no privacy, and keep his credit report locked at all times (except when applying for a loan or credit card).  Virtually all of our private date is out on the dark web, and the only thing we can do is basic computer hygiene such as never using anyone else's USB stick, devices, wires, etc. with your computer.  

And finally, came the weirdest thing of the day.   I own shares of 2 of the big 3 cruise companies, and use them to get shareholder perks (cruise credits).  Today, I couldn't use the usual mechanism to get cruise credits due to a glitch on my broker's site.  Seems like the one stock I needed to reference had changed its ticker symbol (slightly), and stockperks.com couldn't handle what was being reported by my broker.  I called the broker around 5 pm, and it took 20 minutes (and 3 levels of support) to get the issue resolved.  The ticker symbol change was percolating through their system, and that I should expect to see a correction tomorrow.

- - - - - -

Most of my life, my experiences have revolved around computers in one way or another.  When I got tired of thinking computers were a be all and end all, my friend WDS couldn't understand it.  I feel that it's something akin to spending a lifetime with a spouse.  The power of the flame is gone, but the embers are still there keeping you warm.... 

 

 

 

PS: Problem with brokerage resolved overnight.  Stock perks worked properly the next day. 

The three biggest lies ever told

 

The three biggest lies ever told are:

1. I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help you.
2. I won't cum in your mouth.
3. My name is Donald J. Trump, and I, alone, can fit it.

How much has he ever delivered for the American people?  Yes, he gave the alienated lower caste whites a feeling that their grievances would be addressed.  But this was done while he grifted billions from the American public, and pocket more billions from businesses willing to make a few payoffs to get things done for them.

- - - - - -

Recently, the Orange Monster has made so many conflicting statements regarding the war with Iran that only a person addicted to the monster's Kook-Aid can make any sense (if any objective sense can be made) of his statements.  First, he says we're at war.  And then he doesn't, so that he can avoid being accountable to Congress.   His administration said that we neutralized Iran's nuclear program, and now the same administration claims that we must eliminate it.  Of course, he claimed we defeated Iran, and yet, they control the strait of Hormuz.  In short, we get more real coverage of the war from Iranian propaganda than from anything said by our administration.

Yet, the monster continues his screeds against America's transgender population.  In addition to my European citizenship by descent, I am going for a third citizenship via my maternal line of descent.  My objective is to be able to leave the United States if I have any inkling of "trans vanishings" occurring due to the ICE Gestapo.  

Soon, the family homestead will be sold.  And I will be looking for a place to put my money.  Ideally, I want to get money outside the US in a way that is legal.  I am comfortable with the idea of holding funds in an overseas bank, filing appropriate paperwork with the IRS when required.  But if the crud hits the fan, I want much of my money out of Uncle Sam's greedy hands.

So, my thoughts keep going back to the Monster.  He's broken all of the promises (formal and informal) we have given around the world.  I just wonder what will happen between now and our November election.....

The meetup that wasn't. (At least, for me.)

 

Tonight was supposed to be a meetup to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  That didn't happen (at least for me).  

But first....

The day started out by me relaxing and doing nothing.  Waking up at 7 am, I was tired again by 11 am.  And yet, I kept a little busy by cooking up some Chicken Cordon Bleu for lunch.  (Lidl sells a good size pair of portions for a reasonable price - much better than the frozen versions I used to buy.)  And then, I prepared to go out.

Once I got dressed, I decided to first to to Kohl's to inspect the dress I was interested in buying.  Sadly, though they have it in stock, I couldn't find it.  So, I'll likely buy it based on how the other dress looks and fits me.  From there, it was off to White Plains for the meetup.  I found a parking spot around the corner from the restaurant, and started looking for someone I knew.  No one was there yet.  As I was pulling out of my parking spot, DS (from game night) had arrived finding no one.  So I sent messages to the organizer and to DS saying that I left - the restaurant was way too noisy, and the hostess couldn't find our reservation.  A few minutes later, two  more people showed up, and the organizer made the decision to go to a new restaurant where people could enjoy dinner.  By this time, I was well on my way to a local diner to eat.

I walked into the diner, sat down, and placed my order.  A few minutes after my order was taken, I walked over to the ladies' loo (I was presenting as female at the time), but it was occupied.  The lady inside never came out.  A few minutes another lady and her daughter went to the loo - and I'll bet that they ended up using the gents' as no one had yet come out of the ladies' loo.  When I finished dinner and paid my bill, again I went to the loo - and it was still busy.  (How long does it take for anyone to evacuate themselves?)  So, it was into the Gents' I went, flowery dress and all.  I was glad that there was no one waiting at the door when I came out.  But then, what does a gal do when someone else has monopolized the one stall dedicated for a gal to use? 

RQS had to go home, and I had to go food shopping.

 

RQS had to go home today.  It's always a sad thing.  Yet, it's something that gives us time to do the things that nourish us alone during the week.

- - - - - -

I awoke early, and let RQS sleep past her morning alarms. Around 9:30, I woke her up, and both of us got dressed for the day.  Since it was "warm" outside, RQS had to carry her heavy coat home.  While I was dressed in a tunic dress and leggings.  We arrived at the train station around 11:30, and we parted for the week.  She took the train into the city, while I went home and changed into something more comfortable - a floral dress I bought from Amazon.

