Packing for another cruise - again.

 

Yes, I will soon be on another cruise, and I'll be taking pictures - of the ship.  It's not that I don't want to get off the ship.  Instead, it's because there's nothing new for me to see at the ports when I leave the ship.

- - - - - -

Today, I took care of some business for the co-op, and then attended our monthly business meeting.  Ever since we got our new site representative, things have been running well.  Instead of our meetings running 4-5 hours with the old site manager, they now run 90 minutes or so and are almost a pleasure to attend.  When someone commented about a mistake this new fellow made, I noted that this would be the price we pay to train this person to do the job in the way we want the job done.

Once the co-op board meeting was done, I proceeded to do a couple of loads of laundry before the cruise.  I figure that I'll need clean sheets for when I get back, as well as clean clothes I can take with me on the cruise.  And yet, I still have to pack the fancy dress I want to wear, along with the shoes I'll be wearing with it on gala nights.  It'll be nice to gussy myself up again, as its been a while since I've felt pretty - being stuck in Mario mode for too long can be hard to bear at times.

- - - - - -

Do I think I'll be wearing everything I bring on the cruise?  No.  But I have the room in the suitcase, so why not bring a few things so that I have a few options when I'm on the ship.  While cruising, I hope that the have the "Inch of Gold" chains on sale, as I need to pick up some 24" gold and silver chains to use with some of the pendants I have bought recently.

Even if this cruise is not up to my standards, I think I'll have a good time.  Keep your fingers crossed for me....

2023 Bermuda Cruise - Day 6 (Sea Day)

Friday, November 24, 2023

Although the ship overnighted in Bermuda, we were at sea by the time we woke up. This saddened me, as it will be at least a year before we return to this port. But we will return to Bermuda, and we know enough of our way around to make the most of our time at this port when we next visit.


As has been our custom, we didn’t get ready to go out to eat until lunch time. Given the crowds that were likely to be found at the buffet, we went to one of the complimentary dining rooms on the ship. Although we enjoyed this meal, we noted that the quality of service and food in the complimentary restaurants had declined, and that we will be writing a letter to customer service when we returned from the cruise.


After lunch, we returned to the room to rest. Around 3:00 pm, the cabin attendant returned, and we vacated the cabin until she had a chance to perform her magic in the cabin. So we went upstairs to the buffet for a snack, while she tidied up the cabin and took my dirty laundry bag to the cleaners onboard the ship. (It’s nice to be able to return home with a suitcase filled with mostly clean clothes.)


Later on, we went to the steakhouse for our last specialty meal, and both of us were feeling full long before dessert came. This was the first time on this cruise where I felt bloated from a meal, and I rushed back to the cabin to spend the rest of the evening, instead of spending a little time to shop for 24” gold and silver chains for me to wear when out as Marian.

Only two things to do today, and it was easier to do as Mario

 

Today will be a very short entry.  I had two things to do today, and I ended up doing one of them in Mario Mode, as I had to be able to identify myself to a bank where the co-op has an account....

- - - - - -

Normally, the co-op president takes care of things when we need to move money between accounts at the bank, or to get a check drawn on one of these accounts.  However, the co-op president was otherwise occupied, and I decided to take care of things today.  So I got dressed as Mario, preparing to go out later as Marian, and proceeded to the bank.  Once done there, I delivered the check to its recipient, and went out to eat.

When I got back, I dealt with my laundry, only putting one load in the washer today.  Once the washing and drying was done, I brought the clothes back upstairs and decided not to go out anymore.  I figure that later on, I'll fold the laundry and start packing things for my upcoming trip as Marian.

As I said - not much to say....

Keeping up with the laundry is so hard to do

 

Last night, I did two loads of laundry. What shouldn't surprise me anymore is that most of the clothing I was laundering was that of the female gender.  Yet, it does at times, as I find myself doing more and more things in my female presentation.  

With the above being said, I was surprised not about the contents of my laundry basket.  Instead, it was the surprise that I found another two loads more to do, and may have a third in a short while.  Given my age, I am fortunate that I can make it up and down the staircase to the laundry room three times (or more) when laundering my clothes.

