A social day for Marian

 

This was a day where I knew I'd be spending the day as Marian.  So I made sure that I'd be wearing a comfortable dress when I went out for lunch (but not the dress above).  But I had one thing I wanted to do, but didn't for reasons I'll mention later.

My first appointment in my calendar was meeting with CCS, my friend from the census, for lunch. Since she exercises with a personal trainer on Wednesdays, we decided to have lunch after her session.  This meant that I'd be having a late lunch. The day's plan was to have me start moving around 11, and leave the house by 1:15 pm for lunch.  While I was getting dressed, I got a call from Vicki suggesting that we meet for lunch today.  So what did I do?  I scheduled dinner with Vicki for tomorrow, and had lunch with CCS today. 

I arrived at the Ossining pizzeria around 1:30, and found CCS already sitting in a booth.  Both of us ordered hearty meals with dessert, and I was stuffed by the end of our meal.  We caught each other up on the things happening in our lives, including RQS's visit to the ER, and CCS's family reunion during Passover in Atlantic City.  By 3:30, we were finishing lunch, and scheduled next month's get together before parting our ways.

Next, I was too tired to take care of one errand I had planned for the day - going to Costco and getting a membership card with Marian's image on it.  (I have one with Mario's face on it.)  So I went home, and went into a digesting sleep for a couple of hours.  

After I regained full consciousness, I prepared for a Zoom meeting with RQS and our Texas friends.  It was a good meeting, and everyone had something to say. At 9:45, I ended the meeting, and finally had a chance to rid my face of the makeup I was wearing for almost 10 hours....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running to Queens for a phone

 

RQS has been discombobulated this past week, all because of a medical issue.  And that has resulted in a sort of mental fog which has caused both forgetfulness and clumsiness which have been frustrating at least.  Yesterday was the culmination of a week where the brain fog cost us both time and money.... 

- - - - - -

Our plans for the day were to wake up at 6 am, so that we could get to RQS's neighborhood by 10 am.  This is where we were to pick up her phone at the store of a fellow who found it.  So, when the alarm woke me at 6, I fiddled around a little, and then prepared to go out for the day as Marian.  RQS followed suit, and by 8:15, we were out the door and headed for Queens.  Both of us were relatively silent, as we weren't fully awake yet.

Arriving in Queens, we had a minor disagreement (do not stress that word, it was a light difference of opinion) as to where we had to go.  Thankfully, we had Google Maps to guide us - the store we had to go to was on the other side of the subway station.  If we didn't follow directions, we'd have wasted a few minutes getting back to where we needed to go.  So I parked the car in front of the store, and RQS came back with her phone and all of her cards.

We had time to kill before lunch with friends.  So it was off to the bookstore to have some coffee and to buy a book or two.  On the way, we had to stop at an ATM and get some money.  Luckily, both the bank we needed and the bookstore were in the same neighborhood, and we didn't have to drive too far before being able to settle down with a cup of Joe.

Next, it was off to White Plains. We were lucky to get there when we did, as they were starting to reroute traffic for a St. Patty's Day celebration.  (Why they didn't wait until the next weekend befuddles me, as it would have been March 15th, and not March 8th.)  This eliminated the cheap 2-hour metered parking that we wanted, and forced us to use the "expensive" parking lot under the building the restaurant was housed in.  Once parked, we met our friends and had a great lunch.  I won't say too much about this couple, save that they are as ethnically mixed as RQS and I, and that we have similar feelings about the world.   

Finally, we were on our way home around 3:30.  After a quick drugstore visit, we were home for the night.  And even here, the fog still affected RQS, as she lost some stuff she'll need to replace tomorrow. Let's hope that the fog has completely lifted when she wakes up in the morning.

Although I took it easy today, I had things to do.

 

A while back, I met this woman and scheduled a lunch together.  I had a weird feeling about her, as she was asking me a lot of questions that one usually doesn't ask in the early stages of a friendship.  Although we said we'd meet again, this never happened.  And I think that this was good luck for me, as something didn't feel right about her, making me glad that I had already frozen my credit report a few months beforehand.

Why do I mention this today?

