Rakugo

 

Rakugo - a form of Japanese verbal entertainment, specifically comedic storytelling. Performers, known as rakugo-ka, sit on a cushion and narrate stories, often acting out multiple characters with only a fan and a hand towel as props.

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I've been looking to see this show in Manhattan for a while.  Last month, I could have seen it when RQS was in Philadelphia visiting her cousin.  I decided not to do so for 2 reasons: (1) It was too hot last month, and (2) RQS could get the tickets cheaper than I could get them.  So, why not wait a month, and both of us could have a great day in the city?

This weekend, the weather was expected to be in the mid 80's, and that meant that the subways would be miserable. (That prediction was spot-on.)  But we had tickets, and I braved the heat in my feminine best (I'm not talking about the formality of what I was wearing, only the attitude that women take in regarding to making no excuses when things have to get done.) Around 5 pm, RQS and I prepared to go to Manhattan, and we went to the subway station at 6:10.  It was warm, but we were tolerably comfortable in the air-conditioned train.

When we arrived in Manhattan, we had to change trains at an overcrowded station.  If it was 85 degrees above ground, it was easily 100 degrees underground.  And when the train came, it was overcrowded. Making it to 50th street, we went above ground with 2 1/2 blocks to walk, and RQS was exhausted.  Although I have more stamina than she does, I knew I had to take a break and down the bottle of seltzer I had with me.  Thankfully, we made it to the theater with 30 minutes to spare before the show.

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Sitting down at our seats (thankfully we were on the aisle), I noticed that every tune played on the PA system before the show was a version of "You are my sunshine."  (How Appropriate!)   The setting was sparse as one would expect, and I knew we'd be entertained given the reviews that RQS had read about this show.

First, an apprentice Rakugo-ka came on stage and told her story.  Then Katsura Sunshine came on to tell his stories.  (This video clip from YouTube should give you an idea about what Rakugo is all about.)  After one story was told in English, he noted that he was learning both Italian and Chinese, then told the same story in both languages, Italian used for "the apprentice" and Chinese used for "the master".  This time, it was language and mannerisms from the storyteller that made one laugh.  Truly, Rakugo is an art which was a worldwide art.

Eventually, the show ended, and we had to go home.  First, we stopped for some cheesecake before going underground.  We missed the train by 30 seconds and would have to wait 12 minutes for the next one.  I remembered that an express train was coming, and that we might overtake the local.  But that didn't happen.  Again, we missed the local by 30 seconds.  So we still ended up waiting those 12 minutes, and then had to transfer one more time.  At least, we found seats on the train to RQS's place.

We were both exhausted by the time we returned to RQS's place, and I needed to take a shower before going to bed.  At least, I had the forethought to leave some pretty night wear at her place for me to wear that evening....
 

 

Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes it eats you.

 

If there's flashing lights in the middle of a NYC street, one has to wonder: Do I risk doing down that narrow one-way street, or do I take my chances on finding a parking spot on another street.  Today, I made the wrong decision, and got stuck behind an ambulance for 45 minutes waiting for them to clear the street and allow traffic to pass.

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Summer is one of those times where it is much easier for me to reach RQS's place.  I was on schedule for a 3 pm arrival at her place, and turned onto her street and noticed an ambulance going down the street.  When I could have backed out of the street and tried my luck elsewhere, I didn't.  And just before the corner, the ambulance stopped, blocking traffic for 45 minutes on a hot summer's day.

If one looks closely at the above photo, there was not enough room to squeeze around the ambulance into the open parking spot, and I didn't want to leave my car to relieve myself before the EMT people came back and freed up traffic.  Immediately behind me were 4 or 5 buses, all stuck on their route to the terminal, as well as some cars who had no way to escape the log jam. The rescue efforts seemed to take forever, and a fire truck came with more personnel to help take someone out to the ambulance. I had to feel sorry for the woman being carried out to the ambulance, she looked like death warmed over, but she was still alive. At least, once the woman was in the ambulance (and in stable condition) they moved the ambulance out of the way, and I grabbed the free parking spot before anyone else came by to take it.

Finally making it to RQS's apartment, I brought my changes of clothes into the apartment.  This weekend, I'd be in full Marian mode, and it was nice to be able to wear dresses for the entire weekend.  Since I was not in the mood to stay inside for dinner, we walked over to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner before checking in for the night.