- - - - - -

Unlike many cisgender males, this transgender woman prefers to do my own chores, albeit in a simplified masculine way.  This means that I look for garments that are able to be washed in warm water, even though they may be dried on a hanger or rack.  Yes, I have my delicates.  But they are few, and washed more carefully than my other garments.  I am the same way about dishes in the sink.  I wait until I have enough to spend a few minutes with my hands in hot and soapy water.  I am not in a rush to use my dishwasher, but when I do, everything is in its place.

In short, this transgender gal is a result of her masculine upbringing.  The little tasks that cisgender women are trained to do from girlhood are not tasks which I am good at.  Instead, I do "just enough" to keep things from falling apart.  In that way, I am very much like my father. I could have done worse than to have had him for a role model.

- - - - - -

Many women of my age say that a good number of men that they meet are looking for "a nurse and a purse."  One noted that a man she met was looking for another wife in the "June Cleaver" mold - someone you screw on the bed to get the housework done.  Luckily, I am not that kind of person.  All I ask for is a little bit of encouragement for me to get my needed things done, and I will do the same for her.  Thankfully, I have that in RQS. 

I had two reasons to get up, and I was glad I did

 

Strangely enough, I didn't need my alarm to wake up today.  Instead, I fell out quickly after a short bio-break, and still got moving early enough to do things during the day.  On my list was doing 2 loads of laundry, and then going out to dinner with Vicki.

Although this was going to be a Marian Mode evening, I presented as Mario when I went downstairs to do the laundry.  Two loads, and just in time.  RQS comes up tomorrow for a long weekend, and I want to make sure that she has clean sheets to put on the bed when she's here.  (It's a lot nicer for her with clean sheets, and I wait for her to arrive to put fresh ones on the bed.)  If I'm lucky, I'll find the time to fold everything before she gets here, but....

Around 6:00, I arrive at Vicki's place and we then go to Lefteris for dinner.  Vicki has lost the weight she wanted, and now should qualify for the procedure she wanted to have done several months ago.  Both of us consider Lefteris our go-to restaurant for Greek food, and both of us felt sated at the end of the meal.

As you can see, as long as I have something that motivates me to get up, I will do so.  Today was a good day for me, and I'll be looking forward to a long weekend with RQS.

Rambling on a little....

 

When I have no urgent commitments for the day, I tend to do nothing.  Today, I did it well.  My energy levels usually don't start rising until the afternoon.  And then, it's often too late to do much of anything. This was my day today. With that being said, I still got around to doing a little reading - something I don't make enough time to do. 

One of the things I usually put off doing is laundry.  Most of us tend to put this task off until we have enough whites or colors to fill a basket, and do the laundry one load at a time.  Living in an apartment, I have to do the laundry within a certain time period during the day, and it's not convenient for me. So, it's a task I put off until I have no choice but to take care of it.  And that will be the first thing I do tomorrow.

Like many procrastinators, I tend to put off certain tasks that I hate doing.  In my case, it's dealing with people.  I have to figure out how to get rid of a sofa, and feel much more comfortable communicating with emails, than to pick up a phone and talk with a human.  (Could it be a fear of having "no" told to me?  Or, is it a simple case of ambivalence?  Who knows?)  I did make a call to the Salvation Army to see if they could accept a donation of my sofa, and if they could pick it up.  Unfortunately, their phone system has people call a central number, which then gets forwarded to a regional site - and that site was busy.  No provision was made to take a message.  Then, I sent an email to a local outlet of Habitat for Humanity to ask the same question .  And this time, I got a response - the person I need to reach won't be back until after the holiday.  Until I know how and when my sofa will leave this apartment, I can't buy its' replacement.  AARGH!!!!

Given everything, I shouldn't be in a rush to spend money.  I have bills coming in, and I shouldn't touch my 401k unless I need to do so.  At least, I have this option, where many people my age don't have my resources.  Right now, I have 4 known big ticket expenses to plan for:

1. New Car
2. New Sofa
3. New Mattress
4. Norway Cruise
   

Of these, I only plan to finance the car with a bank loan - everything else will be paid for out of current income or savings.  But, I won't get financing from a dealer.  Most can't be trusted as far as one can spit.  If I see anything questionable on the deal, I will walk away - as I did last year when a dealer in Goshen, NY decided to hide a bogus $900 charge in the contract. 