I like this dress, and I was glad I had decided to buy it.  It was cheap at the price, so I decided to buy a second one today, this time in a red pattern.  There were two more dresses I am interested in, one from Universal Standard, and the other from Kohl's.  Both are good values, but I don't have the money or room in my closet right now to justify buying them.  You might be asking - Why???  Well, I just dropped $5k into repairs on the family homestead, and have another $1.6k in insurance expenses to be paid before June. At least I can afford this short term hit to my bank account.

- - - - - -

After a little bit of rest, I put on the dress and went to Costco - and bought nothing.  But I ended up going to Lidl to do some food shopping.  And there, I ended up spending $40 on food.  It would have been $50, but the scanner didn't want to handle my meat purchases.  So I left one package on the scanner (naughty me) and brought the rest of my items to a human to be checked out properly.

Will I eat anything I bought tonight, or will I cook it tomorrow?  Right now, I do not feel hungry, and I ate too much starch during the day.  So, I figure that I'll use the toaster oven tomorrow, and toss out expired stuff from the icebox tonight.  And, if the weather is as warm as I expect tomorrow, I will wear the one dress I bought from Kohl's the other day.

The war has been going on for 2 months now....

 

I find it hard to believe that after 2 months, the Orange Monster is claiming that the war (oops, police action, according to government doublespeak) is over.  Doesn't the GOP understand that the war isn't over until Iran agrees that it's over?

Lately, I'm finding the Iranian propaganda videos to contain more truth than what is coming out of the regime in power in Washington.  No one of sound mind believes what the monster is saying.  Yet, the GOP is enabling his irrational actions.  Americans have been both wounded and killed in a war that is resulting in hobbling the world's economy for the sake of Israel and its war criminal prime minister.  But then, war criminals have an interest in sticking together, lest they are held accountable by their citizenry.

What have we gained from this war?  Higher gas prices, and likely disruptions in the food supply caused by a lack of fertilizer impacting this year's crops in the field.  Without our normal supply of grains, we will also see shortages of meat, as farmers will not be able to support the herds of cattle, pigs and chickens we depend on for animal protein.  It's only a matter of time.  

So, what can we look forward to this year?  I see rats leaving the ship - the same people who enabled the monster to gain power are cutting off their support as his ratings tank.  They see the need to keep the attention of their audience, and the only way to do so is to reflect something more resembling the reality their audience is experiencing.  

If the GOP wants even a small chance of staying in power, it must find an acceptable off ramp for the Orange Monster to "gracefully" leave office and keep his illicit gains.  But will they do so?  Right now, no one is able to get the monster to see anything that resembles an objective reality.  The monster lives in a bubble of his own creation, and more weaknesses in that bubble are showing up every day.  His mental and physical health is failing, and it's only a matter of time that someone has to act.

But back to the war....

We will likely see a real deal cut behind the scenes, where the monster gets to claim victory, but no one will believe him.  Iran will get control of the Strait of Hormuz, as the US will not be able to block Iran with America's obsolete technology. Israel will be a riskier place to be, as the war they started couldn't bring down the Iranian regime.  The whole mess saddens me, as what would be my children's generation will be paying for this war long after I'm gone.

It's May, and it feels like March

 

This weekend would be the first time RQS would be up at my apartment for the first time since before our Bermuda Triangle cruise.  Even though it was the beginning of May, RQS had to prepare for weather that could get close to freezing at night.  As for me, I couldn't break out the new summery dresses I wanted to wear. Cool weather would define the start of the weekend.

On Friday, RQS arrived wearing her heavy winter coat.  Yes, it was a little bit too much for the daytime.  But it served her well in the evening.  When she arrived, we drove to White Plains to pick up fresh sea scallops for dinner.  And then it was back to the apartment for the evening.  Dinnertime came quickly, and we had a good dinner.  (We also learned something about cooking scallops, but that's another story for another day.)  It was easy to fall asleep afterwards, so I don't have much to say about the day,

- - - - - -

Saturday came, and we had a few things on the docket.  So, I got dressed in something comfortable, but warm enough for the cool weather - a tunic length dress over leggings.  And then we went to Walmart to pick up a few items: (1) a narrow rolling cart for the bathroom, (2) a shower mat for the bathtub, and (3) a set of pillowcases to match the sheets I have on the bed.  (Right now, I'm using pillowcases that are too large, and wanted to get something that fits my pillows correctly.)  Once we were done at Walmart, we had time to kill before dinner.

We had scheduled a 7 pm dinner with Vicki.  It's been a while since the 3 of us were together.  Yes, RQS and I are together every weekend, and I see Vicki (on the average) or every month.  Today, we'd be sitting at the same table for a change.  RQS and I arrived first, and Vicki a few minutes later.  Vicki almost made the mistake of going to a restaurant with a similar name in the same village.  But I made sure she knew which one of the two restaurants where I planned for us to meet.

