The second day of the heatwave - more brutal than the first.

I hate hot weather with a passion.  And when the thermometer reaches 104 degrees, not even my apartment's A/C couldn't keep up with the heat from outside.  At least, my car's A/C could keep up with the heat - even when doing a drive which averages 37+ mph.  But I digress.

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The day opened up slowly, and I didn't get moving until 1 pm.  RQS wouldn't be arriving until 7, so I had time to do some minimal cleanup in the apartment.  By the time I was ready to go out, it was 4 pm, and my task was to pick up lobsters.  ShopRite had them on sale, and we take advantage of these sales at least once every season.  So off to the nearby store for me, and they only had 1 lobster left.  That would not be enough for 2 people.  The man behind the counter suggested that I try the store in Mohegan Lake - which I did.  The lobster tank was full, and I came home with 5 lobsters and a newly emptied wallet.  (I went to the ATM on the way home to refresh my money supply.)  Once home, the lobsters went into the ice box, and I found the equipment needed to steam the critters to perfection.,

RQS arrived at 7:15, and she had forgotten her medicine at home.  Instead of doing without, I said we could make a drive to Queens much later in the evening.  So, we proceeded home and started to cook the lobsters.  In this heat, boiling or steaming lobsters would be a big mistake, as it adds way too much heat to my top floor apartment.  But the savings from eating in vs. eating out at a local restaurant made this splurge worthwhile.

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When the clock struck 10, we got moving and drove to Queens.  Normally, getting to RQS's place takes roughly 2 hours.  Tonight, with minimal traffic, it took just a little more than an hour.  Yet, it was a little scary, as I noticed that I was a little tired and not at the top of my driving game.  Couple this with an excessive number of people driving like they were in a NASCAR event, and it could have been a recipe for disaster. (There were unlicensed motorbikes weaving through traffic on the urban parkways, as well as souped up cars zig-zagging through narrow gaps between cars on the suburban roads.)  Even RQS was shocked about how crazy the roads were on the drive down and back.  After a 10 minute stop at RQS's place, we returned home without incident. And even though I was legally speeding on the full trip down and back, the car got 37 mpg.  

Arriving home before 1 am, we noticed that the A/C had finally cooled off the apartment.  We'll have to depend on foods that don't depend on stove top or oven cooking this weekend if we want to stay cool.  So, I'm hoping for this heatwave to break soon!    

City Island Dinner with Vicki

     

City Island is nautical hamlet off the coast of New York City's mainland borough, The Bronx. It still has a small town feel, even though it is in America's biggest city.  The reason why most visitors come to this out of the way part of NYC is its collection of Seafood Restaurants.  And this is where Vicki and I planned to head today.

It was nice to get dressed as Marian again.  Unfortunately, it was a little bit too cool to go out in one of my summer frocks.  Instead, I took out a dress and a pair of leggings that I wear during the winter, threw on a light denim jacket, and drove to Vicki's place to pick her up.

Normally, Vicki does much of the driving.  But her car was in the shop for warranty repair.  Given how much the repair would cost if not under warranty, I'm glad that she is still  covered by her manufacturer's warranty.  Otherwise, she'd be spending 40% of the car's original cost to fix it.

I picked Vicki up a few minutes after 6, and we started catching up on things.  It was nice to be able to tell Vicki about our cruise, and the disembarkation day problems.  And she mentioned things I won't cover here.  Arriving at the restaurant around 7, we sat down to order our food - a lobster plate for each of us, with a calamari dish we could share.  Yum!

We had to rush back to Vicki's after dinner, as she has a couple of dogs to care for.  But we'll be having dinner again soon, as RQS, Vicki and I will be feasting somewhere nearby. 

The remainder of a nice weekend (a short post)

 

But baby, it's cold outside...

Being serious, it felt cold outside.  It finally feels like winter is just around the corner, and the two of us finally needed our warmer coats to go outside.

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Sunday came, and I decided not to go to church.  Although I could have done so, I was not in the mood to shower and wear a dress on the coldest day of the season.  Instead, I turned off the alarm, turned over, and went back to sleep for a while.

