RQS came up early this weekend (a short post)

Well, it's another weekend, and another visit from RQS.  It was hot again today, and it was the perfect day to wear a short dress.  But there was one wrinkle I had to deal with: I had to do some in-person banking as Mario.  So, I figured that I'd do what I best do: Schedule the errands I must do to take place at one time of the day, and my time as Marian for the other part of the day.

- - - - - -

I didn't get much sleep last night, and knew I'd need a nap later on in the day.  So, when I got up, I moved slowly for the first half of the morning, but was out to the bank for co-op business, then to another bank to do some business of my own.  I was finished with the need to present as Mario by noon, and was able to switch into Marian presentation.

Once home, I didn't rush into female mode.  Instead, I folded a basket of laundry before starting my makeup routine.  And then, I made it to the train station in time to pick RQS up.  But where was she?  What I was to find out, was that RQS was delayed due to equipment change at Grand Central.  RQS had a comfortable seat on a crowded train on one platform when the train was taken out of service.  RQS, like the rest of the passengers had to move to another train waiting on another platform that was scheduled to leave at the same time as the out of service equipment  And RQS barely made it to the train on the other platform on time.  So, RQS ended up arriving a few minutes late.

Instead of going out to eat, we went home and had a bite to eat before taking a nap.  We could have gone out again, but it was not in the cards to do so - we were in for the night, and needed some quiet time for ourselves.

A visit to the pulmonologist

 

Today was my yearly visit to my pulmonologist.  This visit had to be made in my male presentation, so I made sure to double check that I moved my driver's license to my male wallet (which I haven't used in a couple of weeks) so that I can make the drive and be safe if I got into an accident or was pulled over by the police.  

But first.....

I had a better sleep than usual last night, but was still a little bit tired.  Yet, I knew that I wasn't going to go back to sleep, as I didn't want to be in a rush when I drove over to the doctor.  So, I got showered, then (unusual for me these days) got dressed as Mario.  It was noon by the time I left the house, and I knew that I'd be starving if I waited until after the doctors visit to grab a bite to eat.  Luckily, there is a local deli nearby where I could grab a quick egg sandwich that I could eat on my way to the doctor's office.  (You can tell that I'm a typical American - most people outside the US wouldn't think of eating and driving at the same time.)

On my way, I hit a construction zone which wasted about 10 minutes of my time.  But I was still able to reach the doctor's office on time.  It was 94 degrees outside, and I got out of my car and started walking to the entryway.  The sidewalk took me past an elderly fellow having a little trouble getting his walker out of his back seat.  I made sure not to get in his way, and made it to the office on time.  20 minutes later, I was leaving the building and saw the same elderly man in front of me on the sidewalk.  In order NOT to have to wait for him to climb the short set of steps, I walked around him (going on the grass beside the sidewalk) so I could go up the stairs before him.  

- - - - - -

Once home, I relaxed for a while and then did some more laundry.  For the most part, it was a calm day, the first of 2 in which I'd be spending part of the day presenting as a male.  Tomorrow will be a visit to the bank for some co-op business which requires another day out as Mario.  At least, I'll be able to spend most of the weekend as Marian.

Today was another "Half and Half" day.

 

I had to be ready for visitors at 9:30 today, as I had to show my co-op's site manager what was wrong with many of our windows.  This isn't much, save that I had to sort through a lot of stuff I plan to toss out or give away, and neaten up the apartment as much as possible before the site manager arrived.  (My place grew out of hand during Covid, as I was dealing with the absence of both XFGJ and FCP in my life, followed by the death of my father.  So, it's a lot of mess that still needs to be cleaned up, and I needed to minimize the visual presence of Marian while she would be here.

- - - - - -

At 9:30 sharp, our site manager arrived, and I showed her the problems with our windows.  Now, I think she has a handle on what the typical problems are and what has to be done to resolve them.  However, I wonder what she thinks about after seeing my place.  

