Soon, I'll be going on a cruise ...again.

 

 

This year, I'll have spent over a month of my time at sea.  My last cruise for the year is coming up soon, and I'll be on a "new" ship (for us) with RQS.   Unlike all of the other ships we've been on, the Queen Mary 2 sails for a cruise line known for its formality.  It'll be a new cruise experience for us, and I hope we'll enjoy it.

- - - - - -

As I write this, it is close to freezing outside.  I'm not sure if I want to bother getting dressed and taking care of errands.  The temperature will be lower than normal for the rest of the week, and I have things booked towards the weekend.  This means that I'll be looking for all my cold weather clothing, and hoping that I have enough of it available when I need it.

It'll be relatively easy for me to pack for my upcoming cruise, as I will be presenting as Mario while on the cruise.  It's simpler for me to dress as Mario, as the only thing that changes will be the number of layers I need to wear.  But I wish I could have gone on this cruise as Marian.  Even if we had sane politics in the US right now, I'd be in the Caribbean where cultural norms aren't as progressive as they are in the US.

I'm thinking of giving RQS a winter cruise for Xmas.  Although we'd sail several weeks later, I'd want it to be a surprise.  One catch: As much as I don't like the itinerary, it'd be the last chance I'd get to sail on an MSC ship before they abandon the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal for a new home port in Florida.  Hopefully, we'll see MSC return some day, as well as seeing the terminal expand to handle two ships at the same time.

- - - - - -

If all goes right, the year 2026 will have us taking 3 cruises.  But, as soon as we're done with our last cruise, I'll start the process of both renewing my passport and my global entry registration (Trusted Traveler ID), so that I can take my 2027 cruises without worrying if there is enough time on my passport to schedule a cruise.

Ideally, I'd be able to travel as Marian, with a passport that identifies me as Marian.  But that is not likely to happen soon.  RQS still wants Mario as a partner (even though she's comfortable with me presenting as Marian.)  And in today's political climate, it makes sense for me to stay in stealth mode when I have to deal with any employee of the Federal Government.  

Since I rant about the Orange Snowflake and his fascist regime too often, I'll stay away from politics today, save for the "in passing" references in this entry. I'm more concerned about how I'll dress when I get home from my next cruise, as we will want to take the ferry from Red Hook to either the Atlantic Avenue or Williamsburg ferry stops before summoning an Uber.  I maintain my sanity by maintaining my freedom to travel - by any means necessary.  Hopefully, I'll be able to complete the process of getting an EU passport (I won't say which country yet) before this time next year, as this will be my "Get Out of Jail Free" card if I need one.

 

The longer I'm out and about, the less I write about being TG

 

When I started blogging, I used to talk about how I worried about whether people would clock me as being TG.  I discussed things such as voice training, meeting people as Marian, and other things that would set me apart from cisgender women.  Over the years, I have gained much more confidence in who I am and where I can safely go.  But people like me are under attack from the Orange Snowflake.  Most of us don't flaunt what we are.  We simply want to go about our lives without being treated less than human from certain social groups such as religious fundamentalists. 

This entry is not about being TG as much as it is about life in general.  For the most part, the vast majority of people lead humdrum lives.  Even if one has become famous, such as being a movie star, a sports player, and a politician, most of our lives consist of relatively boring activities such as shopping, doing the laundry, cleaning our houses, etc.. So, what should anyone write about?  I'm not one who makes a big deal about what I'm wearing these days, save that I want to hide my less than feminine features.  Going into the ladies' room is no longer a big deal when I'm presenting as Marian - I just go into the stall, get my clothes out of the way, sit down and relieve myself.  Most people don't bat a eyelash, especially since most fat people tend to be "invisible" to others.

For a little over a week, I've been wearing red nail polish.  As a consequence, I've been presenting as a female. The only reason I removed my nail polish today was that it was starting to chip away.  I figure that I'll go get my nails done when RQS goes home, as I don't want to spend the time to redo my nails while she's here.  

- - - - - -

Today has become a sort of "maintenance day".  RQS decided to reorganize my kitchen cabinets, while I decided to pay some bills and to prepare to do laundry.  Since the light over the kitchen counter got damaged, we will end up going to Lowe's to pick up a replacement later on.  While we were sitting down, we booked a couple of shore excursions for our upcoming cruise.  Now, we have 3 out of 5 shore days where we have things to see when in port.

Cruising has become our preferred mode of taking a vacation, as it gives us the most bang per buck. We keep looking at cruises we can take.  I'm hoping that the snowflake is removed from office so that sanity can rule in the US again.  Then, and only then, will I consider the cruise I want to take - a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, where I can return to the States as Marian.

Until then, I'll just have to keep living my humdrum life....

There's a nip in the air.

 

Autumn is here and the leaves have fallen off the trees.  Gone are the yellow and green leaves.  The strikingly red ones are only a distant childhood memory.  And yet, it is one of my favorite times of the year.

- - - - - -

As much as I hate switching to a cold weather wardrobe, I enjoy wearing certain garments which cisgender women tend to dislike - specifically hosiery.  If one wants to wear a dress in the colder weather, one resorts to wearing tights.  Yes, they are awkward to get on.  But once they are on, things such as going to the loo isn't much different than when they are not on - one just pulls down/up 2 garments at a time.

