Sometimes, it's too much of a bother to present as Marian (a short post)

 

Yesterday, we spent some time straightening out the apartment.  One of the things i did was to find a "new" blanket in my cedar chest and put it on my bed, along with a "new" mattress pad.  This meant that I'll have to restock with new ones later on - especially when the "new" blanket has been sitting in the chest for years, and is suffering from a form of dry rot (found this morning).

But this is not what I intended to talk about today....

I wasn't in the mood to spend the time to shave and apply makeup just to go to Walmart.  If I were a cisgender female, this wouldn't be an issue for me.  However, I am trans, and do not look that much like a female without makeup.  So, I figured it was time for Mario to make an appearance.

Walmart is only 15 minutes from my place.  Both RQS and I were able to get showered and dressed quickly, so that we could make it to Walmart and to the local grocery store before 7:30 pm.  (We were thinking of doing some laundry when the machines weren't busy.)  I was glad not to make myself up, as I would have hated to clean off the makeup after 2 hours out of the house.

Did we get around to doing laundry?  No.  But we did get out of the house for a couple of hours.

A snowy weekend - and I left my car at home.

 

I had planned to be with RQS this weekend, but this put me at risk of getting fined by my co-op.  By the time I would get home, I expected to clear off 7" of snow from my car and possibly get dinged with a fine from my co-op.

- - - - - -

Friday started with laundry - 3 loads of it.  By the time I was packed, out the door, and on my way to RQS's place, it was 2-3 hours later than expected.  I didn't make it to RQS's place until 7:30 pm.  Luckily, she had already started to cook dinner when I left the subway and transferred to the bus to her house. The rest of the evening wasn't that exciting.  We fell into our usual routine and watched a couple of movies before felling asleep.

Saturday came, and with it, the exterminator.  Each month, the exterminator is scheduled to take care of RQS's building, and today was the day.  Once his visit was over, it was off to the library to drop off some books, and then to one of our go-to restaurants for a bite to eat.  They were about to close, so we decided to get this food to-go and eat it at home.

Around 7 pm, the snow started to fall and I knew we were in for the night.  Although we weren't planning on doing anything this evening, it made me feel a little worried - if I didn't get home early enough on Sunday, I could have some problems with my co-op.  As they say, "the die is cast", and I would deal with things after getting home.

Sunday came, and there was less snow on the ground than expected.  Even with this, I figured that I should leave RQS's place a bit early, so that I could shovel out my car in daylight and move it back into my assigned spot.  This way, the co-op has less of an opportunity to ding me for not getting my car into the street so that the driveways could be cleared.  I left RQS around 1 pm, and made it to Grand Central in the nick of time to make the 1:50 train to Croton.  By 3:00 pm, I was home, and had a chance to finish this post before shoveling some snow....

- - - - - -

On other matters....

It looks like the Orange Snowflake is trying to put the LGBTIQ community back in the closet.  (Not that we didn't know this already.)  We've seen him give executive orders to (fr now) make it impossible to get a gender marker changed on federal documents, as well as erasing any statistics that refer to LGBTIQ's from federal websites.  This is the first step among many in which he intends to hurt us.

Why do I mention this?

Stalin made sure that no statistics were kept for his reign of terror.  It is estimated that 28 million people lost their lives in the gulags while he was in power.  We may not be able to stop the Snowflake from deleting our history for now.  But we can throw a wrench into his plans in regard to another at risk group - the illegal immigrants.  How, you may ask?  Get congress to act by requiring that accurate statistics be kept.  The public has a right to know how much the Snowflake's removal efforts are costing, as well as being able to know how many illegals of each category are being removed.  The more data we have, the more tools we can have to force congress to act when the time is right.

Right now, GOP members of the house and senate are afraid of losing power.  What they don't know is by surrendering their chambers' powers to the Snowflake and the SA Nazi (Musk), they are surrendering their own power and won't get it back.  We've seen this happen before.  But now, we can take a different path of activism.  Lawsuits can be filed in friendly federal courts, and slow down the march to tyranny.  I suggest that everyone buy copies of On Tyranny, and How Democracies Die to understand what is going on, and how we can cause the Snowflake some grief.

The apartment is a total mess, and I can't find the energy to do anything.