Once the site manager had left, I changed from presenting as Mario to presenting as Marian,   My niece and I had to postpone our zoom meeting until next week.  So, that gave me a little time to rest before going out for dinner.  (I needed a nap, as I didn't sleep well the night before.)  Around 4:00, I started getting ready to go out, and ended up at the diner around 5:00.  Service was sloppier than usual, as I don't think the waitress had that much experience.  But once I got the dish I wanted, I was stuffed to the gills.  (In this case, the expression "to the gills" is appropriate, as I had ordered crab meat stuffed filet of sole.)

I was tired enough to sleep when I got home, but a woman's work is never done - 2 of the 3 loads of laundry had to be done, and I made sure to take care of that before shutting down for the day. 

I saw the doctor today, and....

 

I realize that doctors' visits aren't always good news.  But the more I see my doctor, the more I feel that he doesn't pay that much attention to things anymore.  It's as if he's preparing to wind down his practice, and he may not be as committed to serving his patients' needs as he once was.

- - - - - -

This month, my doctor visit was scheduled for the afternoon.  This way, I knew that if I had to drive back from RQS's place, that I'd have enough time to make it back home, change, then drive to the doctor's office.  However, I ended up coming home on Sunday, so I could have scheduled Monday's appointment for any time during the day.

What first surprised me today was my weight - I had lost 10 pounds since my last visit.  Only God knows why this happened.  I haven't been trying to watch what I eat as much as I've avoided stuffing myself to the gills.  (It scares me a little, as my wife couldn't explain her weight loss until she was diagnosed with terminal uterine cancer.  I want explanations, and I have none yet.)  

There is a US Government test program for Medicare involving GLP-1 Drug subsidies.  I'm not sure if I want to participate, as I'm not sure if my Part-D plan (Drug coverage) will cover GLP-1 drugs when the program ends.  Yet, to lose weight in a healthy way, it might be worth taking a chance on the program.  But first, my doctor has to apply in my behalf, and he hasn't lifted a finger yet.

- - - - - -

After my doctor's visit, all I did was to take care of laundry before going to sleep.  Tomorrow's lunch with Maria has been cancelled due to a medical issue.  So I'm not sure of what I'll do.  As Scarlet once said: "Tomorrow is another day."

90° and getting even warmer!

 

It's several days before Memorial Day as I write this entry, and the thermometer already has broken the 90° mark.  Ouch!  What made things worse is that RQS had to go home and suffer with the heat on the NYC Subway.  AARGH!!

Neither of us wanted to get up this morning, but RQS had to make a 11:42 train.  So we both got dressed in loose fitting garments, and I drove her to the station.  Once I dropped her off, it was time for me to pick up some breakfast before going home.  And then I took a nap, as I woke up at "god awful o'clock" and couldn't get back to sleep.

Around 5:00, I awoke from my nap and started to sort out laundry to go in the wash.  This wasn't much to do, but I wanted to balance out the loads so that I wouldn't have missing socks or undies between washes.  As it is, I have a bag filled with single socks that needs to be inspected for matches found from singlets I've deposited in the bag over several months.

Now that the sorting was done, I decided NOT to do the laundry due to the heat outside.  Instead, I decided to stay in for the night and stripped off my makeup.  And then, I paid my bills. For the most part, it was a boring day - which most life experiences should be for trans folk.  If we can go about our business without people hassling us, I consider that day to be a win.

- - - - - -

You might ask, why do I often focus on the mundane parts of my life?  Well, I consider it a responsibility for trans folk to look at how normal life can (and should) be for us and document our normalcy for others.  Only then can we have a benchmark for when things go sour.... 

 

 

Odds and ends - all the news that wasn't fit to print.

 

Odds and Ends of Recent Events 

• About a week ago, we got off our Bermuda Triangle cruise, and I noticed an erroneous charge of $25 on my account   I sent an email to Virgin's Sailor Services area, and got an automated response that I'd be hearing from them within 72 hours.  I take this to mean 3 business days.  So, if the clock starts running on Monday morning, I should have an answer from Virgin by Thursday morning.  As of Thursday morning, crickets!
  
