Now that I'm home, I'm catching up on things

 

It took me roughly 2 hours to get home today, and I'm starting to take care of things needed to get me through the week. 

- - - - - -

Returning home after a weekend with RQS can be a pain, as I know of all the tasks to take care of when I get home.  For example, unlike my brother, I prefer NOT to use my bank's phone app to take care of bill payments and other things.  My financials are way too important to me to trust to a device that can get easily stolen (as happened with my wallet in Chicago a couple of years ago).  So, moving money from my personal account to the account dedicated to the family homestead had to be done from home.  But there were other tasks to take care of, such as 2 loads of laundry.  That got done this evening.  And I was expecting a delivery from Ulla Popken which UPS reports is stuck in Philadelphia.  (Dollars to donuts, the shipment is being delayed because US Customs isn't clearing the shipment due to the government shutdown.)

Normally, I'd have taken the time to switch into Marian mode and relax.  However, I have to present as Mario in the morning when I visit my doctor, as well as meeting the management company's site representative for a run through of the vacant apartment we are auctioning off next week.  Only after this is taken care of will I be able to switch into Marian mode and get my nails done (if I have the time) before going to a meetup in Valhalla.

I still have a big mess to straighten up over here, as well as laundry to fold and put away.  Those tasks can wait.  I'm tired and want to rest for a while.  

Updates on the last days before my cruise.

 

Lately, I've been preparing for my upcoming cruise, and trying to get as many things in order before flying to California.  I had been thinking of buying a camera for this trip and realized that it wouldn't make sense because I usually get good enough pictures on my cell phone and realized that that the DSLR camera I already own is gathering dust on one of my shelves. (In my defense, the camera doesn't take SD memory cards, lenses aren't made for this camera line any more, and the rig is bulky as hell.)

- - - - - -

Yesterday, I decided to look at cameras on Amazon and found that most of the inexpensive rigs would take more than 2 days to be delivered to my house.  (I wasn't going to pay extra for 1 day delivery.) This was unacceptable, and was one of the main reasons I started to think differently about buying a new camera.  For the most part, this was an unneeded expense, like my drive to the family homestead I took.

Why am I mentioning my drive to the family homestead?

My brother and I own a house that we've been renting out for years. This year, our tenant left, and the place has been vacant since January.  There were upgrades we needed to make to the house, such as replacing the water heater, replacing leaking gas pipes and replacing the washer/dryer in the basement, that had to be done before we could rent the place out again.  While we were doing this, another "might as well" came into play - we repaired and painted the basement walls, then redid the electric wiring and lighting to make it appear as an almost finished basement.  Yet, my brother forgot one thing: Did he make sure that the fire extinguisher was back in the kitchen before the final inspection.  So, I took 4 hours out of my life to find out that the extinguisher was in place when I could have spent it doing something more enjoyable.

There was no way I could do anything else that day.  I had to open up a co-op board meeting specially held to interview 2 applicants to purchase apartments.  This kept me from doing what I would have liked to have done - having one last evening by myself before 2+ weeks of being in the constant presence of others.

- - - - - -

Today, I had only one thing on my docket: seeing an acquaintance I met on the first post Covid shutdown cruise I took in late 2021.  J, as I'll call her here is a retiree who can afford to take several cruises each year, including at least 1 from a bucket list category.  We have been in very loose communications over the past 3 years, and we had another opportunity to meet again - She's going on a cruise that sails out of New York tomorrow, and I'll be leaving for California the next day.  But there is one problem.  She's staying at an airport hotel.  (Why she's not staying in Manhattan I'll never know.) So, this makes my journey to see her more complex, as I have to take Metro North to Grand Central, take the Long Island Railroad to Jamaica, and then the JFK Airtrain to the TWA Hotel where we planned to meet.

My friend was supposed to arrive in NYC at 9 am, but got bumped to a later flight.  That worked out for her, as she didn't have to wait as long at the hotel to check into her room.  I started down to the airport when she was checking in, and was lucky to catch an express train with a few minutes to spare.  (It helped that some people were leaving early, and I found a parking spot within 50 feet of the parking meter kiosk.

With parking voucher in hand (I won't call it a ticket lest a reader get confused), I hopped onto the train (train ticket in hand), and made it to Grand Central at 3:45 pm.  I had a little time to kill, and went to the LIRR concourse at 4:15 pm, catching the next train to Jamaica.  It was easy to kill a few minutes in Jamaica (nothing much to see here, as the train station puts function over form), and then I caught the Airtrain to the airport.  (The Port Authority still uses the obsolete Metrocard to pay for Airtrain rides, and will eventually shift to a "tap and go" system sometime in the next 12 months.  But I digress....)  Given that I was in the airport at 5 pm, I decided to go to the JetBlue terminal, then walk over to the TWA Hotel.  Well, my friend made it to the Airtrain station earlier than I expected, and I trekked back to the Airtrain station to meet her. 