 

OK, this is only a slight exaggeration - I don't find my energy until the afternoon is half over, and it doesn't make sense to do many things.  Yet, I feel that my lethargy is getting in the way of life as I once knew it.

- - - - - - 

One of the problems I have is a reluctance to deal with people when advocating for myself.  It's my simple reluctance to have potentially stressful interactions with people coming to play.  By nature, I am not a dominant person.  Instead, I am a person who likes to head off in one direction with as little interference as possible.  And I have been lucky enough to have the resources to do just that in my adult life.

My lethargy gets in the way of me doing simple tasks such as doing laundry on a regular basis.  So, it piles up until I have no other alternative but to do several loads at once.  This can be a pain in the ass at times, but I've noticed it getting in the way of being social with others.  Yesterday, I had a meetup that I went to, but could have just as easily bailed out on it - I was tired enough to have stayed in bed a bit longer.

- - - - - -

With all that being said, I still find it energizing to go out in the world as Marian.  Being my true self provides me with the energy I need to go out and live life.  I wonder how many older transgender folks feel the same way as I do?

The Co-Op, The Bank, and DCD - - screw ups and disasters.

 

Over the past 12 days, I have had a cough that won't go away. It has eased off a bit, and I am confident that it will be gone soon.  At my worst, I felt like the model above - as if some angry force had lodged itself in the back of my throat, and I had trouble coughing up the crap in my lungs.

- - - - - -

Today, I cancelled a meetup, as I wasn't in the mood to be with a large group for dinner.  Instead, I wanted to play it safe and stay home.  Given that I had to go to the bank to transfer money for my co-op, I was going to be stuck in Mario mode for the day.  There was no longer any need to change back to Marian for the evening, so I took this as an opportunity to get little things done, such as 2 loads of laundry.

My first stop was the bank.  I was tasked with transferring a sum of money from an expired CD to our savings account.  A manager said that I could go to a teller to perform this transfer, and I did so.  15 minutes later, the teller moved money in the wrong direction and asked for help.  So, I had to wait another 10 minutes for the manager, and then she took another 15-20 minutes to undo the teller's mistake and move money to its proper location.  And even then, the manager wasn't absolutely sure she did the right thing, saying that she'd call in the morning to confirm that the transaction was correct.

Now, I could go back home after a quick stop at the local pizzeria for lunch, and I rested until 7 pm when I started to do my laundry.  Just as I was about to put my clothes in the dryer, DCD's ex called.  N wanted to tell me a little more about what was going on.  When she got home from work, she found him curled up on her bed, looking like he was one of the homeless found in the NYC Subway.  She took him to the local hospital, as something was very wrong, and left him there.  She told me of a second, inoperable tumor that was found in DCD's brain, and the radiation therapy DCD went through.  After his first brain surgery, radiation therapy, and the COVID epidemic, DCD was no longer the same person N fell in love with.  Now, all N wants is for DCD to be a ward of the state, so that someone better capable than her would take responsibility to see DCD is cared for.

I was able to finish my laundry and fold it before I called RQS.  I have yet to pack for my upcoming cruise.  That will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

A visit to the computer fixit shop and the bookstore

 

Today was not the best of days, nor was it the worst of days.  It was a day where things didn't go right, and yet, not go completely wrong.

- - - - - -

RQS and I decided to leave the apartment later than we planned.  Our first stop was at the computer fixit store, where she had to get some more work done on her computer.  Whenever she tried to start MS-Word, the logon process from her old job would start, making it impossible for her to use the software.  Of course, this had to get fixed, and we brought the computer into the shop at 3:30 pm.  One hour later, she left the store, but the computer was still in the shop.  My guess is that the fixit guy wasn't picking up on the idea that her old firm had updated her computer's registry to start a security program whenever MS-Word was started.  Hopefully, he'll be able to track down this startup process and kill it once and for all.

Next, we were off the the bookstore to buy a 2025 planner.  However, they are no longer sold in the store, as few old timers like us were buying these items.  So, RQS will need to log on to Amazon to find what she wants.  However, while there, both of us bought books we could read, my book being about the Sex Lives of Presidents. (I can't wait to read the juicy bits....)