  I followed up with another email, this time being sent to both to Sailor Services and to the head of Customer Relations, mentioning the lack of communication on disembarkation day, and tacking on a mention of the $25 dispute at the end of the email.  I figure that I should expect a response by sometime on Tuesday if I'm lucky.
  
  
•  The other day, I went to fill my car up with gas and noted that the price of a gallon of "regular" has gone up by 50% since the Orange Monster started the war with Iran.  It's so sad to see GOP politicians trying to assert that the economy is doing better with the snowflake, and not asserting Congress's sole power to declare war against another country.
  
  
• Recently, King Charles of the UK came to the US and gave a speech to both houses of our legislative branch.  He reminded congress of American values in a way that showed the GOP how much they have capitulated to evil without openly saying as much.  It's a shame that after the speech, that they keep supporting the Orange Monster in the way they do.
  
  
• Yesterday, I went downstairs to do laundry.  I found out that I forgot where I placed the VTM card I use to pay for washing and drying my clothes.  So, I ended getting ready to use backup card I had.  But, by the time I went downstairs to do the last runs of the evening, someone else had claimed the machines for their laundry.  There was no way that I was going to bring my dresses, etc. upstairs, just to bring them downstairs again.  So, I waited until today to do this.
  
  Realizing that I had to find the missing VTM card, I positioned myself that I could inspect shirt/trouser pockets for the VTM card, and toss everything into 2 washing machines while sitting down.  By the time I was halfway through, I found the card, and was able to speed up my work to load up two washers.  When the loads are done, I plan to take the dresses and shirts upstairs and hang them up to dry wrinkle-free.
  
  And guess what happened after I found the card.  I added $20 to it, then lost it again.  This time, I retraced my steps and hope it's at the bottom of a wet laundry basket.  Otherwise, it's $38 gone down the tubes.  AARGH!
  
  
• Once all my summer clothes are out of storage, I'll have to start another donation bag for charity. I need space in my closet to store everything.  That will be a task for the next few weeks. 
  
  Given how many dresses and other things that I own, I figure that I only have enough stuff for a single donation bag.  But, I should also loot at getting rid of stuff that looks drab on me.  A T-Gal should always look her best in public when presenting as female.

A mess to clean, a lunch to enjoy, and some laundry to wash

 

My apartment has always been in one degree of mess or another.  One can say that I've drowned in clutter over the years, and have come out of it with varying degrees of clutter removed from the mess.  Today, I have to clean up some of the mess, meet CCS for lunch, and do some laundry.

- - - - - -

This morning, I was supposed to have a zoom with my niece in London.  I really wasn't in the mood to rush a conversation, nor was I in the mood to be talking too much, when I had a lunch engagement 30 minutes later with CCS.  So, I asked my niece to postpone for a week, and that worked for both of us.

Next, it was getting ready to pick CCS up.  She had some work done on her arm, and she is not able to drive while the arm heals.  So I had to put her address into my phone's GPS so that I could find her place. Once I picked her up, it was off to the restaurant for lunch.  We caught up on a lot of things, the disposition of family autos, her upcoming cruise, the sale of my family homestead and more.  it was a good conversation that had to end too soon.  So, I dropped her off at her place, and rushed back home for an urgently nee bio-break.

When I had the chance, I opened up a package from Kohl's - a new dress had arrived.  I wasn't sure if a 3x would fit me, but it did - the waist wasn't as tight as it could have been on me.  And it will be a very comfortable addition to my wardrobe for this summer.

I ended up taking a nap and woke up as the sun was setting.  Knowing that I was in for the night, I stripped off my makeup and finally prepared to do some laundry.  It was nice to get out as Marian again, and I hope to be able to finally get my nails done soon....

 

 

I can't believe that I'm falling behind on my posts.

 

I just looked at the date this post will be available to everyone, and I realize that I've been struggling to keep things up to date lately.  No, I'm still roughly where I want to be, but not with as much lead time between the time the post is written and the time it is available to the public.