I've been getting weird feelings about what is happening in this country.  Last night, I watched a clip from a senate hearing, where a Democratic senator asked one of the Orange Snowflake's loyalists: Given the President's actions in regard to Ukraine (as well as other actions), do you think the man holding that office is a Russian Asset?  Of course, the loyalist ducked answering the question.  In a way, we have our answer, and us transgender folk should be planning our lives accordingly, given Russia's feelings about the LGBTIQ community  My big question is - why aren't more people talking about this?

But onto other things....

This was a day where I didn't get out of bed until 11 am, and even then, didn't get moving until 1 pm.  So, I started to clean out some more stuff from behind the loveseat, and filled up a donation bag which can go to Green Drop on Saturday.  It's amazing how many garments I had stored that I no longer wear. So, out the door it goes.

And then, it was time to get showered and dressed to go to a meetup. I arrived at 6:30, and only 4 people had arrived.  By 6:45, we had a total of 10 people, including DS from the Yonkers gaming meetup.  When DS arrived, she mentioned that she couldn't deal with political talk, and for the most part, we didn't do so.  But then, someone made a mistake, and DS left quicker than a speeding bullet.  I mentioned to the ladies who were left that DS is very unhappy with her present job, and probably has to hear a lot of BS coming from her idiot boss about the orange snowflake.  We got quiet for a minute, as everyone realized what happened, and then we got to venting about the latest atrocity the snowflake has thought up.

Right now, I'm not so sure of what I should say to DS, as I want to apologize for not reading her correctly, and not steering others away from this topic.  It's a sick thing, what the snowflake is doing to this country, and I fear that things will get much worse before things get better....

I never used a debit card, and see where that got me.

 

As I've mentioned before, my brother and I own a rental property on Long Island.  After several years of renting the house to tenants, we made the decision to replace the washer and dryer as we refresh the place for our next set of tenants.  Today, I would have bought the above laundry set, save that the debit card for the joint account had expired.

- - - - - -

I was originally scheduled to meet RO for lunch today.  However, her sister is having health problems, and she must help her sister out in time of need.  But where did this leave me?  I now had a free day where I could order a washer/dryer combination and schedule delivery for a time convenient for me to be in Long Island.  So, I decided to get dressed as Mario and drive to Yonkers.

Once in Yonkers, I made sure to check whether there would be any problems with the card, as both ATM cards could be connected to both my personal and our joint account.  (I wanted 2 cards, so that my personal card would always link to my personal checking account, and that the "business" card would always link to the joint account.)  Well, when I went to the ATM, I found that the business card had expired.  Since I wasn't going to use my personal account for the transaction, I called my brother and told him about this glitch, and said that I'd send him the information about the washer/dryer that he now had to buy.

Since I no longer had to go into the appliance store, I figured that I'd go to the cell phone store and pick up some swag they were giving away.  Unlike past swag offers, they were not giving away this item at all of their stores.  I just got lucky and got mine at the store in Yonkers that was near the bank.  And then, I was on my way home for the night.

- - - - - -

Having arrived home, I rested for a while before opening the co-op board meeting.  It's now a pleasure to have meetings that last only 2 hours.  However, we still have a lot of problems to deal with, as we're still dealing with the fallout from our prior managing agent's mismanagement of things.  While on this zoom meeting, I received a message from DCD's ex girlfriend. (I'll call her NDC for now.)   His tumor has returned - bigger than ever.  So, I ended up chatting with her for an hour or so, and found out more details about his life.  His mom bailed out his car, but kicked him out of the house.  Now, he mostly lives out of his car, going to his ex's house to wash and clean up.  This has put some stress into her relationship with her current boyfriend.  She effectively has a grown up stray that needs taking care of, and she (with current boyfriend) have set boundaries for taking care of this stray.  Hopefully, when he goes into the hospital for his next surgery and for chemo, they will be stuck with the responsibility of finding a hospice for him to spend his final days.

While we're talking about DCD, I have to mention that NDC emailed DCD's mom to tell her about DCD's health concerns.  NDC feels that almost everyone in DCD's family orbit is a little F'd up to say the least.  His mom has a room which was prepared for her late husband to spend his final days, and won't let DCD stay there for his final days.  DCD's kids know that he's not long for this world, yet they won't renew contact with him.  (NDC has no idea of why DCD's kids hate him, but we think it's because of DCD's ex wife poisoning the well of affection between them.)  DCD's ex wife may have felt that she could have found a better man, and her resentment could have been the root cause of their divorce.  Strangely enough, DCD's ex was the only person in his current and former family to show an inkling of caring for each other.

