Only one thing on my docket came to pass today.

 

I had two things on the docket for today, and one of them got postponed (again).  First was a lunch with (Short) Vicki (postponed), and the other was a movie with DS.  It was just as well that Vicki postponed our lunch, as I would have been totally exhausted before going to the movies.

But first....

DS had suggested that we see the "Naked Gun", a reboot of the old comedic series which starred Leslie Nielsen.  I was surprised that Liam Neeson did this movie, as it was a departure from his usual style of film.  So, after a day of rest, I put on a comfortable, casual denim dress and drove to the movies.  DS knows I am trans, but we relate to each other as two women.

I should have allocated more time to get to the movie.  It took me 45 minutes to make it from Croton to Mamaroneck, and park in the lot behind the theater.  DS was easy to find - there was no one else in the theater, and they still had 10 minutes of trailers to go before the movie started.  We didn't have a chance to chat before the film started, so I turned off my phone and sat down in the reclining seat.  This film did not have as many rapid fire gags as the original movie did.  But there were a few that made me chuckle.  For me, the best part of the movie was the ending.  No, I was not waiting for the film to end.  Instead, they slipped gags into the credits and broke down the "4th Wall" as part of those gags.  (If you see the film, make sure to stay through the credits.) 

Once the film ended, we walked over to a nearby pizza parlor.  DS is in-between jobs, and has to watch her money.  So we both ordered a couple of slices and caught up on what is going on in each other's lives.  I talked about my cruising, while she talked about the gigs she is doing to pay the bills.  All too soon, and yet, just in time, dinner had to end, and we went our own ways.   

Game Night - and I won a game for a change!

 

If anyone decided to organize a 43 Man Squamish league, I'd be first to buy season tickets.  Mind you, with the history of this fictitious sport, the league would have to pay me to attend its games - if they were ever played. 

- - - - - -

Tonight was Game Night in Yonkers.  Our host and his family took June off to have a nice vacation.  I was surprised to find them scheduling 2 nights for this month.  So, I marked myself as going, and made sure to keep my schedule up to date.

My niece called me up at the last minute and asked if I wanted to drive down to Long Island for dinner with her and her dad.  I'd normally have done so, as she's in town for only a couple of days before she flies home.  But, I made commitments with others, and apologized profusely.  So we'll do a zoom meeting in the AM.  

There was supposed to be two meetups going on tonight, and I planned to only attend the dinner one, as I had already seen the movie people would go to afterwards.  Well, the meetup was cancelled, and DS suggested we meet for dinner before game night.  I said yes, and we split a pizza at Frank Pepe's in Yonkers.  Being that this was a Thursday night, we had our choice of tables, and we caught up on what was going on in each other's lives.

When we were done with our pizza, I drove to Stew Leonard's to pick up a cheesecake for Game Night.  And then, I was off to play games.  Arriving there at 7:30, the host and hostess brought out some games, and I won the first game, and then was on the winning team for the second.  This was a pleasant change for me.  But what I was most interested in was the conversation.  The host's family had gone to Europe, and we talked about cruising for a bit before the games started.  After the games ended, I chatted with the hostess about how her family was affected by what's going on in DC.  (She's more afraid than I am, and has an equally good reason to be this way.)  I said that if things go really sour, I'd be glad to help take care of things I won't mention here.

The gathering ended up early, and I was chatting with RQS on the way home.  It's nice to know that she'll be here tomorrow.  But it will be a short weekend for us for the next 2 weeks.  Such is life. 

A meetup at a new fast food / ice cream shop.

This is the way I remember this corner of a local strip mall.  Subway never does well in most of its locations, and whatever was next to Subway was long gone before the Google Street View photo car came by.  Now, these two storefronts have been combined into a single outlet selling Nathan's hot dogs, Arthur Treacher's seafood (as part of Nathan's) and Mister Softee ice cream.  When I signed up for a meetup at this place, I knew not to expect anything of high quality - I'd have a slightly higher range of food offerings than the local Mickey D's to choose from, and forget just as fast.