For the next 2 hours, we chatted non-stop.  It was a long overdue get together.  Vicki understands what RQS and I see in each other, and RQS understands what I share with Vicki.  These are all special relationships, and something I cherish.  Vicki thought that my past 2 cruises had me traveling as Marian until I told her about my caution in regards to interacting with Federal authorities given the Orange Monster's attitudes involving TGs.  RQS and Vicki talked about how they deal with their ailments.  We all had things we would talk about for hours.

All too soon, dinner had to end, and we had to part.  So, we drove home, and I got around to taking care of putting together the rolling cart from Walmart.  It is not as good as the cart I bought from IKEA several weeks before.  But it will do for now.  Now, things that were casually dumped into baskets are organized in areas of the cart.  Although cluttered, things look a bit less messy than before - a small victory for me.

The ordeal of owning a rental house will soon be over.

My brother and I have owned our family homestead for years, but have only controlled it since my dad went into a nursing home.  My dad is dead now, and the house has become much more costly for us to own.  So we decided to sell it, rather than take the risk of having a bad tenant move in.

The house holds a lot of memories for us.  Both of us spent our formative years in that house.  And it'll be a sad day when we sign the house over to its new owners.  For a house built in 1941, it still has good bones, and the new owners will only be the third family to own the house.

My parents bought the house because it was walking distance to a bus that would take us to the subway station, and still be outside NYC limits.  Their children could get a good suburban in a suburban school, instead of a mediocre (or worse) education one would get in NYC schools.  (And they were right, given how NYC debased the quality of its education in order to allow certain groups to "earn" a diploma without having to meet all the former requirements for that diploma.)  

I grew up in good times, in a prosperous post-war America that was at the top of its game.  Anyone who wanted a job that paid well enough to support a family could have one.  Anyone with a decent education could make it to the top of business - if they knew how to "play the game" and were members of the right group.  America was far from perfect.  But it was a good time for people like me to be alive - unless we were among the persecuted minorities.

My dad had some college (from what I remember), but he never had use of it.  Instead, he became a salesman of machine tools.  When manufacturing died in NYC (this was before Amazon), he couldn't retool to sell another type of product.  There were too many different customers with whom he'd have to build new relationships.  So, he retired early.  When I took my first computer job, I earned more than he did.  I could have afforded a house like his with a few years of saving.  But I took a different path.  I bought only the living space I needed - a one bedroom apartment.  And, that would be the only space I would ever need, as children were not in my future.

When my brother and I inherited the house outright, we rented it out for a while.  And when our tenant left, we tried to fix it up and rent it out.  But it made more sense to sell.  Soon, the day will come, and we will leave that house forever with only our memories to show for it.
 

Odds and ends - all the news that wasn't fit to print.

 

Odds and Ends of Recent Events 

• About a week ago, we got off our Bermuda Triangle cruise, and I noticed an erroneous charge of $25 on my account   I sent an email to Virgin's Sailor Services area, and got an automated response that I'd be hearing from them within 72 hours.  I take this to mean 3 business days.  So, if the clock starts running on Monday morning, I should have an answer from Virgin by Thursday morning.  As of Thursday morning, crickets!
  
  I followed up with another email, this time being sent to both to Sailor Services and to the head of Customer Relations, mentioning the lack of communication on disembarkation day, and tacking on a mention of the $25 dispute at the end of the email.  I figure that I should expect a response by sometime on Tuesday if I'm lucky.
  
  
•  The other day, I went to fill my car up with gas and noted that the price of a gallon of "regular" has gone up by 50% since the Orange Monster started the war with Iran.  It's so sad to see GOP politicians trying to assert that the economy is doing better with the snowflake, and not asserting Congress's sole power to declare war against another country.
  
  
• Recently, King Charles of the UK came to the US and gave a speech to both houses of our legislative branch.  He reminded congress of American values in a way that showed the GOP how much they have capitulated to evil without openly saying as much.  It's a shame that after the speech, that they keep supporting the Orange Monster in the way they do.
  
  
• Yesterday, I went downstairs to do laundry.  I found out that I forgot where I placed the VTM card I use to pay for washing and drying my clothes.  So, I ended getting ready to use backup card I had.  But, by the time I went downstairs to do the last runs of the evening, someone else had claimed the machines for their laundry.  There was no way that I was going to bring my dresses, etc. upstairs, just to bring them downstairs again.  So, I waited until today to do this.
  
  Realizing that I had to find the missing VTM card, I positioned myself that I could inspect shirt/trouser pockets for the VTM card, and toss everything into 2 washing machines while sitting down.  By the time I was halfway through, I found the card, and was able to speed up my work to load up two washers.  When the loads are done, I plan to take the dresses and shirts upstairs and hang them up to dry wrinkle-free.
  
  And guess what happened after I found the card.  I added $20 to it, then lost it again.  This time, I retraced my steps and hope it's at the bottom of a wet laundry basket.  Otherwise, it's $38 gone down the tubes.  AARGH!
  
  
• Once all my summer clothes are out of storage, I'll have to start another donation bag for charity. I need space in my closet to store everything.  That will be a task for the next few weeks. 
  
  Given how many dresses and other things that I own, I figure that I only have enough stuff for a single donation bag.  But, I should also loot at getting rid of stuff that looks drab on me.  A T-Gal should always look her best in public when presenting as female.