When DCD dies, and I expect it to happen this year, I will attend the funeral (if I'm not on a cruise) in female presentation. NDC has only seen me as Marian, though she knows I'm transgender.  DCD's family will not remember me, much less realize anything is amiss.  It'll be a sad day, but it'll be the least I can do to pay my respects.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise - Sea Day (01/30/25)

Another sea day, and we woke up late enough to barely miss breakfast in the main dining room.  As usual, the buffet was crowded, and had little to interest us.  

But first...

As this cruise winds down, I find myself looking forward to being home again.  No, it's not that this is a bad cruise.  Instead, it's because I'm looking forward to my old routine, and to seeing friends in Marian mode. With this being said, I'll miss lunches and dinners where the utensils are changed with every service.  I'll miss someone making up my bed and replacing my towels after I leave the cabin for a while.  I'll miss being able to visit new places, and not having to do much of anything to get there.

Today's lunch was Italian themed.  It was not a big difference from the usual lunches on sea days, save that the menu was presented differently than would be on a normal sea day.  After 8 days of being on the ship, I'm starting to get tired of all this rich food coming my way.  One thing I can say about this cruise is that if you are going hungry. it's all your fault.

After lunch, it was back to the cabin where I caught up a little on my reading. All too soon, it was time for dinner.  Once we were seated, we chatted with the Maitre D', and found out that our friends from the first 2 nights on the ship have been eating in the buffet, as they have more vegan offerings that the gentleman could eat.  However, he'd likely be coming to dinner tomorrow, as it's another Gala Night.

Finally, after a chance to rest, it was time to see the comedian for a late night show.  It's the one time I want to be out of the cabin after 10 pm.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise - Port Day (01/26/25 - Puerto Plata, DR)

 

The ship made port at 12:00 noon, and we made it to lunch at the same time.  We were in no hurry to do much of anything, and there would be no need to hurry until the end of the cruise.  So, there was only one drawback for me in waking up early - there was no uncut fresh fruit in the room for me to nosh on to sate my hunger.

- - - - - -

We went to the main dining room for lunch, and this time, service wasn't bad.  Yes, there was a minor mistake.  But it was nothing to complain about.  (Later on, we'd find that 90 people started their contracts with this sailing.  No wonder why service in the dining rooms was iffy at times.)  After lunch, it was again time to relax.  So we went upstairs to the buffet, where we could read in someplace other than our cabin.

Around 5:30, it was time to go to dinner, and our new friends weren't there.  I guess either of 3 things happened:

1. They were still dealing with the aftermath of the water pipe bursting at home, and were still making calls from the ship to see that their home gets fixed.
   
   
2. They flew home from the DR, so that they could deal with their issues in person.
   
   
3. They were tired of dining with us (RQS deems this doubtful), and found another table (and time) to dine at.
   

It felt strange to have a table for 6 to ourselves.  But we enjoyed the meal anyway.

- - - - - -

After another trip back to our room, we went to the theater to see a performer (LsShonda Reese) sing a set of songs by James Brown, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and others.  She was a good singer, but I wouldn't have spent money to see her perform - at least, not in a cruise ship environment.

As usual, we now are finding that our next door cabin resident regularly leaves her scooter in the hallway.  Do I like this?  No.  But there's nothing I want to do about this.  It's a pain to house the scooter in the room.  Yet, I feel that she should have booked an "Accessible Cabin" to deal with this issue beforehand. This is something I will bring up when I write a letter to the cruise line's customer service department.  I don't want to get anyone in trouble (especially not our room steward), but I think the cruise line needs a policy for this, as not all cabin entryways have room to park 1 scooter, much less 2 scooters.

Tomorrow, we will be in Puerto Rico, and we may finally get off the ship.

 

Lunch and Dinner, or: Where are the police when you need them?

 

I had two things on the docket for today.  But the thing of most interest today was an accident that almost happened.

