I hated going into the city as Mario. But the play was worth it.

 

I'm sorry that I couldn't get a picture of the understudy who played Bobby Darin in the play "Just In Time" tonight.  But, I did get a picture of the rest of the cast during the closing number.  (I got caught taking a picture, and I had to put my camera away.)  Thankfully, AI cleaned up the picture better than I could myself, and I can say that if used wisely, AI can be a great assistant to skilled humans. 

But I digress....

Today was going to be the worst day of the current heatwave, and I didn't want to take the risk of overheating if I were dressed as Marian.  (New York City is a heat island, and would be unbearable without Air Conditioning.)  So, I showered and dressed and went out the door as Mario again.

Arriving at the train station, I easily found a parking spot.  However, I was in such a rush, that I bought a round trip ticket at the full price, instead of at the senior discounted rate I usually pay.  And this would be typical of the way my finances would run for the rest of the day.  I reached Grand Central at 4:30, met RQS in the waiting room, then walked over to the Grand Brasserie for dinner.  (It was French Restaurant Week, and we got a better deal than we usually would get dining here.)  The place was noisy, most of the noise coming from the bar area where people were watching the FIFA semi finals.  (I couldn't give a hoot about that sport.  If I wanted to see men running around for 90 minutes without scoring, I'd go to a singles bar before closing.)  It quieted around after Argentina won.  But it also got warmer inside the restaurant.  So, we were glad to  leave the place around 6:15 to make a 7:00 show.

It's always a minor headache to reach the theater district in a heatwave.  Does one swelter underground and walk an undefined distance to the theater?  Or, does one ride in the air-conditioned comfort of a cab, but spend much more money to get to the theater?  We made the mistake of taking a cab.  Midtown Manhattan streets are usually jammed during rush hour.  But the police were making things worse by prohibiting left turns to reach the West Side of Manhattan - even when street signs are directing people to turn left.  We reached 51st Street and 6th Avenue and told the cabbie to drop us off here.  We could walk faster than the driver could get us there.  As we exited the car, the policeman started to give the driver a ticket for stopping.  But what was the driver to do?  I feel sorry for him.  The police managing street flow were making things worse, and we had to make our 7:00 show.

After a bit of huffing and puffing along city sidewalks, we made it to the theater just in time.  We took our seats, and for the next 2 hours, we enjoyed a great musical, albeit with an understudy playing Bobby Darin.  I got busted trying to take a still photo of the star.  But I was able to take a picture of the rest of the cast as we exited the place.

RQS and I look at the subway system very differently.  I was trying to tell her that we'd take the Broadway line, and she was only thinking of route ids ("W" Train, "N" Train and "R" Train) to reach her destination.  Once she understood how I thought about the system, it made sense to her.  So, we walked to 49th and 7th, and entered the subway system.  This station made me very glad that I was not wearing a wig - it must have been over 100 degrees in that station.  I got out at Times Square, while RQS proceeded to Union Square, where she got her usual train home.

It was a long day.  And I'll be glad to get back into a dress tomorrow for my dental appointment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Operation Mincemeat

 

The important thing on the docket was a trip to NYC to see Operation Mincemeat on Broadway.  The weather was so cold, that I wished we didn't have tickets.  But we did, so I made myself get out of bed, get showered, shaved, made up, and out the door by 2 pm for dinner and a play.

- - - - - -

Today was the beginning of a cold spell in the NYC region, and I couldn't justify wearing a dress with tights as I would have liked.  Instead, it was a dress over leggings, and a heavy coat on top of that - with both ear muffs and gloves covering areas most sensitive to cold.

When I got on the train to Grand Central, I knew I'd have time to kill because I'd arrive at 3:45 with dinner in Greenwich Village at 4:30.  So, I figured that I'd have time to rest at Grand Central before getting on the subway to head for dinner. Once I was done killing time, I got on the subway and was in "the village" 15 minutes later.  And then I experienced the bitter cold again, as I got out of the subway and headed a couple of blocks away in bitter cold winds.I arrived at the restaurant with time to spare, so I grabbed a seat and waited for RQS.  We slowly ate our meal, savoring every bite, killing time until we had to leave for the theater.  

Once done with dinner, we emerged into the bitter cold and made it to the subway.  We should have taken the 8th avenue line uptown.  Instead, we took the 7th avenue line, and that made us walk much more in passageways not designed for a person with arthritic legs to walk through - RQS was hurting by the time we reached 42nd Street and 8th avenue.  But we made it to the theater in time.  And yet, we had more problems - RQS couldn't pull up her online tickets on her phone.  It took the ticket clerk several minutes to help RQS pull up her tickets, and then we made it inside to see the play.

We made our way up to the "nose bleed" seats, and had a good view of the stage. By then, I could have easily fallen asleep for an hour. But I was going to try and stay semi-conscious as best I could.  The play started, and I was bored by the dialog. Its humor was not on target, although most of the audience loved it.  Its music was hard to understand, as the words were coming in too quickly to process the meaning of the lyrics.  (You can see why I hate most hip-hop "music".)  I finally started becoming more conscious for the second act, and found it only mildly amusing.  The best part of the play was when the mood suddenly turned serious when they paid tribute to the real life "man who never was," a man who served his country in death, saving a great many lives as a result of deceiving the Nazis.

After the play, we trekked home, and were at home by midnight.  Although we stayed up a little while, we passes out quickly once in bed.

It might be the last sample sale for Universal Standard in Manhattan

 

The other day, I received an email from Universal Standard saying that they would be holding a sample sale this weekend.  Given that the firm is moving out of their Manhattan offices, it is likely that their showroom will be moving as well.  So, I made arrangements with RQS to meet her at Grand Central after I've done my shopping.

But first....

I woke up this morning feeling barely awake.  So, I lollygagged a bit until I noticed that the clock had hit 10 am.  This meant that I was already an hour late, and had to rush in order to make a 11:42 train.  Luckily, all my ducks were in a row, and I was showered, dressed, made up, and out the door by 11:15 am.  Although I may have had enough time to stop for an egg sandwich on the way to the station, I decided not to take any chances, and go straight to the parking lot - just so I had enough time to find a spot before the train came.  I needn't have worried.  There were more than enough spaces.  But the coffee shop at the station was closed.  This meant that I'd have to get a bite to eat when I reached Grand Central.

A little under 60 minutes later, I was at Grand Central and looking for something to eat.  In the past, I'd go downstairs to Zaro's and get a couple of franks.  Sadly, they don't sell hot dogs anymore, and I ended up getting my pair of tube steaks at Frankie's.  It's hard to feel comfortable with the reality of today's prices - 2 dogs and a soda for $14.  I'm used to dogs that sell for $2 each, and sodas for $2.  

Once done with lunch, it was off to Universal Standard.  20 minutes later, I was on the elevator to their store. Within 15 minutes, I had bought a nice sweater and a nice dress for $75.  This is pretty good, given their usual prices.  While there, I found out that they are moving to Dumbo at year end.  So I may be traveling a little bit more to get to their next sale in Dumbo.

Now that I was done shopping, I went to Grand Central to meet RQS.  Around 2:30 pm, we met, and it was on the train headed to Croton.  Although I could say a bit more about the day, I'd rather keep it brief.