A mess to clean, a lunch to enjoy, and some laundry to wash

 

My apartment has always been in one degree of mess or another.  One can say that I've drowned in clutter over the years, and have come out of it with varying degrees of clutter removed from the mess.  Today, I have to clean up some of the mess, meet CCS for lunch, and do some laundry.

- - - - - -

This morning, I was supposed to have a zoom with my niece in London.  I really wasn't in the mood to rush a conversation, nor was I in the mood to be talking too much, when I had a lunch engagement 30 minutes later with CCS.  So, I asked my niece to postpone for a week, and that worked for both of us.

Next, it was getting ready to pick CCS up.  She had some work done on her arm, and she is not able to drive while the arm heals.  So I had to put her address into my phone's GPS so that I could find her place. Once I picked her up, it was off to the restaurant for lunch.  We caught up on a lot of things, the disposition of family autos, her upcoming cruise, the sale of my family homestead and more.  it was a good conversation that had to end too soon.  So, I dropped her off at her place, and rushed back home for an urgently nee bio-break.

When I had the chance, I opened up a package from Kohl's - a new dress had arrived.  I wasn't sure if a 3x would fit me, but it did - the waist wasn't as tight as it could have been on me.  And it will be a very comfortable addition to my wardrobe for this summer.

I ended up taking a nap and woke up as the sun was setting.  Knowing that I was in for the night, I stripped off my makeup and finally prepared to do some laundry.  It was nice to get out as Marian again, and I hope to be able to finally get my nails done soon....

 

 

The day started off with a phone call from my brother

As I may have mentioned, my brother and I are selling the family homestead.  It made us some good money over the years, but it became a non-performing asset last year.  It served us well, and we have good memories of living here.  However, it is time to let go, and we will soon have a signed contract for the sale.

- - - - - -

My brother almost woke me up this morning, and we discussed the financial situation of the house.  We'll be putting in some repairs, so that the sale can go through.  We talked about being sad to let go of the place, and then shifted to money concerns.  Both of us could use the money from the sale, but for very different reasons.  And then we got to talking about my brother's situation with his wife and what will happen if he has to move to get a new position.  That call took me to the point where I had to let go, and get showered for lunch with MSJ.

Around 12:45 pm, I dropped off a lot of paper to be shredded at Westchester County's mobile shredder truck.  And then, I was off to the bagel shop for lunch with MSJ.  This was a rare time that I'd be early for lunch.  But it was just as well.  MSJ came in, ordered something light, and we got down to talking.  This was a rare 2+ hour lunch for us, and we covered a few topics: My recent cruise, Her sons' progress in school, and Her exhaustion from juggling too many things at one time (typical for most women).  

All too soon, lunch had to end, but not before we set up our next meeting.  And then it was off to Lane Bryant in Poughkeepsie to look at their dresses.  None of them looked appealing to me.  The cheap $30 dress I bought from Amazon looked better than the dresses on the rack at Lane Bryant.  I'm glad that I wasn't really in the mood to buy anything anyway.

Then, it was on my way home, so that I could cook dinner - Ravioli in a cheesy cream sauce.  Yum!  Just don't tell my doctor about it..... 

City Island Dinner with Vicki

     

City Island is nautical hamlet off the coast of New York City's mainland borough, The Bronx. It still has a small town feel, even though it is in America's biggest city.  The reason why most visitors come to this out of the way part of NYC is its collection of Seafood Restaurants.  And this is where Vicki and I planned to head today.

It was nice to get dressed as Marian again.  Unfortunately, it was a little bit too cool to go out in one of my summer frocks.  Instead, I took out a dress and a pair of leggings that I wear during the winter, threw on a light denim jacket, and drove to Vicki's place to pick her up.

Normally, Vicki does much of the driving.  But her car was in the shop for warranty repair.  Given how much the repair would cost if not under warranty, I'm glad that she is still  covered by her manufacturer's warranty.  Otherwise, she'd be spending 40% of the car's original cost to fix it.

I picked Vicki up a few minutes after 6, and we started catching up on things.  It was nice to be able to tell Vicki about our cruise, and the disembarkation day problems.  And she mentioned things I won't cover here.  Arriving at the restaurant around 7, we sat down to order our food - a lobster plate for each of us, with a calamari dish we could share.  Yum!

We had to rush back to Vicki's after dinner, as she has a couple of dogs to care for.  But we'll be having dinner again soon, as RQS, Vicki and I will be feasting somewhere nearby. 

Now that I'm back home (a short post)

 

I feel like I ate like a pig while on my recent cruise.  Yet, the scale told me otherwise today.  I think it lies. RQS and I discussed this earlier, and she was thinking that this is a good thing.  As for me, I need an explanation for this, as my late wife had unexplained weight loss before she was diagnosed with cancer.

But first....

This was the first night I slept alone for almost 2 weeks.  As much as it's nice to sleep with RQS by my side, it also feels good to have my bed to myself.  I woke up to the mess in my apartment and made things worse.  It was time for me to start putting my winter clothes away, put clothes I don't use in a donation bag, and hang my summer dresses up in my closet.  Right now, I have one donation bag to be delivered to charity, two loads of laundry to go in the wash, and then dresses (so far) to hang up in my closet.