We met around 5:30, and proceeded to the TWA hotel for dinner.  This hotel was originally the TWA terminal at the airport and was decommissioned when American Airlines took over TWA.  It didn't make sense to preserve this terminal for flights, as it couldn't handle today's jets.  More importantly, this building is a landmark piece of architecture designed by Eero Saarinen.  So, it made sense to turn the place into an expensive airport hotel and make the place a living history museum.

I didn't get the chance to explore the whole place - it was time for dinner, and I was hungry.  We talked about cruising for the most part, and indirectly talked politics in a neutral way.  (She pays no interest in politics, but understands why I'd have trouble with the current regime in DC.  She loved the place, and was very glad that I suggested we eat there.  Service at the restaurant was fast in the delivery of our food.  Our water glasses were kept full.  And they weren't in a rush to chase us out for more paying customers.  So it was I who noted that it was 9:30 pm, and that I had to be on my way.

Hopefully, I'll see my friend soon on another cruise, or when she's in New York for some other reason.

PS: My friend is going on the same cruise as another friend from my Yonkers game night group.  Hopefully, they will bump into each other and have a great time.

  

Some Unorganized Thoughts

 

I know that I have gotten much more political as of late, as I am very sensitive to the Orange Snowflake's regime and its desire to crush freedom and human rights in this country.  Being in one of the groups that he wants to erase from history, I don't want to be in his crosshairs.  So, I'll travel in stealth mode much more often than I'd like. In the past, I had ambivalence about applying for a second citizenship (via a foreign births registry).  But now, I know I need to be able to leave the United States if the government becomes even more authoritarian and hateful than it is now.  I no longer can take the risk of being caught up in a modern day pogrom instigated by the Orange Snowflake.

- - - - - - 

The last time I was in Chicago, RQS and I met with our Texas friends.  Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston are among the few cities where I feel comfortable traveling as Marian.  We're hoping to find a way to meet up with them again.  But it will need to be in a time and place which is good for them.  But where would we meet?  I miss being able to be with them in person, even though we were only able to get together in the same place once. 

- - - - - -

Although MAR says that she wants to get together with me, I think that she is too cash poor to do so.  I am not the one coming out of the woodwork to schedule things.  She is getting hit with bills that she can't afford on a home health care aide's salary.  I plan to keep in contact with her, but not attempt scheduling anything.  I'd be willing to pay for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  But she thinks that getting together has to be done over dinner.  (As I write this, it's the first time I've thought about her in weeks.) Even if she thinks of me as a friend, she is not someone who has much to offer in the friendship.

- - - - - -

It's been a long time since I've seen Pat (my former hypnotist).  Each time I think of her, I wouldn't mind seeing her.  But I don't want to deal with her feelings of victimhood and loneliness.  She's lived a very hard life, and I understand why she feels the way she does.  Unfortunately, this has turned her into a demanding beggar.  (Beggar is the wrong word here, but I can't think of one that fits right now.)  When RQS and I last saw Pat, she asked if we could go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee.  I felt that she wouldn't mind a short drive into New Jersey to visit an outlet that always had more than adequate seating.  Yet, she felt upset that we weren't going to the one near her nursing home.  It was if she was afraid of being in new places, and wanted to demand that we visit a place of familiarity.  Who knows what the objective truth is?  Since then, neither of us has made any effort to visit Pat, and it's just as well.

- - - - - -

The family homestead is on the path to being rented out.  Our inspection is scheduled for next week.  Unfortunately, neither my brother nor I will be available to open up the place.  Luckily, my brother enlisted the help of a friend to admit the inspector into the house.  Hopefully, nothing else will slow down the process of getting new tenants, and for us to stop bleeding money from our bank accounts.

- - - - - -

The co-op board I'm on needs new members and new leadership.  No one should serve as long as we have.  But too many people are treating this place like a rental, and do not care to help out.  Sooner or later, the board's president will resign, and I will follow soon after.  Hopefully, I'll be able to buy a new place by then, and unload the apartment I live in before the crud hits the fan.  (No, I'm not planning on abandoning it while we're working out some issues.  I am planning to leave after they have been resolved.)

Will I miss being involved here?  Yes.  But someone else will need to step forward, and I will have to put myself first when things are running smoothly.

- - - - - -

That's enough for now.   

I started repacking my bags for my Alaska cruise

 

 

As I write this, we are in the middle of a nasty heat wave in the NYC area.  The temperature peaked around 97 degrees in the shade, and I was very glad that I took the opportunity to stay inside and relax. This meant that I had no excuse not to work on repacking my luggage in preparation for our Alaska cruise.  Somehow, I still have to figure out how I'm going to bring my winter coat with me, even though I doubt I will need it.