- - - - -

I woke up around 9 am, not having much sleep last night.  So I took my time getting ready to go out to see Vicki for a late lunch.  But first, I had to shovel out the snow around my car.  That involved getting dressed as Mario, clearing the show off the car, and shoveling a clear path to the plowed section of the driveway.  Luckily, the snow wasn't too heavy, and I was able to get this done in 20 minutes.

After a brief stop for breakfast, I went home to shower and get dressed as Marian.  And then, it was off to Mt. Kisco to meet Vicki for lunch.  Arriving at the restaurant, I found that the meters weren't working today, as it was a Federal holiday.  Even though I was glad to see Vicki, I really wasn't in the mood to talk politics, as there's nothing we could do to avoid the upcoming 4 year disaster.

Once done with lunch, I drove over to Route 684, and was about to make a "California Stop" at the light for a right turn on red, so that I could get on the highway.  There was a police car to my left and an idiot that sped up along the shoulder and almost hit me as I was starting to make a right turn onto the highway.  (If I had started movement to the entrance ramp even 1 second earlier, my car would have been totaled.)  As I made my turn, the police car turned across traffic, sped past me, then pulled the idiot over before he got on the highway.  Boy, was I relieved!  The idiot was about to get what he rightly deserved - a very expensive ticket!

Next, I killed time at Starbucks before going to the meetup for dinner. Unfortunately, most of the people who reserved a place at dinner bailed without notice, and only 3 of us were there for dinner.  By the time I finished my cheeseburger, I was stuffed.  I couldn't eat another bite. 

On the way home, my brother and I chatted about the house we rent out.  Now that the tenants are gone, there are some improvements we may make.  Will it cost money?  Yes.  But we should recoup our money relatively quickly.  And then he got to talking about what should happen when my sister in law passes (hopefully, she will go first).  It makes sense for him to sell his homestead at that time due to the $500k tax exclusion he'd have that year, then take some of his capital gains to buy me out.  He'd live in the family homestead for a few years, and then repeat the process to get more tax free money out of his home equity.  

It was a good day.  But it certainly didn't go as I expected. 

- - - - - -

On other matters....

Sadly, the Orange Snowflake has been inaugurated, and he has already made some anti-transgender statements.  Hopefully, my readers who have needed to get their gender marker on their personal IDs updated, have already done so before today.  I think it will be at least 4 years before people will be able to do this for Federally issued documents again.

I can't believe I ate the whole thing....

 

 
I was supposed to meet my friend from the census for lunch today.  However, I screwed things up in confirming our get together, and we had to postpone things for 3 weeks.  There is much I had to talk about, and I guess that will have to wait until we recover from holiday season.  But this didn't stop me from having a nice meal out.  No, No, No!  I ended up having lunch at the Mexican joint down the hill from me, and spent money that I didn't need to spend.

It was not easy for me to get up and ready for dinner with the meetup group.  My bed was comfortable, and I was lying on a heating pad being used to help me deal with some back pain I've had for the past couple of days.  Yet, I made sure to get dressed again, and out the door for a second restaurant meal of the day.

Finding a parking space at the lot in back of the restaurant was impossible. Almost everyone seemed to be having their holiday dinners.  Instead of circling the lot for an hour or so, I went to the new parking garage across the street from the first lot, then walked to the restaurant in the rain.  (Too bad that there was no place to put the umbrella when I got to my table, but I digress....)  Of the 4 people who were there when I arrived, I didn't know anyone.  But soon the people I knew came to the table.  

My stomach must be getting smaller, as I was filled after eating a small bowl of chili with chips.  Yet, I had a light salad afterwards - something I wish I had skipped.  Too bad that the restaurant was crowded, as it took forever to get my food.  I'd have liked someone to bus the table earlier, so I didn't have my dirty plates sitting in front of me.  Luckily, the person next to me wasn't eating, so she didn't mind me spreading out a little.

Being in a loud restaurant with a lot of noise isn't pleasing to me.  So, once I paid my bill, I was out the door and on the way home.  Did I enjoy the day?  Not that much.  But I did enjoy some of the food....

 

PS: If you can't remember where I got the title of this entry, watch this old ad.