It's nice to have a girlfriend/partner who accepts me for who I am, and whatever way I choose to present myself. 

How things have changed

 

Last year, I wouldn't think twice about going on a cruise dressed like this.  Today, given what we're seeing on TV (mostly YouTube video blogs), I'm not so sure about how I'd be treated by federal authorities.  The DOJ is going after medical records of Transgender Youth, and we've seen erasures from the Federal record of all things that celebrate or recognize the contributions of people in American society other than Straight, Cisgender, White Christian males.  The rest of us don't count for anything these days.

Why is this important?

We are seeing the malicious destruction of the American way of life by a malignant few.  Even the people who once supported the Orange Snowflake are turning away from him, as he is keeping what would normally only be campaign promises - things that are said to make people happy before an election, and not to be delivered on when in power. 

Instead of stable trading relationships with our allies, we are using tariffs to kill these relationships.  Instead of looking the other way when illegal immigrants do the work that Americans don't want to do, we are seeing tens of thousands of jobs go unfilled affecting both rural and urban economies.  Instead of having a federal government who'd step in and help when natural disasters occur, we now have a central government that tells us that disaster recovery is only a state responsibility.  Instead of having a government which protects individual rights, we now have a central government overseeing the stripping away of these rights.  In short, instead of having relative peace, order, and a well-functioning government, we have a belligerent, capricious, poorly-functioning kleptocracy.

For the first time in my life, I wish I were born in a stable European country.  Yes, each major country in Europe has big problems.  But they remember what happens when a bombastic, hate-mongering, kleptocratic leader took control of Central Europe. And they fear what is happening with America, as they have long depended on a stable , democratic American superpower for their own prosperity and freedom.

Next week, I will file the paperwork to get my second passport.  I'm hoping that I won't need it for an escape from America.  But if that time comes, I want to be ready. 

I don't know where to start first....

 

If it weren't for the Orange Snowflake, I'd be going on one of my upcoming cruises as Marian.  However, his ill will towards transgenders, especially transgender youth made me choose to travel in stealth mode until this monster passes away from the scene.  In today's news reporting, his DOJ is sending out subpoenas to doctors treating transgender patients (especially youths) to get medical information which normally be privileged information under HIPAA.  The monster and his sycophants have no respect for the rule of law; they only want power.

Tomorrow, I'll be driving to RQS's place, and I'm not sure if I'll be traveling as Marian or as Mario.  I realize that I have to build a Marian "to-go" kit, including toiletries, makeup, shaving supplies, etc. if I'm going to do this often.  So, I went to Walmart and spent $90 to start building such a kit, and have more money to go.  And this is where the next disturbing issue of the day confronted me. 

Lately, many stores have been locking down much of their inventory behind glass to prevent losses from shrinkage. Today, I encountered this happening at the local Walmart, where deodorant, makeup and other goods were locked up and unavailable without the help of a store associate.  The problem - it took over 10 minutes for the 4 of us to get assistance.  AARGH!  I was almost ready to dump the stuff I was about to buy and go elsewhere.

Now, if this wasn't the worst, it would be close enough to it.  The master control unit (MCU) on my air conditioner has gone bad.  The display panel and controls aren't working, as the display is frozen on a setting made last night. The push buttons which control the fan speed, temperature, etc. didn't work as expected.  Instead, the only things that would affect the workings of the AC were the remote controls.  I know that getting this fixed is going to cost me several hundred bucks.  However, I'm lucky in one regard, as I have 2 "extra" MCUs ready for installation, as my 2 air conditioners (same product, different cooling powers) were delivered before the master control units were debugged and ready to ship.  I never installed the MCUs, as I knew that I'd screw things up.  So now, I can pay to have this done right.  Maybe I can have the unit pulled before I go on my next cruise, and have it reinstalled the day after I get back?  I'll have to call to find out.

At least, one good thing happened today - the printer I sent out for servicing was replaced by a brand new printer.  It took a while to get things set up, but it works like a charm.... 

