A new restaurant and a new phone.

 

As I write this, Christmas and New Year have yet to come.  Yet, I'm rushing to get a co-op newsletter out before the end of the year, so that shareholders see that we are trying to communicate with them on a regular time frame. 

RQS is unable to reach me today, as she left her phone here last weekend.  So we made arrangements for me to pick her up at the train station at 4:30.  Once I picked her up, we decided to go to the new Thai restaurant in town.  Before I say too much about the restaurant, the owners used to have a place in Thornwood, and after 20 (?) years, decided to move to Croton to open a new place.  Their website still lists the Thornwood address, even though they have been located in Croton since Halloween weekend.  

We walked into the restaurant without reservations, and were shown to a table next to the bar.  We were told that since the place hadn't yet been given a liquor license, they were giving away a glass of wine with each meal.  Looking at the menu, we both saw that prices were a little bit more than we expected.  I could easily manage this unplanned cost, so I ordered the Tamarind duck while RQS had chicken in a spicy red curry sauce.  Both were excellent!  We'll be going back when the budget allows for it.

Our next stop was Best Buy, where RQS bought a backup cell phone, just to have a cheap phone for use in an emergency (or, when she leaves her phone at my place).  It took a stop at 2 stores, as the first one didn't have the budget Motorola phone in stock.  When we got home, RQS was about to buy a SIM card directly from a service provider.  I told her NOT to complete the transaction, and explained why she should buy the SIM card through Amazon.  If the card were shipped by the cell phone company, it wouldn't get here until sometime after Xmas.  But, if the card came from Amazon, it would be here before the end of the weekend.  So, RQS ordered the card, then started to set the phone up for backup use.

Hopefully, RQS will be able to use her new phone for phone calls by the end of the weekend.

I finally got my nails done!

 

I finally had the chance to get my nails done.  It's something I've wanted to do for several weeks, but the need to go out as Mario has gotten in the way.  Seeing my brother, having a doctor's appointment, and having to go to the bank for the co-op has all made it impossible for me to have at least 7 days (or more) in female mode.  As a result, it didn't make sense to have polished nails.

RQS was scheduled to arrive in Croton at 5 pm.  So I had just enough time after I got dressed to get my nails done, have a little snack and get to the station.  When I arrived at the nail salon, they knew me enough to ask whether I was there for a mani-pedi or just a manicure.  Since I was there for just a manicure, I sat down at the manicure station and proceeded to have my nails done.  While there I struck up a conversation with a recently widowed woman, and got into talking about cruising and the lines we preferred.  (Later, I mentioned to RQS that I wish I could have befriended this woman as Marian.  But this was not likely, as this woman was visiting family in Croton, but lives on Long Island - a very inconvenient place for me to visit.)

Once my nails were done, I had time to kill.  So I filled up the car, then drove to the station to relax until RQS arrived.  She didn't see me at first, but after a few honks, she saw me and my car, and we were off to have dinner.  The first stop was at the new Thai restaurant in town.  They couldn't accommodate us until 8:30, so we drove to a Mexican restaurant nearby.  I had the paella, while RQS had some tacos.  Both were yummy.  But my dish had enough food in it to feed two people  So I had leftovers to eat sometime over the next day or two.

And then it was time to go home....