I am writing this post on Halloween, and I will soon need to close my windows to keep the apartment warm enough to be comfortable.  (My apartment tends to retain heat, so when the heating system is turned on for cold weather, I've had to occasionally open the windows - even in winter.)  Once the heating system is on, I'll close the windows and be nice and toasty (if not a little too much) until spring comes.

On other matters....

Earlier this week, the abandoned apartment in my co-op complex was supposed to be auctioned off to the highest bidder (if there was one).  This did not happen.  Instead, the auction was postponed for a second time - no reason was given.  In the past, I had to visit a house which was going to be auctioned off at a foreclosure sale, and know that most of the buyers tend not to be able to enter a residence as I did years ago.  (Let's say that there was dubious legality in the access my friend had.)  So, any person wanting to bid on this apartment would be taking a risk of dealing with the current state of the apartment.

I expect that with the state of our current economy, we are about to see a bubble burst and a lot of properties will be headed into foreclosure.  Only risk takers with deep pockets will be able to afford to buy property, and many "little people" will be crushed - in part because they are under capitalized, or that they took on too much risk.  Apartments like the one that the co-op is trying to sell will become more common, and many properties will become unaffordable.

Knowing the risk factors of my complex, I would hesitate to buy into my complex today.  I know some of the questions that I should ask of a co-op board if I have to do so again, but hope I never have to do so. We've had a 30 year good run of decent co-op governance due to a baby boomer generation who would occasionally get involved and take on some of the tasks to keep a co-op running smoothly.  But, as we got older, fewer young people want to get involved.  This means that our co-op board is filled with retirees and not those young enough to think of our needs for the long term.  So decisions naturally get made that benefit the short term needs of the retirees, and not necessarily what's best for the co-op in the long term.

In Florida, short term thinking of many co-op and condo boards have kicked many hard decisions down the road and made future leaders take the heat for decisions made in the past.  Much needed maintenance was deferred, and at least one shore front condo complex collapsed due to rebar corrosion.  As a result, Florida has tightened up its regulations, and the costs of deferred maintenance now coming due are upending the co-op/condo markets in that state.  The problems in Florida have caused many businesses such as property insurance companies to become much much more conservative in the risks they take on.

Luckily, my co-op has been very conservative with property maintenance, and we have addressed things early enough to keep our expenses low.  However, we have had problems, such as having to remediate issues with the aluminum wiring that was legal when our buildings were constructed.  Yet, we have been affected by this shift by business to reduce their risks, as we have had to make an assessment to pay for a "forced insurance" policy imposed on us by our lending institution.   

If a healthy business can get into trouble because of the irresponsibility of "unrelated others" far away from here, then I wonder what will happen to the economy as a whole due to the capricious policies of the orange snowflake.  Will congress claw back its power and checkmate the orange snowflake?  Or, will they capitulate to his insanity, and push America into the toilet?  Given the history of America's real estate markets, it's anyone's guess, as no one has enough hard information to make a definitive case for anything.  All I can say is that if someone's going to invest in US real estate, one had better have deep pockets to weather out any storm that comes along. 

 

Dinner with Vicki

 

No, this is not what Vicki and I had for dinner.  Yet, this is a place I want to go to again with RQS when we're next in the city together.  Tonight's dinner couldn't be further from Jewish Deli fare, as we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner.

But first....

This was the second Sunday in 2 months that I had free.  Did I go to church as planned?  No.  I had no energy.  Instead, I lazed around all day until I had to get ready for dinner.  So, around 3:30, I started to prepare to go out.

One of the minor problems I've been having lately in the bathroom is that I have a small shelf in my shower which is meant to be attached by vacuum cups.  Unfortunately, one of those cups no longer wants to stay fastened to the wall.  As a result, I have to put my shaving gel, my razors, and soap on another shelf near the shower head.  This makes it very inconvenient when I shave my torso, arms and legs prior to going out as Marian.  Sooner or later, I'll find out a way to get this shelf to stay adhered to the wall tiles without glue.  Unfortunately, I did spend much more time than I wanted in the bathroom due to my GI Tract issues.  I think I'm going to talk to the doctor again when I see him this week.  Maybe, he has some ideas that will help me in this area....

- - - - - -

Finally, I was ready to shower, shave, dress, and get ready to go out as Marian.  What surprised me was the fact that I made it to Vicki's place earlier than expected.  And even more surprising was that I ended up driving to Brewster for dinner.  At dinner, we ended up talking about politics.  She sees the GOP having the upper hand at messaging, while I feel that if things get really bad, that even "Red State" GOP loyalists may abandon their leaders and put new people in charge.  Vicki doesn't understand the hold that the Snowflake has on people, where I do - it's the same problem Germany had 90 years ago, albeit with modern technology.  Unlike 90 years ago, we know what has to be done to preserve societal knowledge during a reign of terror.

Once done with dinner, I dropped Vicki off and went to the supermarket to pick up some stuff.  Lately, I've been using baby powder to keep from chafing and to absorb sweat in areas where it is not polite to scratch in public.  So, baby powder, chocolate milk, eggs and some crackers jumped into my shopping cart and made their way home with me.

With the exception of changing into Mario mode to do laundry (and to be ready for lunch with TCL tomorrow), I called it a night.