My plans were to go outdoors today.  But I had relatively little energy to do so.  I didn't want to bother getting dressed.  Yet, I did set up some social engagements with a couple of friends, and tried to set something up with another.  I expect to be very busy over the next few weeks, but I'm not sure of how my schedule will fill up.

Tomorrow, it'll be dinner with Vicki, and I'll be the one doing the driving for a change.  It'll be a seafood dinner, not a "see-food" dinner. (If I see it, I eat it. 😊)  More on that tomorrow.

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Afterthoughts (04/26/26)

 

Now that I'm back on dry land, I now have a chance to look back on this cruise.  Strangely enough, an old phrase from a Russian novel comes to mind:

 "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"

From having friends who are polyamorous, I learned that good communication, honesty and openness are the keys to successful relationships.  In the case of cruising, good communication is essential to having a good cruise experience.  On disembarkation day, Virgin Voyages turned a good cruise experience into a disaster by poor communication.

Will I take a cruise on Virgin again?  Maybe.  But I'll have to see how they respond to a complaint letter I plan to send them.

- - - - - -

A question posed by an old, cynical joke was:

Besides the assassination Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

This same question reflects my feelings about the cruise.  If I could ignore the last hour or so onboard the ship, it would have been an excellent cruise.  Even then, communication issues were black spots on a very white sheet of paper.   Virgin depends too much on its app to notify people of things going onboard the ship.  Instead of simple announcements that the ship has made port, and that passengers can leave the ship for shore excursions, they only send quiet messages to cruisers via the app.  If one doesn't constantly look at their phone, one can't know what's going on.

- - - - - -

RQS and I have some time before we can schedule another cruise with Virgin.  Before then, we will be taking another cruise with Princess, and maybe a cruise with NCL Virgin won't be back in NYC until autumn.  And then, it has no cruises sailing out of New York scheduled for 2027.  Will they be in New York in 2028?  I doubt it.  And even if they were, I'm not sure if I'd sail with them again.  I don't want to deal with another experience as ugly as our disembarkation experience, even though (for us) it lasted only 15 minutes.  I'd have no problem with Virgin if it had good communications with its cruisers.  But it doesn't.  It is not a cruise line that holds up its customer experience by both belts and suspenders - they don't use both Plans A and B for communicating with its cruisers. 

PS: I got a response on my email to Virgin.  They actually looked into the details of my issue.  Hopefully, they will correct things for the next time something similar occurs.

 

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Disembarkation Day (04/25/26)

 

The problem with cruising from Brooklyn is that when one arrives back in port, one has a better view of Jersey City than one does of New York City.  Yes, Governor's Island is also in this picture, but Jersey City predominates the view.  But it could be worse.  It could be Akron, Ohio from the rails.

- - - - - - 

We got home earlier than expected, but not because anything went according to plan.  Our ordeal started at 6 am, both of us getting up early, so we could vacate our cabin by 7:30 am.  We were out the door by 7:15 am and in one of the ship's restaurants by 7:30 am.  That was our first defining issue for the day, as the restaurant, Razzle Dazzle, was vegetarian.   

Razzle Dazzle may serve good food, but none of its breakfast offerings appealed to me.  So I ordered something close to what I'd get in an omnivore breakfast - scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tiny potatoes, and "Impossible" sausage patties.  Luckily, they had a "Naughty" item on the menu - Maple Bacon, which I ordered. As expected, this meal didn't satisfy.  The Impossible sausage patty had absolutely no flavor and not satisfaction quotient.  So the eggs, bacon and the mushrooms were the only things that kept my stomach from growling for the next few hours.  Heck, I couldn't even get a glass of orange juice without paying a premium for fresh squeezed juice.  And to make things worse, the restaurant was way too warm, considering it was a chilly day outside.

Leaving this forgettable joint (and I hope to do so soon), we proceed to the 6th floor to exit the ship. And this is when the real problem began.  We had booked a 9 am disembarkation, knowing that many of the early birds would be off the ship before then.  Well, we went upstairs at 8:45 am and found ourselves at the end of a line that stretched from mid-ship to the rear of the ship and back because they weren't letting anyone off the ship.  Since I can walk forever, but not stand in one place for long, I had RQS stand on line while I waited in the casino for the line to move. The line started moving 15 minutes later, and we were out of the cruise terminal at 9:15 am.  From what one crew member told me as I was finally exiting the ship, the delay was caused by issues related to a CBP contraband sniffing dog and the luggage transfer process.  In order to prevent passengers from arriving at the pier before their luggage made it to the pier, they held up disembarkation to accommodate a complete restart of the luggage transfer process.  AARGH!

Next, we decided to take the ferry.  Walking past taxi drivers that were hungry for a fare, we barely made it to ferry dock for a 9:22 ferry.  And then, we had trouble with the ferry app (mostly caused by being in a rush and still having our phones in airplane mode).  We held up the ferry while personnel tried to help us.  And then the ferry screwed up, heading towards Pier 13 in Manhattan instead of Pier 6 / Atlantic Avenue. So we arrived at the stop where we'd summon an Uber as it started to rain a bit.  Luckily, it was a short walk to shelter with our bags.

