This was a quiet day until I decided to go out after dark.

 

As I write this, it's a week before Christmas.  RQS now has 2 boxes she can open on Christmas, and I can relax a little before the holiday.  Given that she knows about her big gift (a cruise), I felt that she should have something small to open on Christmas as well.

- - - - -

I didn't start getting ready to go out until 4:30 pm.  Once I was ready, I went out to the car and started driving to Walmart.  But before I was out of the driveway, my brother called to shoot the breeze.  He opened up a little about his home situation, and then we chatted about the family homestead.  Once at Walmart, I took a detour to Best Buy to see if they had a webcam I could use as a replacement.

My back was hurting a little as I entered the store, and proceeded to the computer accessories area.  (I was smart enough to be using my cane tonight.)  Five minutes later, I went to the check out area to pay for the webcam.  And that's when things went South.  One would expect a busy store with slightly less than a week to go before the holiday - but it was almost empty.  There were only two people tending the cash registers, and neither of them were doing anything fast.  One of the attendants were handling a return that was taking forever.  (I couldn't hear much, but if I did, I didn't understand their language.)  The other attendant couldn't feed a new roll of paper into the receipt printing machine.  Ten minutes later, I was almost ready to give up on the purchase and go to Walmart.  But then, a register opened up, and I was finally able to leave the store.

Next, I took a drive and ended up at Trader Joe's.  $60 later, I was out the door with the food I'd need this weekend.  At least, I won't have to go food shopping when RQS arrives tomorrow.... 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                 

By the time you read this, I'll be back home and running at full speed.

 

This would be a short weekend with RQS, and a last chance to prepare for the above cruise.  I would need to drop off my bags at RQS's place, and then go home to park my car before going back to RQS's place before cruise day.  Any business I needed to take care of before the cruise had to be done now, as I couldn't do it while on the cruise.

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My plans for the Friday before the cruise were to see my doctor, finish my packing for the cruise, and then drive to RQS's place for a "short" weekend.  ("Short" means going down on Friday and driving back on Sunday.)  The first think on my task list was a doctor's visit.  We discussed things I need to do (lose weight, having gained 5 lbs.), as well as getting a prescription for a GLP-1 drug.  Well, he put thru the prescription to my local drug store (probably without checking first to see if Medicare covered the drug) and I balked at a $500/month price for the prescription.  There is no way that I am going to spend that much on a drug to help me lose weight (and get my Type-2 under better control), and I will tell him so when I see him just before Xmas.

Next on my list of things to do was getting money from the bank, as I'll need some folding money to take with me when sailing between the islands.  (Now, I have to get small bills, so that I can make buy small value things in ports.)  That took place without problems, as I got to the bank before the ATM shut down before weekly replenishment.

Finally, it was time for me to drive to Queens.  I was out the door by 2:30, and I made good time until I reached the Van Wyck Expressway.  There, traffic slowed to a standstill without reason.  So, I bailed, and went on local streets to keep moving.  (If I bail at Jewel Avenue, I pass by a former acquaintance's apartment house - someone who is better lost than found.)   I was able to snake through local streets to get to RQS's place, and asked RQS to meet me where I parked to unload all the stuff I had with me.

Once back at RQS's place and having a chance to rest, we ordered a pizza and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

- - - - - -

Saturday came, and we walked to the supermarket to take care of food shopping that will last RQS until the day we leave on our cruise.  I pointed out the Porterhouse Steak that we both drooled over, then selected the salmon we had for dinner.  (This was the first time that RQS did everything right - the salmon was perfectly cooked, and the rice was tasty; She gets in her cooking practice when I'm around, and I'm sure to always show my appreciation for her efforts.)  

After dinner, RQS finished up most of her packing, and we were able to relax again.  Both of us were exhausted from what went on during the prior week, and we were glad to have each other to relax with.

- - - - - -

On Sunday, I had to go home to take care of things.  I had an Amazon package being delivered, and I needed a break - I'll be with RQS for almost 2 weeks, and wanted some alone time that I couldn't get when she's around.

