My dress was not delivered like they said

 

I have mentioned this dress before.  It's something I plan to wear on Gala night on my upcoming December cruise.  However, it was not delivered as claimed, and I had to make some phone calls regarding the "delivery".

But first...

My alarms were set for 9:00 am, 9:30 am, and 10:00 am, so that I could make it to Arts Westchester by noon for Gallery Sitting. These alarms were needed, as I needed extra incentive to become fully conscious this morning.  Once conscious, I scanned my email, got ready to gallery sit, then drove to White Plains.

I got to White Plains with a minute or two to spare.  But no one was coming down to open the gallery.  So, I waited on the stairs for a few minutes, then went upstairs to find out what was going on.  Arriving on the 3rd floor, I found it virtually empty.  But I found someone who could help me, and the gallery was opened.

Halfway through the afternoon, I took a break for lunch, then returned for the rest of my shift.  And things were very different when I returned - AW's staff was preparing the gallery for a function to be held the next morning.  Just before I finished my shift, I received a message: Game Night was being cancelled, as the hosts' home had no electricity.  So, I figured that I might as well drive home.

Arriving home, I noticed a giant box in the hallway - someone had ordered a large shipment of toilet paper from Amazon.  At the same time, I received a message: UPS claimed that it had delivered my dress.  But the dress was nowhere to be found.  So, I put my dinner to be in the refrigerator and started to make a claim with UPS and to tell Lane Bryant that my dress wasn't delivered.  The long and short of this is that Lane Bryant decided to refund my original purchase, and place a replacement order to get a dress to me by mid next week.  Hopefully, there will be no other complications with this transaction.

Gallery Sitting

Today was a day that I spent Gallery sitting for Arts Westchester. I was told in advance to bring a book, as not that many people would be visiting the gallery on a weekday.  So I was prepared for a boring day, which it was for the first hour or so.  And then, an occasional person or two visited the center, giving me a chance to talk with people and keep myself busy.

But first....

I had set my alarms to get me up early, and they worked their magic as desired.  However, not having enough sleep the night before, it took me a while to get moving.  After doing my daily routine, I was able to get out the door by 11 am - just enough time for me to make it to the gallery by noon.  

Just as the clock struck 12 (to use an old expression), the heavy metal outside doors to the gallery started opening.  But the lady in charge had a hard time opening the doors, as they were rubbing against the bottom of the door frame.  (Both WD-40 on the hinges and wax on the door frame might help, and I suggested this to the person in charge of the gallery.)  The lady (who I will leave unnamed) showed me around, and I started my shift at the gallery.

During the day, several people came in to visit the gallery, and one of them bought a coupe of scarfs. Another said that she wants to bring her small meetup group there soon. But this was not all.  A woman from one of my meetup groups came by to do her volunteer shift a couple of floors above me, and we chatted for a few minutes.  It seemed like "old home week" at times, as I also met another person who was part of the Arts Westchester volunteer program.

Finally, it was time to close things out for the day.  Women had responded to me as if I were a cisgender woman, and that's the way I liked it.  The more I get practice interacting with cisgender woman as a woman, the less I'll worry about my remaining masculine traits being a problem for me.