 

   ` 

 

 

 

A warm day in NYC

 

Today, RQS and I met in the city to have a birthday lunch at a nice restaurant.  The company was perfect, but the weather was not - it was too damned hot for comfort.  This is why we chose the Grand Brasserie at Grand Central.  And it was the perfect setting for "Ladies who Lunch."  

We first heard of this place through the UA Eats YouTube channel.  The restaurant has a nice Prix-Fixe deal which set $35 as a base price for lunch there.  (Trust me, you WILL spend more!)  So, I got showered, made up, and dressed in a new dress from Universal Standard, then out the door I went.

It usually takes 15 minutes from the time I call for a taxi to the time it arrives.  So I knew that I had to be ready by 11:10 for a 11:42 train, as the cab could arrive any time within 20 minutes of the call. Luckily, the cab arrived when I expected it, and I was at the station in time to catch the train I wanted.  While on the train, I noticed that I had lost a good pair of reading glasses.  So I made it a point to call RQS to being my pair from her place AND to walk over to a drug store (assuming I had time) and buy an overpriced replacement pair.

Arriving at Grand Central at 12:35 (or so), I decided to brave the heat and walk over to either CVS or Walgreens/Duane Reade.  Since the latter was closest to Grand Central, I bought a replacement pair for $28 - easily twice the price I'd have paid for similar glasses at Walmart.  But I digress.  Walking back to Grand Central's waiting room, I passed through the food market wishing I could take some of the offerings home to cook.  Then, I reached the waiting room, and killed a few minutes before RQS met me around 1:10.

 

 

 

Our next stop was the Grand Brasserie.  We were both a little warm from our travails, and sat down to eat.  We looked at the Prix-Fixe menu, and noticed that two of the courses had surcharges: The Oysters and the Steak Frites.  Couple this with 2 iced teas each, and the base bill was roughly $140.  (I made sure to take care of the tip, as RQS was treating me to lunch.)   Although the service was a little spotty, we would go here again.  

The oysters were some of the best I've ever had.  Their taste was strong, as if fresh from the sea an hour ago. The steak was good, but not exactly what I was looking for.  (Next time, I'll try the salmon, as I was not impressed with the idea of having an omelette for lunch.)  Too bad that I didn't get pictures of the Ice Cream that RQS had or the Sorbet that I had.  Both were perfect ways to end the meal.

Just after leaving the restaurant, we encountered a photo shoot in progress.  Who and why we did not know.  But it was one of the typical things visitors to Grand Central will see while in the terminal.  I kissed RQS goodbye, and we were off to our respective houses.  I could have used more time to nap on the train, but that's another story for another day....
 

The Doctor, the car and the board

 

The last things I wanted to do today were to visit my doctor, to get my car serviced, and to be at my co-op's board meeting.  Yet, I scheduled all 3 things for today, as I'd avoid having to switch back and forth between male and female presentations.  

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The day started with a visit to my doctor.  Every month or two, he monitors my vitals and adjust my prescriptions as needed. My alarms were set for 60-90 minutes before the appointment, so that I could dash into the shower, shower and dress, then make it to the doctor's office by 10 am.  I did just that, and made it to the office by 10 am.  Just one hitch - my appointment was for 10:30 am.  At least, I was out of the office by 11 am, and had time to relax at home before my next appointment for the day - car service.

I was semi-conscious between 11:30 am and 1 pm, and didn't get out of the house until 1:15 pm.  Luckily, I wasn't kept waiting at the dealership for service.  However, I had to wait until 3 pm to get my car and make a stop at Walmart before going home for the day.  There was still some time to kill before the co-op board meeting, and I killed it well.

Around 5:30 pm, I fired up the co-op's zoom account, and started our zoom meeting.  The board's president brought us up to date on events, and then we interviewed an applicant to purchase an apartment.  After this, the general business part of the meeting started, and I made it a point to make sure that the rest of the board look at a document of mine and review it ASAP, as we need to send it to our managing agent. 

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Good news came to me today - I received an email from Fed-Ex telling me that the printer I sent in for servicing will arrive on my doorstep on two days.  YAY!  Although I expect to be having a late lunch with a friend, I will finally be able to be back to normal in things requiring the use of a computer.