- - - - - -

About a month ago, RQS and I were about to go on a New England / Canada cruise when we got an offer that we couldn't refuse: The cruise line would pay us (in refundable cruise credits) to take a different cruise (up to 10 days long) to the same region.  Instead of each of us paying $2000+ to take the cruise, we'd get a free cruise with the money we paid for the original cruise refunded to us (minus charges) once the replacement cruise ends.

We took Princess Cruises up on this offer 5 days before the cruise was to sail.  This left me with a packed 28" bag, a 20" carry-on bag, my backpack, and my CPAP machine - all ready to go on a summer 10-day cruise. Now, I had to repack, pulling out all but a couple of short sleeve shirts, replacing them with warmer garb. There was no way I was going to travel as Marian, given the current political climate.  Certain minorities are being rounded up (legal residents and non-legal residents), and ICE is treating many of them worse than we treated the Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War 2.  Cruelty is a trademark of this authoritarian administration, and I don't want to be one of his victims trying to travel as Marian through any CBP checkpoints.  Luckily, it made much more sense for me to dress as Mario on the Alaska cruise, so much of the packing I did for the cruise we did not take made it easier for me to repack for this cruise. 

For the most part, repacking for Alaska is relatively simple.  Replace most summery gear with wintry gear and assume you'll have autumn weather often interrupted by rain  Even if we lived in "normal" times, I'd still be traveling in trouser-like garments in Marian mode (if I were full-time), as Alaska is a very informal place to visit.

- - - - - -

On other matters....

Right now, my brother's availability may be the weakest link in us getting the rental permit for the family homestead completed. Officially, someone has to inspect the place.  However, the place has already been through 2 inspections by the same fellow working for the town, and it will be up to my brother to take care of things.

Lunch with TCL

 

I was semiconscious for part of the morning, and I didn't start getting ready to see TCL until 11 am.  My original plans were to get some paperwork taken care of, get passport photos taken, go to the bank to notarize a form, and then send it in for my second passport - all before driving to TCL's place.  None of these things took place - all I could do was to shave, shower, and dress as Mario before driving to New Jersey.

The usual trip to TCL's place has been getting longer over the past few years, as more traffic than ever is on Route 287. Making note of the Eastbound traffic on the bridge, I made plans to return home via the Bear Mountain Bridge.  Just before my intended exit, there was some road construction that backed up the highway for 1 1/2 miles.  So I was glad to have built in some extra time to get to TCL's place, as I barely got there on time at 1 pm.

TCL took a few minutes to get ready, and we first drove to the mechanic's shop to pick up her car.  And then, we went to lunch in town.  TCL treated me to lunch, as my birthday was earlier in the month, so I was a little bit ahead of the game today. However, my mind wasn't in sync with our conversation, as I was still a bit out of things until lunch was halfway over. This was just as well, as she has some of the same judgemental habits that she doesn't like in others.  After lunch, we went back to her place, and I took care of hanging some pictures for her. 

Around 3 pm, I left TCL's place and drove home via the Bear Mountain Bridge, arriving home at 4 pm.  At this point, I needed a nap, and didn't regain a form of consciousness until 7 pm.  At least some paperwork I requested for our family homestead was ready and I'm now ready to submit the next set of paperwork, so that we can rent out the house.... 

At least, after taking care of some more paperwork, I will be able to switch back into Marian Mode tomorrow. 

Donner und Blitzen (That's "Thunder and Lightning" to us Yanks.)

 

The "Highlight" of the day was the thunderstorm.  Although I had lots of things I could have done today, I decided to do only a small number of them.  And I'm glad that I did what I did....

- - - - - -

I started off the day with the "Blahs".  Nothing seemed to interest me that much, and all I wanted to do was watch videos on YouTube.  The most interesting of these was a cruise blogger talking about her Northern European cruise to the land where the sun never sets in the summer.  Both RQS and I wish we were cruising there this summer.  Yet, we are grateful to have been able to sail to the most interesting of the Norwegian ports before they were shut down to conventionally powered ships. 

Why did I watch YouTube videos instead of my "normal" news channels?  Well, I get sick when I see the Orange Snowflake make an ass of himself and show how America has fallen. As I've said in other posts, I try to limit my exposure to the evil this man sows, so that I retain my sanity.  These days, he keeps trying to distract people from  his association with the Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and even his base is calling him out on it.  Are there any files or not?  Either way, he will be caught in a lie.  And when it involves underage females, even his base has a line that it will not cross.

