A legal holiday, just when we need it.

 

Due to the Nor'easter that came to the NYC area, RQS stayed an extra night over the weekend with the idea of going home after the 3-day weekend was over.  This was another chance for us to cuddle and relax. But it was an excuse to do virtually nothing for the end of the weekend.

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On Saturday, we bulked up on refrigerator food to last us the weekend.  So, we were eating various tasty goodies each night, including Wagyu burgers one night.  I had foodstuffs in the cabinet just in case we lost power during the storm.  (Luckily, we didn't lose power, and the refrigerator stayed cold.)  Neither of us had much energy, and I surfed the internet a bit.  While surfing, I stumbled onto a message that concerned me - it appeared that an ex-girlfriend of 28 years ago had recently passed away.  I wasn't going to try and get more information - I've been out of this woman's life for years, and I think her husband would be upset if I did any more than just send my condolences.

Now, that got me to thinking of some of my other friends, and I've outlasted so many of them.  It's strange to see one's peers die (or otherwise drop out of contact for health reasons) while one is still tolerably healthy.  For example, WDS is no longer reachable in Florida, DCD is no longer contactable in Connecticut or New York, as he no longer has a cell phone and has stage 4 cancer, and Joanie (a former workmate) is unreachable.  

Years ago, someone set up a site called "if I die" which would contact a person on a regular basis, and email a selected contact if the first person did not respond.  Given how loosely people are connected these days, it would make sense for a person to pay a one-time fee for this kind of service.  Yes, there would likely be some false positives.  But it would be nice to know if someone has passed from the scene - even if one was unable to go to a funeral for that person.

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I spoke with my brother over the weekend, and his marriage is effectively over.  I can't help but feel sad for him.  But all of us have our crosses to bear.  It's just that some crosses weight more than others.  Let's hope his load is lightened soon.

A Job Interview as Marian

I think I look better now than when I first wore this dress, or its sister in teal.  And I wore it to a 11 am interview at a not-for-profit art gallery.  This is a dress that makes me feel good, even though I might not buy it today because of its hemline.

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Unfortunately, I couldn't get to sleep until the middle of the night.  When I awakened this morning, I knew that I would likely fall out before dinner time.  So I took a little time to get ready, making sure that everything was in the right place and put together well.  And it was off to Larchmont for the interview.

Arriving in Larchmont, I had to park my car in a 2 hour lot located on a side street off the main business corridor.  This allowed me to walk by the house of a former boss.  Looking at his driveway, I figured that all was probably well with him as he had a new looking car in his driveway. If you're thinking that this could be anyone's car, I'd beg to differ.  My ex boss (who retired about 20 years ago or so) had a habit of buying new Cadillac Coupe De Villes every few years, whether or not he needed to do so.  In fact, I'd bet that he had less than 20k miles on each 10 year old car that he may have traded in since his retirement.  (His former commute was about 5-10 miles per day, and all of his trade ins were very low mileage cars.) Hopefully, he's enjoying his retirement and is still very healthy.

When I arrived at the gallery, I was greeted by 4 people.  (Unfortunately, I can't remember their names, or I'd have sent them all thank you emails.)  I would be one of two paid employees of the gallery, responsible for keeping the center open Tuesday-Friday (my shift) and Saturday (the other shift).  This means that I would not have the freedom to schedule my vacations any longer, as they only close down in August.  That is not the time I like taking vacations, and it would crimp my style.  With this being said, I feel I was a strong candidate in office skills, but not in retail skills.  They need someone who can run a store by herself, and I doubt I am that candidate.

As I was getting up to leave, I had an experience that only women can appreciate - my hosiery failed, and a hole formed on my inner thigh.  There went my original plan to go straight from the interview to the LGBT Center to do my weekly volunteer stint.  Instead, I went straight home and got comfortable for a while.

Later on, I got a call from an old friend.  Joanie had free tickets to a play, and thought of me. So I cancelled my attendance at tonight's dinner meetup and drove back to lower county to catch a train into NYC.  I met Joanie in Times Square, then enjoyed the play - even though we were seated on opposite sides of the theater.  After the play, we went to Shake Shack to grab a burger, and gabbed until midnight. 

Noticing the time, I said that I had to make a train. Knowing that the last trains leave Grand Central around 1:30, I still had a couple of trains I could still take home.  But I wanted to get out of town by 12:30, so that I could get home by 2:00.  While on the train, I had a quick message chat with GFJ.  (She had to get up early in the morning, otherwise we may have chatted more.)  And then, I was in Pelham.  Arriving at my car around 1:15, I got a message from Joanie.  She wanted to let me know that if I got stuck in the city, I could always stay in a spare room at her place.  That's always nice to know.  By 1:45, I was home in spite of the rain.  So I figured that I'd write this entry before collapsing for the evening - and did.