Lunch and Dinner with friends (a short post)

When I woke up this morning, I had only two things on the docket: Lunch with CCS and Dinner with Vicki.  And both were scheduled for today due to the timing of the Jewish High Holy Days.

But first....

Lunch with CCS is usually after 1:30 pm, as CCS has her exercise class scheduled during "lunch hour". Today, it was scheduled for 2:30, as her exercise class was later than it usually is due to the Jewish holiday.  So, I had much more time than usual to get ready, and made it to the restaurant at the same time her was pulling into the restaurant's parking lot.

We didn't have that much to say today.  I talked a little about my travels, and she told me a little about her travels.  Both of us feel the same way about what's happening in the world these days, and both politics and world affairs came up - and we both see the signs of loudly creeping authoritarianism, understanding what they could mean if left unchecked.  Lunch ended, and we set a new date, then we were on our separate ways.  I then went to BJ's to do a little shopping, and then back to the house to rest before meeting Vicki for dinner.  

Vicki and I met in Mt. Kisco at Lefteris for dinner.  Both of us ordered the Greek Salad w. Chicken, Vicki polishing it off more quickly than I did.  Just as we were finishing our salads, another diner asked me when I thought of NYC's mayoral candidate, and we had a polite discussion with Vicki taking on more of the lead in talking.  This fellow didn't like what Mamdani stood for, and Vicki mentioned that Mamdani will be checked by the realities of NYC.  As for me, I support Mamdani for one reason only - he can't be controlled by the Orange Snowflake.  

When I got home I had a decision to make: How will I present for the weekend with RQS?  As Marian or as Mario?  It'll be nice to stay in dresses while I'm able to do so comfortably.

A ghost package at USPS & billing screwups via my doctor

 

I occasionally have use of the skills I developed when I was a technology guru.  One of them is root cause analysis.  Today, I was able to diagnose the root cause of a problem and have it confirmed by my doctor's office.  But before that, I had to deal with a "Ghost Package" supposedly waiting for me at the local post office.

- - - - - -

When I awoke this morning, I knew that I'd have to visit the post office as Mario and show legal identification to claim a package that USPS said was waiting for me.  So, I got dressed and went to the post office at 10 am, presenting the paperwork to the lady behind the counter.  She couldn't find the package in the back, and asked me: "Did you receive it already?" I responded in the negative, and I heard her chatting with a supervisor, and then crickets for 15 minutes.  When she returned, she said it was a glitch in their computer system.  And I left with nothing to show for it.

But this got me to thinking.  Given that I often have unusual static interference when I use my cell phone to call people I know, could the regime in Washington have me on its watch list?  Could this USPS ticket have been a tool to get me out of my apartment so that they can bug my apartment?  I openly oppose the Orange Snowflake, and being TG, have honest concerns as to how far this government may go to silence opposition.  Even if I sound overly paranoid right now, I'm letting my mind explore the extremes to see if anything fits - even if I don't believe these things at the moment.

When I got home, I found an explanation of benefits from a former insurance provider.  They rightfully did not cover the lab tests my doctor requested.  In early afternoon, I receive 4 different texts from Quest Diagnostics telling me that I could pay the bill electronically, or wait for the paper bill to come. Well, I prefer receiving paper to verify that all is on the up and up.  But I knew I had to call my doctor's office while the issue was fresh in my mind (and when he was in the office).  So, around 1:30 pm, I called the doctor's receptionist and told her of the problem, and she told me that she'd update the account with Quest.  AARGH!!!!  This is what I requested be done over a month ago at my last appointment.  Hopefully, I'll be done dealing with Quest on this issue.  

I had figured that the problem with Quest was a paperwork issue coming from my doctor's office, and I was right.  But how does one communicate something simple, when one doesn't know the precise details of what goes on within a black box?  In my case, I knew that Quest defaults to insurance information provided by the doctor when each test is given.  So, the point of failure was at my doctor's office.  And once I could pinpoint the area of responsibility, the solution should be simple.  We'll see about this when I visit my doctor next month. 

Thoughts about my recent cruise....

 

If the Democrats had won the election last year, I would have been in Marian Mode with RQS on this cruise.  (We had booked it with this intention.)  Sadly, I had to travel as Mario, given the fascist assault on our individual liberties by the current administration in DC. This pisses me off to no end, as he is trying to take away any dignity we have in public. With that being said, we had a great cruise, save for not visiting one port due to weather conditions. 

The cabin we stayed in was relatively quiet.  Although we were under the Lido deck, just under the hallway leading to the buffet, we weren't disturbed by noise coming from the above floor.  We had one unfortunate issue with this cabin - it was way too close to the buffet, and we found ourselves walking out our door, up the steps, and into the buffet in less than 2 minutes. It was way too convenient for us to go up for an unplanned cup of coffee or a quick nibble. 😁

My current cruise goal is to visit a couple more ports in North America's northeastern areas, specifically St. John's, NL and Eastport, ME.  Many cruisers have heard of St. John's and its beauty.  But how many of us know that Eastport has one special attraction that requires people to leave the United States to visit?  If you haven't guessed, it's Campobello Island, the summer home of FDR.  We considered taking one cruise line out of Boston, just to see this place.  But we chose this 10-day cruise instead.