- - - - - -

Originally, I was supposed to go to TCL's place and have lunch.  With today's rain, it was smart of me not to drive to her place.  It was raining "Cats and Dogs", and I hate driving in this kind of weather.  The last thing I would need is a flat and have to call for help in this weather.  Instead, I stayed home and waited for an Amazon delivery to come.  Now, I have a new wig stand, more breast form cleaner, and a new shaver for my female "to go" kit.  (Next, I need to find a cheap carry-on to finish my female "to go" setup.)

While at home, I started taking care of paperwork needed to formally rent out the family homestead again.  Although it's not complete, I'm hoping that we'll have the house rented by September, and that I can again focus on issues in which I have no emotional interest.

In short, it was a "Blah" day kept "Blah" by rain, thunder and lightning. 

This past weekend was too short

 

Laffing Sal.  RQS and I will likely be visiting her when we next visit San Francisco.  Although she is a simple, decades old animatron, she is the best symbol of San Francisco's Musee Mechanique at Pier 45. For me, seeing her in person says I am really in "Fog City" and am ready for a great adventure.

Why do I mention his mechanical wonder?

RQS and I are counting down the days until our next two cruises (the first to Canada and the second to Alaska.) This limits the time I can help my brother with work that has to be done on the family homestead before we can rent it out.  This past weekend, I cut a weekend with RQS short, so I could help my brother with the house.

I knew I would have one problem.  Not doing any dirty work around the apartment, I don't have any clothes I can sacrifice for painting the basement.  And I'm glad my brother gave me an out, saying that I can keep him company while he finishes applying "mud" to the drywall, so that he can paint it during the week.  Hopefully, we can get the work finished before mid June, so that we may have someone renting the place by August.

After my brother was done with the work on the house, we drove to a buffet and enjoyed a good meal.  I rarely go to buffets, as I eat too much.  But here, the food was worth it - including the Asian Snails.  This visit, I skipped the sushi in favor of hot food.  Yet, I knew I'd pay for the indulgence later on.  

All too soon, the day ended, and it was time to go home.  Tomorrow, I'll go to my first meetup in a while.

More work on the family homestead.

 

This was a day where I needed my car, and hated this need.  My plan was to drop RQS off at the hairdresser, and then drive to Long Island to work on the family homestead.  But traffic jams got in the way, and it took me over an hour for a 30 minute trip due to the fact that it was "Samuel L Jackson" day.  (It's better than me saying it's "Mother's" day in his eloquently vulgar way!)  Being serious, there were many more cars than usual on the highways today, all people looking to see their moms to celebrate the unofficial holiday.

When I eventually arrived at the family homestead, my brother wasn't there.  He was running late because he had to pick up a mop, bucket, and some other things needed for house cleaning.  When he arrived, we sat down for a bite of the Hamburgular's and Grimace's finest (McD's Quarter Pounder and Big Mac) before starting work for the day.  We swept out the main floor, then I got to work mopping that last layer of dust and dirt off the floor while my brother did lawn mowing and other landscaping tasks outside.  And then, after several days, my GI Tract said that it wouldn't cooperate with me any more.  This resulted in an emergency visit to the hardware store to get the things I needed to clean up the bathroom.  AARGH!

Once we were done with our tasks, we said goodbye to each other and went our own ways.  There was a lot of traffic on the roads, but I was able to find a route with minimal traffic to get home.  As for my brother, he decided to get a haircut, as he had an important appointment in the morning.  When I finally got home, my neighbor's Mother's Day party had broken up, and I had to wait a couple of minutes before I could climb the steps to my apartment.  I was finally home!  And I did nothing for the rest of the evening.

- - - - - -

Tomorrow, I'll have to take care of some banking business for the co-op.  This means I'll be in Mario mode for the morning, but will be able to switch into Marian mode for the afternoon and get my nails done.  I'm looking forward to this.

Even in retirement, I am still busy.

 

I originally had a very busy day scheduled for today.  First, I had to pick up a suit from the cleaners.  Then, I had to drive to Long Island to let the contractors in to replace a chimney liner, After that, I was supposed to drive to RQS's place to drop off the suit I'd be wearing on our upcoming cruise.  And, finally, I'd be driving hope to participate in a co-op board meeting.  If it weren't for the folk dealing with the chimney liner, I'd have spent the day in Marian mode.  Instead, it felt strange to be wearing trousers and not carrying a handbag.

But first....

After getting dressed, my plans had me picking up my suit at the dry cleaners.  I was there by 9 am, but no one showed up before I had to leave at 9:20.  Leaving around 9:20 would leave me enough slack time to compensate for the expected traffic jams I'd encounter on the way to Long Island.  And I needed every minute, so that I could get to the family homestead by 11 am.