Tomorrow, I'll be heading into NYC to have lunch with RQS at the French Restaurant in Grand Central Terminal, the Grand Brasserie. RQS and I first heard of this place while viewing a video on the YouTube UA Eats channel.  This reviewer does not enter restaurants looking for ultimate experiences. Instead, he is an "every man" reviewer, experiencing each restaurant from the point of view of someone who rarely dines at fancy restaurants, who wants to get a really enjoyable meal for money spent.  Like him or hate him, his appeal is his personality, and not a well educated taste palette. He's one of the rare content creators who I might pay to see his videos.  Let's hope that his review of this restaurant is on target....

 

RQS Had to go home today (a short post)

 

RQS and I have a nice routine.  One of us will go to the other's homes on weekends and return when the weekend ends.  We've found it to be a good routine for us.  We have our "We Time" and each of us has our "Me Time."  We enjoy being with each other, and miss each other when we're apart.

Today, RQS had a doctor's appointment at 1 pm, so I got dressed in a comfortable dress appropriate for the weather (it was expected to be hot and humid) and drove her to the station.  (These are the times I'm glad to be able to wear dresses instead of the trousers expected for me to wear in boy mode. When the weather is hot, humid, and sticky, the last thing I want is something clinging to my legs.)  By the time the train left for NYC, the heavens opened up in Croton, and took 20 minutes for the rain to ease off.  Strangely enough, she didn't hit any rain, and it was very uncomfortable for her to get to her doctor's office.  

I went home for a while to rest (I didn't get enough sleep last night), then got dressed again to go to Costco and Stew Leonard's in Yonkers.  Roughly $120 later, I was done with both stores, with dinner enough to last the week. Did I get everything I wanted?  No.  But I got everything I needed.

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On other matters.... 

Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to fix the co-op web site yet, and I think I'll have to buy a new domain for what I have built.  I'll deal with that in the afternoon, so I can have something to report before the co-op board meeting begins. 

The "repair" shop where I dropped off the printer last week contacted me in response to my email.  They asked whether I wanted Epson to ship my printer directly to me instead of me picking it up on Long Island - and I said YES!  Hopefully, it will be here before the end of the week. 

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 was dehydrated and didn't know it.

 

Last night, RQS and I went to dinner with my brother at an Oriental Buffet.  We ate enough food to feed an army, and my digestive system paid the price overnight.  I didn't notice that I had needed to drink some water when I woke up, and wasn't thinking of food or drink throughout the day.  This was my mistake, and I almost paid dearly for it when I went into the shower.

Around 3:00 pm, I stripped and went into the shower to freshen myself up to go outside.  In the middle of showering, I got a little dizzy and took extra care to keep my balance, finish my shower, and dry off before rushing to the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice.  While I was waiting for my metabolism to process the OJ, RQS got showered and dressed.  Then, I finished with my "morning" routine, got dressed, and prepared to go out to the supermarket for our evening meal. 

Today would be a day where I'd be going outside as Marian.  And the weather was perfect for wearing a casual summer dress.  It was nice to get out of my trousers and back into a dress again. I didn't choose any of my new dresses to wear.  I was in the mood to wear something plain and functional.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll break out one of my new dresses if the weather is right.   

Before going to the supermarket, we stopped for a burger at a local fast food joint, and that did the trick for me.  Within a half hour, I no longer was concerned about how I felt earlier in the day.  Both the liquids I consumed and the food I ate restored me to a state of normalcy.  After another 20 minute drive, we reached the supermarket and picked up some dinner. 

Did we eat the salmon we bought for dinner?  No.  We were still full from our lunch.  So, we had a little nibble, and decided to cook the salmon for tomorrow's dinner. 

Now, we're thinking of taking one of two cruises next year.

 

The above two cruises interest me for completely different reasons.  The first is a 12-day mostly British Isles cruise.  The second is a 14-day cruise which visits English, Scottish, and Icelandic ports.  Both cruises have a stop in a European Mainland port before returning to Southampton.  Given the choice, I'd rather take the cruise that stops in Iceland before they get tired of cruisers visiting its ports.

If we were to take the 12-day cruise which visits English, Scottish and Irish ports, I'd be able to allocate more time to visit my niece before the cruise.  As much as I'd like to see more of London, I'm not in the mood to take the tube during the Summer.  Instead, I'd rather be able to stay above ground in air conditioned comfort as much as possible.

