It's hard to believe that Summer is almost over.

 

As I write this, it is the beginning of Labor Day weekend.  Summer is almost over, and I look forward to Autumn and its cool breezes.  In a few months, Winter will come and most people will be complaining about the cold.  As for me, it will mean that I'll have to ration my use of dresses to blend in more with cisgender females as I go out and about.

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Now that Autumn is almost here, I have a busy few weeks ahead of me.  Soon, I'll be visiting Philadelphia with RQS, and we'll also be planning a few day trips in the Hudson Valley region.  We'll also be spending time at RQS's place.  This means that I'll be spending time in Mario mode again. 😔  At least, she'll be happy to see Mario after spending much of the Summer with Marian.

Given that I'm participating in a scientific study, I expect that I'll have to find time each day to play the games meant to help develop mental acuity.  This will present a minor logistical issue when I travel, as I'll have to bring a laptop computer with me instead of the Chromebook I am accustomed to using while traveling.  The only time I expect that I will have a problem allocating time to this project is when I go on my next cruise and do not have access to Wi-Fi for the week.

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The arrival of Autumn does provide me with some opportunities to get dressed up a little and take RQS to a few nice restaurants.  Hudson Valley Restaurant Week usually takes place in early November, and I'll be sure to wear some of my fancier dresses (and, maybe some sexy underwear) when we go out.  Hopefully, some of our favorite places will be on the list, as I'd like to get back to Crabtree's Kittle House, Hudson House Inn, and Xavier X2O's (among other places) again.

Hopefully, this Autumn season will bring a better change of seasons than we've had for the past few years.  When I was young, I loved the deep red leaves we used to see on the trees and ground.  Now, we don't see that many, as the Fall doesn't last as long as it once seemed to do.  Yet, I still keep my fingers crossed to once again see the beauty I once saw in my youth.

 

Cleaning up the mess in my apartment - a short post

 

RQS and I planned to do some cleanup work in my apartment today.  Guess what?  In less than two hours, she pronounced the place almost ready to have the cleaning lady start working in my place again.  The word "Almost" is the key word here.

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As I go into the nooks and crannies of my apartment, I find more things that can either be thrown out or donated to charity.  Today, we filled up another 3-4 bags for charity, as well as more bags of trash to be thrown out.  The dining room table is almost clear, and there are less boxes in back of the love seat in the left of this picture.  I couldn't have gotten this far without RQS's help, and I'll always be grateful for this help.  But I know that payback will come when I have to do the same for her at her apartment.

Once we finished dinner, it was time to go out and do some recreational shopping.  When I do this, it is always for things I could use, and not just for entertainment.  For example, today's shopping bag contained 4 LED light bulbs, Command Strips for damage free mounting pictures on walls, and a mouse pad that I can keep with my Chromebook computer.  On the way home, we stopped at Mickey D's for a treat before returning to my place.

On the whole, we accomplished more in 2 hours than I could get done in a week.  It's nice having someone around to help me be the best I can be.

Eleanor Roosevelt - Val Kill

 

The last time I was at Val Kill (Eleanor Roosevelt's home), I was with XGFJ and we enjoyed the visit to the place.  This time, it was a bit warmer, and the "tour" shorter.  I guess with "Large" crowds, they prefer to give their presentations outside and tell people what to look for as they make their quick passes through the building.  Luckily, we didn't have to pay for the visit, and we enjoyed the chance to see grounds that appear much like they would back in the time that she and FDR loomed large in American politics.

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But first....

RQS and I took our sweet time in getting up.  First on our list of things to do was a trip to the tailor to pick up a pair of trousers the man had hemmed for me.  Next, we went North to Val Kill with a slight diversion to pick up some items at the store.  By the time we made it to Val Kill, I knew that I was going to have GI tract issues.  So I was very glad that the tour was short, as I was indisposed for about 30 minutes.

On our way back to the car, we were able to get a few pictures by the pond - and this was one of the highlights of our visit.  The above picture does not do the site justice.  It's a place where one can take a lot of beautiful pictures.

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We left Val Kill around 3:30, and went to BJ's so that RQS could pick up a Chromebook just like the one I have.  She loves it as a backup machine, and for $120, it's a steal.  No, it's not a great machine.  But it is the type of machine I think should be given to all students upon entering school, so that they can do their computer based work with a machine which is kept up to date without the help of a school's "Technology Department".  After BJ's, we went for tacos at the Mexican take-out joint in Croton. And then we made it home for the night. 

A short post: I just bought a new Chromebook - there is much to learn for a low entry price.

 

I've been looking for a cheap Chromebook to play with.  My intentions are to use this device when I travel, so that I can see what is happening in the world - as long as I have a WiFi connection.  I was able to get this device for $100, but one gets what one pays for. (And I have no complaints about it.)

Getting used to this device will take some time.  For example, there is the issue of downloading Android apps - I can't seem to get this to work yet.  I also haven't figured out how to create shortcuts to certain features, and leave the links on the dashboard.  And, I have yet to create documents and save them locally. There is much that I have to learn, but it is not as intuitive to me as Windows is.  But I have been using Windows for years, and changes to the interface come slow enough to be easy to learn.  So if anyone has a good site I can use for an introduction to this device, I'd appreciate it if someone would post it in the comment area....