A relatively quiet weekend with RQS

This weekend, RQS and I decided to go to the Eastville Comedy Club to see Janeane Garafalo.  RQS had gotten free tickets to the comedy club the week before, and we planned our weekend around meeting in NYC, then proceeding to Westchester for the next few nights.

As usual, I decided to park at Croton-Harmon for two reasons - I was leery of being late for a train, and there would be twice as many trains taking us home than would be if I parked at Cortlandt.  So, I caught a local train into the city, and made it to the restaurant a little bit earlier than expected.  RQS was comfortable with me meeting her in Marian Mode, and we ate out before the show at one of our favorite Indian restaurants, Ghandi Cafe, on Bleecker street. 

Around 6:45, we paid the bill and went to the subway for our trip to Brooklyn.  Luckily, the comedy club was in Downtown Brooklyn, a short distance from where RQS used to work.  We reached the place at 7:30, and sat down to wait for the comedy to begin.  The crowd came in, but the air conditioning didn't come on until the MC started with his gags.  So I wished I could have waited in another area until the room cooled down - which was 20 minutes into the show.  

Going to a comedy club is hit and miss at best for me.  I've found that most comics aren't that funny, and this Friday's performers confirmed my belief.  The MC was funny, but the second comedian lingered too long on a sexual act.  Then Janeane Garafalo came on, and we were bored by her rambling.  At least, she warned the audience about it before she started.  (As an aside, I had a short, pleasant exchange of words with her before I took a bio-break.)  It was a shame that I missed half of the next comedian's set, as he was the funniest of all.  At least the fifth person on stage was relatively funny, and we left for home after she finished her set.

The trip to Croton was uneventful, and we were both glad to go to bed - even if I had a hard time sleeping (as usual).

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Saturday came, and we were both very tired.  This was a day that I had planned to go to the bank, drop off a couple of donation bags, and then pick up some food for dinner at Uncle Giuseppe's.  By the time we got home, we weren't in the mood to do much.  But we cooked dinner and found some something lacking - there was no flavor in the sausage I had bought.  Given that a home cooked meal can be hit or miss, I'd call this meal as not even hitting the target.  Next time, I'll plan better.

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Sunday found us without energy.  However, we finally got all the financial details worked out for our California cruise and booked it.  (I'll bet that the travel agent thought we weren't serious about using his services until we booked with him.  He may have been burnt too many times by too many people comparison shopping, and wasting his time.)  Given that the only reason we are going to LA will be to see my uncle, we feel that using an Uber to get to a restaurant may be the best use of our money.

When the evening came, RQS suggested that I get dressed as Marian, and we went out for ribs.  Although RQS suggested Boston Market, thinking of the last time we wanted ribs and got an order of chicken instead, I suggested a nearby Chinese Buffet - and she loved the idea.  Two or three plates later, we were both sated, and ready for the bill.  She thought we had spent more for this meal than on Boston Market, I corrected her - we only spent $5 more (before tip), and got much more value in return.

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Monday came, and RQS had to go home.  I wasn't in the mood to go out as Marian on a rainy day, so I got dressed as Mario and reluctantly took RQS to the station to go home.  Arriving home, RQS said that her cats wouldn't leave her alone until they were fed - and that they both wanted her attention, as they probably missed her over the weekend....

I'm grateful to have friends who accept me for who and what I am.

 

This is a picture taken on Thanksgiving Day.  The daughter of our Host & Hostess caught a female praying mantis and is keeping it in a tank in their living room.  I accidentally knocked the paper cover off the tank. And in the precious few seconds it took me to cover it back up again, the mantis had escaped. By the time we noticed it was gone, it has encamped itself on the fireplace mantle, from where the daughter got control of it again.

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This year's Turkey Day was much more pleasant than last year.  Instead of trying to find a nice restaurant to eat at within a day or two of the holiday then scuttling those plans for Boston Market takeout because of FH's daughter's issues, it was nice to know I had a place to go to and a nice place to share a meal with friends.  (Did I ever mention that FH lives in an apartment that depresses me, due to its paint scheme, its clutter, and general style?) 

I am very comfortable around the host & hostess of game night, and they know and accept me for who and what I am.  And I am grateful that they invited me (and other game night friends) over to their house to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I'm even more grateful that they were able to accommodate Vicki as my plus one.  

Yes, much of the day was centered around food.  But there was also a lot of good conversation.  And for the first time, no games.  It just wouldn't have been right....

My arm was stuck again, and I'm feeling great ...so far

 

There is no way I'm going to post MY vaccination card online.  A completed card (unlike the one in the above photo) will note who gave you the shot, when the shot was given, which vaccine was used for the shot, and which lot number the shot came from.  In my case, I have given two doses of the Pfizer vaccine that were given at the Yonkers Armory, 3 weeks apart.  Soon, I'll be able to meet with some friends (already vaccinated) that I haven't seen in way too many months.