- - - - - -

Today, I decided to get up late and then watch some TV for a while.  Around 4:00 pm, I decided to get showered and dressed to go to the meetup.  While getting ready to shave my face before applying makeup, my rotary shaver's head unit wouldn't lock in place making it useless.  Thankfully, I had another shaver in the carry-on I had on my recent cruise, so I shaved with that instead.  (I'll receive a replacement head unit from Amazon tomorrow, so the travel shaver can go back in the carry-on.)

Around 5:00 pm, I drove to Yorktown and found DS waiting.  We placed our orders as others attending the meetup came in.  One woman who I met at another meetup struck up a conversation and I can tell that she was focusing a lot on what I had to say, and not with the others at our table,  (If I were presenting as Mario, I'd assume she wanted me to ask her out due to the way she was touching me in animated conversation.)  After we finished what passed for dinner, DS left early while the rest of us had some ice cream.

At 7:30 pm, the rest of us left the place, and I went to Walmart to pick up some makeup tools (brushes, powder, etc.) so that I can leave a second, full makeup kit at RQS's place.  It'll be a while until I finish filling the kit.  But once it's ready, I'll start making regular trips to RQS's place in Marian mode.

I have my new bed!

 

Bed, n. - A platform on which to sleep, have sex, read books, or watch TV.  Which do you think I do most?  I'll give you a clue - I'm coming close to watching all 270 episodes of the original Perry Mason series.

Why do I start off with the definition of a bed?  Well, I had to get up early, so that I could shower and get dressed as Mario for the delivery.  However, I did all the shaving that I knew I'd need to do to switch into Marian mode after they left.  This meant that I was up and showered by 8 am, eating breakfast by 9, and resting on my sofa until noon.

Shortly after noon, I received a text saying that the deliverymen would be here in 15 minutes.  So I made myself presentable and walked downstairs to greet the men.  A few minutes later, they were removing my old mattress and bed spring, and assembling the adjustable base on which the new mattress would sit.  A few minutes later, they brought the new mattress in and made sure that everything was working before they left.

Now, I have the same bed and mattress as RQS.  I think that the people who delivered her bed rushed through the job, as they did not attach the "footer bracket" to the bed frame.  As a result, her mattress keeps sliding to the foot board of her bed.  (I might be able to take care of this issue when I visit her this weekend.) Luckily, I noticed that the bracket was properly attached to my bed frame, and I expect no future problems with my mattress.

- - - - - -

With the delivery being done,  I made a call to my doctor's office to arrange for next month's appointment, and then I rested a bit before changing into Marian mode to go to the movies with DS to see The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.  But, before I would get to the movie theater, I decided to buy a new printer - I do not intend to spend twice the price for ink as I need to simply because HP is now software blocking the use of re-manufactured ink cartridges.  This meant that I'd be running down to Micro Center in Yonkers, and then going back Northeast to Mamaroneck.

It felt strange to use my credit card with Mario's name while presenting as Marian.  But I wanted the printer, and no one gives much of a damn about how I present.  Before getting on the road again, I tried to reach my tax lady - to no avail.  So, I figured that I'd check with RQS on how to reach the tax lady, and send an email later in the evening.

My next stop was at Costco, where I bought another pillow.  Now, I have 4 new pillows, and have a completely new bed, pillows and bed linens. Finally, I made it to Mamaroneck, finding a parking spot without problems.  Then, I bought my ticket and found DS inside a darkened theater. As much as I am a fan of the old Warner Brothers' cartoons, there is no way a modern film can have the charm of the old films.  Yet, I enjoyed spending 90 minutes to watch this piece of fluff. Hopefully, we can do this again.

On the way home, I called RQS.  Some of the tests her doctors have ordered have delivered bad news.  This may get in the way of travel, if she can't get things under control AND stop the progression of a genetic weakness.  AARGH!  I'll be there for her.  But I'd like to have more of the good times with her, before things change for the worse.

At least, RQS will be able to get a comfortable sleep in my apartment when she's here next.

Although I took it easy today, I had things to do.

 

A while back, I met this woman and scheduled a lunch together.  I had a weird feeling about her, as she was asking me a lot of questions that one usually doesn't ask in the early stages of a friendship.  Although we said we'd meet again, this never happened.  And I think that this was good luck for me, as something didn't feel right about her, making me glad that I had already frozen my credit report a few months beforehand.

Why do I mention this today?

