I had only one thing on the docket, and that was a Mardi Gras dinner in Rye, NY. However, it didn't mean that I did nothing all day. But it did mean that I avoided doing laundry again.
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The day started with me gaining consciousness around 8 am. It doesn't mean I was fully awake. It only means that my mind was functioning at a level where I could navigate the obstacle course from my bed to the toilet in time. Once my bio-break was done, I was awake enough to start watching videos, and then work on a project for my cruise blog.
One of the problems most people have is having a good idea of how much their cruise will cost before booking the cruise. For most of us, we learn how to price out a cruise by the experiences we have when cruising. But I want to make it a little easier, by having a spreadsheet that can be used to make the grunt work of calculating costs a magnitude easier than it is right now.
A problem with cruise packages is that there is no way to compare "apples with apples." There are too many little wrinkles that make a side by side comparison of two cruises impossible. That is, until I finish this spreadsheet. Then, one should be able to compare apples of two different varieties. The spreadsheet will be far from perfect. But it will give the cruiser a ball park figure to work with.
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Around 4 pm, I started getting ready to drive to Rye. The location wasn't easy to find without Google Maps, but I got there almost on time, but not excessively late. I had to call the restaurant to find out where to park - all street parking was in use. But there was a nearby parking lot I could use. The strange part in all of this is that I think I've been in the parking lot before, but not in the restaurant.
I saw the meetup hostess and her husband at the table, and a lady sitting there struck up a conversation. This is one case where saying that I'm in a relationship AND presenting as female helped me. I didn't want to send any signals that I am available (RQS would kill me for good reason), but I did want to send a signal that I was looking for another female friend.
The Jambalaya I ordered wasn't that great - the flavors were too muddy, and there wasn't enough protein (chicken, sausage, shrimp) that stood out. For the most part, the dish tasted like gravy soaked rice with a minimal amount of protein to enjoy. (Too bad we didn't go to the original restaurant, where I know the Jambalaya is prepared much better.)
My new friend monopolized by attention for a large part of dinner, and I couldn't really enjoy the ice cream covered brownie, as I had to give this lady my attention. Yet, I'd like to see her again, just as friends. It would be nice to keep building up a network of people who only know me as Marian, and not as Mario.
