California Vacation - Day 04 (Sea Day)

 

My body is still functioning as if it were still in New York.  I awoke around 6:00 am, and found that I had fallen asleep watching a movie last night.  This was OK to me, as I was tired after roughly 4 miles of walking the day before.

Given that I was hungry when I woke up, I knew I wouldn't be ready in time to make it to the sit-down breakfast venues.  So, I ended up going to the buffet, where the food was good, yet had a mass-produced feel about it.  Hopefully, I'll get up early enough tomorrow to enjoy a breakfast in one of the main dining rooms.

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I didn't go straight back to my room after breakfast for some reason.  Instead, I walked the ship a little, looking to see if there was a ship's library. (I didn't find one.)  By the time I was done walking around, it was time for lunch - and I went to one of the sit-down restaurants and got a served meal.  Sadly, I made one mistake:  Instead of ordering the calamari as a small appetizer, I should have ordered a lunch sized portion.  It was that good.  While there, I met another couple, and we chatted about cruising for a while.  I handed the woman information about the Hawaii cruise I took, as well as giving her the info on the travel blog in which I make monthly posts.

Once done with lunch, I went back to the room to freshen up and do some reading.  Soon enough, 4:30 came around, and I prepared to look my prettiest for a formal night.  I was very glad that I had all the accouterments with me to present myself as an elegant, but heavy set lady in her 60's.  Realizing that my second specialty dinner reservation wasn't on the computer, I went down and got a reservation for 1 for 8:00 pm.  And I'm glad I did, as the food was yummy.  First was the Mussels Provinciale.  Then came the "Three S's" - Scotch Salmon, Sea Scallops, and Shrimp.  Although I was not too happy with dessert, it was not because it wasn't' good.  Instead, I was simply not in the mood for this flavor combination.  I'd have rather had only the ice cream that came with the dish.

- - - - - -

After dinner, I went to a show called "Rock Opera" in the main theater.  Although the singers were fantastic, it was not an opera.  It was opera trained musicians overdoing rock classics such as "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Sounds of Silence".  Too much background dancing, too much amplification, and too much strength in their voices.  There was no subtlety in the performance.  Yet, I found my feet tapping for most of the songs being sung.

When I arrived at my room, I found a bouquet of flowers.  Seems like my choice of the Princess Premier fare for this cruise gave me a willing raffle entry this trip.  This T-Gal certainly enjoys the flowers in the room.....

California Vacation - Day 03 (Cruise Embarkation)

 

I am writing this entry on the day I embarked upon my California Cruise.  Although nothing major went wrong, I have a bone to pick with Princess Cruises in regard to dining reservations.  But I'll get to that later....

This morning was the second day in a row where I woke up early, and couldn't fall back to sleep.  While I was getting showered and dressed, the bellman came to take my suitcase to the bus.  Well, I wasn't expecting him at this time, so I finished what I was doing, packed up everything I had left out, and went to the Starbucks upstairs to get what passed for breakfast.  Then, I settled down in front of the "logistics lady" (Princess outsources the logistics of moving people from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the cruise terminal, and from the cruise terminal to the airport.)  That's where I met the bellman again, and he moved my bags to the staging area, While sitting down, a widowed traveler struck up a conversation, and I talked too much - I could see she was bored.  So I let her be, and waited until it was time to board the bus.   

Around 10:45, the bus came, and both we (the passengers) and our luggage were corralled into the bus and delivered to San Pedro to board the ship.  I was prepared for the security line, and when the lady checked my passport, I said "Yes, that's me!" in a deep voice.  The next thing she did was to compliment me on my looks.  From there, it was a quick run to get on the ship, while taking forever to find an open elevator to get to my cabin - but I did, by moving to another elevator bank. The cabin surprised me with how much room it had for storage.  Yes, the bathroom seemed tiny.  But at least, the shower had a place I could put my foot while shaving my legs.

Now, this is where I got a little annoyed - making dining reservations.    I couldn't make them before getting on the ship, and the good reservations were impossible to get.  So I have to play catch as catch can, so that I can get a seat at a non-buffet restaurant.  AARGH!  At least, the main dining rooms are decent, and I don't mind eating alone that much.  But I'll have to see about one reservation that was supposedly to have been made - it still hasn't shown up online.  

By the time I finished dinner, I was too tired to go to the theater to watch the provided entertainment. I ended up going back to my room, stripped and fell asleep....

California Vacation - Day 02 (Exploring Los Angeles)

 

What's that old song that Nat King Cole sang so well?  In the past 8 months, I've been to the two ends of the "Mother Road", historic Route 66.  From Chicago to LA, more than 2,000 miles all the way.  But I didn't drive it.  I flew....