I've been getting weird feelings about what is happening in this country.  Last night, I watched a clip from a senate hearing, where a Democratic senator asked one of the Orange Snowflake's loyalists: Given the President's actions in regard to Ukraine (as well as other actions), do you think the man holding that office is a Russian Asset?  Of course, the loyalist ducked answering the question.  In a way, we have our answer, and us transgender folk should be planning our lives accordingly, given Russia's feelings about the LGBTIQ community  My big question is - why aren't more people talking about this?

But onto other things....

This was a day where I didn't get out of bed until 11 am, and even then, didn't get moving until 1 pm.  So, I started to clean out some more stuff from behind the loveseat, and filled up a donation bag which can go to Green Drop on Saturday.  It's amazing how many garments I had stored that I no longer wear. So, out the door it goes.

And then, it was time to get showered and dressed to go to a meetup. I arrived at 6:30, and only 4 people had arrived.  By 6:45, we had a total of 10 people, including DS from the Yonkers gaming meetup.  When DS arrived, she mentioned that she couldn't deal with political talk, and for the most part, we didn't do so.  But then, someone made a mistake, and DS left quicker than a speeding bullet.  I mentioned to the ladies who were left that DS is very unhappy with her present job, and probably has to hear a lot of BS coming from her idiot boss about the orange snowflake.  We got quiet for a minute, as everyone realized what happened, and then we got to venting about the latest atrocity the snowflake has thought up.

Right now, I'm not so sure of what I should say to DS, as I want to apologize for not reading her correctly, and not steering others away from this topic.  It's a sick thing, what the snowflake is doing to this country, and I fear that things will get much worse before things get better....

It's been a long time since I was at a meetup

 

TCL will never understand why I attend meetups as Marian.  But then, she can never understand what it's like being transgender, and why I want to live life as a female.  So, I only try to get together with her when I know I'll have to be in Mario mode for something else that day.

- - - - - -

Today was not a day I would have wanted to see TCL.  I was lethargic for most of the day, and I would have skipped out on going to a meetup had I committed myself to this dinner in Pleasantville.  So I made sure to set several alarms to get me moving when I needed to do so.  

Around 4 pm, I got showered and dressed.  However, I didn't know what to wear.  It was too chilly for me to wear a dress, as I would have stood out from cisgender women on a day like this.  So I looked for a comfortable sweater top and a pair of women's trousers I could wear, and found something I haven't worn in a couple of years.

I arrived in Pleasantville 30 minutes early, and decided to play games on my phone to kill time.  Shortly after I walked into the restaurant, DS showed up.  A few minutes later, everyone else showed up, and we proceeded to order dinner.  After some more time, my Jambalaya arrived, and I was getting stuffed before I finished what was on my plate.  But I made sure to leave room for bread pudding for dessert.  

Around 8:30 pm, it was time to go.  As I walked to my car, one of the fellows at the meetup complimented me on what I was wearing.  Was this a polite comment?  Or, was he trying to show an interest in getting to know me better?  I didn't have the benefit of a young adulthood as a female, so I'm not always sure of how to read men while out as Marian.  But at least, I know this fellow to be a harmless gentleman....

Walking on the Rail Trail with DS.

 

Although the above picture was taken roughly 20 years ago, it gives an idea of what the local rail trail looked like today - except that more people were out walking and cycling, enjoying the warm day.

- - - - - -

Last night, I fell out shortly after my nightly call to RQS.  Unfortunately, I woke up around 1:30 am, and couldn't get back to sleep until 5:00 am.  So, this changed my plan of getting up at 8:00 am to go to church.  Instead, I told my automated assistant to wake me up around 10:30 am, and relaxed for a while.

Of course, 10:30 am came way too quickly, and I started taking care of little things before driving to the rail trail's parking lot at 1:00 pm. Unfortunately, DS got stuck in traffic, and we didn't get moving on the trail until 2:00 pm.  Although I had to rest a few times, I did get in a little over 3 miles of walking before it was time for a late lunch at 3:00 pm.  Pizza was on the menu, and I made sure that it would be a place convenient for DS. And it was there we were able to chat without having to watch my breath.  (Talking in Marian Mode requires a breath effort which is hard when doing physical activity.  I require a stronger breath to hit the upper range of my voice, and physical activity robs me of that strength.)  Too soon, we had to part.  But we will try to fit in another walk in a couple of weeks.