Neither of us got moving until noon.  I took my time getting showered and dressed, as I didn't want to rush home.  RQS had to drop off some goods in a donation bin, and then pick up prescriptions at the drug store.  So, I dropped her off at 3:30, and was home before 5.  It was nice to be home, and tomorrow I'll likely book a cruise on NCL that will give me double loyalty points and take care of the "gratuities" as part of the fare.  If I can couple this with another discount, this cruise will be relatively cheap - which is important, as I'll be the one paying for everything.

- - - - - -

I woke up early on Monday, alone in my bed and I'm glad I did - I was about to get some calls from my doctor's office to schedule a test, and then a call from the lab which was to perform the test.  By the time noon came around, I was tired again, and took a nap.

For those of my readers who are unfamiliar with the description of my apartment, the place needs to have windows open in cooler weather, as I get too much heat.  (There is a flaw in my building's design - the central heating core runs through my apartment and the apartment below me.  Being on the top floor, I get extra warmth both from a Southern exposure and from the heating core.)  So, I feel that my nap was triggered by the apartment's warmth. But I digress....

When I felt rested, I got online and booked a cruise, this time solely at my expense.  It was a long delayed treat for RQS.  All she has to do is correct her loyalty awards number, and we both get our credits for this cruise.... 

- - - - - - 

Since I'll be too busy over the next couple of days, the next post here will be the start of my latest cruise related entries....   

 

It may not have been the holiday we planned for, but...

 

Well, what can I say about a holiday other than it's best when you can be with the people we care for.  In my case, I spent the day at home with RQS, rather then getting dressed up in nice dresses to go out to a fancy restaurant and then to see friends.

But first....

RQS was recovering from being in the hospital.  After two nights in medical prison (that's what I'll call a hospital which won't release a person when the doctors say she's ready to go home), she needed a good night's sleep.  And that's what she got - at least twelve hours of it.  So we weren't ready to go out for an early Turkey dinner at a local diner.  This forced us to fall into our backup plan which I had prepared for.

My backup for Thanksgiving was to cook some sausage based stuffing (technically, dressing, as it is never inside of a bird during the cooking process), a 2 1/2 lb. Turkey Breast, and make some Bananas Foster for dessert.  (I even had another level of backup, as I had purchased 4 Large Chicken Breasts 2 days before, as I couldn't find a bird small enough to cook for 2 people.) Luckily, we had the key ingredients for a Holiday Feast, even though we didn't have the Cranberry Sauce to go with our turkey.

Around 12:30 pm / 1:00 pm, we started to make the stuffing.  And this was the most labor intensive part of the meal, as we had to dry out fresh bread to ready it for use, cook the onions and celery, then cook some sausage, then mix everything together before baking it for 90 minutes.  Of course, we should have started the turkey at this time, but I delayed an hour.  By the time dinner was ready, it was a little after 4:00 pm.  And then, our plans to visit friends in Yonkers were shot - we were both way too full to even consider getting dressed and being in a position to even have a small bite to eat with friends.

Yet, with all being said, this was a good holiday.  RQS saw that I am more than willing to go out of my way for her, and I had a little fun doing the cooking for a change..

RQS had to go home today.

 

RQS was up here for a long weekend. It's always nice to have her here.  But it's also nice to see her go home, if only because we both need to recharge our batteries for the following weekend.  We long for each other and are energized when the weekend comes, and we are re-energized when we part.  I think it's because we both have gotten used to having our own nests, and are re-energized by being able to retreat into our own spaces to do the things we would have done on our own before meeting each other.  Simply put, love in one's senior years is more complicated than when we were young.