But first, I have to deal with going to work every morning, when I don't really want to get out of bed....  

 

Today started with me waking up later than usual.  I had told my boss that I'd be coming in after I'd been vaccinated, and this allowed me the luxury of getting up late.  And getting up at 8:30, instead of 6:00, was a great pleasure.  With a leisurely cup of coffee, I scanned my email and renewed my prescriptions.  

Instead of going to the office then going to get vaccinated, I took it easy and went straight to the vaccination site.  However, I was running a few minutes later than planned, so I decided to pick up something on the way to the office.  Unlike 3 weeks ago, I took the exact route that Google Maps' Navigation suggested.  But I knew that the return trip would be on a different route.  First, there was a lot of construction on the way down, and I didn't want to hit those traffic jams.  Second, I planned to pick up food at a local Mickey D's.  That didn't go as planned.  Instead, I ended up going to a Dunkin' Donuts for a totally forgettable breakfast sandwich.  At least, I got to work only 5 minutes later than planned.

After work, I stopped off at Target for a while, then went to Boston Market to pick up a "Buy One, Get One Free" dinner.  While on the way, TCL looked up the specifics of the offer - it applied only to Chicken based dinners.  Even then, they were still making a slight profit selling a whole chicken (2 half chicken dinners), with 2 sides for each dinner.

Arriving home, one of my neighbors called me looking to get in contact with the president of the co-op.  I don't know what she wanted, but I don't want her talking about me.  (I often forget to put my mask on upon entering a common space when getting home.)  Since our president has private phone numbers, I will not give them out.  Nor will I pass on the message.  Any complaints this woman has can go through our managing agent's site representative.

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Tomorrow is a day where I'm expected to show up at 8:00 am.  If I feel good, I'll go in.  If not, I'll take a needed rest....

It was a boring day today, and I'd have rather stayed home.

The above dress was a bit too small for me to wear.  But if it were a size larger, I'd have kept it because it made my body look like it had hips.  Alas, this was not the case, and I only lost $20 in the process of buying the dress in one of ModCloth's special deals..

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I was originally scheduled to meet up with FH, and go walking in Manhattan around 4:30 pm.  However, FH contacted me to let me know she was backed up with work and to ask if I could meet her at 6:30-7:00 instead.  So I ended up spending another few hours watching some TV before running down to FH's place with some food from Boston Market.

Did I really want to run down there today?  No.  But until things open up in the spring, it's nice to have someone I can hang out with.  I just wonder what it would have been like had my ex not broken up with me.  Alas, that's road not traveled, and one I'll always have some curiosity about.

Something to be thankful for, but....

 

What can I say about this Thanksgiving? It certainly wasn't what I would have wanted or planned. Yet, I am thankful for it....

Without going into all the other options that didn't pan out, there was one option that opened up to me too late for me to say "yes".  But I'd have rather this option had not opened up.  My friend, TCL, had invited one of her friends over to have a Thanksgiving meal with her at a local restaurant.  This gentleman is a little bit of a flake at times, but TCL made sure that I understood that her friend had a very good reason to skip the meal - he had to be admitted into the local hospital.  Although I can't go into any more details, TCL was able to show me that his situation was serious, and that he needed immediate treatment and care.  I wish I could have then said yes to TCL, but I already had plans with FH and didn't want to break them.

Many people might not have known that Boston Market was open (in a limited way) for Thanksgiving.  People had a very limited choice of meals, as the stores were doing Thanksgiving Feasts to go. Lines stretched out the doors, and out to the back of the stores. Yet, they moved quickly, as evidenced by the one I was on.  After picking up 3 meals (1 each for FH, her daughter, and me), I was off to Forest Hills for dinner.

Once I reached Queens, I decided to look for plastic utensils, so that we didn't need to clean up anything. I ended up driving through Flushing, and the area is even more built up and more like a part of Asia than I remember it being.  (The heart of Flushing is one of New York's newer Chinatowns, and I wanted to see what has changed since I was there last.)  Eventually, I made it to FH's place, and I was extremely lucky to find a place in front of her door.  Even more so, I was lucky that the door was open to her building, since both the doorman was on duty AND that the temperature was in the 60s when I arrived.

Even though I bought 3 meals, the only thing FH's daughter wanted to eat was the Mac & Cheese bowl I picked up.  The girl (she's 21) is a very picky person, and didn't even want to eat anything else on the table.  Once dinner was complete, FH and I went to her cousin's house for an outdoors holiday chat, and I eventually dropped her off at her place a little before 9 pm.

Would I have chosen this day, knowing how things would be?  Probably not.  But I am grateful that FH is comfortable introducing me to her cousin and his daughter. And I am grateful that I had this place to be on Thanksgiving, a holiday I could have easily spent alone and depressed.