I figure that each of these cruises will be expensive bucket list trips.  Excursions (especially in Iceland) will be very expensive.  I have to look at how much we will need to spend, then keep RQS's budget in mind - she now has the cruising bug in her.  She can't afford to cruise as much as I can, and we try to go 50/50 on trip spending.

Unfortunately, I doubt that I'll be able to take either of these two cruises as Marian, given the unchecked power given to America's Customs and Border Control administration.  The Orange Snowflake has no love for us transgenders, and I don't want to be hassled by people who hate us.  (Luckily, I can still travel in stealth mode.) Hopefully, at some future date, I will be able to travel as Marian again.  Until then, it'll be stealth mode for me. 

How many of you have been to any of these port cities?  Did you like them?  Which cruise would you take?  Please let me know.... 

I never realized how easy it was to get a Domain until I did it myself

 

Yesterday, I did some work for the co-op that I live in, and got a domain name for our website.  It was a lot easier done than I would have thought beforehand, and I am considering getting domain names for the other two blogs I write.

The first thing I had to do is register a domain name with a registrar such as namecheap, godaddy, and others.  I chose namecheap, and selected a yearly purchase.  Once I had my domain, I had to set up 2 "CNAME" records: The first to send domain references to a specific host, and the second to tell the host which site to access.  (That's as good as I can describe the process.  I'll have to look it up on a video the next time I do this.)

After setting things up, it took a few minutes for the change to become effective.  Now, my co-op shareholders can use www.co-op-name.com and access our website.  Yes, I'm still in the middle of things regarding the website.  But I'm in the same situation in regard to our co-op's Zoom account.

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Right now, I'm not too worried about the co-op.  There are a lot of things that can cause us grief.  But the expenditure of $15/year for a domain name and $160/year for a zoom account are not among them. When I'm ready to set up a domain for the travel oriented site I have set up, it'll cost me a lot more than $1.50/month to run the site.  I will need to do something more complex than using blogger.com for my site - I will need to learn how to use wordpress to make the site look much more professional than I can with blogger.  

Will I set up a domain for this site?  Maybe, but only if volume picks up. 

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. 

 

I went out in the rain, only because I didn't want to cook.

 

Today, the weatherman predicted late afternoon rain, and boy, was he right!  After doing laundry (when it was dry outside), I decided to get showered and dressed.  By the time I was ready to go out, it was dark outside and the heavens had opened up.  There was no way that once I got into one of my dresses, that I would not go outside.  So I grabbed an umbrella, and out the door I went. After 30 minutes of driving, I decided to have some Fish & Chips at the diner in Pleasantville.  The food was plentiful, but they fried the fish for a bit too long.  At least it was filling....

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Sadly, the Snowflake's Big UGLY Bill made it through the Senate, and it's back to the House for reconcilement.  I ration how much time I spend watching news these days, as a continued diet of unpleasant news is infectious, One can get the key elements of what one needs to know in 10 minutes of watching the news these days,  Why let the Snowflake have room in your head?

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the bill will die before it hits the Snowflake's desk.  But what I'm more worried about is the Snowflake's threat to revoke the naturalization of New York City's Democratic Mayoral Nominee.  He is using all the tools at his disposal to stifle any dissent.  I just wonder how long he can do so, given how unpopular he is in his own party. 

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With all the troubles going on these days, I try to remember this phrase:

This too, shall pass.

Too bad it feels like a kidney stone passing at times as of late.... 

 

 

 

PS:   Sadly, the bill did pass and was signed on Independence Day. 

My brother says it's time for another Lobster Dinner

 

Normally, RQS and I joke about not being able to get to the Lobster Truck for our crustacean fix.  It's been a running joke of ours for quite a while, as we have often been away when the truck is near one of us.  Tonight, my brother said that we should get together over the holiday weekend (which should have passed by the time you read this) and go out for dinner.  This fouled up my plans for the weekend, but it is a good opportunity to feast.

Due to expected holiday related traffic, I'd have to drive down to RQS's place the day before the holiday and find a parking spot before all of the available spots are taken up by residents of her area.  And then, we'd drive out to Long Island to meet my brother, then spend more time getting to the restaurant where we'd be feasting.