The next time we visit Boston on a cruise, we will likely already have "Charlie Cards" preloaded with money enough to get us around town and visit a few sites outside of excursions sold by the cruise line.  As it was, we enjoyed having a ship to ourselves, as the weather was perfect for us to sit outside and enjoy the view from the ship (or, what little of it there was in this port).

Hopefully, we will finally get to visit Charlottetown, PE on a future cruise.  High winds prevented us from making port here - the second time we had a cruise scheduled to make port here.  However, we did get to see the Giant Fiddle in Sydney, but were unable to take our shore excursion at this port.  Instead, we walked around the cruise terminal and picked up some items from local vendors.

Next year, Brooklyn will likely be mostly closed for cruising during the summer.  Supposedly, NYCEDC will be fixing up the Brooklyn Marine Terminal area (of which the cruise terminal is a part) in 2026, and cruising should restart after the summer is over.  Do I believe that?  I'm not sure.  But I know that Brooklyn is the only NYC area cruise terminal large enough to handle the Queen Mary 2 (a ship I'll be on soon).  So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now.  One thing I know: MSC will no longer be making Brooklyn a year-round home port after Spring, 2026.

And one last thing: RQS enjoys the coziness of a smaller ship, now that she's been on one.  I'm glad of that, as I'm tried of these elephantine ships carrying 3500+ passengers and all of the large ship hassles.  Give me a ship I can get on and off quickly, without fuss, and I'll be happy.  

It's off to Alaska!

 

By the time you read this, I should be home from my cruise.  We flew out to San Francisco from New York, then spent 3 days there until the cruise started.  I expected a different experience than when I took my first cruise to Alaska on this line almost 30 years ago.  Then, I was still filled with grief, having lost my wife the year before.  Now, I'm with a partner with whom I expect to spend the rest of my days.

Over the next few days, I plan to journal my daily activities.  Unfortunately, I could not take this trip as Marian for several reasons, the most important of which is that my feminine wardrobe is not geared for Alaska's climate. And now, with the Orange Snowflake in power, I would not feel safe going through any TSA/CBP checkpoints as Marian.  We now have a repressive political regime in power these days, and I don't want to be caught in its crosshairs while it's in power.

- - - - - -

Assuming one is interested in an Alaska cruise, one has several decisions to make when choosing a cruise itinerary, a cruise line, and a cruise ship.  Since I am very comfortable with Princess Cruises, it was topmost of the 3 lines allowed to sail into Glacier Bay:

• Princess
• Holland America
• Norwegian

Other cruise lines are allowed to cruise these areas for glacier viewing:

• Endicott Arm
• Hubbard Glacier
• Tracy Arm 

I had several port requirements:

• The cruise must make port in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway.  
• The cruise must spend a full day in each Alaska port. 
• The cruise must make port as close to the Alaskan town as possible.
  (This ruled out Norwegian, which makes port at Ward Cove, 6 miles outside of Ketchikan.)

These requirements limited me to choosing a Princess cruise sailing out of San Francisco. Unlike my last Princess Alaskan Cruise package from this port, they did not have me stay at an airport hotel.  Instead, they booked me into the Mark Hopkins in the heart of San Francisco.  It's one of San Francisco's more well known places to stay with prices to match.  But then, this is a "Bucket List" type vacation and I feel that Princess now wants to make sure that people feel they are getting something special when they book their Alaskan cruise.

- - - - -

San Francisco will always be a special place for me.  My late wife always wanted to live there, but couldn't do so.  After visiting the place once, I wished I could live there.  But life made other plans for me.  It's just as well, as San Francisco lost much of its vibrancy with the Covid pandemic.  Businesses left town, and storefronts were shuttered.  It has yet to recover, and I doubt it will in my lifetime.

On my last visit to San Francisco with RQS, we visited the Japanese Tea Garden, the Musee Mechanique, and had a meal at the Swan Oyster Depot.  With 3 days in town, our choices have expanded, and I will document them in later posts.  Needless to say, we knew where to feast..... 

 

Some Unorganized Thoughts

 

I know that I have gotten much more political as of late, as I am very sensitive to the Orange Snowflake's regime and its desire to crush freedom and human rights in this country.  Being in one of the groups that he wants to erase from history, I don't want to be in his crosshairs.  So, I'll travel in stealth mode much more often than I'd like. In the past, I had ambivalence about applying for a second citizenship (via a foreign births registry).  But now, I know I need to be able to leave the United States if the government becomes even more authoritarian and hateful than it is now.  I no longer can take the risk of being caught up in a modern day pogrom instigated by the Orange Snowflake.

- - - - - - 

The last time I was in Chicago, RQS and I met with our Texas friends.  Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston are among the few cities where I feel comfortable traveling as Marian.  We're hoping to find a way to meet up with them again.  But it will need to be in a time and place which is good for them.  But where would we meet?  I miss being able to be with them in person, even though we were only able to get together in the same place once. 

- - - - - -

Although MAR says that she wants to get together with me, I think that she is too cash poor to do so.  I am not the one coming out of the woodwork to schedule things.  She is getting hit with bills that she can't afford on a home health care aide's salary.  I plan to keep in contact with her, but not attempt scheduling anything.  I'd be willing to pay for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  But she thinks that getting together has to be done over dinner.  (As I write this, it's the first time I've thought about her in weeks.) Even if she thinks of me as a friend, she is not someone who has much to offer in the friendship.