Here is where we had our miracle.  Our Uber was there in 2 minutes, and then there was NO traffic on the BQE (in our direction).  We were back at RQS's place by 10:30 am - a new record from the terminal!  Finally, we could rest and catch up on sleep.... 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Sea Day #4 (04/24/26)

 

I woke up early this morning and found that the tablet that controlled everything in the room had run out of juice.  I couldn't change the temperature without getting out of bed and using manual controls, I couldn't adjust the lights to allow me to see where I'm going, and I couldn't turn off the TV, to which I had fallen asleep.  This could have been a big problem.  But, given the time of morning and the state of the TV, I easily managed things until the tablet was recharged.

- - - - - -

Today is the last day of the cruise, and a day that I always feel down when thinking about it.  I'll pack up everything, save a few necessities and put them outside to be picked up at the pier the next morning.  It was in the 80's when we left on this cruise and it will be in the 40's when we return.  I expect RQS will be freezing when we get off the ship.  As for me, I know I'll be feeling cooler than I want to feel.

We got out of the cabin late enough to barely make it to breakfast.  And then, the wait staff fouled up RQS's order by not bringing RQS her omelet.  This would be the last breakfast/lunch we'd have onboard the ship, and we will miss having someone cook for us and clean up the mess we made.

After resting for a while, RQS went out to see a comedian perform his act while I stayed in the cabin.  RQS came back early, and we took our naps before going to dinner at 6 pm.  This would be our last dinner on the ship, and we had some great dishes.  One problem - they neglected our drink service.  So we ended up going to the Galley for an after-dinner cup of tea.

Back at the cabin again, we packed our bags and left them in the hall to be delivered to the pier when the ship makes port.  It was a great cruise, and we look forward to the next cruise on this line.   

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Charleston, SC (04/23/26)

 

Last night, I had an interrupted sleep.  But I managed to have a few good hours before waking up at 8 am.  Even though I was up early for me, I didn't feel tired.  Instead, I felt like my allergies to pollen were winning a battle with me, as we were nearing land as I was coming to consciousness. 

- - - - - -

Charleston's historic district is beautiful, and should be experienced slowly.   The last time I was in this city, it was raining, and a bus tour made everything blend into one boring, gray mess.  Today, it would be bright, sunny, and not overly warm - a perfect day to visit this city.  Both RQS and I were looking forward to our self-arranged shore excursion.

We went up to the Galley (Virgin's substitute for buffets found on other cruise lines' ships) to have a quick breakfast.  And this breakfast was good.  Both of us had the "Grab and Go" Salmon, while I ordered Scrambled Eggs and Sausage.  We were sated, and ready to go to find our excursion.

Getting off the ship was easy.  But it was a 10 minute walk from the ship to where the carriage ride started.  While on the way, I noticed that I forgot my sunglasses.  So I bought a cheap pair in the Charleston Market on the way to the carriage ride.  

There are 5 routes which carriage rides are allowed to travel, and they are assigned at random to prevent too many carriages from disturbing motor vehicle traffic on a single route.  Today, we took the "Yellow" route, chosen at random at a station near the market.  Much of Charleston's history blended into something easily forgotten, but I remembered one thing of note: Like New Orleans, Charleston has laws which require buildings in its historic district to be maintained with historical accuracy.  If a building is to be painted, a commission must approve the paint - and have it reflect colors used in the building's past.  External structural elements must conform to reflect how a building looked in the past.  Too bad that more American cities didn't do this to preserve their historical districts.

- - - - - - 

We got back on the ship around 12:30 pm and started looking for lunch.  The Pizza Place would be closed until 2 pm, so back to the Galley we went.  Of course, I ate too much, wanting a little bit of everything.  To make things more "interesting", they had the wrong menu available in our section of the Galley, and we ended up getting things we didn't plan on getting.  Although I missed my Duck Ramen, RQS got her Pastrami on Rye.

And then it was time to rest until dinner.  

Again, RQS made herself at home in the hammock, while I worked on my other blog.  By the time dinner time came, we were ready to feast, yet not eat too much.  So, it was down to to Pink Agave for another Mexican meal.  Was the food good?  Yes.  Yet, I miss the two Mexican joints down the hill from me, as more of their food is "stick to your ribs" cooking.

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Sea Day #3 (04/22/26)

 

There is something nice about waking up to a nice sunrise while at sea.  Although the sun is not visible in the picture above, it is bright, and the cabin was fully illuminated.  There was no way for us to stay asleep.  Both of us were up before 6:15 - something rare for two people who are rarely out of bed before 9, except for bio-breaks.

- - - - - -

Neither of us got moving until 8 am, and we ended up waiting an hour before we could have Brunch at the Wake.  While there, we enjoyed another filling meal, and had another nice chat with people sitting at nearby tables.  (I'm going to hate looking at the scale when I get home.)

I can't say too much about what we did until dinner.  Both of us needed to rest, and RQS hung out in the hammock on our balcony, while I edited some things for my cruise blog.  After that, I decided to rest for a while, trying to catch up on some needed sleep.

