Parting is such wet sorrow

 

OK, "Wet" doesn't describe today's weather.  Yes, it drizzled most of the day.  But I can't say that I got wet.

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My plans for the day were to drop RQS off at the train station, and then to get new tires put on my car.  Neither of us had a good sleep the night before, as I was waking RQS up with my restless sleep.  So, both of us were tired when we got up.

I was up an hour before RQS, and could have easily fallen to sleep by the time RQS got moving - an hour later than usual for a Monday.  This was a day that I was "forced" to present as Mario, as I'd be dealing with folks at the tire store later on.   

Both of us were interested in reports of the rainfall from the Nor'easter, as we had seen a video showing that the parking lot at the local train station was flooded the day before.  Luckily, by the time we got there today, most of the flooding had subsided, and RQS was able to make it home without incident.

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After a brief stop home, I drove to the tire shop to buy 4 new tires and to get my wheels aligned.  I knew NOT to buy Original Factory Equipment tires, as they were both overpriced and underperforming.  The old tires may have lasted to 40k miles at most, while my new tires are rated for 80k miles.  And, the new tires were less expensive as well.  But there was 1 problem - 1 of the 4 tires in stock had a minor defect.  (The fellow behind the desk played down the nature of the defect, but the way he worded it implied that the tire might have been a problem in an accident investigation.)  So, they had to get a tire delivered from a sister store about 30 minutes away.  This meant that a store visit that should have lasted 90-120 minutes lasted an extra 90 minutes for the tire to arrive.

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Around 5:15, I was on my way home, and took a much needed nap.  It was a long day, yet not one where I exerted much effort doing anything.  At least, I'll be able to spend time as Marian tomorrow. 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot....

 

I'm not sure whether my friend knows I'm trans or not.  But I knew that I'd have to play things down a little, yet be honest when called for.  I met this acquaintance at a meetup many years ago, and she introduced me to Arts Westchester.  From there, we lost contact during Covid, and it was a phony Evite email that harvested email addresses which got me to reach out to her again.

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The weather, when I got up, was a constant drizzle.  Cold and damp was the forecast for the day, and I didn't want to go to lunch.  I wanted to stay cozy in my jammies and stay warm inside my apartment.  But I didn't want to screw up things, so I got dressed in something warm and left for a Chinese restaurant in Mamaroneck.  

While driving to the restaurant, I wondered whether this was such a good idea or not.  People were driving like mad men.  One driver I saw was weaving through traffic with barely a car's length of distance between the two cars.  On a dry day, this would be bad enough.  But when the road is wet, I knew enough to keep my distance and then some.

Although I had a hard time with the parking meter, I was able to pay for my spot and walk to the restaurant without getting drenched.  My friend came about 10 minutes later, not being sure if the meter had registered her payment or not.  And then, we both ordered the same dishes - Hot & Sour Soup, followed by Roast Duck.  Both were yummy.  We talked about many things, but the conversation was of the "Getting to Know You Again" genre.  Towards the end, she mentioned my dress - not noticing I was wearing leggings under it, and not tights.  (We were talking about the practicality of cold weather dressing.)

All too soon, lunch had to end.  So we bid each other farewell, and went out own ways.

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Later on, I picked RQS up at the station. Since I had Italian, Greek, and Chinese this week, it was off to the diner for dinner.  There are some dinners I go to as Mario and others I go to as Marian.  So, I chose the diner in Peekskill where I tend to go as Marian.  Food portions are plenty here - the fish and chips I had were enough to feed 3 people (or 1 of me).  And RQS had a healthy meal as well, also bringing home salad for tomorrow.

When we got home, we watched the weather reports - none of them were good.  RQS will now leave early, as a blizzard was coming in for Sunday/Monday.  AARGH!  This will likely be a very wet snow, and a bitch for shoveling out my car when it ends.  At least, my apartment will stay warm.