- - - - - -

It's been a long time since I've seen Pat (my former hypnotist).  Each time I think of her, I wouldn't mind seeing her.  But I don't want to deal with her feelings of victimhood and loneliness.  She's lived a very hard life, and I understand why she feels the way she does.  Unfortunately, this has turned her into a demanding beggar.  (Beggar is the wrong word here, but I can't think of one that fits right now.)  When RQS and I last saw Pat, she asked if we could go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee.  I felt that she wouldn't mind a short drive into New Jersey to visit an outlet that always had more than adequate seating.  Yet, she felt upset that we weren't going to the one near her nursing home.  It was if she was afraid of being in new places, and wanted to demand that we visit a place of familiarity.  Who knows what the objective truth is?  Since then, neither of us has made any effort to visit Pat, and it's just as well.

- - - - - -

The family homestead is on the path to being rented out.  Our inspection is scheduled for next week.  Unfortunately, neither my brother nor I will be available to open up the place.  Luckily, my brother enlisted the help of a friend to admit the inspector into the house.  Hopefully, nothing else will slow down the process of getting new tenants, and for us to stop bleeding money from our bank accounts.

- - - - - -

The co-op board I'm on needs new members and new leadership.  No one should serve as long as we have.  But too many people are treating this place like a rental, and do not care to help out.  Sooner or later, the board's president will resign, and I will follow soon after.  Hopefully, I'll be able to buy a new place by then, and unload the apartment I live in before the crud hits the fan.  (No, I'm not planning on abandoning it while we're working out some issues.  I am planning to leave after they have been resolved.)

Will I miss being involved here?  Yes.  But someone else will need to step forward, and I will have to put myself first when things are running smoothly.

- - - - - -

That's enough for now.   

My paperwork is complete. Now to send it out.

 

I finally filled in the last form I needed to register a foreign birth and gain a second citizenship in a European country (which I will leave unnamed for now.)  There's a part of me that has been hesitant about doing this.  But, with all that's going on in GOP politics in this country, it pays to have the ability to go somewhere if this country turns into a fundamentalist "Christian" autocratic kleptocracy.

- - - - - -

My grandmother was born in Europe in 1903.  She came here when she was 17, and gave birth to my dad out of wedlock.  (Yes, I can affectionately call my dad a bastard.  But then, I never did so.)  30 years later, my mom gave birth to me.  Luckily, according to the laws of one country, the child of a citizen is automatically considered a citizen of that country.  Grandchildren must file to be recorded in the foreign births registry before they are considered citizens.  It's a shame that my brother didn't do this before his children were born. His children would have been able to inherit citizenship from him, and be able to be citizens of 2 countries.  (My niece is preparing to become a UK subject, but that's another story.)

It's strange for me to think of myself as a citizen of more than one country.  But then, it's strange to think that America's democracy may be dead by our 250th birthday.  As a transgender person, I worry what will happen if the wall between church and state no longer exists, and that people are allowed to proselytize in the workplace. No longer will we be able to be free to hold our own beliefs and practice them. We're already seeing signs that this is happening with some of the rule relaxations that the Orange Snowflake is proposing.  I am still not emotionally prepared to pull up stakes and move to another country to be safe from America's madness.

- - - - - -

Once I was done getting the application form notarized, I prepared everything to be mailed out in the morning.  And then, I decided to take a drive up to Goodwill to see if I could buy a cheap carry-on for the times I am out doing an overnight as Marian. (One carry-on for Marian, and one for Mario.)  The used clothing there looked in much better shape than the used luggage.  I guess that I'll have to order an inexpensive carry-on from Amazon for this purpose. 

This weekend, I will likely be in Marian mode when I go to RQS's place. I have a set of dresses there that I can wear, and I figure that I might as well be comfortable.  We'll be seeing one of her friends (who has seen me in both presentations), and I not sure of what we'll do after that.  At least, I'll be able to drive down to her place, and not try to find the bus to her place at its new starting point. 

 

 

 

 

PS: on August 6th, I received word from the Foreign Births Registry that my paperwork has been received.  Now to wait a few months before the next step in the process.  Hopefully, bu this time next year, I will be a citizen of two countries. 

We're 6 months into this mess, with 42 more to go

 

None of us could have foreseen the damage the snowflake has done to America in just 6 months.  I had an idea that this would be his "Revenge" term.  He has no respect for America, its people or its ideals.  And all of the GOP is afraid of what he can do to them if they don't follow his lead.  When people abdicate responsibility for their own lives and others, they become worthless to all.

My congress critter claimed he was fighting for his constituents, yet he hasn't delivered anything of value for the people in his district.  The Social Security office is closed, and the SALT (State and Local Taxes) deduction of $40k will expire in 5 years, not made permanent like the big business tax giveaways.  He could have voted NO on the Big Ugly Bill, but he caved - as did virtually all of the GOP members in the House and Senate.  Unless things change, I will never vote for a GOP candidate again.