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My original plan for the week was to take care of Monday tasks (dropping RQS off at her place, bringing in a printer for factory service, and doing laundry), then apply polish to my fingernails.  Well, my brother's call shot the nail polish idea to hell until the weekend.  But it did give more time to share with RQS, even though it took away a day I'd spend in a dress. Is it worth it to wear trousers to enjoy lobster on someone else's dime?  Yes.  My sister in law will not be home for at least one month (long story, best not told here right now).  So my brother is all alone.  That means that I must make some time to be with him. 

Working in a job which will de-materialize in a month or two is very stressful.  The firm my brother works for misled him about the time he'd end up working.  He told them that he was taking the job to have more time with his wife.  (Not exactly true, but a good excuse for switching jobs.)  Yet, he was working 60 hour weeks at his peak.  He is burnt out.  Yet, unless he finds something, he is stuck in his hell hole until they execute a planned employee purge.

When I talked with RQS this evening, I said that I was very glad we are both retired.  Several years ago, a degree in Computer Science would guarantee that a graduate would land a high paying job.  Today, it's another almost worthless piece of paper due to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution.  There is no way I could retool and compete in this world.  Yet, my brother has to rush to build up his nest egg so that he can retire.

At least, this upcoming weekend's lobster dinner will be expensed to the business we jointly own, and not come out of this retiree's wallet....

Now to go to Long Island to have my printer serviced.

 

One would think that I'd be having no problems with a printer which is only 3 1/2 months old.  Yet, I'm reminded of John Belushi going "But Nooooo!" on early episodes of Saturday Night Live.  Yesterday, from what I can tell, all of my printer nozzles got clogged, and I can't clean it myself.  So, off I will go to Long Island to have the printer serviced.

Going to Long Island from the Northern Suburbs of NYC is a pain in the ***.  Luckily, I already have an excuse to cross the bridge to get there: I have to bring RQS home and pick up the suitcase I had packed for our Eastern Canada / New England cruise.  So, after I drop RQS off (and retrieve my suitcase), off I go to Farmingville, NY for printer servicing.  Of course, I'll have to find the time to retrieve the printer once it is fixed.  But until then, I'll have to do without a color printer and scanner.

The question remains: In which gender do I want to present in the morning?

The way I feel, I will likely present as Marian, as I'm in the mood to wear a dress.  So, if I do, I hope I don't get any flack from the person who owns the place.  But then, I could change my mind before the morning comes.

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I am overdue for my car's oil change, but there's nothing I can do about it right now.  My appointment is scheduled for another 1 1/2 weeks from now, and I'm trying not to put on too much mileage before my appointment.  (I set the date for my 18k mile service to take place after I returned from the cruise that was postponed.  I'm hoping that I don't break 20k miles before then.  

 

I didn't have problems with the Clapper, just a Flapper.

 

Instead of talking about GI-Tract issues that cause toilet problems, today's focus is on the more mundane - a toilet flapper.  RQS and I were ready to go out and get a mani-pedi together, and then we had a problem.  The toilet wouldn't flush, and water was continually running.  This could only mean one thing: The toilet flapper was stuck in the up position and wouldn't close. 

I've been dealing with this problem for ages.  It was not because the flapper wouldn't make a good seal.  It was because the chain connecting the flapper to the flush handle kept getting stuck or disconnected. I jury rigged some solutions, but hoped I'd replace my ugly yellow toilet before having to deal with the flapper.  You may say that replacing a flapper is easy.  And so it usually is.  But I couldn't get the darned thing off of its mount, and I refused to call for expensive help. To make things a little worse, I couldn't turn off the water to the toilet (a problem which will require a plumber's help to deal with a frozen shut-off valve).  So I knew that whatever solution I chose would need to be done while water was flowing into the tank.

This was not a task I wanted to do on a Saturday when everything was going to be expensive.  I'd rather be getting my Mani-pedi.  So, I rushed to the hardware store and bought 2 flappers to be safe.  After 30 minutes of half-assed work, I got the new flapper installed and ready to use.  Yes, I expect a few problems with the chain.  Now, it's much better than it was a day ago, and that's what counts. And I did get a pedicure later in the day - a nice way to end the afternoon....