- - - - - -

Today, I had 2 things on the docket.  One was laundry, the never ending task of putting money into the washer and folding clean clothes.  It's not bad, but not a job I enjoy doing.  Yet, if I were to take it to the local cleaners to get done, it would cost me several times more than when I pay for it now.  Since I'm frugal, I might as well trade time for money that stays in my purse.  The other thing was much more enjoyable - dinner with a friend I haven't seen in over a year.  Although you wouldn't know it to look at her, she likely has 2-3 times as much money in the bank than I have, and enjoys having a chance to spend some of it - on dinner.  

So, I dawdled until 2 pm, and then dumped a load of clothes (plus bed sheets) into the washer.  About 90 minutes later, I was bringing the basket upstairs to fold at my leisure.  Next, it was time to get ready for dinner.  This meant showering, shaving, applying makeup, then dressing to go out.  Since it was a bit raw outside (a light drizzle made the cold outside feel worse than it was), I decided to wear a dress with tights, as I wanted to get some use out of the dress before I pack it away for the summer.  And then, it was off to Brewster for dinner.

I met my friend at an Indian restaurant, and we proceeded to catch up on things.  I mentioned all of my cruises, and she mentioned some things going on with family.  A lot was said, and nothing was said.  She asked if RQS knew about this dinner, and I said yes.  (There will always be traces of sexual tension between some people of the opposite biological sex.  But I digress.)  She said that she'd like to meet RQS, and I noted that I can do that on weekends.  So, RQS will soon meet another one of my friends soon.

All too soon, dinner ended.  And I had to drive home.  I regretted not taking a bio-break at the restaurant, as I barely made it home.  And when I did, you never saw a gal pull down her knickers as quickly as I did to take care of some important business.   (I now understand the urgency my late wife felt when she had to make her mad dashes....)

The important things on the docket required me to be Mario for the day.

 

The other day, I had to restore my male image to my Facebook profile so that I could join a message group.  Amazingly, several of the people I know from the Widows/Widowers group noticed, and said hello.  As for me, I wonder what they will say when my profile reverts to a female Alfred E. Newman in the next day or two.

- - - - - -

Everything I had on my docket today effectively required my presenting as a male in public.  First, I had to get a book from the library, and then attend a co-op board meeting as Mario.  So, first, I went out to a local diner to have some Greek Salad, and  couldn't finish the dish.  Unfortunately, I couldn't go back to town the same way I went to the diner, so, I took the long way to the library.  

Picking up the book at the library got in the way for doing laundry.  I'd have been picking my clothes out of the dryer in the middle of  the co-op board meeting.  So I deferred that task until later. Around 5:30, the co-op meeting started, and the interviewees who was supposed to attend didn't bother to show up.  The next time we'll be able to meet with them will be in May.  Their loss.  And then we had to deal with a shareholder and her issues.  She has problems that can't be corrected quickly, but won't take a delay for an acceptable answer.  We're trying to delay spending money until we have a major funding issue resolved.  Until then, we have to slow walk everything.

- - - - - -

Eventually, the meeting ended, and I had enough time to do a load of laundry.  Even when it is done, the work will not be finished - I still have to fold it, and put it into places where it belongs.

The day started with phone calls

 

Anyone who knows Commercial Street in Provincetown, MA will notice something very wrong about the AI generated image above.  I gave ChatGPT instructions to draw me in front of the Lobster Pot restaurant in Provincetown and got the above picture.  Can you tell me what's wrong with the image?

- - - - - - 

There were several things on my docket for today, and two of them involved phone calls.  First was a call to RQS to tell her NOT to bring up her fancy dress, as we'll be a little bit more casual tonight when we go out for dinner.  The second had me being more apprehensive, as it was to return a call from my doctor's office.  I found that the assistant couldn't get the GLP-1 drugs cheaper than the prices I found, and was asking me to check with my mail order pharmacy to see if they had a better price for the drugs.  So, I have another phone call to make soon.  RQS would be coming up later in the day, and that meant that I also had some laundry to take care of before  I picked her up at the train station. 