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This morning, I woke up on a New York City, and not a Los Angeles rhythm.  By my watch, it was 7 am New York Time.  But it was 4 am Los Angeles time.  So, I turned my TV on to watch the talkings heads discuss the upcoming Trump trial of the week, and just as things things were getting interesting - POOF!  The TV was on, but no signal was coming to the TV.  I figured that I might try turning it off and on, but this only made things worse - the TV would not come back on.  (Reminds me of the Cable Box issue I'll be dealing with the day after I get home.)  So I called the main desk and asked them to look at things while I was out for the day.

So, with no fixed plans for the day, I decided to take the bus to the Santa Monica pier and walk around.  If I had gotten there two hours later, things would have been perfect.  But most of the places wouldn't start opening up until 10 am Pacific time, and my body was acting like it was 1 pm Eastern.  This meant that the crowds hadn't yet arrived, and I could see the place without the crowds.

Unfortunately, the pier's carousel wasn't open for business, so I had to get this shot through the windows, rather than from the inside.  At least, I was there about 20 years ago, and the place looks as classic as it did back then.

I saw a couple feeding money into this machine and gave them some advice: Do NOT under any circumstances wish to be BIG.  This machine has a weird sense of humor, as I remember that it granted a child this wish in 1988 and all hell broke loose in his life.  Luckily, he was able to wish himself small again, and there his story ended.

Sadly, as I was walking to the Santa Monica Metro station, I saw one of the many homeless people taking up space on a sidewalk when they should be sheltered in a safe and clean space.  If you look closely enough, you see a man laying on the sidewalk - one homeless person among many that I saw near the beach. Too bad that this problem is nationwide - these people need help, and it's not being provided to them.

Now, I must interrupt the flow of this narrative to mention that I attempted to use LA's "Tap Card" app on my phone, and it worked less often than it didn't.  After having breakfast at Starbucks, I asked one of the hotel staff where I could catch the bus to Santa Monica - and he gave me the wrong bus stop location.  (LA is a suburb in search of a city, and like most people in suburbia, this person was clueless in regard to mass transit.)  Thankfully, both Google Maps and the Transit app gave me better information - I still had to walk an extra two blocks to find the bus stop - which wasn't marked well.  This is when I tried to use the Tap app - and it didn't work.  Instead of holding up the bus (as would happen in NYC) until the fare was paid, the driver told me to take a seat and not worry about it.

When I left Santa Monica, I walked to the Metro station, and voila! - the Tap app worked!  Either something I did was wrong, there was an incompatibility between my phone and the scanner, or there were a lot of bad scanners in the field.  Later on, I only had one successful use of the Tap app (with some help from a Metro system employee), with two F-it's by me and a bus driver.  Next time I visit LA, I'll buy a Tap card instead of using the app, as this is more likely to work properly.  Out of the five times I tried to use the Tap app, it worked for me only once, leaving $13.25 in my account.

After Santa Monica, I decided to go to Downtown LA and visit Union Station and the Olvera Street shopping district.  The last time I was in this area of LA, I was with Ex-GF-M, and she didn't want to go to this section of town because she felt unsafe.  (Ex-GF-M didn't feel safe unless she was in a predominantly Anglo neighborhood, and being surrounded by Mexicans must have frightened her enough to say No.)  This time, I didn't have to deal with her nonsense, and I had a nice time walking through this district and having lunch there.

While there, I stopped to visit the Avila Adobe, a free museum which shows what the oldest house in Los Angeles must have looked like,  For the most part, it reminded me of a larger place in Old Town San Diego.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get here again with RQS, as I think she'd like to have seen in person where I went today,.

All too soon, it was time to leave.  I wanted to get back to the hotel by 3 pm, as I was getting tired.  Instead of going back via Santa Monica (as I might do on another trip), I took the tram heading to Long Beach, with the idea of transferring to the tram heading to the airport.  This is not a trip to do at night, as one passes by a few industrial areas before going through Watts (you can see the towers from the tram), then transferring for another tram at the Rosa Parks Boulevard stop.  Although I felt safe (it was daytime), I don't recommend doing this at night.  Once I got to the Airport station (which is not in the airport), I had to take another bus to get to my hotel.

Arriving at the hotel, I found that my TV still wasn't working.  AARGH!  At least, after 30 minutes of fiddling with the equipment behind the TV, I had TV again, and I could consider stripping for the evening,

California Vacation - Day 01 (Arrival in Los Angeles)

 

Today was a day I'll remember for a while.  Not only did I have to finish packing (and I forgot a few things), but I had some experiences which were very enlightening.