For dinner, we went back to the Test Kitchen, where we had some artistic food dishes.  This time, I enjoyed the selections more than the lat time we ate there, as smoked salmon was one of the 3 appetizers, while a lamb chop was the main course. Once done with dinner, it was off to one of the lounges to listen to some music.  Sadly, seating in the area left much to be desired.  But the music made the effort to reach the lounge worthwhile. 

- - - - - -

Sometimes, one doesn't have a lot to say about a cruise day.  And this was one of those days. 

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Nassau, Bahamas (04/21/26)

 

On Virgin Voyages' ships, "The Galley" replaces a ship's buffet area with a bunch of mini-restaurants, each serving a certain specialty. (I won't list them by name here.  Instead, I'll list their functions.)  First, one finds the salad station, where salads are produced according to menu listings.  Next is a burger station.  There is a taco station, a sushi station, and a ramen soup station.  What they all have in common are two key things:

• Simple menu selections mean that dishes can be mass produced without customization.
   
• Cruisers never touch the food before it gets to the table, reducing disease spread. 

As much as I admire Virgin for reworking the concept of the buffet, they have not solved a key problem: How can a cruise line design in adequate seating capacity for busy hours?  Given the nature of The Galley, Virgin has added a new problem: giving cruisers quick service after sitting down in the Galley.

RQS and I have been looking for sit-down dining options for breakfast and lunch that are not connected to the Galley.  It is not easy, as many others are flocking to these venues as well.  And this is one of the things I don't like about cruising with Virgin.

- - - - - -

Today's port stop was Nassau.  We had no intentions of getting off the ship here.  So we took a leisurely lunch in the Galley and then relaxed in our cabin.  RQS was doing her watercolors while I was working on my cruise blog.

Around 6 pm, it was time to go to dinner.  Wayfaring signage on the ship is terrible, and we asked for instructions on how to get to our restaurant - and got lost for a few minutes.  But we ended up in the right place and had a nice meal.  I know when I next get on the scale, I will be shocked of the weight I gained.  But for now, I might as well enjoy the delicacies I'm having that I won't be able to get when I return home.

  

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Sea Day #2 (04/20/26)

Instead of focusing on the nature of a typical sea day on this ship, I will start out by talking about Virgin Voyages' RFID wristlets.  I figured that most of my readers would like to see something different for a change. 

- - - - - -

Three cruise lines I've cruised on have similar technology in place on their ships:

• MSC
• Princess
• Virgin

Of these, I find Princess' use of technology to be the most user friendly, with Virgin coming in a close second.  Why does Princess rank a little higher than Virgin, when Virgin integrates modern technology into every possible touch point with its cruisers?  The answer is simple - Virgin has taken away options that older people might want by forcing people to use its app for everything.

When I booked this cruise, I expected that most of my sign-in process could be done with a PC interface.  This was far from the case.  I had to use the cell phone app to capture information from my driver's license and my passport - even when I had scanned copies of the same documents I could upload from my PC.  And then, their scans of my driver's license and passport had to be redone just before our cruise, as some glitch in their back office systems rejected what I had previously submitted.

Although I am comfortable with modern technology (though I don't use many of the apps my niece might use), I still prefer a "belt and suspenders" approach where more humans are involved in processes.

- - - - - -

Today, we woke up early (due to RQS receiving a call she had to take), but wandered down for brunch around 11 am.  We waited on a queue for 45 minutes before sitting down to eat.  At this point, I was starving, as my blood sugar level was likely too low for comfort.  Luckily, we were seated by noon, and a nice couple from Canada sat down next to us.  We had a nice conversation on current affairs (including the insanity of our Orange Monster) while eating lunch.  As part of the conversation, I made my TG nature known, and they were curious about it.  I answered a few questions, and it was back to normal.  I hope we see them again before the end of the cruise.

Later on, it was time for dinner.  And tonight, we went to the ship's Korean BBQ.  This was a disappointment for reasons not related to the quality of the place.  Instead, it was a loud and lively environment for dinner at a time I really wanted a quiet, relaxing environment to savor some food.  The people around us were nice, and we enjoyed the conversations over dinner  But the main courses were muddy in flavor, with me not being able to taste much of a difference between beef, pork belly, and octopus served at the table due to the marinade used in its preparation.  At least, we'll remember not to choose this restaurant if on a Virgin ship again. 

 

 

 

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Bermuda Day #2 (04/19/26)

Yesterday, I supplied the cipher.  Today, I supply the quote.  Can you tell me what this wall says?

- - - - - - 

Again, we didn't start moving until 11 am, and this didn't leave us much time to do anything in Bermuda before the ship was scheduled to leave at 3 pm (ship time).  If the crew hadn't planned to clean the balconies this morning, we would have left the drapes open and let the sun wake us up.  Instead, we had a good healthy sleep - something I usually need very much.  When we finally got up, we decided NOT to walk to a local store where I could buy some jewelry for my Marian presentation.  Given how slow things were going when we went upstairs, we decided to stay on the ship until we reach Nassau.   

For a bit of the day, RQS rested on the balcony hammock, and then we went for dinner at The Wake (the steakhouse on this ship.)  The food was excellent, but I was too full from earlier eating to appreciate everything put in front of me.