- - - - - -

Around 1 pm, I put laundry into the washer, and started my process of getting ready to go out.  By 3:30 pm, my laundry was done and I was ready to go out.  At 4:30, I picked up RQS at the station, and we drove to Chappaqua for dinner - French Food on the last Friday of Restaurant Week.  It was a good thing we got there when we did, as the place was empty when we got there, but getting full by the time we left. The food was very good, but I made one mistake in my choices: I chose the wrong liquid in which my mussels were prepared.  I chose the white wine sauce, when I had a craving for something like the Dijon mustard sauce.

Once we were done with dinner, we went to the supermarket to do some shopping.  And finally we were home for the night.  It was nice to take off my bra again.  RQS will never understand why I want the headaches of being female, but then, how many people understand us TGs?

 

 

Needing to get out of the house (a short post)

 

It always seems that both RQS and I always end up doing some serious relaxing when we're together.  Yesterday (as I write this), RQS and I drove up to Poughkeepsie to have dinner and to do some shopping.  It was simply an excuse to get out of the house and do something more than just sitting on the sofa and watching TV.

Today is the day after the big clock change.  We were up until 4 am last night (it would have been 3 am, save for the time change), and there was no way I'd be awake enough to go to church this morning.  But, due to not having enough sleep, both of us ended up taking naps after we had something to eat. Although we planned to relax today, having no commitments to do anything, rest was the most important thing we did.

We had talked about doing a load of laundry.  That will be done later on in the week.  But what we did do was to cook more stuff from the freezer, with some onion soup that I'd been planning to make for a while. Although the soup was decent, it wasn't one of my best efforts.  I'll use different types of onions next time, and maybe throw in a few shallots as well.

It was a restful day, and one that we decided NOT to deal with the desire to go out again.  Our need to rest was much more important than the need to go out....

Lunch with CCS, Laundry, and a Living Spreadsheet.

 

There was only one "Must Do" and one "Should Do" item on the docket today: Lunch with CCS, and Laundry.  And, believe it or not, I took care of both things.  But, doing laundry threw me a curve ball - one of the dresses I was to launder was labeled "Hand Wash, Dry Flat."  And this made me wonder about two other dresses from Universal Standard that found their way into my laundry basket.

- - - - - -

I woke up early enough to catch part of "Morning Joe" on the vidiot box. But it took me another couple of hours to get dressed and drive to the Italian restaurant in town to meet CCS.  When I got dressed, I put on a tunic dress over leggings, as I couldn't justify a dress with hosiery on a slightly rainy winter's day.  And, I got to the restaurant before CCS for a change.  During lunch, we talked about family events, our upcoming cruises, and politics - the usual stuff.   And, all too soon, lunch had to end.  Both of us had leftovers to eat another day.  So we scheduled our March lunch, and went our separate ways.

After lunch, I drove to Briarcliff Manor in the vain hope that I might stumble into the acquaintance I met at last night's meetup.  Of course, I did not stumble into her.  I guess she may have realized that I couldn't be the travel partner she seemed to desperately want.  (I also wonder if she wanted me as a lesbian partner.  But that's another reason I had to tell her that I have a long term partner in RQS)   Since she did not try to contact me, I'll write her off until the next time (if there is one) I stumble into her.

Once I was back home, I started work on my spreadsheet of cruising costs.  Finally, with enough experimentation, I was able to get the computation down for one of the nine cruise lines.  While doing this, I had two baskets (should have been three) of laundry in the washer and dryer.  So, after everything, this was a very productive day.

I'm concerned about the coming snow.

 

This is an image of children sledding at nearby Croton Gorge Park.  Not much has changed here since this picture was taken, save that tree growth has shortened the area where kids can sled down the hill.  Every time we get a "good" snow storm, my mind is drawn back to my childhood, where I had access to one run where I could sled down a hill for a distance of 1/4 mile.  Today's kids have no idea how much fun a long sled ride can be.  But then, if I were going to excel at a sport with the interests I had when young, it would have likely been the luge or skeleton.  Obviously, my life took a very different path since then.

- - - - - -

Sometime this weekend, we will get the first truly heavy snow of the season.  And I dread having to clean 12 inches (or more) of the white stuff off my car.  It will get in the way of me going outside as Marian.  It will make it impossible for me to consider going to church this Sunday.  It is just as well.  RQS and I will likely spend another weekend relaxing at home, something we both need to do.  (It's more so that RQS needs to relax.  But that's another story.)