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My plan was to finish getting ready for my trip, and catch a cab around 10 am to take me to the train station.  Well, I did just that, but forgot my "outdoor" glasses after I was halfway to the train station.  So, I asked the cabbie to bring me back home for a minute, and took the opportunity to pick up my glasses.  This detour cost me 15 minutes, but I was able to take the express train to Grand Central with all my luggage.

Before I go on too far, I have to mention that I have a carry-on suitcase, a 28" large suitcase, my CPAP, and a large personal bag in which I could stuff a lot of things if needed,  Since I'm travelling as Marian, all of my makeup, toiletry supplies and other needed items must me in the carry-on, and yet set up to go through TSA security.  So, I'm forced to wheel two heavy bags from one part of Grand Central (the original terminal) to another part (the LIRR addition) while getting some exercise in the process.  

Metro North deposited me near the escalators which connect to the LIRR zone, and I proceeded to buy a one way ticket to Jamaica ($5.50), where I would connect to the overpriced JFK Airtrain ($8.50) that would take me to Delta's terminal.  Once at terminal 4, I checked my bag and proceeded to TSA security where the first incident took place.

Lately, I've been finding that people seem to be treating me as a heavyset, tall, 60+ year old woman.  My presentation seems to be good enough that I am taken for a cisgender female much of the time.  So I was pleasantly surprised when the TSA agent said I was travelling with someone else's passport.  Once I opened up my mouth and spoke in a voice an octave lower than expected, he simply told me where to go to be scanned before entering the secure zone.

Two hours later, I was on the plane and headed to Los Angeles.  While on the plane, the flight attendant asked me if there was anything I wanted, and I said I'd like a winning lotto ticket.  This made her smile and we made some nice chit chat as two women would, but not as a man and a woman would with the same phrase.  She was very pleased to take care of my needs, and though it was purely professional, I have the feeling that in a different time and place, we'd have probably been good friends.

Once in Los Angeles, I met the fellow from Princess Cruises who took care of my bags and made sure that I got on the right shuttle bus to the hotel.  At the hotel, I was greeted by a fellow at the reception desk who was surprised to see me as Marian, but carrying Mario's ID.  We chatted, and he told me that he was also trans (showing me a picture of him in female mode).  However, he had to revert to male presentation, as his beard kept coming in with ingrown hairs.

- - - - - -

Tomorrow, I look for the people from Princess, as I want to make sure I know what the routine will be on Saturday morning when I take the bus to the cruise terminal....

I've finished packing, but am not ready to go....

 

I can only imagine what will happen if I forgot to pack anything important for my trip.  Right now, both my carry-on and large suitcase are virtually ready to go.  There are a couple more things that I will need to pack in the morning, such as my CPAP machine.  But I'll deal with that in the morning.

- - - - - -

This afternoon, I had lunch with SJM, and we talked a bit about everything.  I mentioned the tax headaches I had this year, and she mentioned her headaches in that area.  And then we got into the problems with the American medical system and how they are forcing her to make choices that she shouldn't have to make.  After that, we talked about the place where we both once worked, and noted that it was a mediocre place to work at best, that we are both better off for being out of the place.

Once I was finished with lunch, I got a mani-pedi before doing some last minute cosmetics shopping for my trip.  I can't seem to find the small perfume vials I bought a while ago, and this forces me to bring a full size bottle in my checked suitcase.  AARGH!  So many things I should have checked out a long while ago, and I didn't do so.  Such is life.

Tomorrow, I'll get dressed as a female and prepare to spend the next 10 days of my life as Marian.  It'll always feel strange presenting my legal (male) ID at the airports and at the cruise ports.  But I know from experience that TSA has no problem with this, and that the cruise line hasn't given me any problems with this in the past.

Let's hope that I haven't forgotten anything....

- - - - - -

On other matters, I have ordered some outfits from Universal Standard.  What bothers me is that the day after I placed the order, I got a 20% off code that I could have used for this order.  Given that I spent over $350 for 2 garments, I would have saved at least $60 had I known to wait for a couple of days.  AARGH!

Next, I placed an Amazon order for a few things I'll need when I get back from my trip, knowing that my next door neighbor will hold them until I return home.  Couple this with a Lane Bryant order I placed (two slips that I'll wear as nighties), and there will be a lot waiting for me when I get home - including credit card bills....

Today, I'm taking a breather.

 

The original post I made for today went missing, so I cobbled this together to make sure that my readers would have something that might be of interest to read today.