I'm glad that I didn't order this seafood dish - it was $85 extra, but well worth it.  The gentleman who ordered it had cruise credits to burn, and he shared the food with a nearby table.  RQS wouldn't have accepted his offer, but I might have done so at another time - I was way too full from lunch to finish what I had already ordered.  But this gave me the opportunity to share my cruise blog's business cards with several people.  Hopefully, they will enjoy what they see.

After dinner, we walked down to "Sailor Services" (the purser's office) to get a shore excursion ticket printed for Charleston.  And then, it was back to the cabin for the evening. 

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Bermuda Day #1 (04/18/26)

 

Bermuda, at last!  We'll only have 24 hours at this port, but it is a 24 hour period where we can enjoy ourselves on land, as well as pick up a few items we could use at the local store.

But first....

Neither of us wanted to get up this morning, so we slept in until 11 am again.  By the time we were ready to go out of the room, it was lunch time.  So, it was off to the Galley and wait for our food to be delivered.

The Galley was crowded for lunch, so we ended up finding a seat at the rear of the ship.  From the moment we sat down, we could see Bermuda coming up in the distance.  By the time we were done with lunch, we were passing by the parish of St. George (Do I say town? county? What to Bermudians call this subsection of the archipelago?) on our way to the Dockyard area.

We arrived in port at 2:45, and were able to get off the ship at 3:00 pm.  (One catch, we had to stay on "ship time" and not "island time", as Bermuda is in the Atlantic time zone, and the ship remained on Eastern.  Staying in the Dockyard area, we browsed a few shops before returning to the ship.

Once back on the ship, we killed time before making it to the ship's Italian eatery.  We ate way too much food, and all of it was tasty.  (It was not as good as some of our favorite NYC Italian joints.  But then, we live in NYC and have a plethora of great Italian eateries.  So it would be an unfair comparison to consider ranking this place against our favorite eateries.)

It was a good day.  And I'm hoping that the rest of our remaining time in Bermuda will be just as good. 

 

 

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Sea Day #1 (04/17/26)

 

This is the first full day that we've been on the cruise ship, and the highlights of the day were our meals.  No, this is not anything negative about the ship, its entertainment, or its crew.  It's because we got up very late in the morning, and the high points were lunch and dinner.

But first....

We had our drapes fully closed this morning, and when we woke up naturally, it was about 11:30.  Although we could have had a normal breakfast, we figured it best to skip to a lunch in the Galley (a dining hall which resembles a buffet, save for the fact that your food is served.)  Given that it was "high lunch" time, we sat in a nearby area of a restaurant which turns into a Korean BBQ joint at night.

It took us a while to get service.  However, I figured out why things were running slow, and why we had some problems communicating with our servers - couple us in an area being prepared for evening dining (even though the "flags" identified the area as functionally part of the "Galley") with a staff member who couldn't understand our English, and one would expect a minor misunderstanding.  Even with this, the staff was more than willing to see that our needs were met.  (RQS noted that many of the crew members may have been unhappy to be there, as if things had changed since the days they signed on for their roles.)

After lunch, it was back to the cabin for a while.  I watched TV and added more information to my cruise blog while RQS fell asleep in a hammock.  It was nice NOT to have anything to do.  But none of the ship's activities interested me that much either.  

Around 6:00, we went to the ship's tasting restaurant, the Test Kitchen.  For those unfamiliar with this class of dining, diners will be served a series of small, artistic dishes with exquisite presentation.  In our case, there was only 2 options: Omnivore or Vegetarian/Vegan.  We chose Omnivore, and loved the dishes.  It was hard to believe that 5 small dishes could fill us up this much.  Sadly, I could not describe these dishes, as the preparation was complex, and too many elements involved in each dish for me to remember the dishes properly.

Would I go there again?  Yup - our next visit is coming up in a few days.  And we're looking forward to it! 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Embarkation Day (04/16/26)

 

Today would be the first time on a Virgin Voyages ship, and I knew there would be some issues.  The key one would be getting to the ship on time, given the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the middle of the week.  With a little advance planning, this would be a minor wrinkle for the day.  What worried me most would be the unknown differences between Virgin and other lines on which I have cruised.

- - - - - - -

We got up at 9 am, and did our final preparations for the cruise.  Around 12:30 pm, I brought our luggage downstairs to make it easier when the Uber was to arrive at 12:45 pm.  As planned, the Uber arrived on time, but it took longer than expected for us to make it to the cruise terminal.  Unfortunately, my GI Tract was about to explode, the most important place I could reach was one where my GI Tract could be dealt with properly.

Reaching the cruise terminal, it was the usual chaos outside the building.  However, Virgin made it worse for many by preventing early arrivals at the terminal from checking in early - unlike most cruise lines making port here.  We were lucky enough to arrive close enough to our scheduled arrival time to be let in early.  Again, we encountered the usual long lines inside the building.  But this time, they ran slower than usual.  

Eventually, we made it onto the ship and began our vacation.  We first went to lunch and then to dinner.  The food was good as expected.  (More on this in my cruise blog.)  And then it was back to the room to rest.