You'll notice that I've said nothing about my partner or being transgender.  As I've noted elsewhere, this blog chronicles my life. Being trans or having a partner are only parts of my life.  But I do take interest in current events involving the transgender community, such as Canada's recent advisory to those in the LGBTIQ community in regard to visiting the USA.  It's sad to know that our Northern Neighbor would protect my rights more than my country would protect mine....

I misplaced my wallet, and I got scared.

 

I've had friends who have been robbed.  I've had friends who have been pick-pocketed.  And I've had friends who have lost or misplaced their wallets.  Consider me one of those who have temporarily lost a wallet, only to find out that it fell out of my trousers in a safe place.

- - - - - -

Today, I started off by taking care of some laundry that had piled up, and paid some bills.  After a couple of days spent presenting as a male, I felt that it was time to get back into a dress and go out as my authentic self.  So I looked for my wallet, in order to transfer my ID from the male wallet I was using to the female wallet I intended to use.  And then a mild feeling of panic came over me.  Could I have accidentally left it at the buffet last night?  Could it have fallen out of my pocket when getting out of the car?  Where could it have gone?  Will I have to contact DMV, my car insurance company, and my credit card companies to get replacements for what I usually carry?  

Luckily, all of this worry was for naught.  When I came up from doing the laundry, I was in male mode and my wallet was in my back pocket.  After checking all of the places where I might have put the wallet, I ran out to the car and found nothing.  At this point, I felt that I was in for an excruciating time, as I would need to start the process of replacing the contents of my wallet.  But I was in luck.  My wallet had fallen next to the toilet.  (Yecch!  Lysol, please!)

Now, I have made sure that the wallet is in a safe place, and I am ready to go out as Marian....

A trip to the store and dinner with Maria

 

I've been hemming and hawing about buying this set of frivolity.  The colors attracted me to this sleep set, and I felt that it might look strange on me.  But once I wore it for the first time, I can say that it is comfortable - and I may just wear it when RQS is not around.

But first....

Today's weather forecast was for heat and humidity.  It was not a day to go outside, nor was it a day to do anything strenuous.  So I used the already-present summer excuse, and skipped doing the laundry again.  (I'll have to do it tomorrow, as RQS will be here on Friday.)  However, I eventually got moving, as I wanted to see the above sleep set before buying it with cash.  (All my credit cards now have a zero balance, and I want to keep it that way for a while.)  So, I drove down to Lane Bryant at 3:00, and was examining the garments one last time by 3:45.  Shortly afterward, the garments were in the car, and I was on the way home.

There is one more garment that I want to buy.  But I'm not sure if I want to buy it without RQS looking at it. I wouldn't have much use for it right now.  Yet, it would be nice to have in my closet for a special occasion, such as gala night on a cruise ship.  I figure that the above dress could be dressed up a little by the use of the correct jewelry, and I think it would look good on me.  So I think RQS and I will be making a trip to the store over the weekend, weather permitting.

Rush hour starts around 4:00 pm around here, and I took a slightly convoluted way home.  Although I had just enough time to do the laundry, I left this for one of the tasks I'll do tomorrow.  Instead of laundry, I took a needed nap until it was time to meet Maria.  (In retrospect, I should have done laundry, as Maria left for the restaurant 30 minutes later than planned, giving me the extra time that would have been needed to take care of this task.) At 7:10, I left for El Coyote.  I've never had a bad meal here, and it is one of my Mexican standbys.  When I got to the restaurant, I found out that my cell phone could not connect to any service there.  (It's a common problem when indoors in some places.  I may need to buy a new phone which can work with more frequencies.  But I digress.)  So I was out of reach until I left the place.

Around 8:00, Maria finally arrived, and we both ordered Paella.  Yum!  Hopefully, the leftovers will taste at least half as good as when they were first served.  We talked for a couple of hours, and could have gone on longer.  Too bad that there was no one else in the place.  We decided to leave, though we weren't being rushed out.  Why should anyone stay late because of us.