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Soon, I will travel from Croton to JFK Airport using mass transportation.  As much as this will not be as easy as using a cab service (or Uber) to get from my house to the airport, it will cost much less.  In some other cities, such as Chicago, one can get to the airport from downtown via a simple subway (EL) ride.  The premium to do this is an extra $3.00 added to the fare coming from O'Hare airport.  (The normal $2.00 fare applies on trips to the airport.) In New York, the Port Authority (who manages our airports) gouges passengers for an $8.50 fare to ride the Airtrain from the LIRR Station and NYC Subway station in Jamaica, or to the NYC Subway station in Howard Beach.  Yet, it's still cheaper for a solo traveler to pay this price than to hire a car service.

But first.... 

When I went to Hawaii, I didn't have the option of using mass transit to get to the airport.  So, I ended up spending $260 or so to spend one night at a hotel in Newark and to leave my car at the hotel for 13 calendar days.  Two years later, I refuse to spend $150 to reach JFK from my house.  Instead, I plan to spend $12 for a cab to bring me to the train station, $7.50 to reach Grand Central, $5.50 to get to Jamaica station, and $8.50 to reach the airline's terminal, for a total of $33.50.  That's over $100 in savings by the use of mass transit.  Please note that this only makes sense when travelling solo - it still makes sense for large families to use long term parking lots, as the cost to reach the airport is shared by more people.

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Do I think that this will be the way I will usually do things in the future?  Who knows?  But it's worth a try, and I have enough slack in my schedule to allow for minor hiccups....

I've started packing, as I don't have much time left.....

 

Packing for my trips isn't always an easy thing.  Even at this late date, I might still need to pack a single day's worth of male clothing because I might be corralled into seeing my uncle's friend.  Although I doubt this will happen, I have to keep this possibility in mind.

- - - - - -

California weather at this time of year is similar to that of New York. But this means that I have to prepare for both cold and hot weather.  San Francisco can be quite chilly, while San Diego can be quite warm.  Yet, there are ways I plan to deal with this on a 9-10 day trip.  First, I will select basic clothing that I can wear for 2 or 3 times before needing to be washed.  Then, I will plan my auxiliary items, such as sweaters, that will allow the basics to be practical in a wider range of temperatures.

Packing for a trip as Marian has always proven to be a complicated task.  I have to make sure that I have two sets (1 pair for each day, plus 1 pair to hold my "tuck" in) of undies, 2 bras, and appropriate tops/bottoms, dresses and socks to get me through a week or more.  If I'm gone for more than a week, I have to think about washing my wig in the sink. 

As much as I'm no longer excited about taking this trip, I will take it anyway, as it is a chance to present as Marian for more than a week at a time.  It should be fun to visit Venice Beach and Santa Monica in my authentic presentation, and make my around using the mass transit available in this city....

HVRW Restaurant Week - Tilly's Table w. RQS

 

Tilly's Table is a "Farm to Table" restaurant located on an old farm in Brewster, NY.  Normally, I couldn't afford to eat at this place for a casual weekend dinner with RQS.  But we were finally in luck - it was the Spring edition of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (HVRW), and the price was finally right.  So I made reservations for two, and made sure that RQS brought a nice dress to wear in her suitcase this weekend.

 

Both of us got dressed to the eights - RQS in one of her three Karina dresses, and me in a LBD from Universal Standard.  Needless to say, we both looked our best when we arrived at the restaurant.  Were we in the right place?  The sun had gone down, and we couldn't be sure of which building on this farm we were supposed to go.  So, I parked the car and chose one of the two possible buildings - and I made the correct choice, as I saw the "Tilly's Table" sign in front of the building's entrance.

Shortly after we entered the building, we were directed to our table and given menus.  RQS was lucky that fish was on the HVRW menu, as she had a dental problem which would be taken care of after the weekend.  So, RQS ordered the salmon and I ordered the prime rib.  YUM!  Both of us had only one complaint - the vegetables were not cooked enough.  They were too firm, especially for someone having a hard time chewing their food.

As you can guess, RQS caught me in the middle of showing her something when she snapped the above photo.  I felt good wearing the dress in the photo, and will be bringing it with me on my upcoming cruise.

All too soon, we had to go home.  I took my time driving back to Croton, as I'm still not used to all the electronics on this car.  For example, the car is equipped to work with Android Auto (AA).  But it took over 30 minutes for AA to fully connect on the drive home.  Obviously, there are some glitches with AA and the car's infotainment system.  But until I figure out how to stop them from causing me problems, I'll have to play debugger on my own again....