I may end up placing another Amazon order, buying things that I can use, but don't absolutely need.  Most recently, I bought a set of 4 mouse pads, even though I needed only one.  This mouse pad fits perfectly into my armrest tray, an area which is perfect for mouse use while my laptop sits on my lap.  But I think I may do some apartment decluttering, some laundry, and make a new batch of onion soup to keep us warm on a cold winter's day.

- - - - - -

Given that I am getting older, there are just so many days left for me to be able to clear off my car and drive safely in inclement weather.  I felt that my father lost his ability to drive safely while he was in his 80's.  Considering that I am one of his two offspring, I'll have to keep this in mind as each year passes.  Further and further away is the time where I could safely sled down a hill, only stopping when the effects of gravitational acceleration are negated by friction.  Now, I have to be concerned about unplanned falls, and other situations where I may not be able to get back up as I did when I was younger.

The only reason for getting dressed was a supermarket run.

 

After an exhausting evening in NYC last night, RQS and I didn't have much energy to spend doing things today.  We relaxed around the house until 1:30 pm, and we went out to the supermarket around 3:00 pm.  

- - - - - -

Going outside as Marian on a cold day can be a struggle.  A smart woman keeps her legs covered by something other than a pair of stockings.  Although I own a pair of women's jeans, I rarely wear them because any top I'd wear would my natural non-feminine figure.  So, I've developed a style where I wear tunic dresses with leggings underneath when the weather is cold.

Last night, I wore a dress I've worn before with and without leggings. Today, I wore a sweatshirt dress with leggings, and I was very warm with my wig on.  Being dressed as a female takes more thought and preparation than I ever needed dressing as a male.  But I don't mind it one bit.  Even if it is to make a quick run to the bank, and then to the supermarket.

- - - - - -

At the supermarket, RQS and I bought the ingredients for 2 different soups.  I'll cook the onion soup, and she will cook the lentil soup.  Both should be tasty and filling - especially with salad and leftover chicken to go with the soup.  But not tonight....

Once at home, it was laundry time for us, 2 baskets ready to go.  One problem - of the two dryers downstairs, one of them wasn't working. This meant an extra trip downstairs, and an interruption after dinner.  At least, my body isn't protesting too much about climbing the staircases.

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #3 (01/10/26)

 

Laundry!  I had enough laundry in my dirty laundry bag to take advantage of the free laundry bag service provided by NCL for Platinum level cruisers.  So, I put all the dirty underwear and socks into one bag (the free one) and then put my dirty shirts and trousers into another bag.  This way, I'll have burnt off $20 of my $50 non-refundable onboard credit.

- - - - - -

Both RQS and I got up early for two reasons - I had to put my laundry in the hall to be picked up, and we wanted to go for breakfast in the ship's pub restaurant.  While at breakfast, we met our "Birthday Boy" and his wife (from our dinner at the Hibachi restaurant), and she asked for the name of my cruise blog.  I figure that she plans to read it later on, and hopefully, she will like it.

Later on, we went to the main dining room for lunch.  This time, the food and the service were what we expected from this cruise line.  Again, RQS went out for a walk to get her blood sugar down, while I stayed in the cabin and worked on my blogs.  By the time she came back, I had taken care of a GI-Tract issue, and was ready to go to the buffet for something to drink.

Once at the buffet, we killed a couple of hours before going to the noodle bar.  If I had known how forgettable the food would be, I'd have said: "Let's take a chance on the main dining room for dinner."  But this was not to be.  Neither of were sated after this meal, so we went up to the buffet for something to drink and for something sweet

It wasn't much of a day, but it was pleasant for both of us. 

 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Final Preparation (01/03/26)

Right now, we're making final preparations for our upcoming cruise.  Last minute packing, double checking documents, and figuring out when we must leave to make it to the cruise ship on time are among the things we have to deal with today.