In my opinion, the worst thing that he has done has been to destroy the integrity of the data being collected by the US government.  For example, firing the majority of NOAA employees set back weather data collection and analysis by years.  We can no longer be assured where storms will his, the direction they will likely travel, and the severity of the storms.  Recently, 32 Texas girls at a camp died because they didn't have appropriate information in regard to a coming storm.  Employment data gathered by the Labor Department has been debased, making it look like we have had a net increase in employment when the opposite is happening.  

The sad thing about this mess is that the right wing propaganda keeps stirring up fear in people, and making them feel like this corrupt leader is the only person who can save them.  My brother believes that the snowflake's demands to shut the border has resulted in reduced illegal immigration, when this number was going down before the snowflake took office.  Additionally, he feels that the border with Canada should be closed as tight as many people want the border with Mexico sealed.  Not even 0.1% of the illegal drugs are coming in from Canada as from Mexico, yet he wants to make the same effort to seal that border just as tight There are no priorities in people who believe that the snowflake is doing his job.

Strangely enough, the Big Ugly Bill that the snowflake just signed may have given the Democratic Party an edge in the 2026 elections - only if they can convince the public that decisions made in 2025 will hurt them in 2027.  The ACA is being defunded, Medicaid is being defunded, and people are wondering what is next?  

I feel that if we can see a strong blue wave in the 2026 elections, we can stop the madness halfway through the snowflake's term.  Hopefully, this will happen - if we can make it to Election Day next year. 

 

 

 

I started off the day slow, but gained momentum through the day.

 

Today was a day where I woke up late, and did almost nothing throughout the day.  Did I fold laundry?  No.  Did I straighten out the apartment?  No.  But I finally got around to getting a domain name for my co-op's website, and finally have something ready for the world to see.

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The day started with me laying in bed shouting at my digital assistant to shut her mouth.  It only tries to wake me up on weekdays, and I wanted to sleep.  Begrudgingly, I got out of bed only for a bio-break, and then I was awake for the day.

Now that I was awake, I took a few minutes to be brought up to date with the latest news and turned it off when I was getting sick of what I was hearing.  (The snowflake's "Big Beautiful Bill" became uglier before the Senate bucked it back to the House.)  So, I turned on some mindless, or entertaining, or historical videos, and spent a good part of the day watching TV.  Eventually, I did a little bit of cleanup (not much), before deciding to get showered and dressed.

Before I was done getting dressed, my new printer arrived.  (I bought a cheap, open box laser printer that I could use while my other one is in the shop for warranty service.)  One could easily tell that this is an older printer model, as its control "screen" display is an unlit 2"x1.25" black on gray panel.  (I had to tilt the printer so that I could read what was on the screen.)  Unfortunately, I couldn't set up a true wireless connection.  But I could connect it to my LAN, and I did get things working after 45 minutes.

I put on the above dress knowing that it'd be warm outside, and drove down to Costco to see if there was anything worth buying.  As usual, I found some things I could use, but limited myself to things I thought I will likely use.  On the way out, I made the mistake of trying a couple of slices of Costco pizza.  It took 15 minutes from the time I ordered my pizza to the time I got it.  And it was NOT worth my wait.  I would have rather spent the time driving to a good pizzeria and spend a little more for better slices.

On the way home, I called DCD.  He's sounding good, but I don't want to get too close to him anymore.  The only thing he can do is to lean on others, as he will never be capable of taking care of himself again.  Yes, he's lonely.  At least, he's recuperating somewhere other than his ex-girlfriend's house.  As I reached Croton, I noticed that two exits were closed due to repaving on Riverside Avenue..Luckily, I knew to avoid the heart of Croton on my way home, so I arrived without incident.

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Tomorrow, it'll be a day spent in Mario mode.  (AARGH!)  my brother, RQS and I are going out to eat on Long Island.  It's just as well.  I haven't seen him in a while.  My only concern is to make it across the bridge before holiday traffic clogs things up. 

 

It's amazing where one finds evidence of trans people

 

I love this computer generated image of me as an action figure.  It truly reflects the life I wish I could have lived.  I'd have felt good about myself, and it would have shown in my face and my smile.  However, I didn't live this life - all because of a tiny chromosome.

Why did I mention this?

Today, I went to the bank to get some CDs renewed for the Co-Op, and to get some papers notarized for claiming Unclaimed Funds from New York State.  When I sat down with one of the branch officers, our chit chat turned to second citizenship.  She is trying to get citizenship for herself and her child in one EU country by birthright, and I'm doing the same with another country. Since the uncertainty of American politics came up, she felt safe in mentioning that her son is transgender, going on hormones at the age of 18.  Luckily, his US passport expires in 8 years, and we hope this this hateful regime is gone by then.  If not, she and her son will go to Canada.  As for me, I will go to Europe, and settle in a country with a low cost of living.

There are more of us out there than most people know.  Now is the find each other before any pogroms start.  Once/if they do, we will need the help of others sympathetic to our needs to get out of Dodge before sundown.....

I'm finally home for a while (a short post)

 

After a week away from home, what do I say?  I needed to get away, but I didn't feel as free as I did a year ago.  And all of this is because of the evil orange snowflake causing havoc in DC.  Even on a ship with a TV News station with middle-of-the-road bias, I still couldn't escape hearing about what damage this clown is doing to America.  AARGH!!!!