Finally, we picked up some stuff at the supermarket before we got home.  Once home it was time to cook dinner and time to do laundry.  After dinner, I tripped over RQS, ruining a lampshade in my fall.  I guess it's a visit to Walmart in the morning to replace it.

- - - - - -

As I noted earlier, things did go wrong, but not in the most disastrous way....

Christmas Eve

 

The day started off by our need to do some laundry before going out for the evening. There were two baskets that needed to be taken care of, and I didn't want to let this task slide any longer.  So, I got dressed and started down the stairs with the two baskets.  And then....  OOPS!  I tripped and dropped the baskets,  I was lucky not to take a fall myself.  But I had to sort out my laundry before continuing on to the laundry room.

About two hours later, my laundry was done, and I was able to get dressed in my new sweater dress.  Originally, I planned to wear tights to cover my legs,  But, RQS was wearing stockings attached to garters.  So I decided to wear my mock garter stockings to keep up with her "Girly Game", as well as a matching bra and panties.  Both of us were concerned about how cold we'd feel when we went outside.  As for me, I felt a little vulnerable, as I was wearing less on my lower body than I usually wear and felt as if I was wearing almost nothing under my dress.

Shortly before 5, we arrived at the restaurant (Peter Pratt's Inn), and enjoyed a hearty meal.  RQS ordered seafood themed dishes (mussels, then scallops), while I ordered duck themed dishes (duck quesadilla, then duck two ways). We both finished our meals with Caramel Cheesecake, and felt wonderfully sated without feeling stuffed. In short, we had a great meal.

Next, we were off to Ossining for Christmas Eve services at the local church.  This is becoming a routine for us, as this was the second year that we have been able to be there on Christmas Eve.  It was nice to be able to connect with my past memories.  RQS enjoyed the service, and might want to go to an occasional service during the rest of the year.

Once the service was over, it was time to go home.  After midnight, we decided to open our gifts.  RQS was happy with my gifts.  And I was pleasantly surprised by RQS's gifts - in addition to a men's watch (which could go with my feminine wardrobe), she gave me a nice assortment of sexy lingerie.  (I guess we're both upping each other's "Girly Game" as our relationship progresses.)  Then it was off to bed for the night.

I understand why DS doesn't go to our game meetup these days.

 

 
When I selected this picture, it appeared as if it was a specialty coffee drink.  Instead, it is a picture of a hot fudge sundae at Ben & Jerry's in Mt. Kisco.  Yum!

- - - - - -

Why did I keep the picture at the top of this entry?  Well, it's a reminder of indulgences that I have avoided (or eased off on) over the past couple of weeks.  And it's a reminder that my weight has dropped over the past few weeks.  Yay!  And yet, it's something to monitor, as lethargy and weight loss can mean many things.  So I will make it a priority to see my GP soon.

- - - - - -

 The first thing on my docket for today was seeing my friend MSJ for lunch.  This was not a day where we would review changes she made to her resume.  Instead, it was a day which we exchanged stories of Thanksgiving related disasters.  All too soon, 1:30 pm came around, and we had to go   We'll be talking next week, and seeing each other in the new year.

Next, it was off to bring my old phone to the fix-it shop for battery replacement.  The lady behind the counter was a little surprised that I came with a phone battery in hand.  But then, I have previous experience trying to get battery replacements done on other Motorola phones.  She told me to give her 30 minutes.  So I went across the street for some hot chocolate while she replaced my battery.  When I returned, the phone was ready, and it was time for me to go home to nap.

- - - - - -

Around 4 pm, I started a load of laundry, and then got ready to go out.  After I brought the laundry upstairs, I drove down to Yonkers for game night.  Although I thought DS might come tonight, she was visibly absent.  The loud mouthed fellow that I know she doesn't like was there, and he was in fine form.  Not only was he scattershot in explaining rules to games he may have played once or twice, he was very loud in his arguments (that's a stronger word than I'd like to use) about game rules.  I was getting annoyed too.  It's easy to see why DS is absent most of these days - she is tired of this fellow making himself the center of attention.

We ended the evening early, and noted that our next gathering will be in 3 weeks, and not the usual 2 weeks.  That's fine with me, as I could use the extra Thursday for my own purposes.  But I'll have to figure out a way to give the host/hostess' children their Xmas gifts before Xmas.