 

 

It might be the last sample sale for Universal Standard in Manhattan

 

The other day, I received an email from Universal Standard saying that they would be holding a sample sale this weekend.  Given that the firm is moving out of their Manhattan offices, it is likely that their showroom will be moving as well.  So, I made arrangements with RQS to meet her at Grand Central after I've done my shopping.

But first....

I woke up this morning feeling barely awake.  So, I lollygagged a bit until I noticed that the clock had hit 10 am.  This meant that I was already an hour late, and had to rush in order to make a 11:42 train.  Luckily, all my ducks were in a row, and I was showered, dressed, made up, and out the door by 11:15 am.  Although I may have had enough time to stop for an egg sandwich on the way to the station, I decided not to take any chances, and go straight to the parking lot - just so I had enough time to find a spot before the train came.  I needn't have worried.  There were more than enough spaces.  But the coffee shop at the station was closed.  This meant that I'd have to get a bite to eat when I reached Grand Central.

A little under 60 minutes later, I was at Grand Central and looking for something to eat.  In the past, I'd go downstairs to Zaro's and get a couple of franks.  Sadly, they don't sell hot dogs anymore, and I ended up getting my pair of tube steaks at Frankie's.  It's hard to feel comfortable with the reality of today's prices - 2 dogs and a soda for $14.  I'm used to dogs that sell for $2 each, and sodas for $2.  

Once done with lunch, it was off to Universal Standard.  20 minutes later, I was on the elevator to their store. Within 15 minutes, I had bought a nice sweater and a nice dress for $75.  This is pretty good, given their usual prices.  While there, I found out that they are moving to Dumbo at year end.  So I may be traveling a little bit more to get to their next sale in Dumbo.

Now that I was done shopping, I went to Grand Central to meet RQS.  Around 2:30 pm, we met, and it was on the train headed to Croton.  Although I could say a bit more about the day, I'd rather keep it brief.

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.

Lunch with CCS (a quick post)

 

CCS and I got together for lunch today.  However, we changed the original location for lunch so that she could have more time for lunch, and still make an appointment near to the restaurant.

- - - - - -

Lately, I've been waking up early and not falling back to sleep after a early morning Bio-break. As a result, I wasn't necessarily interested in getting out of bed or having lunch.  But I did so, and got to Briarcliff Manor at 12:30 - and still was there a minute or two late.

Lunch was good, as my Gyro had enough meat and salad stuff in it to be tasty.  I should have had the rice with the gyro, as there was too much greenery on the plate to enjoy properly.  We caught up on what was going on in each other's lives, and she had a pair of tickets to offer for two Motown acts performing at Mohegan Sun.  So, I contacted RQS afterwards, and she said yes to rescheduling things we had planned for the weekend.  (And I was looking forward to a German dinner at Zum Stammtisch.)

- - - - - -

After lunch, I called my doctors office to get a prescription renewal.  (I'll have to call back for a yearly exam.)  Then it was home for a nap.  Although I planned to do laundry tonight, I didn't wake up in time to do it before the 10 pm deadline.  That'll be another task for the morning.

Lunch and Dinner with friends, interrupted by a walk around a mall.

 

Today was marked by two meals out.  Lunch was with MSJ (My friend from the imaging firm I once worked for) and Dinner was with Vicki #1.  I'm lucky I had extra money to spend, as I have another lunch scheduled for tomorrow.

- - - - - -

MSJ and I scheduled today's lunch, so that I could review and comment on her resume. For the most part, it is a good representation of her career, and had few areas needed changing.  The first was was to change her phrasing into

Action → Result

from

Result → Action

This was the easiest thing to do.  But then, we had to figure what could safely be pruned from her resume without significant loss of demonstrated skill sets.  And this forced us to leave in a job or two which she'd like to skip over, and forward fill some dates from self employment to allow her to omit an unwanted job.  Additionally, we changed a reference of a subsidiary to that of a corporate parent, to make her employment appear as she worked for fewer organizations.  

Hopefully, the edits I expect that she'll be making will help her get a new job.  We've scheduled another lunch to review her edits.