One of the things I have to take care of is picking up a prescription at the drug store.  This forces me to be in Mario mode for the day - and for once, it's not a bad thing.  I expect some very minor annoyances when I tell the pharmacist that I only want the blood pressure medication my doctor prescribed, and that I want the prescription transferred to the mail order pharmacy.  But first, I will have to transfer both money and legal ID into Mario's wallet.

A last laundry basket has to be done - if only because I don't want to come back to an overflowing hamper. This is something that forces me to get off my ass when I don't want to do so.  More importantly, this is a task I prefer to do when RQS is not around, as I fold and store my clothing differently than she does. Finally, we have to clean out the perishables from the refrigerator.  Milk and other things get dumped, and then we take the last trash bags to the dumpster.  

Yet, there was an unplanned wrinkle to my day - I lost a set of keys when I was out to dinner last night, and I had to replace them before we went away.  So, after I picked up my pills at the drug store, I drove to Home Depot to get my keys cut.  The fellow at the key cutter couldn't find one of the blanks needed for me, so I had 3 or 4 of the keys I needed.  This meant that I needed to go to a hardware store for the last key.  And even there, they had a problem finding the right key.  But they found it.  Now, I had a set of 4 keys that I can again keep with my handbag. 

- - - - - -

By the time you read this, we'll be back from our cruise - and I'll be writing much more while I'm on the cruise.

Schedules change, and sometimes for the better.

 

Today, I had lunch with my friend from the census.  At this time of year, it's always hard to find good days to meet, but we did so - and had a good chat.  She told me of her husband's semi-retirement and of some other goings on in her life, while I mentioned my cruise and the little things we enjoyed.  Time passed quickly, yet I felt that I was "out of sync" again.

Once finished with lunch, it was back home to rest for a while.  While I had the chance, I texted Maria to see if we're on for the weekend.  She would only be available for lunch on Saturday, so I had to check with RQS whether she would be able to make it up to Croton before noon.  After a little back and forth, she said she'd take an early train, so that I could pick her up at the station for lunch with Maria.  

While I was in the mood to text, I checked in on my acquaintance from meetup (MAR).  She doesn't get that I can't make any weekend dates, and she has a hard time having any energy to meet on weeknights.  Sadly, she's stuck in a rut, and there's nothing I can do (or should do) to help her at this stage.  When one's 40, stuck in a dead-end job, and still living with parents, it's doubtful she'll ever be able to afford the time or money to maintain certain friendships. 

Since I was home for the evening, I decided to do some laundry.  Although I didn't bother folding anything, the clothes are clean and ready to be put away.  Once done with this task, I checked in with RQS and found out that her friend wanted to have lunch, not dinner, with her on Friday.  So RQS will be able to make it up here Friday night and have an easier time making it to lunch the next day.

In the end, the calendar worked out for me.  And that's a good thing when I'm living as much of my life as I can in Marian mode. 

Still recovering from my cruise

 

As I write this entry, I've been on land for 3 days now.  And reality is catching up with me.  I've had to write out a fistful of checks (actually, they are ACH Payments for the most part) , and my bank account is the lowest it's ever been for a while.  By tomorrow, my monthly Social Security payment will be credited to my account, and I will be mostly whole again.  

Catching up with this is always a pain in the butt.  Last night, I laundered 2 baskets of dirty clothes, with another basket ready to go today.  Today, I paid bills.  And tomorrow, I'll likely do some apartment cleanup before going out for lunch with a friend and going to game night for the first time in a couple of months.

- - - - - -

Today, I went to the radiology center in town to get a liver scan.  Now, I have some understanding of how a woman feels as her belly gets slicked up for the ultrasound scan, and for the device to be rubbed over the skin.  (No, there's no sensory comparison.  But there is a procedural comparison, and only that, here.)  In a week and a half, I expect that my doctor will be giving me some bad news as the results of this scan comes in.

Once done with the liver scan, it was off to the bagel shop to get breakfast.  Being without food or water for 10 hours made me hungry and thirsty.  And I dealt with that need before going home.  Then, I relaxed for the rest of the day. 