By the time you read this, I'll have returned from a cruise

 

As most of my readers know, I write blog entries between 7 and 14 days before they are made available to my readers.  Soon, I'll be posting a record of my most recent California cruise which sails from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Avalon (Catalina Island, CA), San Diego, and Ensenada Mexico before returning to Los Angeles. When I decided on taking this cruise, I had hoped to visit my uncle in his Los Angeles nursing home.  Sadly, he died 11 days before the cruise.  Since it was way too late to cancel the cruise, I decided to go on it anyway - if only to have 9+ days in a row where I could present as Marian and not Mario.  

Right now, I plan to enjoy a full day in Los Angeles, not knowing what I'll be doing.  I've found that my cell phone has NFC, so that I can use Google Wallet to pay for trips on LA's mass transit system.  So, I won't be needing to use Ubers to get around in the daytime.  (I'll still need to use them at night, as I don't want to inadvertently travel through high crime areas after dark.)  For the times I'm near the hotel, I might bring a swimsuit, so that I can get a tan near the pool.

In many ways, San Francisco is like a second home that I stayed in for only a short while.  So, if I can, I'll visit the place where I scattered my late wife's ashes before returning to the cruise ship.  Catalina Island will be new to me, and I'm not sure of what to do there.  But, I'll be visiting RQS's cousin in San Diego.  This is something I look forward to, as this will be the first of RQS's relatives to meet me as Marian,

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this trip will bring me only pleasant memories.  I'll let you know when I start writing posts upon my return.

Universal Standard - How quickly things sold out.

 

The other day, I visited Universal Standard's showroom to look at their new Linen Collection.  As much as I wanted to buy several items, I deferred any decision because I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend several hundred dollars on three garments.  By the time I made my decision (less than a week later) to buy two of these garments, they were listed as being sold out.  Were these limited edition pieces?  I don't know.  But I intend to make another appointment at their showroom the next time a new collection is made available.

This weekend, I plan to visit the same store for their sample sale.  I expect it to be chaotic, where cisgender females will likely strip to their undies to try on some of the garments put out for final sale.  As for me, I'll be wearing a unitard under a duster, so that I can try on clothes without stripping down to my unmentionables.  (This will be he same thing I'll wear when going to Flax's "Barn Sale" next month.)  Hopefully, this trip will be a worthwhile use of my time....

HVRW Restaurant Week - Le Provincal w. Vicki

 

Hudson Valley Restaurant week (HVRW).  It comes twice each year, and I try to have at least one fancy dinner with Vicki each time it comes by.

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As you would expect, I usually present myself as Marian when dining with Vicki.  During HVRW, I always try to dress up a little when going to nice restaurants, and I made sure that I was wearing a nice dress with stockings (actually, tights) when she picked me up.  (I rarely present as a male when with Vicki.) Tonight's dinner was at Le Provincal, a French bistro in Mamaroneck. This is one of our go-to places for French food, but one we rarely eat at because of its normal price.  HVRW makes this place affordable to us, as we would likely spend close to $200 for a meal for two.

Vicki drives differently than I do, and this is not a criticism or compliment.  Like me, she tries to drive safely, but I noticed the differences in driving style, as I was a passenger for this trip.  Arriving in Mamaroneck, Vicki moved close to the center of the street so she could slide into a parking spot both quickly and easily.  However, some woman (Vicki used another word) decided to slide in between her and the cars to her right, stealing the spot from Vicki.  I looked at the driver, and I noticed that she was likely an immigrant from a place where cutting into lines was accepted, and that there would be no gain from arguing with a person who is that inconsiderate.  Vicki wanted to block this woman from getting to the parking spot, and I wanted to get another packing spot which would likely open up near the restaurant.  Eventually, Vicki relented, and we got a spot much closer to the restaurant than the first spot was.

Dinner was excellent (as usual), but the wait staff we expected to see was off for the night.  The dinner more than made up for the loss of the parking spot.  Sadly, dinner was over too soon, and we took the long way home to chat.  (It helped that Vicki missed my exit, and took side roads back to my place.)  All in all, this was a pleasant evening.  But next time, I'll do the driving.

 

It's amazing how apathetic some people can be.

 

As readers of this blog know, I am on my co-op's board.  Tonight we held our third yearly meeting, where we failed to reach a quorum.  Given that our apartments are sizable investments, it surprises me that so few people show up for our yearly meeting.  Tonight, we had only 33% of the shareholders present that we would need to have an official meeting.