- - - - - -

Vicki called just as I was going to spend a little time at Woodbury Commons (outlet mall) to do some browsing.  Although the trip to the mall was a waste of time and car mileage, I was able to chat with Vicki for a while and schedule dinner for the evening.

While at the outlet mall, I found nothing interesting to buy.  Everything was either overpriced status brands, or clothing which would not fit me.  As I was walking back to my car, the front part of my right shoe separated from its base.  Since these were cheap shoes, I decided to trash them when I got home instead of fixing the sole with glue. To kill a little more time, I decided to write up meeting minutes for last night's co-op board meeting, and rest a little before going to the diner to meet Vicki.

- - - - - -

We met at the local diner, and both of us had the chicken.  She had grilled chicken breasts, while I had the roast.  Both were good.  And we grumbled about the short term mentality of the American public, and how America's greatest snake oil salesman will  likely hurt people like us.  It'll take a while for our anger to burn itself out.  But then, can you blame us given the radical changes he promises.  To make things worse, he will likely never be punished for the crimes he committed, as his party refuses to discipline him.

We left the diner around 8:45 pm.  From there, I took a little drive (adding more needless mileage to my car), and saw how Route 9A was being diverted in both directions onto other roads.  Needless to say, I took different side roads to get back home for the night. 

PS: One thing Vicki noted: When I'm with her, I defer to an alpha as a cisgender female tends to do.  When RQS is around, she defers to me in a similar way - regardless of my gender presentation. 

Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2 - Sea Day # 2 (11/01/24)

 

 

2:00 am - All Aboard!

 

7:30 am - Already at Sea!

Technically, the ship was in port until 7 am this morning. However, all aboard time was 2 am, meaning that for all practical purposes, this was a sea day.

- - - - - -

RQS and I got up late enough to miss all vestiges of breakfast.  I took my time in getting moving, and we decided to go to one of the ship's casual dining venues, the American Diner, around 11:45 am.  When we got there, there were 20 people in line ahead of us.  While waiting, we bumped into our newfound friend and chatted for a while.  Luckily, the line started to move at noon (when service started), and we were politely able to end our conversation without further commitments to meet again.

This dining venue is in a sheltered area above the lido deck, but it still outdoor dining.  Given how busy the place is, we were glad to get there to be seated promptly.  But then we had to wait for service.  Eventually, someone took our beverage order, and then our food order.  Both beverages and food took a relatively long time to come to the table.  RQS and I had different opinions on our salads, as I had the Caesar Salad and she had the Greek Salad. I enjoyed the Chicken Chili, and she enjoyed her Nachos.  Eventually, the main course came - a Cheeseburger for me and Pulled Pork Sliders for her.  Even if the burgers were the same as from O'Sheehans downstairs, it tasted better for some reason.  As for the pork sliders, RQS enjoyed them, but couldn't eat all of them.  I tasted the one she didn't eat and i wasn't impressed - I guess I wasn't in the mood for any meat drenched in BBQ sauce.

After lunch we took our time in getting back to our rooms to take a nap.  I needed it, for again, I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep again.  On our way back to the room, we noticed that a larger than normal number of people (for this cruise) were outside sunning themselves by the pool area.  This would be the last warm day we'd likely have before reaching port, and I might have been soaking myself in the hot tubs had I brought my swimsuit and other falsies.

- - - - - -

After our nap, it was time to go to the photo gallery and look at the pictures taken of us dressed to the nines.  Most were OK, but I wish we had been on MSC for this cruise, as formal nights were truly formal nights.  On NCL, they only have "Glow" nights, where people may opt to dress nicer than usual.  Yet, we got a few nice pictures taken of us,   On the way there, we met a couple dressed to the nines - the gentleman was in his Marine Corps finest, while his wife was decked out in a beautiful gown.  I'd have loved to have seen their photo shoot!

Next stop was another one of the complimentary main dining rooms, the Manhattan room.  This restaurant is similar to the other 2 complimentary restaurants (Taste and Savor), save that it is larger and has space for people to dance if the background music causes a couple to leave their table to dance a bit.

Dancing wasn't in the cards for us this night, as we were both hungry and interested in what was on the menu.  I started with the Baked Brie Salad, followed by the Chicken & Shrimp Paella.  It was good, but not as good as I've had in a favorite Spanish restaurant that is long shuttered.  For dessert, it was a pair of eclairs.  They were tasty, but not exactly what I would have wanted to finish the meal.