Game Night w. "Short Vicki"

 

I had no energy today.  Although I woke up early for a bio-break, I got back under the covers until 11 am or so.  And then killed time until evening came.

But first....

My original plans were to take advantage of this gloomy day to do some laundry.  About the only productive task I took care of was to separate the laundry into two loads: Whites and Colors.  I simply didn't want to get dressed to do anything that would take me outside my apartment.

Eventually, 4 pm came around, and I received a message from Vicki #2 ("Short Vicki") suggesting that we get together for a "Paint and Sip" near her place.  I noted that I was going to my bi-weekly game night and volunteered to check if she could come along.  After checking with the hostess, I gave the thumbs up to Vicki, and then proceeded to get ready to leave the apartment.

It was raining when I left the apartment, and I was glad that I was wearing leggings under my dress. But I still had to eat.  So I decided to try out The Halal Guys in Yonkers.  This was a big mistake.  The food was not up to the same taste quality as the other Halal joint further up the road.  So I finished my plate and made a note NOT to go there again.

Although I got to game night a little before 8 pm, I wasn't late for any games.  The one game we played, I enjoyed, as it didn't require much brain power.  We chatted a bit after the game, and then we all left earlier than usual.  This was just as well, as I barely made it home in time for a much delayed bio-break.

At least, I knew my GI-Tract is working well....

Unexpectly, I am doing a cleanup with my apartment with time constraints.

 

I was looking for a 4-leaf clover and couldn't find one today.  My apartment was a mess, and I needed to  clean up some of it before RQS arrived.  Given that I have been extremely lethargic as of late, I'm amazed that I could organize what I needed and put it all in closets (or, at least, most of the mess) into closets until I'm ready to move summer clothes into storage containers for the season.

There were 4 laundry baskets of clothes ready for the closets and drawers - half of which needed folding as well.  And, at 3:45 pm, most of the work is done.  Although I have a long way to go before this place is ready for visitors other then RQS, I have put a small, but meaningful, dent in things today.

- - - - - -

RQS called me to tell me she was running late due to GI Tract issues.  This was good for me, as I was already running late and needed time to get showered, made up, and dressed for the evening.  When RQS arrives, I'm going to suggest going to one of our Greek Go-To places for something to eat, and then we'll discuss something serious.  No, it's not our long term future plans.  Instead, it's when she'd like to cruise again, as I might want to book her Christmas present soon.  After dinner, it'll be time to see "Saturday Night" on a Friday night.  I've been looking to see this movie for a while, and am hoping that the movie will be half as good as the real history it is reportedly based on.

Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

 

As I've recently reported, I have just completed a Bermuda cruise as Mario.  Soon, I'll be returning as Marian, and I'll want to be wearing a pretty pair of shoes to go along with a little black dress on "dress to impress" night.  Both RQS and I want a picture of the two of us together, we me looking my finest for the evening.  And a pair of shoes like the one above would fit the bill perfectly.

Today, I expect UPS to deliver these shoes.  UPS sent me a notice that the shoes were delivered - but they were delivered to the wrong address.  Stuff like this happens, but I'm never happy when it does.  So I messaged UPS, and got someone at an overseas service area.  (Given that the name sounded Indian or Pakistani, I think this is a reasonable guess.) After 10 minutes, they started to send an alert out for a missing package.  While on the line, my neighbor came over with the shoes.  Yay!  But now, I had to tell UPS that the problem was resolved, and to ask the carrier to be more careful next time.  Another 10 minutes later, I got a call from UPS on my landline - and I explained the situation.  At this point, "no harm, no foul."

- - - - - -

 

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but RQS's sister lives directly in the path of  Hurricane M(ilton).  So we were concerned that she'd be able to make it though the night, given where she lives.  We were in luck.  She made it through the night with minor damage to the house.  And RQS's other relatives in Florida are also OK.

Even though I was supposed to do laundry yesterday, I decided to do it today.  This way, all I have to do is hang up clean clothes when I'm done.  This weekend, I'll put much of my summer wardrobe into storage containers and stash it away until next year.  (I expect that we'll be taking at least one trip to somewhere warm before too long, and I don't want to hunt for warm weather clothing at that time.