Unlike most co-op board meetings, I can talk about what we discussed tonight, as it occurred in a public forum.  Before people showed up, I made reference to my transgender nature because one person didn't respect our co-op's president and deferred to me because I often present as a white male.  (Little does he know!)  I asked this woman whether she thinks it is because she is black or if she is female.  And she thinks that it's a little bit of both.  That's when I showed her a couple of pictures of RQS, noting that RQS is what used to be called as "passable".  (Later on, RQS reminded me that when summer comes, one can more easily see the color in her skin.)

There was a point where our president passed a question to me to answer, and I mentioned a lot of things to explain why we can't give more notice for potential maintenance increases.  Hopefully, I was able to satisfy the shareholder's need for an answer.

I was glad when the meeting ended, as I was tired and wanted to go home to rest.  And after my nightly call to RQS, rest I did....

 

Lunch with Maria - with a closeup view of MNRR/Amtrak

 

Today, Maria and I finally got the chance to meet for lunch.  She has her hands full raising her two grandchildren, as well as taking care of a daughter who is not responsible enough to take care of herself and her children.  So, we get together much less often than we would like.  But when we do, the conversation flows like the Niagara river.

Maria wasn't in the best of moods when we got together, as she had several problems on her mind.  I listened a bit, and gave some suggestions when asked. But for the most part, I let her speak until she was ready to let me jump in with the changes going on in my life.  While chatting, both Metro North and Amtrak trains passed by the restaurant, and we had to suspend our conversation for a few seconds while the trains passed by.

I asked Maria if her older daughter was likely to get married, and she noted that this daughter wasn't yet ready for a husband, children, or any of the other situations a woman in her 20's might find herself in. So I had a little fun in mentioning that I'm looking for a good excuse to make myself as pretty as possible again, to wear a fancy dress, and go out in the world as Marian to a formal affair.  Maria smiled at that.  I'm not so sure if this would ever happen, but it would be nice if it does....

The car is no longer mine - a quick post

 

DCD and I finally did it.  Tonight, I signed over the car to him, and he can start the process of getting the car back on the road.

I'll miss this car.  But my current car is a better choice for me.  I need the safety features in the car, as I no longer have the alertness that I had 50 years ago.  Even now, I have started thinking about how long I will continue to be able to safely drive a car.  I'm roughly 67 years old, and I can see the differences between how I drove when just a few years younger and how I drive now.

Hopefully, the car will serve him well.  I wish him the best while he owns it, as he really needs a set of wheels to commute to and from his job.

- - - - - -

On other matters, I picked up my tax paperwork today and then filed these forms.  State taxes were in the range I expected, but at the low end of the range.  Federal taxes were slightly overpaid, so I will eventually get a refund which will go to my clothing budget.

I now wish I hadn't booked an upcoming cruise

 

Before anyone gets any wrong ideas, I am still looking forward to my cruise.  But the conditions which made me select this cruise at this time have changed, and I would have preferred to be taking a different cruise with RQS later in the year.

But first....

My uncle passed away last night.  After 91 years on this planet, it was time for his soul to depart his body and travel into the unknown - whatever that might be.  He lived a long and successful life, having won more than one industry awards in a highly competitive and visible industry.  (Let's just say that you might have seen him win one of his awards 50 years ago, or so.)  He was always there for his family when he was needed, and I'll always be grateful for the assistance he offered when my wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Last year, I chose to take a California Coastal Cruise, as a fallback if my uncle wasn't up to being visited.  Sadly, he had severely damaged his hip the autumn before, and it never healed enough to allow him to walk again.  (He fell trying to take care of a wife who was suffering with dementia, when his wife should have already been placed into a care home.)  When we visited Los Angeles last June, he had just been told that he'd never walk again.  With everything going on in his life at that time, I made it a point to try and visit him again while he was still above ground.  Today, I got the news that I was about a week or two too late.

Right now, the person in charge of my uncle's affairs has not made any arrangements for my uncle's memorial service/gathering.  I likely will not be able to attend this service if held before mid May, as my prior commitments preclude making any trips.  And, even if I could attend, I will not know any of the people who would be attending this service/gathering, as they are all industry insiders.

At least, there is one good thing to come out of all of this.  I will not need to bring along any male garments for my upcoming trip. (I'm sure that my uncle would have found a way to write a humorous story about this if he wasn't the person in the casket....)

This weekend flew by way too quickly!

 

I'm not going to say too much about this past weekend, save that it flew by way too quickly!

Friday came, and I picked up RQS in Marian mode, as it would be the only day I'd be able to present as a female until next week.  After a night's rest, we decided to go out and see Ennio, the documentary about the great movie score writer, Ennio Morricone.  RQS used to make jokes about this man's name (nothing nasty, just cute), but now she knows how respected he is in the music world.  If you haven't had the chance to listen to this man's music, you must be living in an impermeable bubble.  From scores for "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" to "The Hateful Eight", Morricone has proven himself to be a composer in the same league as Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.  So, if you can, see this documentary - it will open your eyes to the greatness of this man in the world of music.