Eastern Caribbean Cruise 2025 - Domenica (12/01/25)

 

Domenica.  It looks like it might be a nice place to walk around. However,  we weren't in the mood to get off the ship today.  So we stayed on the ship, with two things in mind: 

• Laundry
• Resolution of Internet issue.

But first we had breakfast in the buffet....

After breakfast, we walked onto the promenade deck to get a view of the island. nd that's where I had a mishap that could have caused me some serious problems.  I had decided to sit down in one of the lounge chairs.  It collapsed forward because it wasn't set up right, and I fell forward.  This wouldn't be so bad, save that my cell phone almost fell off the ship.  Several more inches, and I would have lost a general purpose credit card, 2 gas cards, and my OMNY (NYC Mass Transit) card in addition to the phone.  But I was lucky, and only had a minor loss of pride.

Our next stop was to the purser's office, where we got the internet issue fixed - RQS did buy access for me, and the lady at the desk logged me into the ship's wi-fi under my account.  (Now to get the default settings fixed for my laptop.)  Finally, RQS and I can get on the internet at the same time, and not share a single account!

- - - - - -

After a chance to rest, we went down to the laundry room to wash a week's worth of clothes.  We only had 90 minutes to wash and dry our clothes, but the machines were running slow.  Even after 45 minutes of drying time, some items were still slightly damp - and that would have to wait until after dinner.

We arrived at the dining room at 6:30, and met the same 2 people who sat next to us last night.  Again, we had a pleasant chat over dinner.  And again, we noticed minor inconsistencies in staff service in the restaurant, none of which affected our enjoyment of the meal, but should be noted to management to prevent this from getting worse in future cruises.

Once back in our cabin RQS noticed something about the tour we would be taking the next morning in Barbados.  It leaves almost as soon as we get to the port, and we will need to hustle to make it to the tour bus on time.  This meant we'd have to get up very early in the morning for us, and that we'd skip tonight's show in the ship's theater. 

 

The longer I'm out and about, the less I write about being TG

 

When I started blogging, I used to talk about how I worried about whether people would clock me as being TG.  I discussed things such as voice training, meeting people as Marian, and other things that would set me apart from cisgender women.  Over the years, I have gained much more confidence in who I am and where I can safely go.  But people like me are under attack from the Orange Snowflake.  Most of us don't flaunt what we are.  We simply want to go about our lives without being treated less than human from certain social groups such as religious fundamentalists. 

This entry is not about being TG as much as it is about life in general.  For the most part, the vast majority of people lead humdrum lives.  Even if one has become famous, such as being a movie star, a sports player, and a politician, most of our lives consist of relatively boring activities such as shopping, doing the laundry, cleaning our houses, etc.. So, what should anyone write about?  I'm not one who makes a big deal about what I'm wearing these days, save that I want to hide my less than feminine features.  Going into the ladies' room is no longer a big deal when I'm presenting as Marian - I just go into the stall, get my clothes out of the way, sit down and relieve myself.  Most people don't bat a eyelash, especially since most fat people tend to be "invisible" to others.

For a little over a week, I've been wearing red nail polish.  As a consequence, I've been presenting as a female. The only reason I removed my nail polish today was that it was starting to chip away.  I figure that I'll go get my nails done when RQS goes home, as I don't want to spend the time to redo my nails while she's here.  

- - - - - -

Today has become a sort of "maintenance day".  RQS decided to reorganize my kitchen cabinets, while I decided to pay some bills and to prepare to do laundry.  Since the light over the kitchen counter got damaged, we will end up going to Lowe's to pick up a replacement later on.  While we were sitting down, we booked a couple of shore excursions for our upcoming cruise.  Now, we have 3 out of 5 shore days where we have things to see when in port.

Cruising has become our preferred mode of taking a vacation, as it gives us the most bang per buck. We keep looking at cruises we can take.  I'm hoping that the snowflake is removed from office so that sanity can rule in the US again.  Then, and only then, will I consider the cruise I want to take - a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, where I can return to the States as Marian.

Until then, I'll just have to keep living my humdrum life....