- - - - - -

Normally, I might post something about game night.  But I think that would be an anticlimactic end to the day after all the above.

I did plenty of nothing, and nothing's plenty for me. (a short post)

 

It was the day after my flu/covid shots, and I didn't have much energy to do much of anything today.  Yes, I got things ready for me to get dressed after a shower, but that's as far as I got today.

- - - - - -

I have found that I need an extra push to get anything done lately.  If there is something scheduled for me to do outside of the apartment, I'll end up doing it - especially when Marian's presence is expected.  There is something that energizes me when I'm able to be out as Marian.

My original plans were to do some laundry in the morning, then go out and see a movie in the evening.  Obviously, neither of these things happened.  Instead, it was time to do two loads of laundry.  It's not the most exciting thing to do, but it has to get done before RQS arrives here.

While starting to get myself moving, I opened my large suitcase to unpack what's left inside of it. I found that one of the soda cans I had packed from my cruise had leaked, but I haven't found out what it leaked into.  I guess it'll all come out in the wash.

- - - - - -

Sometime over the next few days, I'll have to unpack my winter wardrobe.  In it are some long sleeved dresses that I wear as tunics over leggings.  Thinking of leggings, I just ordered 3 pairs from Universal Standard.  Hopefully, they will feel as nice as the one pair from them that I already own.

The day after the cruise - back to reality

 

It's 10 pm and I'm back to reality.  There are two baskets of laundry waiting to be put into the washer, a bed to be straightened out before I go to sleep, and a dress to hang up for its next wearing.  I'm home, and I wish I were already on my next cruise.

- - - - - -

Although I woke up early after a short sleep, I didn't bother to get moving until noon.  There were clothes in a laundry basket left unfolded since before the cruise that had to be taken care of.  Of course, I was doing this on an empty stomach, as there was no fresh food in the house to eat.  About the only things I had to eat at home other than dried pasta and bottled tomato sauce were packages of instant oatmeal.  And that sated my hunger for a while.

Later on, I decided to get dressed and go out as Marian.  Once I showered, shaved and made up my face, I noticed one thing - I couldn't find the belt I normally wear with the dress I was wearing.  So, I knew what I had to do - shop!  This meant that I'd drive out to Paramus to see what Lane Bryant had lying around.  About 45 minutes later, I was in the store and carrying a bag with 2 belts and a necklace. 

Now that I spent most of my my discretionary money, I decided to have some dinner at a local diner. I chose the seafood over pasta - and I was stuffed!  I was lucky that the meal I ordered didn't include dessert, as I'd have to take it home in a pooch pouch.  And then, I was finally on my way home for the night with a quick stop at the supermarket to put something in the ice box.

Reality wasn't bad to me today - it's nice to sleep in my own bed again.

It's nice to still nice to be able to go outside in a dress (a short post)

 

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I'll soon have to go back to wearing leggings under tunic length dresses, or find some other way to wear clothing that defines me as female during the cold weather months ahead.  But for now, I'm enjoying being able to go outside as Marian, wearing a comfortable dress.

- - - - - -

As usual, I did my everyday preparations for the day for picking RQS up at the station.  Then we drove to Panera Bread for a forgettable dinner - for me, a tasty salad, something I should eat more often. It was a nice change of pace for us, as this is not on our usual list of go-to places to visit on a Friday night. Yet, when we finished our meals, we felt it strange that we had just finished dinner and had nothing left on our schedules for the evening.

After going home, we settled into our usual routine, save that I finally did some laundry to clean the bathmat and towel that got soaked as part of my cleanup efforts from the other day.  It's amazing how tired one can feel at my age, when she has to go up and down staircases several times - even with a light load of laundry.

Not really much more to say, save that I can't wait for my next cruise to start - and it will start soon.

I didn't do much today, save for grocery shopping and laundry.

 

I wasn't able to get to sleep last night.  So, all my plans for the day were fouled up before noon.  Originally, I was supposed to go out for an exercise walk while it was cool outside, contact an electrolysis operator for a consultation, contact my sleep doctor's office to find out when I should expect a call from the people setting up my sleep test, call the lab to set up the brain scan for a study I'll be participating in, and then get around to both laundry and food shopping.  It's not as much to do as it sounds.  But when one has no energy until mid afternoon, one can only do so much during daytime hours.