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When RQS and I got back to her place, we relaxed for a while, and tried to avoid any YouTube video which would drone on and on about the Snowflake and his illegal actions.  And even then, Saturday Night Live did what I expected - they made fun of his latest actions.  Luckily (and this is rare for me), I fell asleep before Weekend Update, finally disconnecting from the world for a while.

This morning, I woke up early and started editing both this blog and my travel related blog.  Work I needed to do on this blog was relatively quick.  However, it took me several hours to get the other blog entry into a shape where it can be published.  Hopefully, my review will prove useful to cruisers who wish to take a similar itinerary with MSC in the future.

Given that we expected rain throughout the day, I decided to go home early, so that I can rest for a bit before attempting to do anything of value.  Although I got home by 2 pm, I didn't get around to doing anything until 6:00 pm.  And even then, I didn't do much. 

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Soon, I'll be going on another cruise, this time to New England and Canada.  Will I be willing to take this cruise as Marian?  The way politics are going, I doubt it.  But, as Fats Waller might say: "One never knows, do one?"

I am finally cruising again! (a short post)

 

By the time you read this, RQS and I will have returned from our most recent Bermuda cruise on the MSC Meraviglia.  We have been haunted by a curse on most of our Bermuda cruises so far.  On our first cruise, someone fell into RQS's leg, and she was crippled for several weeks.  Our next cruise had its scheduled Bermuda port time shortened by 2 days, leaving us with a single port day on a 7-day cruise. Finally, on our 3rd cruise, we had 3 port days in Bermuda - and in all of them we had good weather.  This time, the ship has propulsion issues which is forcing us to arrive earlier at the pier - who knows whether our time in Bermuda will be shortened or not.  I don't.

This time, I am much more ambivalent about cruising than usual, given political events in this country.  Hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen.  But if it does, I will report it here if possible.  I figure that this trip will be a form of current litmus trip on how Customs and Border control will treat an American who despises the snowflake.  I expect things may get worse over time, as we move towards being an autocracy. As long as I am able to transit out of and in to this country without hassle, I will remain here.  But if things change, I will use my Letter of Transit to leave for Lisbon as soon as practical and make a new life somewhere else if needed.

But back to Bermuda....

Even when the weather is bad there, I always felt good about being in Bermuda.  The place is clean and safe, and well worth visiting at least once.  Given that I will have no video access to left or right leaning American video media, I will be able to disconnect for a while. This will be a blessing for me.  I'll be sure to relax, and I'll be sure to unwind.

I wonder what it will be like when we take our New England / Canada cruise? 

 

 

 

PS: I will post daily entries from our 6-day cruise when I get back home. 

 

 

 

 

 

Zooming with my niece & Dinner with Vicki

 

My niece and I try to chat with each other via Zoom, as we live in separate time zones, separate nations, and separate continents.  She, like me, is wary of what is happening in the USA, and is worried about what will happen when she and her husband visit the US this month to see her brother compete in a sporting event.  So today's chat had American politics as a dominant theme, instead of what we prefer talking about.  

To deal with her visit to the US, she has deleted virtually all of her emails which reference US politics, as well as removing any social media from her phone.  She isn't too worried about her husband's phone, as he doesn't use social media.  However, she is concerned about him, simply because of the current xenophobic attitude of the regime currently in power.  

I discussed the conversation I had with her dad regarding how he treats her mom, as well as the conversation her mom had with me.  But I did not go into details, as I didn't want to make her a middle person.  However, I suggested that she keep tabs on her dad, as he is going through a lot of stress these days.  She is also being careful not to be caught in the middle of her dad and mom, as no one wins in these situations.

Hopefully, she and her hubby will have a pleasant visit to the US. 

- - - - - -

A few hours later, Vicki picked me up to go to eat at one of the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (HVRW) restaurants.  Coordinating our schedules isn't always easy.  But now that she's semi-retired (she'll work if a good job comes her way), she has much more freedom to schedule things like HVRW dinners than in the past.

Today, we went to a new restaurant, Saint George, in Hastings.  I wanted to love this place, as it had the ambience and service that I would normally rave about.  However, the Beef Bourguignon left a lot to be desired, as it was presented as if it were a Shepard's Pie - and tasted the same.  This was not the French dish I was expecting.  And it caused both Vicki and I to give the place a "Thumbs  Down".  Maybe, if one of us had ordered something different, we'd have had a different opinion of the place.  But for now, we'll skip this place and go to other places in the area.

 

 

PS: We may be seeing Martin Sexton in June.  I wonder whether she will like his cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album. (Unlike me, she is not a Beatles' fan.  I wish I could have been in Vegas to see Cheap Trick cover the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album about 20 years ago.  It was a better performance than I expect Martin Sexton's performance will be.)

 

I have to resist temptation these days.

 

In this uncertain age, I am easily tempted to write more about the crap that is going on in Washington, DC, and what is happening in my life as a transgender person.  It's all too easy to write about the breakdown in the administration of Law and Order, as evidenced by the actions of the Orange Snowflake, his cabinet, "his" congress, and his MAGA supporters.  These people are eager to make us transgender people the first of many whipping girls for the crimes being committed by his regime.  Yet, given how boring a non-op transgender person's life can be, I could easily go on for hours writing about politics, something I don't intend for this blog to be about.