All too soon, Maria and I parted.  Hopefully, I'll be able to introduce her to RQS soon.

Trying to get things done with no energy

 

Lately, I have been dealing with a lack of energy to do things. If I have something scheduled for the day, I have no problems getting moving.  But if not, then it is a different matter.  Over the past few days, I have felt out of sort, feeling like I was getting over a cold early last week, and then having a cough settle in my chest later on.  And a week later, this cough still lingers - even though I have been taking cough suppressant medicine to get to sleep and to make it through the day.

Considering that I will be taking a trip soon, I'm going to try to see my doctor for a last minute visit.  One problem, I also have a LONG co-op board meeting that I must attend because we are interviewing vendors and dealing with issues I won't describe here.  There is too much going on, and not enough of me to go with it.  Luckily, I found the time to do laundry tonight.

- - - - - -

Since this would be the last day for two weeks that I'd be able to present as Marian, I made sure to get out and about in the new dress I got from Universal Standard.

I love the color of the dress, but it's a little "off" for my figure, as I don't have a defined waist.  Yet, with the right cardigan over it, it'll work well for me.  So, I put the dress on, and went out to find something to eat.  Instead of heading North or East, I headed South - and ended up at a new Lefteris Gyro establishment in Hartsdale.  Yum!  After an enjoyable meal, I took my leftovers and went home before the expected rains were to come.

Once home, I changed back into Mario and took care of a last minute chore - Laundry.  Although my dresses are air drying, I still have a couple of baskets to sort and fold.  I think I'll try to do this during the co-op board meeting, as the co-op president has asked another board member to take notes for a change, and give me a much needed break.

A day to myself (sort of)

 

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

- Ferris Bueller 

 

- - - - - -

Today was one of those days that I did almost nothing ...at first.  But once I got moving, I was able to take care of an errand related to last night's overflow and take care of some food shopping I needed to do this weekend.

Lately, I've been hanging out in my apartment when I have nothing outside to keep me busy.  Friends have had to reschedule dinners, leaving days open for me that I couldn't fill with meaningful activity. And that gave me the freedom to take care of an emergency laundry run, cleaning the bath towels I used to sop up last night's mess.

When I started my laundry, I decided to walk outside to see if the neighbor's car was in the driveway.  It it was, I'd likely have nothing to worry about from them in regard to last night's problem.  But it wasn't there.  So I figured that I'd bring this up when I see them next, as I'd rather take care of things myself than to get the co-op involved.

After my laundry was done, it was time to go to Walmart to pick up a few things.  While in Walmart, TCL called.  I returned her call once I got out of Walmart, and chatted all the way to the nearby Stop & Shop. And that's where I bought food for the beginning of the week, so that RQS and I do not have to go out to eat as soon as she comes here on Monday.

- - - - - -

One thing I've noted lately is that I often do not have much to say.  I find that I'm healthier not having one former friend in my life, as her problems occasionally took on a life of their own in my head.  That's something I don't need at this stage of life.  I have enough on my plate, and it's enough to bore some people to sleep. 😉

 

All I did today was bake brownies and launder some clothes - a short post

 

This is the way I felt today.  I was not in the mood to get up and get dressed, much less leave the house. Yet, I ended up doing a couple of loads of laundry and bake a tray of brownies for tomorrow's game night.

- - - - - -

The good and bad thing about doing laundry in my building is that I must go up and down 2 flights of stairs a minimum of 3 times on laundry days.  This means I get a little bit of exercise (very little) each time I take care of this chore.  Yet, it seems to get harder and harder over the years, as I still want to carry two full baskets up and down the stairs, and feel less comfortable (safe?) doing this.  This is one chore I usually do in Mario mode, as I do it on days I don't feel like putting on my make up and going out in the world as Marian.

Once I was done with laundry, I started on the task of baking brownies.  A while back, I found a recipe for 2-ingredient Nutella brownies.  Tonight, I took out my mixing bowl, my hand blender, a baking pan I could put in my toaster oven, Nutella and 8 eggs.  75 minutes later, I had some tasty goodies I'll be bringing to game night/

- - - - - -

One possible bit of good news for me - due to a change of plans, RQS may be joining me for game night tomorrow.  I'd have rather had her enjoy herself throwing some clay and honing her pottery skills. But this change of plans was not one either of us would have chosen.  We've been given some lemons, and we're trying to make some lemonade.