The first thing I took care of was to make the brain scan appointment.  It's a larger study than I might think, as it is being coordinated from a site in California.  Next, I tried to contact an electrolysis operator for a consultation, but both of the local operators were on vacation.  Finally, after getting showered, dressed and made up, I was out the door and off to Trader Joe's.  $35 later, I was returning home in time to get a load of laundry in before the soft deadline of 9:00 pm (start) / 10:00 pm (finish).  So, I carted my laundry downstairs, and got it done in time for RQS's arrival tomorrow.

- - - - - -

While I write this, I have MSNBC on in the background.  Earlier, I had our former president's news conference on for a while.  As much as MSNBC panders to an educated elite, the ex president panders to an uninformed audience, an audience who lets authority figures feed them misinformation to be ingested without critical analysis.  Sadly, a significant part of our population believes his nonsense, as he is the leader of a political cult.  I can tolerate the left's talking heads, as they aren't feeding their audience the message that "White America is being overrun by illegal aliens that have come to take our jobs."  But I have to turn off Fox News' propaganda, as they have targeted people who are afraid of any cultural and economic changes that put "White Privilege" at risk.

After sitting down to write this entry, I opened up a letter from one of my credit card banks.  Seems like $3,700+ was credited to my card in error.  Next time I'm out as Mario, I'll visit the bank to see what's up.  If this was a debit, I'd take off my nail polish and visit the branch before picking up RQS at the train station.   Hopefully, I can get this error fixed AND have the service charge removed.

If it weren't for game night, I wouldn't have even bothered getting dressed today.

 

The rainy weather has made me a bit lethargic, and I had a hard time getting moving today.  There were two things on my docket that required me to get dressed, one being laundry, and the other being game night.  So, I figured that I could take care of a couple of things while doing laundry and caused a minor issue for myself.

RQS was originally scheduled to go home on Sunday.  Fathom Events scheduled a 2-night revival of Lawrence of Arabia for Sunday and Monday at selected theaters.  I bought tickets for Sunday evening. But that creates a conflict between the time RQS expected to be home and the time she'd be in the theater.  So I asked her if she could stay another night.

The other task that I took care of was removing the nail polish from my fingernails.  I figure that I'll need to present as a male when I meet with the sleep doctor on Monday, as well as an appointment I have later in the evening for a research study.  Given that I want to look my best when I meet RQS in the city for dinner on Tuesday evening, I'll likely schedule a Mani-Pedi for the morning.

Luckily, I had only one load of laundry to take care of.  The one problem is that I usually do my sheets along with the rest of my colored laundry.  This means that I'll have to inspect the fitted sheet to make sure that nothing got caught in it while in the dryer.  That I can do in the morning when I fold the laundry in advance of RQS's arrival.

Around 4:30 pm, I showered, and went downstairs to do laundry as Mario.  This was the more convenient way to be out of the apartment when my face had yet to be made up.  But when almost ready to go out for the evening, I had switched into Marian mode. Though I started doing the Laundry at 5:00 pm, I wasn't able to get out of the apartment until 7:10 pm. This meant that I'd be in Yonkers after the first game had started.  Even so, I drove down, and found that only an abbreviated portion of the group was in attendance.  I got into a couple of games, and left before the hostess returned with her dog.  (Just as well - he is ready to bite anyone who isn't family.)  On the way home, I chatted with RQS, and picked up some stuff for dinner to be eaten tomorrow or Saturday.

I was glad to finally be back at home by midnight, as I couldn't wait to strip and get comfortable again.

 

 

Now that I'm back home, I'm catching up on things.

 

OK, it's been a while since I've been able to sleep in my own bed.  And it feels strange!  I guess that I'll have to make it into NYC with RQS and have her try out the Saatva mattress I liked so much.  Given that RQS has fallen in love with her mattress from Bob's Discount Furniture. I figure that I will have a hard choice to make sometime soon - do I want a bed with a fixed base, or one with an adjustable base?