Like many women, I enjoy shopping for, and buying new clothes.  My late wife would be amazed to see how many dresses I have fit in to what was her side of the closet. She'd probably tease me a little and then choose a dress for me to wear out - except when celebrating our wedding anniversary.  It's been almost 30 years since she passed away, and I still miss her presence.  No, I'm not putting her on a pedestal.  She had serious faults.  But I liked her as a person, and I miss the things that attracted me to her.

If I felt that I looked good in female clothing other than dresses, I'd have loaded up my closet with these garments.  Assuming that I lose a dress size or two, I will likely build a more varied feminine wardrobe which includes nicer tops, skirts, and trouser like garments. My ideal life would be to be able to go out in anything from my closet or dresser and only be seen as a woman and not a trans-woman. And this would include being able to travel, present my documents, and have no one hassle me on account of any gender marker on my documents.

This leads me back to politics.  The GOP doesn't give a damn about how it treats transgender people. The GOP congress has written rules for the capitol building which prevents a representative from Delaware from relieving herself in the facilities meant for women.  Should Sarah McBride suffer the indignity of being forced to use the men's room for her bio-breaks?  No.  But this is what the GOP thinks is important right now.

Months ago, my congressional representative, Mike Lawler, NY-17, said that he'd oppose any attempt to harm social security.  Yet, once the "DOGE" department started to decapitate Social Security, all we heard was crickets - he won't oppose anything being done to harm his constituents.  You can guess who is not getting my vote when next he runs.  Strangely enough, he may be looking to run for governor next year.  I hope we have someone strong running against him, with all the financial resources needed to retire him before he can cause even more damage to my district.

My goal is to be able to live as Marian full time and to be able to travel as Marian whenever I want.  Although I'll talk to people who support the GOP, I won't trust them to do the right thing when it counts. So, I'll have to do what I can within the law to stop them from taking away my human rights....

A more pleasant day, knowing that I'd be playing games tonight.

 

This is the way I wish my face could have looked when I was younger.  I'd have had a full head of hair, a female face, and a friendly, outgoing demeanor.  Instead, I grew up as a male, with all the repression of my authentic self that many transgender people have.

Given America's march towards an unchecked authoritarian regime, I needed something to cheer me up, as I wouldn't be able to present as Marian until next week.  Luckily, it was game night, and I made my trek to Yonkers for a fun night.  And tonight, both host and hostess were there for games, giving me to talk about their TG son after the games ended.

While there, I sent a link to one of our gamers (a leftist) for an article showing how close America is to having a "French Style" revolution.  I know he'll find that interesting when he gets the chance to read it. After the games were over, I had the chance to have a quick chat about the couple's TG son, finding out that almost everyone is trying to treat him with respect.  Something I didn't ask about, but got an answer I was glad to know, was that their son won't be getting any hormone treatments until he is 18.  I then mentioned that I felt they were doing the right thing, as he should be of legal age before making a permanent decision about his life and the body he will live in.

All too soon, it was time to leave.  It was pouring when I made it to my car.  So, I made my usual late night phone call to RQS (albeit, an hour early), while driving to Walmart for a second set of new bed linens. Now, I can alternate between sets on the bed and in the hamper.  I didn't have the time to get to the supermarket as planned, but this wasn't a real problem for me.  I can take care of that on my way back from Long Island this weekend.

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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On other matters....

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

Why do I mention this?

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

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

Eastern Caribbean Cruise - Debarkation Day (02/02/25)

 

Our ship was situated outside New York harbor until roughly 5 am, when the ship started to make port in Brooklyn and end our cruise. The above picture was taken from the ship's port side camera's TV feed.  It's far from the same view when taken from a balcony cabin.

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Neither RQS nor I got enough sleep overnight, and I was awake from 3 am onwards.  Around 7 am, we went to the main dining room for one last time for breakfast.  A lady at the table next to us was on the same cruise I was on for my first MSC cruise, and had similar opinions as I did regarding that cruise. Luckily for us, this cruise was much better all around - the food was better and the entertainment was better.  Yet, service was still hit or miss. Our conversation turned to the day's politics, and people at the table next to her joined in - none of us liked what the Orange Snowflake was doing in DC.

Once breakfast was over, we killed time waiting for our disembarkation group to be called.  Our number was called shortly before 9:30 am, and we proceeded to pick up our luggage and kill time inside the terminal, avoiding having to spend excess time in the cold waiting for a ferry that would take us to Atlantic avenue where we'd summon an Uber.  I noticed that staff was allowing handicapped people to take a shortcut and bypass the snaking line leading to the Customs/Immigration stations on our way out of the building.  So I told RQS to take out her cane, and we saved 15 minutes which we'd spend waiting for the ferry. The ferry came at 10:35, and we were at Atlantic avenue by 11 am, and the Uber got us back to RQS's place by 11:30 am.  However, I would still have to wait before I could go home - my brother couldn't pick me up until 4 pm.  So, I rested a while, and my brother arrived when expected.  

We were at the family homestead 30 minutes later, and we discussed what was needed to bring the house up to snuff for rental.  In addition to absolutely needed repairs, we may end up adding a half bath in the basement to increase the rent we can charge. Then, finally, I loaded my bags into my car and drove home.  With a stop for dinner and some food shopping factored in, it didn't take me long to get home.  Finally, I can sleep in my own bed again!