When I started to write this post, I had nothing to say.

 

As I've said in a previous post, this is how I wish I could make my face look.  When I told RQS about the website that allowed me to transform my masculine face into a feminine face, she wondered how she would look as a male.  Today, I finished work on the edit, removing extra hair from "her" face to look like a typical male - and "she" looked like she could have been her father's brother!  If I were into males, I'd be attracted to RQS's male image.  I guess that no matter what gender we were born into, we'd still find each other attractive.

- - - - - -

Right now, I'm relaxing in my apartment, catching up on things.  I was pleased to find that our co-op's site representative sent out a mailing on time, as directed.  (I thought that he wouldn't realize how time sensitive the material was, and would have waited for a go-ahead before a second edit review to send it out.)  Now, we're on track to take care of some business in a timely manner.

Sometime later in the day, I'll be taking care of laundry.  Although I have two loads to put away, I have (at least) another two loads to catch up on things.  It's one of those "might as well" tasks that I can take care of when I have nothing urgent to do and need to get something done to feel good about the day. 

And this triggered the thought of a conversation I had last night....

A friend of mine has family duties (that I won't describe here) that limits the activities she can do to earn money. I said that I would look up an acquaintance from my Census days and see if she still has contacts for work that my friend can do at home.  Hopefully, I'll be able to help this friend.

 

 

Catching up on chores

 

It wasn't the nicest of days today. So I opted for a day indoors, and decided to take care of 4 loads of laundry waiting to be done.  Given that it was cold and wet, I saw no point in getting dressed and going out as Marian today.  Instead, I figured that I would take care of things around the apartment and catch up on chores that needed to be taken care of.

- - - - - -

Unlike some TG people, I keep my male and female wardrobes separate and rarely share anything between the wardrobes excepting socks.  So this forces me to take an extra step when I do laundry.  Before washing clothes, I separate whites from colors.  After drying clothes, I separate male from female clothes and store them accordingly.

Why do I mention this?

Recently, I met an acquaintance who blends items from both male and female sides of the closet. It's hard enough for me to keep things straight when switching between gender presentations without having to worry if a garment pairing appears too masculine or feminine.  In some areas of this country, people have been beaten up for much less than an androgynous gender presentation.  So, seeing this friend reminded me of why I do not blend my gender presentations, and why I work to make my feminine presentation as authentic as possible - as if I were a cisgender woman wearing the same clothes.

- - - - - -

I try to make my feminine presentation as accurate as possible, so that I will be mistaken for a cisgender female 99% of the time.  This would make it possible for me to visit my friends in Texas - if I were willing to take the chance to do so.  Right now, whenever I go on a cruise as Marian, I think that the cruise line's facial recognition technology spits out an error code when it scans my photo, triggering a new picture of me to be taken when I arrive at the cruise terminal.  It's too bad that I don't have feminine fat distribution.  I would love to have a zaftig woman's T&A - if only so that I can wear a woman's skirted bathing suit or garments that expose my cleavage, without my biological gender being revealed. 

There are many things that make it possible to blend in as a woman.  First comes confidence.  Next comes the quality of presentation. And finally, one needs to be comfortable in her own skin.  With the exception of having a large body, I think I do well enough to avoid having major problems. (At least, I hope so.)  With that being said, I'd like to have legal ID that corresponds to an ambiguous gender presentation (including name), save for my gender marker.  That would be good enough for 99% of the times I need to present an ID card in public.

One can dream....

Metropolitan Museum of Art w. Sophie

 

This is far from the most flattering picture of Sophie (of the blog "A Woman Named Sophie").  But I feel that it shows her as the thinking person that she is.  Both of us have advanced degrees, and both of us have a curiosity about life that is best illustrated by this picture of her examining an Egyptian relic at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

- - - - - -

A couple of weeks ago, Sophie mentioned that she'd be coming into NYC for a couple of days, and that she'd be available to get together today.  I knew that this would be a rare treat, and that I'd be putting off long delayed tasks originally planned for today (e.g. post-cruise laundry) to see her.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was totally exhausted when I came home from Hawaii, and all that I needed was rest.  But, Sophie was only available today.  So I chose to meet her at Grand Central, then take the bus to the Met.