While I was away, I received a letter from a lawyer in Los Angeles that I am one of the beneficiaries of my uncle's trust.  My brother is more upset at the terms of what hell get from it than I am.  I guess it's because my uncle considered a close friend in LA that he's known for years to be as much a family member as his blood family is.  Given that I have seen a list of the beneficiaries, I have a strong feeling that my uncle wanted to see most of his money go to causes that he cared about.

I'm glad that I did a load of laundry on the second to last day that we were on the ship.  I only have a couple of days of dirty laundry from the cruise to add to my laundry basket for another load I have to put in to my co-op's washers/dryers before the end of the week.  The rest of the laundry in my suitcases can be put back into my dresser drawers.

Bill paying is a pain in the neck, and I had a small stack to take care of.  One of these bills was a credit card charge related to a cruise I'll be taking next year.  (More details on that later.)  I'm lucky that I have overpaid my co-op maintenance charges enough to skip one payment and still have a hefty surplus in my account.  (The same went for my electric bill as well, but not to the same degree.)  At this point, I am in good shape financially, even with an unexpected expense.

Depending on where I stand with my accounts, I'm thinking of surprising RQS with an expensive gift that we both can enjoy.  (No, it's not a ring.)  If I do so, it'll be closer to year end that I spring this on her.  She's a good woman, and I want to show how much I appreciate her being in my life.

Just before I took my recent trip, I found out that my online pharmacy was unable to reach my doctor's office to renew my prescription.  So I called the office this morning, and reached a receptionist who may not have bothered to see that the prescription is called in.  I'll have to double check this tomorrow, as I'm running low on this medicine.  Thinking about doctors, my CPAP machine is near the end of its life.  Tomorrow, I have to call the sleep doctor to see whether I need another consult and another sleep test before I can get a new machine.  (I also want to buy a second machine, just for travel.  But I'll talk with the doctor about that first....)  It's hard to believe that I got this machine 9 years ago!

As I said in the title of this post - I'm catching up on things....

Norwegian Fjord Cruise Vacation - 06/27/24 (Sea Day #5)

 

The last sea day of our cruise.  We have only one more full day after this for this cruise, and then we will be back in Southampton and on our way back to New York.  So, what did we do to start off this day? Laundry, of course!  After a week of cruising, we had enough dirty clothes to fill up the washing machine. Since neither of us wanted to fly back to NYC with a load of dirty laundry, we figured that it was time to kill some time and take care of this chore - just like several other people in the laundry room before us.

The Laundry room was crowded, and we experienced the same problem twice - both the washer and the dryer didn't register our first tokens being fed to the machines.  We had to call guest services to get help, and a gentleman came with extra tokens to be used in feeding the machines.  One wonders why they don't fix these machines in the first place.  But our place is not to wonder why.  Our place is to wash and dry.

After doing laundry, we went down to the shore excursions desk to get some of RQS's questions answered. And then, it was upstairs for burgers and fries.  Neither of us could finish what we ordered, as we've gotten tired of eating as much as we have been doing for the past two weeks.  So, it was back to our room, to rest until attending the Captain's Circle gathering for loyal Princess cruisers.

Around 5:00 pm, we started getting ready for the Captain's Circle gathering.  RQS looked nice in what she was wearing, while my jacket looked like it was hanging on a blob that looks like me when I'm in Mario mode.  It was nice to have a meet and greet with the staff, and I got a chance to chat with the fellow in charge of future cruise sales.  (Our booking was corrected.  Now to wait for this department on the mainland to call me back.)  Although it was a pleasant gathering with "free" drinks and canapes, we couldn't wait to go to dinner.

Tonight's dinner in the main dining room had surf and turf on the menu.  Since we already had too much to eat over the last few days, neither of us chose this option.  Instead, we both chose the Cornish game hen.  It was yummy.  But service was way too slow for our comfort, and we were about to leave just before our tea and coffee arrived.  Yet, we still ended up leaving without finishing our after dinner service, as both of us wanted to get comfortable again.

Norwegian Fjord Cruise Vacation - 06/20/24 (Sea Day #2)

 

The day started at 6:00 am, with the sun having been out for an hour or two.  We had gone through choppy seas last night, and the motion of the ship (thanks to the ship's stabilizers) helped rock us to sleep.  This allowed us to wake up fully refreshed for the day....