Sunday was very different, as we met TCL for dinner in her neighborhood.  Yum!  What more can I say?  Only one bad thing I can say - the restaurant isn't closer to me.  We could have chatted a bit longer, but all of us were getting tired after 2 1/2 hours of chatting at the restaurant.  All too quickly, Monday came, and RQS had to go home.  I accompanied her to Grand Central, then departed to pick up my taxes. Now, I don't have to worry about this task anymore.  Yet, I missed seeing the eclipse.  That's not such a bad thing, as I'll have 20 years to prepare for the next one.

I'm still cleaning out my old car - a quick post.

 

Right now,  my old car is sitting in my driveway.  The plates are off the car, and I'll soon be signing the paperwork needed to transfer the title to DCD.  Although I don't intend to clean out the car completely, I will take most of the next week to gradually get the rest of my crap out of the car, so that DCD can vacuum it out at his leisure.

I'll miss this car.  But I like the car I'm driving now.  It has quite a few miles before it gets mechanically old.  That's a good thing, as I don't want to have the car die on the road while I'm presenting as Marian.  (This happened with my PT Cruiser after 120k miles, and I didn't think it worth while to install a new transmission on a car that was worn out.)

In certain ways, a new car is like a new life.  Given that I have bloomed because I am out as Marian, I wanted a car that reflected my risk adverse nature and a car which I could enter and exit in a lady like fashion.  My new car allows me to do that.

A visit to Universal Standard, and then to Game Night

 

I try to go to game night every night our hosts invite us in to their home.  Sadly, I found out something about two of our regulars that I almost wish I didn't know.

But first....

A few days ago, I registered for an in-person shopping visit to Universal Standard.  Having been there for sample sales, I was prepared for almost anything.  Would the place be organized mayhem, such as it is when they hold a sample sale?  Or, would the place look like a normal store, with a little bit of everything to try on.  Today, things were much better than expected, as I was greeted with a glass of Proseco, and then the stylist asked me what I was looking for (mostly dresses).

When I go to Universal Standard's sample sales, I wear a unitard, over which I wear a shirtdress as a duster.  This way, I can take off the top layer and be able to try on clothes without other women seeing that I am wearing falsies.  I could have avoided the headaches of doing so today, as I had a dressing room all to myself.  Given this unexpected luxury, I stripped off the unitard, and got dressed in several of the outfits selected for me.  (I wish I could have taken pictures of me in each outfit.)

The first of these outfits was a white shirt with linen pants with a stretch waistband in aqua..  If the shirt were a little longer, I might have bought this outfit.  But, if my "tucking" comes undone, I don't want my pants to give away what genitalia I possess.  (I still may consider it in the future, but not right now.)  Next was a Polo shirtdress in "Botanic" (think of a rich forest green).  It looked and felt good on me.   But I didn't feel like dropping $138 for this dress right now.  After this came two items that wouldn't work on me, and I didn't bother trying on.  And then came the button-up shirt dresses I had problems with. Although the stylist (read: saleslady) said most of what she selected looked good on me, I felt that 2 of the 3 shirtdresses ranged from "not worth buying" (due to bad button design) to "acceptable as a gift" (I'd wear it if I got one as a gift, but wouldn't buy it) to "I'd buy it if I had extra money to spend".  The last of these dresses had the right length for me to wear as a dress alone, and could be worn with leggings, or worn as a duster.  What surprised me was that a jumpsuit looked nice on me.  I'd  still want to wear a shirt of jacket as a topper.  But I'm thinking of going for it.  Sadly, I had to leave without buying anything.  So, I returned home to rest a little before going back out to game night.

- - - - - - 

Game night was nothing special - even though I didn't get the chance to play anything.  There were only 6 people there (including myself), as 2 of the other regulars didn't show up.  I found out over a chat that went on at the game table, that one regular didn't like another regular because she learns new games slowly.  (This fellow is a hard core gamer who likes being the center of attention, and he doesn't get along that well with people who aren't as aggressive as he is in game play.)   Although I don't have problems with him, I now wonder what he says about me behind my back.  But that's another story.

I started to have a good time when the hostess and her son came back from his weekly Chess tournament.  Today, he got beat by someone more skilled than he is.  But he is learning quickly.  First, I chatted with the hostess for a while about things in general.  Then, I chatted with the son about chess.  I told him that I used to be decent as a kid, but I'm a terrible player 50 years later.  It'll be fun to relearn the game from him.