Once I got home, I took a little nap.  And when I woke up, it was time for dinner.  All in all, it was a nice day, and great seeing DS again.

Game Meat Dinner - A Quick Post

Once each year, a local restaurant closes its dining room so that special patrons can enjoy a dinner made from "wild" game meats.  (I didn't ask about the origin of these meats.)  Today's dinner consisted of Venison, Rabbit and Quail.  This is something my late wife would have loved had she been alive for this dinner, as she loved deer meat.  And if it weren't for DS mentioning this dinner to me, I never would have gone....

- - - - - -

Today was a day that I couldn't rest well.  I had not been able to get much sleep the night before, as I had way too much caffeine on my way home.  So when I tried to take an afternoon nap, I just couldn't rest.  If I had not committed to this dinner the night before, I wouldn't have gone to this dinner - but I'm glad I did.

Arriving at 6 pm, I was earlier than the rest of the gang.  This was my first time with the DISH meetup group, and I didn't want to be late.  However, I should have taken my time, as I was waiting 30 minutes for others to arrive.  Once the rest of our group arrived, I was engaged in enjoyable conversation with two women - both of which I hope to get to know further as Marian.  And then DS arrived, completing our group.

As you can guess from the pictures above, we had Venison, Rabbit and Quail in several different ways.  I enjoyed the Venison Sausage and Meatballs more than the other Venison dishes.  And if offered, I'll have Rabbit anytime it's available to me.  Quail, on the other hand, is a waste of time to eat, as there is not enough meat on the bones to make the time it takes to eat it worth the effort.

Hopefully, I'll be able to do more things with this meetup group in the future.  It's a friendly group, and one which I feel that I'll be warmly accepted as Marian.

A quick and short post - I'm So Tired!

 

I would like to have fallen asleep early last night.  However, it was the first session of online Jackbox Party Game night with DS.  

- - - - - -

Normally, I look forward to excuses to be with people, in-person or on-line. This time, I was too tired to do so - yet, did it anyway.  It showed.  By the time RQS called afterwards, I needed sleep badly.  By the time I was ready to sleep, all the energy I had was to clean off the makeup I was wearing all day, put on my jammies, and turn off the lights.  Being tired took care of all the rest.

Hopefully, I can make it through the day at work....

A walk in the park....

 

It's been a while since I've had the chance to go out hiking with DS.  Like FH, she has a schedule which leaves only one weekend day free to do things.  FH works Sunday-Thursday, while DS works Tuesday-Saturday.  This means that I have only one full day that I can schedule a get together with each person per week.  At least there is no conflict with these women, as I see them for completely different reasons and have completely different feelings about them.

- - - - - -

Yesterday, I received a message from DS that read:

Hi ladies, would you like to go for a walk Sunday morning? 
It's going to be almost 60 degrees. 
Afterwards, maybe we can do outdoor dining.

I figured that DS was inviting one or more women to walk with us today.  Given that there are people I don't want to see in Marian mode, I asked who else was invited.  DS mentioned that she was trying to get LR out of the house.  Unfortunately, this did not happen.  It was just DS and I on the trails today: all 4.2 miles on the Yellow Trail at Babcock Preserve in Greenwich, CT.  One of the problems of this park is there is not enough parking at one end of the park.  So we had to park on the street.  Another problem is that in some places, the trail is poorly blazed.  It would be very easy for an inexperienced hiker to get lost on the trails.  Yet, we had a good time, followed by a tasty meal on Greenwich's main drag.

On the way home, I stopped off at Wegmans to pick up some lunches for the week at work.  I figure that I can buy Thursday and Friday's meals later on, as I want my food to be as fresh as reasonably possible.  As I arrived home, I noticed some people working on the lower right corner apartment in my building.  When I realized whose apartment it was, I realized that it was her dad, my former mechanic.  Hopefully, he didn't recognize me, as I hate hearing comments from the peanut gallery.

- - - - - -

Going back to a topic that I've been thinking about lately, I feel that there are two different types of intimacies: A Friendship Intimacy and a Romantic Intimacy.  I'm still working on how to define each type of intimacy, but I feel that the failings in my relationships as of late have much to do with both types of intimacy and the lines drawn between the two.