After a hearty breakfast, we decided to go to Princess's pop up seafood restaurant, "Crab Shack" for lunch.  So, we called the reservations desk and found that the "nominal fee" for this meal would be $39/pp. + 18% Svc. Chg,  We registered ourselves for lunch and proceeded to kill time until for our feast.  And feast we did!  Each of us ordered a bowl of clam chowder and a seafood bucket which contained mussels, craw fish, shrimp, snow crab legs, and small clams of various types.  Both buckets contained enough food to feed two people, and I even had to give up with food left in the bucket.  Before leaving, we changed our next specialty dinner reservation to the middle of next week.  This way, we wouldn't have to eat two large meals in a single day.

A little bit later, RQS went out to exercise and I had some quiet time to myself.  It was nice to be able to rest and let my stomach do its thing for a while.  When RQS returned, we put a load of laundry into the washer, and moved it into the dryer when it was done.  This will give us another 5-6 days worth of clothing we can wear, but will force us to do another load sometime next week.

Lunch with a friend, then both laundry and packing for my cruise.

 

This would be the second to last day I'd be spending at home before the weekend.  And I should have made every minute count.  Instead, I had a long lunch and killed time before doing laundry and packing for my trip.

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Today would likely be the last day I'd be able to spend as Marian for a while.  I'd be out as Mario over the weekend.  And when I return, I'll be unwilling to risk wallet swapping to spend one last day out as Marian.  This will help me be sure to have all my ID in the wallet that is coming on the trip with me.

Around lunch time, I mat my friend from the census, and we had a much longer than usual lunch together.We had a very lighthearted chat, and I made a joke about my bi-gendered nature in regard to a different packing list from that above.  Yesterday, Microsoft's AI generated a packing list for my cruise - but for a female.  This list contained dresses for formal nights, and I noted that it would be inappropriate for most males, but for me.... 😀    We talked about our upcoming trips, me to Norway, and her trip to Vegas.  It seems like all of my friends are going away for a while, and it will be hard to catch up with them during the summer.

After lunch, I proceeded to the bookstore to see if they had Erik Larson's latest book in stock.  Although they did, I wasn't in the mood to spend $35 on a book that I'd only read once.  Instead, I'll put another hold on the book, and wait until I can again get it to read.  Next, I browsed in Home Goods, seeing nothing of interest.  (I miss the old Bed, Bath and Beyond!)  Then, it was time to come home and rest.

Once at home, it was time for this T-Gal to do some laundry.  Not much need to be said about this task, save that I wanted to make sure that I had a pair of jeans to wear on this trip.....




PS: It's already 1:30 am, and I still have more packing to do.  This will have to wait until the morning for me to finish off the big bag that goes down to RQS's place this weekend.

So much to do, and so little time left to do it.

All too soon, I'll be flying to London for a 14-day cruise through the Norwegian Fjords.  I'm a bit apprehensive about the unknown, and I know that I'll have to dot my I's and cross my T's in both preparing for this trip and going on this trip.  I've made sure that my passport is in my carry-on bag.  But there is so much I have yet to do before leaving on this trip.

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Somewhere, I made a checklist of clothes I'll need on the trip.  Other items were on this list as well.  But I can't find the list.  This is something I'll take care of tomorrow when I'm more awake.  In addition to packing, I still need to do some laundry before the trip.  Unfortunately, I'll be making this trip as Mario, so I can't bring along a nice dress or two for formal nights.  But I will have a good time anyway.

Unlike other cruises, I'll be able to do some laundry while onboard the ship.  Of course, I'll take care of some of RQS's stuff in the same loads.  At home, I spend $4.00/load (plus $1.00 in detergent).  On the ship, each load will cost $7.50-$9.00 depending on the cost of the detergent.  Either way, being able to do a load or two while on the ship will be a great life saver.

With everything that's going to go on, I'm making sure to have an extra battery pack (for phone recharging), as well as a set of European SIM cards for use in my spare cell phone.  (I can leave the US phone in airplane mode and avoid roaming fees.)  This way, I can still make a phone call when I need to while in the UK, Norway or Belgium, and not worry about roaming charges. (Just turn airplane mode back on when returning to the ship to be safe.)

I can't help but think that I am missing something.  Keep your fingers crossed for me....