While at game night, Vicki sent me a message.  She'd like to go to the Flax Designs warehouse sale, where they are cleaning out inventory in what they call a "Barn Sale".  Although it will take over 3 hours (each way) to get there and back, the sale prices can't be beat.  So I said Yes to Vicki and offered the chance to have RQS come with us.  (RQS said no, so we'll shift our weekend plans by a day or so that weekend.)

It looks like I'll be doing even more shopping soon!

 

 

I get frustrated when a business says something is delivered when it isn't.

 

How many of you use Amazon and get notices that your products have been delivered when this is not so?  Well, I'm tired of these presumptive notifications from vendors, as false positives cause a lot of grief when deliveries are time-sensitive.

Years ago, I subscribed to Amazon Prime because they advertised 2-day delivery for most products.  This was very important, as Amazon was the only place where I could find a girl's locking diary that I could give to a young girl before Christmas.  Today, things are different.  On Amazon's site, they tell users to do the following:

1 - Confirm shipping address in Your Orders
2 - Look for a notice of delivery attempt
3 - Check around the delivery location
4 - Ask your household members and neighbors
5 - Wait 48 hours for the package to be delivered
6 - You can check with the carrier

You'd think that Amazon (and its carriers) could always take a photograph of the delivered object where it was delivered, and include that photo as part of an email confirming delivery.  This was helpful to RQS when her package was delivered to the building next door, and made it to her place a day later.  But false positives can cause big problems.

Quite often, I get false positives from Amazon and UPS regarding product deliveries.  The worst of these occurred a while back when UPS and I got our signals cross when I ordered a phone from Motorola.  The confusion had me going back and forth between UPS and Motorola trying to find out where the product was delivered and how to get a replacement shipped to me.  I ended up paying the first month's installment on the phone before I actually received it.  Although Amazon can be bad, but UPS can be worse because they consider a product to be delivered - even when they hand it off to the post office for last-mile delivery.  This happens quite a bit for many small items, and no notice is available on UPS's site to tell the recipient that they handed off the delivery to USPS. 

Shortly before the pandemic and during part of it, I was a customer of Freshly.  Their food was good, but their last mile delivery was terrible.  Out of 13 shipments, only 3 or 4 were delivered correctly.  My boxes were left behind entry doors where I couldn't see them, left in other doorways where no one cared about them, and in one case, left in front of a vacant apartment where the food was left to rot for a week. Although I got reimbursed for my losses, I got annoyed at the last mile delivery service they used - LaserShip.  Like many "Gig Economy" services, LaserShip bid out its deliveries to the lowest bidder, and this often meant that products were delivered incorrectly, if at all.  I'll bet that firms like this were the cause of Freshly's demise.

What in the world should we do as consumers?  For me, I'd report the products as missing as soon as they are marked as delivered and found not to be so.  Someone has to pay the cost for false deliveries and businesses have more clout than consumers to insure that their products get delivered properly.  So, make them pay the cost for the problems they created until these problems are fixed.

 

I'm almost ready to sign away my old car.

 

Sometimes, I feel like I'm negotiating a contract with the fellow on the left.  DCD asks me a lot of questions that he should be able to answer by himself, such as computing Connecticut's tax on the car which he will soon be registering.

The other day, I met for DCD for a bite to eat, and I was ready to sign the bill of sale and the title, so that he could take these forms, plus the release of lien, and get the car registered in his name.  He wasn't ready to do that, as he still had to schedule an in-person visit to Connecticut DMV to get the car registered and get the plates for the car.  Hopefully, we'll be able to take care of this soon.

- - - - - -

Right now, the old car is sitting in an assigned parking spot, waiting for DCD to drive it away.  I want it gone by the end of the month, as I don't want a car I can't drive sitting in my driveway as long as my old PT Cruiser sat after its transmission failed.  Although I gave away that car 10 years ago, it never got on the road again.  The new owner planned to get the car fixed and never did, as he passed away before he had the chance to do so.

I'm lucky to have two parking spots I can use, as one spot blocks in the car in front of it when two cars are parked in these spots.  This is not much of an issue for a married couple, as they would be able to move a car so that the blocked-in car could get out.  But it wouldn't work if the two cars were owned by non-relatives. Yet, if I could find a Cheap, Low-Mileage, Well-Maintained 2 seat gas fueled Smart car, I might buy it - if only to be able to visit RQS and have a good chance of finding a parking spot quickly.

- - - - - -

If this deal with DCD falls through, I might put my old car back on the road again, just to have something cheap to drive to RQS's place.  Hopefully, this won't happen.....