At this point, we were getting tired, so we went back to the room and retired for the night.

 

 

Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2 - Port Day # 1 (10/29/24)

 

The day started out with having breakfast in the buffet with our new friend.  RQS mentioned that she is a relative newbie to cruising and travel, by the way she approaches things.  But I'll get into that later.

There was a part of me that was afraid to go onshore as Marian today.  Even though I asked the right questions of the right people, I am always concerned when I visit a new place as Marian.  So, when the ship pulled into port around 1:30 pm, I knew that I was going to confront my fear head on.  

While eating lunch, the ship made port and it took a while for Bermuda customs to give the ship clearance to discharge passengers.  Around 3:00 pm, we were off the ship and on our way to the Clocktower Mall to do some shopping.  And that's where I dropped $50 on a necklace and a bracelet that I could wear later on. However, the stores closed relatively early (in relation to the ship's arrival), and we ended up walking back to the ship around 5:30 pm.  

It was very windy, and my hair was all mussed up.  But I continued my walk to the pier knowing that I'd have to pull my passport out and possibly risk a confrontation.  Thankfully, my worries were all in vain.  Bermuda is now a port I can safely visit as Marian without worry.

 

Shortly after we got back on the ship, we decided to have dinner in one of the main dining rooms.  But first, we changed one of our French Restaurant reservations to the Italian restaurant onboard the ship.  Although it is one of the line's specialty restaurants, we are not impressed by Italian eateries, as they are a dime a dozen in the NYC area. 

I decided to have the Onion soup and the NY Strip steak.  Sadly, I was not impressed by the soup, as there wasn't enough cheese on top to balance out the flavor of the onions. However, the steak was as good as I remembered - not good enough for a place like Gallagher's in NYC, but good enough to enjoy on a cruise ship.  As we were about to finish our meal, we saw our friend again, and decided to meet up with her after she finished her dinner.

When we finally caught up with each other, we got a drink from the bar (a big mistake) and went to the buffet area where we could talk without shouting over the din of others yammering away.  Around 10 pm, we parted and agreed to meet tomorrow for another breakfast.

Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2 - Sea Day # 1 (10/28/24)

 

This was our first full sea day on the ship.  We were scheduled to meet our new friend after breakfast. But we didn't know whether she's want to lunch with us.  So, we went to the buffet for a light bite, then met our new friend at Starbucks before going to a more quiet location to chat.  After chatting for 90 minutes, we arranged to meet again.

 

Later on, we went for lunch in the main dining room.  Although the service was a little sloppy, the food was up to the standards we remembered on prior NCL sailings.  I found it funny to find a Bay Scallop appetizer being served in Escargot plates.   Afterwards, we went to our room to nap a little. 

After our nap, we debated getting dressed up for a nice picture.  However, I felt that people were dressing a little too casually for us to get dressed up for a photo.  So I said to dress casually for dinner, and we proceeded to the Churrascaria for Brazilian BBQ.  Surprisingly, neither of us gorged on food.  Nor, did i take any pictures of what was being brought to our table. We were still feeling full from breakfast and lunch.  But we enjoyed the food we did have.

I was feeling a little tired, while RQS wanted to see what they had in the stores.  While I was in the room, RQS stopped by the casino and won a few dollars.  Yay!  Now, we can afford the formal photographs we want taken on a future day on the ship.

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PS: The afternoon ship announcement mentioned that the ship had returned to NYC overnight, and was expected to reach Bermuda 2-3 hours late.  At least, we won't lose 2 days in port due to weather on this trip.

We made a decision (a short post)

 

I can't go into details yet, but we have decided to replace one of my co-op's important vendors. In my opinion, they did a crappy job, and I'm glad that we started the process of switching vendors.

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For some reason, I woke up at 7 am, 3 hours earlier than planned.  So I was worried that I'd be sleepy by the time I met my friend for lunch.  Of course, I needn't have worried.  At 10 or so, I got showered, made up and dressed, to make it to lunch at 11:30.  One problem - the restaurant didn't open until noon.  My friend met me at the restaurant, and we ended up driving into town to go to another restaurant that we knew was open.