Normally, after 9 am, southbound route 9a moves smoothly through Ossining.  Recently, NYS DOT crimped a 2 lane road to 1 lane just after the top of a long hill, causing traffic to back up for a mile.  There was no way I was going to get stuck in this jam, so I took back roads to bypass 95% of the snarl, and saved 15 minutes in the process.  Next, I encountered another traffic jam in another area which never backs up.  So, again, I took another highway south, avoiding the worst of this jam.  Finally, I made it to an East River bridge with 40 minutes to complete a 25 minute drive.  With a stop to pick up the day's lunch, I made it to the homestead by 11, where I waited for the chimney people to come.

At 11:30, the chimney people arrived, and they were gone by 12:30.  Not having a suit to bring to RQS's place, I decided to drive home for my next appointment - the co-op board meeting.  But first, I had to pick up my suit.  When I got to the cleaners, the lady behind the counter gave a lame excuse - she had to pick up (or deliver) something.  I wasn't going to get into an argument with this irresponsible lady.  Instead, I picked up my suit and vowed never to do business with this place again.  Instead, I'll go to one of the two other established places in town and be sure that I can pick up my clothes when I want/need to do so.

With a couple hours rest, I initiated the co-op board's zoom meeting.  We had some problems at first, and the applicant we expected had a hard time connecting with Zoom.  But eventually, we accomplished what we needed to do, and discussed board business that I can't report here.  Finally, at 8:30 pm, my day ended, and I could finally rest.

Lots of little things, but nohing big for me.

 

Soon, I'll be going on a Bermuda cruise.  And things are backing up in the queue of last minute items to check on my to-do list.  Although I have set up my Hold Mail request, I still need to pack, take care of my medications, and get all needed bills paid before I go away for a few days.

- - - - - -

Today, I took RQS's lead and donated some books to the local library for resale.  I wasn't going to tell RQS this, but I was using this batch of books as an excuse to visit the store and chat with one woman I meet at a recent meetup.  Since I have more than enough books to donate, I can always make another visit in the future.

I have another visit to make to the family homestead to deal with contractors entering the building.  This time, I have to be there while a chimney liner is installed, and possibly be there to let the plumbers in the following day for gas pipe replacement.  The chimney liner replacement has been scheduled, but telephone tag has prevented me from scheduling the gas pipe replacement.  But with expenses like these coming down the pike, both my brother and I will need to put more money into the house than we'd want to do right now.

Hopefully, the second co-op board meeting of the month will go well.  Our finances are still up in the air, and we have issued a new assessment to cover our shortage for the forced insurance coverage contracted for by the bank last year. Although the notice hasn't gone out at the time I'm writing this entry, I know people will be upset as soon as they receive notice of the assessment.

Before I go on my cruise, I have to pack my bags for the trip.  Given that I have 4 bags of laundry to do, I expect that I will spend the better part of one day washing, drying, and folding laundry.  I've been very lazy about this task lately, but I will do it before the coming weekend.  At least I have more than enough clothes to get by until my laundry is done.

Bill paying is a task I do several times each month.  I need to make sure that all of my important bills are paid off, including this year's car insurance bill, which has gone up by $75 for this 6-month period.  This makes me glad that I took a distribution from my 401-K last year. 

As I said, lots of little things, but nothing that big....

 

An overly short weekend (and a short post)

 

Yes, I know that this is not 2016.  But I wanted to illustrate that this past weekend was way too short for me.  Only being able to be with RQS on Friday night and Saturday wasn't good enough for me.  At least, I was able to get back to her for dinner on Sunday before going home for the night.

But first....

I had agreed to help my brother with power washing the foundation walls again at the family homestead, as the concrete he used for patching the interior wall was faulty and didn't hold up.  So I told RQS that we'd have a short weekend.  Strangely enough, we didn't do much of anything other than rest.  That was good enough for me, as I'd be working much of the afternoon on Sunday.

Sunday eventually came, and I had to give up a good parking spot in RQS's neighborhood to meet my brother.  After an aborted visit to Mickey D's due to their order kiosks not working for me, we went to the local Burger King - where the touch pads worked.  (Note to me: Do not let one's anger out at the crappy Mickey D's order kiosk - they force their franchisees to buy shitty hardware which annoys both the customer and the franchisee.  Note to reader: If you want to know if a McD's soft serve is working at a particular site, use the mcbroken.com site.)

Once done with our burgers, it was off to the family homestead for 3 hours of work.  This time, the power washing and new concrete seem to do the job.  My brother will apply a skim coat during the week, and will hopefully apply paint after he comes back from a quick trip to the back woods of Appalachia.

Quitting time came, and my brother was off to his wife, and I was off to RQS.  Although I could find a parking spot or two, I could not find one that would let me sleep late in the morning.  So I found a space nearby the house, and went upstairs for dinner.  All too soon, I had to leave, and I had an easy drive home until I hit the draw bridge on the Hutchinson River Parkway.  I lost 30 minutes in that jam.  And yet, even with a shopping trip at Walmart and the Supermarket, I was home shortly after 10 pm.  