Sophie had driven here from her home in Pennsylvania, and became painfully aware of the headaches of both driving and parking in NYC.  She needed a little time to get settled down before we got together. So we decided to meet at 2 pm at Grand Central, then proceed to the Met from there.  After taking a while to find out where to buy tickets from a human (Residents of NY, NJ, and CT can pay what they wish, all others pay full price for admission), we went to the ticket booth and ended up paying a New Yorker's rate for both tickets.  

Although my main interest was in the Egyptian artifacts, Sophie's spread through several areas - and was reasonably knowledgeable in these areas.  (Shame on me for only becoming interested in art later in life.)  

In the end, it was the Egyptian artifacts that held our interest.  After visiting the Temple of Dendur, it was time to leave, and we decemped for Greenwich Village.  We ended up eating at a BBQ joint off of 7th avenue, and both of us noted how salty the food was.  But is sure was tasty! All too soon, it was time to go.  Sophie went back to her hotel, and I went to my apartment.  Hopefully, it won't be too long before we meet again.  

When I got home, it was time to go to the supermarket to pick up some food for the week.  While shopping, a woman asked me if it was hot in the store.  I mentioned that I was feeling comfortable, and she ended up talking about her menopausal hot flashes, as if I were a 65 y/o woman who already went through the change.  Little did she know how much of a change I've gone through so far!  Although it was a short conversation, it was a confirmation of my femininity.  (Even RQS got a kick out of this when I mentioned it in our evening chat.)

Day 09 - Boston, MA

 

Boston. Today, we'd meet RQS's friend and go to see "Old Ironsides".

- - - - - -

We’re supposed to see one of RQS's friends, and I don’t know what to expect from this friend. RQS mentioned things about this friend that might bother me in other circumstances. Luckily, we would have a short time with her, and have the rest of the day for ourselves.

Around 9:15, we met up with her friend and toured “Old Ironsides” in a drizzling rain. We found a subtle way to get her friend to drive us back to our ship before taking a nap. Shortly after reaching our room, we had a knock on the door - my laundry had arrived. $15 for a full bag wasn’t bad ($29 with a 50% discount for my Gold Latitudes level.) But I’d never pay $5.00 to get a T-shirt laundered on board, so I was simply being careful to combine discounts where possible. RQS and I are now seriously talking about where to cruise next. However, we both realize that her cats will be a complication for us when we decide to cruise again.

Day 08 - Portland, ME

 

One of these days, I'll get the chance to take this tourist train. Like most of these trains, the ride is overpriced. But the money goes for a good purpose - to keep the history of passenger railroading alive.

- - - - - -

Neither of us wanted to get up early enough for the "sit down" breakfast. We ended up heading to the buffet for another large breakfast. (We’ll both need to diet after this trip!) While at breakfast, I decided to send a bag to the ship’s laundry, as I didn’t want to wash both a load of whites and a load of colors when I returned home. After breakfast, we ordered some photos of the two of us, and returned to the cabin to wait until we reached Portland. While in the cabin, I stuffed a bit of dirty laundry into the paper bag and asked the room steward to take care of it.

When we reached Portland, we did the compulsory meeting with US Immigration Service before leaving the ship to explore the shore front. We walked along the main drag and found a tolerable place to have some clam chowder. (We should have skipped the nachos we ordered with the chowder bowls.) Then, we walked back to the ship to rest.

After our nap, it was off to the Hibachi Specialty restaurant on the ship. This was a mistake, as we've had better Hibachi on land. If we had thought about things, we would have visited this place one night later, as both of us were too full from lunch to enjoy this meal properly. 

Accomplishing much and nothing at the same time.

 

If I could find the original negative for the above picture, I'd develop a larger photo from it and frame thhe picture.  This is how I remember the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, and it's how I'd like to see it when I visit again.

Why do I mention this?