When I finally got up, I proceeded to the living room to start my wake-up process and have a little bite to eat.  RQS was up about an hour after I was, and we relaxed most of the day.  Since we had to make a run to Kohl's to make an exchange, we knew we had to get out the door before closing.  (Little did we know that they were on Holiday Hours.)  So, we got showered and dressed (sadly, with me in Mario mode), and proceeded to Kohl's.  Thirty minutes later, RQS was out with her haul.  And then, it was over to Shoprite.

I've been to almost all of the supermarkets within a 30 minute drive of my house.  So I proceeded to the seafood department and ordered 3 lobsters.  These were feisty critters, and they likely had just molted.  We expected lobsters that would be easy to crack open and tasty to eat.  And we were right.  For the most part, we barely needed our lobster crackers, and we had some of the best lobster we ever ate at home.

Monday would come, and I'd have to drive her to the train station to go home.  But as Scarlett O'Hara might say: "Tomorrow is another day."

  

My brother says it's time for another Lobster Dinner

 

Normally, RQS and I joke about not being able to get to the Lobster Truck for our crustacean fix.  It's been a running joke of ours for quite a while, as we have often been away when the truck is near one of us.  Tonight, my brother said that we should get together over the holiday weekend (which should have passed by the time you read this) and go out for dinner.  This fouled up my plans for the weekend, but it is a good opportunity to feast.

Due to expected holiday related traffic, I'd have to drive down to RQS's place the day before the holiday and find a parking spot before all of the available spots are taken up by residents of her area.  And then, we'd drive out to Long Island to meet my brother, then spend more time getting to the restaurant where we'd be feasting.

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My original plan for the week was to take care of Monday tasks (dropping RQS off at her place, bringing in a printer for factory service, and doing laundry), then apply polish to my fingernails.  Well, my brother's call shot the nail polish idea to hell until the weekend.  But it did give more time to share with RQS, even though it took away a day I'd spend in a dress. Is it worth it to wear trousers to enjoy lobster on someone else's dime?  Yes.  My sister in law will not be home for at least one month (long story, best not told here right now).  So my brother is all alone.  That means that I must make some time to be with him. 

Working in a job which will de-materialize in a month or two is very stressful.  The firm my brother works for misled him about the time he'd end up working.  He told them that he was taking the job to have more time with his wife.  (Not exactly true, but a good excuse for switching jobs.)  Yet, he was working 60 hour weeks at his peak.  He is burnt out.  Yet, unless he finds something, he is stuck in his hell hole until they execute a planned employee purge.

When I talked with RQS this evening, I said that I was very glad we are both retired.  Several years ago, a degree in Computer Science would guarantee that a graduate would land a high paying job.  Today, it's another almost worthless piece of paper due to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution.  There is no way I could retool and compete in this world.  Yet, my brother has to rush to build up his nest egg so that he can retire.

At least, this upcoming weekend's lobster dinner will be expensed to the business we jointly own, and not come out of this retiree's wallet....

A visit to see my brother

 

I don't get the chance to see my brother that often, and this was one time I knew he needed to talk with me. Without saying too much, he has both an important career decision to make and a decision that will affect his peace of mind.  So, I knew that I had to see him immediately after leaving RQS this evening.

Normally, I am not under any time constraints when leaving RQS's place, save that I have to be aware of alternate side of the street parking rules and on which side of the street my car is parked.  However, I knew I had to reach my brother's place by 5, so that we could get to dinner by 6.  Just as I was walking out the door, my brother called - and I told him I'd be there shortly.  

Arriving at my brother's place around 5, we chatted for a while, and then proceeded to a seafood restaurant in Oceanside, NY - Jordan Lobster Farms.  As much as I didn't need another big meal, it was hard to resist clams on the half shell, clam chowder, and a 1 1/2 pound lobster.  YUM!  We talked about many things:  career, family, friendships, and pastimes. We also talked about my uncle, who I will be visiting in April.  

All too soon, this visit had to end.  I drove back to my apartment to find several things on my doorstep, one of which was a pair of large door stoppers which I'll be using to keep my refrigerator door closed until I can properly level the device.  (Too bad I forgot about the shims my brother had saved for me back at his place.)  Although there was more that I could have brought in at the time, I left some stuff in the hall to retrieve in the morning.