Unfortunately, I'll have to go back to Long Island in the morning for the plumber, and then finally go home.  At least, I can see the day where I can again go out as Marian....

Another day down, and I did nothing of note (a quick post)

 

I enjoy the days where I have nothing that I absolutely have to do.  Today was one of those days.  Could I have done my laundry?  Could I have gotten dressed and gone out?  Could I have finished my paperwork for a second passport?  The answer is NO to all of these questions.

 

After having to run to Long Island and back, it was time to relax - today was that day.  I'll be out as Marian for the next two days, and then I'll be in Mario mode for the better park of a week.  Two days of this will be spent with RQS, two days will be spent at the family homestead, and another day will be spent at the co-op's open shareholder meeting.

 

Rest was the order of the day, and they only thing I did was to shower to feel fresh.  And then it was back in my jammies for the rest of the day.  At least, I'll have two days out as Marian before being stuck as Mario for a while....

A trip I was glad not to make (a short post)

 

As I've previously written, I own a rental property with my brother, and he is managing repairs to it before it is rented out again.  This past weekend, my brother would have liked for me to help him with work on repairing the foundation walls - patching the holes with new concrete and possibly applying a new coat of paint as a sealer.  Well, I wasn't available because of RQS's birthday, and he had to make other plans.

My brother is well connected with the fire department, and can usually get a few friends to help him for couple of C-Notes each per day.  This weekend, his friends weren't available, and he had to reach out to my step-nephew, B, for help.  To me, B is as useful as the Pope's balls - they both have the potential of doing something useful, but because of individual choices, they have vestigial existences.  So, my brother figured that he'd try to get some use out of B, and avoid losing a week by using B as a laborer.

The plan for the day was for my brother and B to do some work in the basement.  Once the walls had been power washed again, my brother sent B out in the yard to do some minor landscaping while he patched walls with concrete.  Four hours later, work was done and our account was $100 lighter.  Sadly, the concrete my brother used was found to be bad, and we will need to repeat this work next weekend.

. 

A trip to Queens to pay some tax bills.

As most of my readers know, my posts are usually two (or more) weeks behind when events happened. This allows me to preserve a degree of privacy when I travel, so that people would not ransack an empty apartment when I'm away.  Today, I'm writing about an event that emptied my wallet, and not my apartment....

- - - - - -

In the USA, our yearly income taxes are due on April 15th.  My income can vary from year to year, but it has two constant (for now) income sources: My pension from work, and my social security check.  With both of these checks coming in on time, I have the same after tax income I was living on for years before I retired for good. However, what can and will vary is the income I receive from renting out the family homestead, and any distributions I decide to take from my 401k (retirement savings).  

Unfortunately for me, America has a progressive tax system which hits the middle class worst of all.  The rich have their tax dodges such as the constructive use of insurance policies to avoid paying income taxes (I won't go into how this is done here.)  The poor pay little in income taxes, receive subsistence subsidies, and live lives of quiet desperation. This means that for me, I am stuck depending on others for several things such as the financials from the family homestead.  More importantly, due to our progressive tax system, I am stuck having to estimate how much taxes I will need to pay for the year, and then pay them in advance.  AARGH!  

Today was the day I had to go to my tax lady and send off taxes owed for 2024, and to pay an installment on 2025's estimated taxes.  Ouch!  At least, I had RQS with me, as she had to pay her 2024 taxes as well.  So we left my place at noon, and arrived at the tax lady at 1:15 or so.  By 1:45, we were out of the place and heading towards RQS's place.

We arrived at RQS's place around 2:30 or so, and both of us wanted to take a nap.  I couldn't afford that luxury, as I wanted to make it home before the worst of rush hour began. So around 3 pm, I started my drive home and hit the one traffic jam I expected, and avoided several more.  It was hard to believe that I was home before 4:30, but I was.  And I finally got the chance to take that nap. 

 

 

PS: Two weeks later, RQS found out that the tax lady had not yet filed her taxes, even though she had an e-file receipt.  She was pissed off (to put it mildly) and it took a few phone calls before she could reach the tax lady.  Next year, I'll bet that RQS will use someone else, as her returns are relatively simple and can be handled by any run of the mill tax professional.  As for me, I'm stuck using someone like this lady until I find someone better....

Upcoming Repairs in two buildings

 

The other day, my brother and I worked on doing a power wash of the foundation on one side of the family homestead. The sickly shade of green is (to the best of our knowledge) is the third layer of paint applied to these walls in the 84 years since the house was built.  While doing the power wash, my brother pointed out pitting on the walls, as well as a crack that needed repair.  And then we got to talking about plumbing issues that needed resolution, the most important of which was the need to have the water heater replaced.  So guess who is driving to Long Island to be there when the plumber arrives?  Me, of course.