We sat down for lunch at the local Italian joint, where I ordered a sandwich and she ordered a slice.  And then we caught up on each others' lives. I mentioned both my Philadelphia trip and my Bermuda cruise, and she talked about her son away at college.  I was a more relaxed conversation than usual in spite of the noise that made it hard to hear each other.

All too soon, lunch had to end.  We set a date for next month, and she was off to pick her younger son off at school.  So, I dropped off my early voting ballot off at the post office, then went home to rest.

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The co-op board meeting started at 7, and lasted 90 minutes.  We reviewed recent developments and then cast our votes.  We decided to replace the vendor.  Not much took place after that, save to review what would be covered at our upcoming meetings and when they would be scheduled.   I will say more about things as they become public knowledge.  Until then, watch this space....

Seeing LK for lunch and encountering bad traffic

 

Getting together with LK is not the easiest thing to schedule.  With young children, her responsibilities as a mother come before everything else in life.  That means that if anything goes wrong with her or her children, we must reschedule things.  Our most recent meal was one of those rescheduled events.

LK was feeling under the weather on Wednesday, and said that she'd like to try for a Friday lunch if she was feeling better.  Around 7:00 am, she texted me to suggest lunch at a restaurant in New City, NY for 11:30 am/  Since it was already 10:00 am. I suggested a 12:30 pm time and that was OK with her.  So I rushed to shower, dress, and do my make up to meet her on the other side of the river.  Since this was the first time I'd get to meet her 2 children, I knew it would be a special meeting, albeit disrupted by the needs of her children.

I ran a little late, while LK was 15 minutes late.  So I knew that I'd have less time than usual to chat, as I had to pick up RQS at Croton-Harmon at 3:30 pm.  We chatted less than usual, as her son was grabbing all of her attention.  But that was OK.  I'm comfortable with having friends in all stages of life. LK was born to be a mom, and I was glad to see her in her in all of her maternal glory.  (I won't use that phrase around her, as she was feeling challenged by motherhood that day.)  Around  2:30 pm, I was on my way back to Croton, and mistakenly decided to cross the river at Bear Mountain.  This was a big mistake, as the road to Peekskill was backed up halfway to the bridge.  Eventually, I made it through the gauntlet, and made it to Croton-Harmon station in time to pick up RQS.

Another Game Night

 

I had two things on the docket: Having lunch with my friend from the census, then going to Game Night later on in the evening.  Given my energy level as of late, I'd have rather skipped both.  But I'm glad I didn't do so....

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In hot weather, I get very uncomfortable wearing my wigs.  As a transgender person, the male hormones that flowed through my body for years have poisoned the hair follicles on my head.  In short, my male pattern baldness has forced me to wear wigs when presenting as female.  So I try to stay in air conditioned comfort during the summer.  Today, I was able to do so.

Waking up way before the alarm sounded, I knew that I would need to fall asleep early, or to take a nap sometime during the afternoon.  So I decided to get up and take care of some things before getting showered, made up, and dressed to go out for lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant suggested by my friend.

When I arrived at the restaurant, it had its normal lunch crowd.  So, I took a seat and waited for my friend.  She texted me to tell me that she was going to be late - she had forgotten to put in her contact lenses, and had to go back inside the house to take care of things.  After 5-10 minutes, my friend arrived.  I told her all about my Norway cruise, and our plans to visit Alaska next year.  She then told me all about her trip to Vegas to celebrate her son's 21st birthday, as well as how gambling comps have paid for some of the cruises she has taken and for spectacular rooms in hotels - one of which was a suite with a pool table in it.  (Hopefully, my friend won't mind me saying this much about her.)  All too soon, lunch ended and we made plans for next month.

I went home for a while, and then got ready for game night.  This was a time I could have easily have stayed home and caught up on my sleep.  Instead, I rushed down to Yonkers and was late for the first game of the night.  (It was only designed for 4 players, and I would have been the 5th.)  So I waited until the next game was played, and enjoyed that.  Things started to break up around 10:00 pm, and I couldn't wait to get home to sleep - and I was out within 1 1/2 hours.

 

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.