RQS and I have been talking about going on a cruise to New England and Canada's Maritime Provinces.  Halifax, NS will be one of our stops on the cruise, and I will insist on visiting Peggy's Cove while we are in port.  However, until I decide to leave my job, I can't tell RQS that it's time to book the cruise.

- - - - - -

Today, I was trying to stay awake during my shift at the office. While there, someone had moved a non functioning refrigerator into the center of the break room, so that a replacement unit could be slid into the spot occupied by the old unit.  Now, we will have enough room to cold store our lunches, instead of trying to cram them all into a small refrigerator that didn't have enough room for all of us.

After work, it was off to the dentist's office for a tooth cleaning.  This was the least expensive visit I have had for a while.  Afterwards, I ended up going home to do laundry.  What an exciting evening!  Not much was done today, and yet, I got some needed things done....

Sometimes, even buying something as simple as a bar of soap can be a pain

 

As I often do these days, this is going to be a quick post.

One of the things I have found out is that Fels Naptha soap is both a great stain remover AND that it is a great soap for travelers to pack.  However, most people are not comfortable with this soap, and it has gone out of style in most areas.

Most people who know me know that I pick up weird bits of information.  And I plan to do a bit more traveling in the near future.  This means that I might need to launder some garments in the sink if I'm on a long trip, such as a Panama Canal cruise.  Given that only one of the cruise lines I've traveled on equips their ships with washers/dryers available to the cruisers, I figure that I'll need a bar of this soap when I take a long cruise.

There is a problem with my plan.  It's almost impossible to find this soap in most stores, and it sells out quickly on Amazon.  So I'll have to keep my eyes open, and buy it when I see it available.

Meetups

 

The above picture is from last year's FTF Prom Meetup.  It's a good group to hang out with, but one from which I am drifting away.  Lately, my weekends are filled with time spent with RQS.  And that's a good thing.  Unlike my previous relationship, RQS is comfortable with me as Marian, though she prefers to see Mario.  This is not a problem for me, as we are learning where each other's limits are in this and other areas of life.

Although I will still go to Yonkers game nights, my heart isn't in the games anymore.  Instead, my heart is into being with people who accept me for who and what I am.  Other meetup groups have mostly fallen by the wayside, as I don't have the interest in spending that much time in these groups, nor do I have the need to use meetups as a way of being with people.

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Tonight, I attended a small meetup at a local craft brewery which held a few games of bingo hosted by a drag queen.  It was interesting to hear the Queen mention an old, now closed, gay bar - "It's been a long while since I've seen you at the B Lounge."  That's one person who had me pegged.  But I had a good time, even though I still have to deal with issues related to buying a new car, getting all parts of Medicare insurance set up (A, B, D, & G), and getting my laundry done before RQS comes here for the weekend.  Will I go to tomorrow's food truck meetup?  Maybe.  But I need to have everything ready to go for laundry to make that happen....

Wings!

 

The origin of the Buffalo Wing is rather humble.  However, no one seems to agree on which origin story is true.  I figure that the most likely place where the dish originated was at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY.  However, this is in dispute.

Tonight, I went to a meetup at the White Plains Buffalo Wild Wings franchise,  The chain has a simple, basic bar menu - and lots of choices for spicing the wings.  This is not a place where I'd trust Fish & Chips if it were on the menu.  But I'd trust a Cheeseburger there, if I weren't in the mood for wings.

This meetup group has several regulars, including at least one person who is visually impaired.  Tonight, two attendees were using canes, even though both had partial sight.  So it was interesting to see how these two people functioned among the sighted.  What was more interesting was that in one meetup group, that this legally blind person was asked NOT to bring his seeing eye dog.  What F'ing nerve!!!  

The issue of service animals came up when I mentioned the problem our co-op has had with Emotional Service Animals (ESAs) and people who want to use this designation to have a pet in a pet-free building.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this blind man supported my view that an Emotional Support Animal should go through the same kind of intensive training to be considered a service animal that performs a therapeutic function for its owner.  

All too early, I had to leave the group - I had 2 loads of laundry to get done, and not enough time left to do it.  Luckily, I got home early enough to get my loads in before my laundry basket turned into a pumpkin.