I really don't mind driving down to Long Island for work on the house.  What I do mind is that I'll have to be there as Mario, and not as Marian.  And there's nothing I can do about this, given that I'm not going to out myself to my brother, his wife, or my nephew. So, I scheduled another weekend at RQS's place, where I can fix a problem that has existed with RQS's bed since the day it was installed.  

About a year ago, RQS bought an adjustable bed frame when she bought her new mattress.  Unfortunately, the installers gave her a problem about removing the old mattress and bed spring, as well as taking shortcuts in the installation of the new bed frame and mattress. The men claimed that the mattress needed a day or two to breathe before putting on the "bed protector" (think of a mattress protector that envelops the entire mattress on all sides, top and bottom), they didn't bother to install the mattress retainer bar, they didn't give her the manual for the adjustable frame, and they didn't explain what the extra box of parts were for when they departed.  Luckily for her, I bought the same exact bed that she has, and know what has to be fixed and how to do it.  So, this will be another task that can be accomplished on this trip to Long Island.

As you can guess, I try to accomplish more than one thing on each visit to Long Island when I can.  First, it costs me roughly $13-14 to cross an East River bridge each time I go through Queens.  And then, I have a hard time finding a parking spot whenever I use my car to visit RQS.  Although I grew up on Long Island, I wouldn't mind not having to go there again.  It is no longer my home.

 

Getting together with my brother to work on the family homestead

 

This is NOT my family homestead.  It is a house that a friend once lived in, and one that was rented out for a while before being sold.  And this will eventually be the fate of my family homestead when the time comes to sell it.  Right now, we're preparing it for our next tenant (whoever that may be).

- - - - - -

My brother expected me to be leaving RQS's house around 11.  I was already in his neighborhood by that time.  This would be important later on, as we'd be working all day on the house.

But first....

I met my brother around 11:15, and we were off to get breakfast.  After downing bagel sandwiches, we were off to Home Depot to get paint and other supplies we would need.  $400 later, we were out of the store and on our way back to the homestead to work in the basement.

Today's work would be messy.  My brother would be power washing the basement/foundation walls, and I'd be vacuuming up the mess with a wet/dry shop vac. For the next 6 hours, we worked non-stop on our tasks.  He'd spray the wall, chipping away at areas which would need patching and resealing, and I'd suck up all the liquid, getting up to empty the shop vac every few minutes.  Both of us were tired by the time 7 pm hit.  I had ruined my trousers beyond repair, but had a change of clothes available for the trip home.  So, I changed into clean clothes, and we went to the diner to chat and eat after a long day together.

My brother had been very thankful that I was there today, as he would never have been able to  have done this work by himself.  I was glad to be there, as it was the rare time I could make a contribution to work needed on the property.  And then, we started to chat about his life, his wife's problems, and his grown-up children.  This was an important chance for him to vent and to see that I'll be there for him as brothers should be.  (He doesn't know I'm TG yet.)

Soon, the day came to and an end, and I drove home after a long day out.....

Parting is such sweet sorrow

 

So many odds and ends for people to catch up on, and I'm in the middle of many of them.

Let me explain.... 

I've been there for RQS through 2 emergency room visits, and forced diet changes caused by her ailments.  This is not a problem for me, as I need to have less ultra-processed food in my diet.  However, it may crimp our style when we choose places to eat for our once (or more) per week nights out.  In many ways, this will be a good thing, as I will need to clean much of the crap out of my cupboard, replacing it with healthy foods.

Before leaving RQS today, we decided on a place where we will have her birthday dinner.  It's a nice restaurant where we've held two of our co-op board's yearly dinners.  Since it will be the first weekend of Hudson Valley Restaurant week, I figured that we could have a nice dinner for a little less than I'd normally pay for such a dinner.

When I got home, I texted my brother to ask him how the house is coming along.  Well, we may have to make some hard decisions, so that we can rent the place out as soon as possible.  It looks like my brother's car got totaled by some idiot kid driving recklessly on a side street while my brother was patiently waiting for a light.  Given his workload, etc. I wasn't going to push him for information for my taxes.  However, he said that he should have things ready soon.  And I made arrangements to help him with work on the house next weekend - something I hate doing, but needs to be done.

I wish I could have stayed with RQS another day, but I have a doctor's appointment in the morning.  If I make the time AND get my bedroom cleaned up enough to have my bed delivered on Tuesday, I may decide to go into the city and see an old movie, completely recut and reedited with never seen footage - Caligula: The Ultimate Cut.  Will this end up being the final version of this production?  I doubt it.  Although this version has much of Bob Guccione's porn removed, it is still a flawed film.  Yet, I'll bet that someone will rework the film into something better than the the 2 versions that currently exist for sale.