- - - - - 

Yesterday, the high point of our day was a trip to Stew Leonard's to buy food for the week.  Today, it was the 1-mile walk we took by the Hudson River before it got too hot to do anything outside. It was nice being able to wear my exercise dress again.  RQS noted that she saw another woman wearing her exercise dress.  So I guess I didn't look out of place, save for my height and size.  By the time we were done with this walk (shortly before 11:00 am), all energy was drained from us.  I was glad that we set a limit of 20 minutes to be exposed to the hot and humid weather outside.  After this walk, we went to a deli that I used to frequent daily when I worked for the census bureau.  Four years later, I am still remembered there. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon resting in my apartment.  Unfortunately, I had to wake her up so that she could make her train back to the city.  So, we both got dressed in lightweight dresses, and out the door we went.  After dropping her off, I drove to Poughkeepsie and stopped off at Walmart on the way back home to pick up some makeup remover towelettes and Pointed Tip Swabs. (Think of Q-Tips with a pointed head - perfect for cleaning the area where my ear piercings were done.)  Once home, I was done for the day - and almost ready to go to sleep again.

The Ice Box has been delivered, and I still have a problem.

I was awake at 6:00 am for one reason only - I was to expect my refrigerator to be delivered somewhere between 7:15 am and 10:15 am.  Normally, I don't want to get up until 10:30 am, so I knew that I had to set multiple alarms to make sure I was up in time.

Not knowing when the delivery men would arrive, I had to postpone getting together with a new friend. As luck would have it, I didn't need to do this.  The delivery men came around 9:30 am.  Now, when I get a call telling me that someone is "here", I'd think they'd be in front of my doorway.  No.  They were in front of the doorway next door, and blocking a couple of cars.  Shouting out to the two men, I let them know where I was, and they proceeded to unload the refrigerator.

Given that I live up some stairs, they wanted to get the hard job of bringing the refrigerator to my floor before removing the old device.  This wasn't much of a problem.  But it was a problem getting the old refrigerator out of the apartment, and the new one into the apartment. Yet, with a little elbow grease and taking a door off its hinges, this task was accomplished.  Soon enough, the new ice box was in place, and the two delivery men were on their way.

But I still had a problem....

The installation process did not go well - the bottom door of the ice box kept opening.  Over the years, the weight of refrigerators has helped cause the floor to shift out of being level - and I found that I'll need some shims to level the ice box.  Until then, I'll put something heavy in front of the door, and that should keep the door shut until the ice box has been properly leveled.  Too bad that I didn't buy the store's service contract - I'd be calling them back today, and having them do the leveling for me.

Later on, after a day's rest, I went out food shopping.  $100 later, I had many of the things I needed to restock the refrigerator.  And I found that the lightweight stool I used to keep the door shut wasn't working.  So, I figure that a 2 liter bottle of Snapple may help with this problem for now....

Getting ready for the new ice box

 

 
I can only imagine what it was like in the days when the Ice Man came every day to refill one's ice box.  Home mechanical refrigeration was only a dream for many people 100+ years ago.  Even now, many of us old timers still use the phrase "Ice Box" when we refer to a refrigerator.  And yet, I've been treating my cupboard as my nourishment supply until my new refrigerator is delivered.

To prepare for the new refrigerator, I have emptied almost everything I could from the old machine and tossed it.  Foodstuffs which were not opened that didn't need refrigeration for storage (i.e. Catsup) were left in the old machine to be removed in the morning.  Since the freezer was working (as of this morning), I will put those items into Styrofoam cooler chests once I get the 30 minute warning.  Virtually everything else can be taken out quickly or tossed quickly.

Luckily, I ordered a simple refrigerator - no water dispenser or ice maker.  The simpler the device is, the less that will go wrong.  That means that I should be able to expect a 12-15 year lifespan for the unit.  By that time, I will likely be moving out of this place for a home on a single level - no stairs to climb.  I expect that the old device should be out the door within 15 minutes of the truck's arrival, and that the new device should be in place 30 minutes after that.

Once the new refrigerator has been installed, I will get showered and dressed, then fill up the ice box with replacements for the stuff I had to throw out.  Hopefully, it will perform as well as the old one did.