It's been a long weekend, and I'm almost glad it's over

 

I'll bet that RQS was feeling like this on her way home today.  On Friday, she had lost her cell phone, and we drove to Queens on Saturday to retrieve it.  Most of the remaining weekend was spent resting, recharging ourselves for the week ahead.

But why do I mention this?

My brother had a busier weekend than I did.  My nephew lives on the west coast, and my brother went out there for a competition my nephew participated in.  As expected, my nephew did well, and is preparing for the next step in his competitive career.  This meant that my brother didn't have the time to take care of paperwork I needed, nor did he have the time to recharge his batteries after an over-full week at work.  There was no way I was going to pester my brother for paperwork with the stuff he has going on in his life.  Instead, I made sure to talk about my nephew for 20 minutes before asking any questions such as: Did my brother have the chance to find my grandmother's death certificate? Of course, he also had an answer for my unasked question.  And we then proceeded to talk about priorities for the rental property we jointly own.

- - - - - -

When RQS finally made it home, she found something in her mailbox - jury duty pay.  Someone had pilfered the original check sent to her, so she had to file a claim for the money owed to her.  Now, she can afford to treat me to a fine dinner at l'Arca del Oro. (That's Mickey D's, for those who don't get the reference.)  She's in a better place than she was a week ago.  And now, I gave her a much more pleasant task than the doctors did last week - choosing a restaurant to go to for Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (HVRW).

Last night, I had a disagreement with my brother.

 

My brother and I had a stiff disagreement last night, and it got me to thinking that we should sell the rental property we jointly own.  He is overworked, over-tasked, and overwhelmed.  And all I was asking him to do was to take care of the financials for the property, so that I can get my taxes done by April 15th.  Today, he called to apologize for getting upset, and I gracefully accepted the apology.  (I won't tell him that he triggered my emotional walls to go up and prepare for the absolute worst to happen.)

- - - - - - 

We are in the process of getting the house ready for another rental.  Recently, we were told that we need a new hot water installed.  This will cost about $3,000 or so, excluding permits. When the permits were filed for, we encountered another problem - our dad had converted the house from oil to gas heat.  But the paperwork wasn't marked as complete in the town offices, and we have more headaches because of things that happened years ago.

 

The work was done, but it appears that the final inspection wasn't taken care of.  So, my brother is contacting the plumbing firm that took care of the boiler install years ago, and we hope to get this resolved without spending too much money.  Once this is done, the new permit for the hot water heater could be issued, and we could finally be done with some of the work that's needed for the house.

- - - - - -

Looking at work we need to take care of , I feel that we need to replace windows in the basement, followed by installing a half-bath in the basement.  This way, we can up the rent and recover what we put into the house this year.

Right now, I have the money in my bank accounts to fund the work on my own if needed.  But that's not how things work.  My brother has to find ways of financing his home maintenance as well as financing his share of this house's maintenance.  This makes me glad that I only have to worry about my co-op board responsibilities, leaving general financing issues to a party of others.

I'm glad that I never bought a townhouse or detached home....

 

 

 

 

Waiting for a washer/dryer set.

 

This was the day I dreaded - a morning rush to get RQS to her pottery class, followed by a lot of waiting in a "cold" house for a washer and dryer to be delivered and installed.

- - - - - -

RQS and I set our alarms to get us up and moving at the ungodly hour (for us) of 8 am.  I was the first one in the shower, and I was ready to go out by 9 am.  However, we didn't need to be at the pottery studio until 10 am.  So that gave us 30 minutes to kill.

I was glad to be able to drive RQS to the studio - I'd have never found it on my own without Google Maps.  But I did take the slow route to Long Island afterwards, as I had a lot of time to kill.  When I arrived in my old neighborhood, I started shopping for a doorbell. Although I saw one in the local hardware store, the price wasn't as good as I wanted for an inexpensive piece of Chinese crap.  (I wanted something inexpensive, but didn't have a cheap look or feel to it.)  So, I'll bring up the idea with my brother that we should buy something a little bit better when the place is ready to be rented out.

Arriving at the old homestead at 11:30, I set things up and began my wait.  This was not going to be a day where being out as Marian would be practical, especially with the possibility that my brother may stop by if installation runs late.  Fortunately, we had a table and chair available for me, and I proceeded to make myself at home for a while.

 

The delivery truck came a little bit before 2 pm, and then the "fun" began.  It was interesting to see how 2 people could "comfortably" carry a washer and a dryer up and down steps without a hand truck, then install the appliances in the basement.  Within 30 minutes, everything was set up, and I was ready to go home.

Next, I'll have to find some time to be around when the hot water heater is installed....