It's a bitch when the cable goes out for the day.

 

I had originally planned to sleep late with RQS and then go out for the day as Marian.  Those plans all went to blazes around 10 am when the internet went out.  Normally, an internet outage would be short, as a minor server glitch would be resolved without having to call the cable company.  Today's outage was worse, as the TV signal died around noon, and took over 6 hours to get back to normal.

When I called the cable company, they claimed that there was no outage, and had me go through the usual routine of doing hard reboots of both my cable boxes and cable modem.  At this point, I knew I'd have to untangle the spider web of cables behind my computer desk, as well as the wires leading to my land line. One problem - the computer desk is way too heavy to move while loaded, and I needed to get things done without moving the desk.  Now, I know how a "shade tree mechanic" feels when working under a car.

Once I was done untangling the mess of wires and disconnecting my extra computer to make space in the corner where my main computer sits, I had a mess of stuff piled on my bed.  This wasn't going to be dealt with in the afternoon.  I needed to get showered and dressed, and do something worthwhile.  This meant going out as Mario, and delivering another donation bag to Green Drop before their 5 pm closing time.

RQS and I had different reasons to go to Walmart, mine being a need to buy more storage containers.  While on the way there, I received a call from the cable company telling me that they were working on the problem that caused me to lose my internet, and asked me if they could cancel my service call.  Of course, I said YES.  Now, RQS and I could sleep late, and I wouldn't have to present as Mario for part of the day.

By the time we finally made it home, the cable company was still working on the problem.  An hour or two later, cable/internet service was restored.   Now, we cold catch up viewing what we missed earlier. 

New York City has nominated a Muslim Socialist for Mayor

Zohran Mamdani, a name you'll be hearing more of over the next few months.  He recently became the presumptive winner of the of the Democratic Primary nomination for the NYC Mayoral election taking place this fall.  Why is this important?

America's "Leftist" party has had to move to the center to capture voters who have been abandoned by the GOP and the MAGA cult that hijacked it.  Unfortunately, the Democrats do not excite many people due to the lies spewed by the GOP and their propaganda outlets.  Whenever people like AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and Bernie Sanders hold meetings in "Red States" friendly to the Orange Snowflake, they get a large vocal audience which supports Democracy and wants to fight our Oligarchy.  The question is: Is this a fringe movement?

I think the recent NYC election which made Zohran the likely winner of the NYC Mayoral election (rarely do people other than Democrats win the election here) also is a reflection of a sea change in American politics.  Gone are the people who would support Andrew Cuomo (NYS's former governor) because he is an experienced, but flawed leader.  Most NYC residents want real change.  If Zohran wins, he owes little to the traditional Democratic Party machine.  But he will have problems because no one owes him anything. 

How much of a liability is this?  Given that the city is too big to fail, I figure that it can survive 4 years with an incompetent mayor, as it has done in the past.  Yet, it signals a great opportunity for people on the left, as it means that there is a strong message that can be used to fight the GOP - if only more people could jump on the bandwagon.  As much as I am an economic conservative, I am a social liberal.  And I think that this primary election could signal a sea change in American attitudes taking place soon.

 

Keep your fingers crossed. 

We're still having problems with our rebooked cruise.

 

This will be a short post.  

Tonight I had to script a letter to the folks at Princess Cruises about how our reservation was screwed up after we accepted their Moveover offer to make room on an overbooked cruise.  

Last Friday, I received an offer to give up my cabin on an overbooked cruise, and in return, receive a free 7 to 10 day cruise (with our money returned to us as refundable onboard credits.) After some thought, RQS and I accepted the offer and booked a substitute cruise for later in the year.  On Saturday, we noticed that RQS couldn't access the new cruise booking, and we contacted Princess.  Their representative told us that the Captain's Circle number (Loyalty ID) was entered incorrectly, and that we should contact our travel agent to get this corrected.  We did this on Monday, and he did some work with Princess, saying that we should expect to see a correction in their app in a couple of days.  Today, RQS logged in, and saw different information coming from their website and from their app.  To make things worse, she still had no access to the replacement cruise AND had some information fouled up on our upcoming Alaska cruise.

So, I sent an email to the woman who made the Moveover offer AND copied our travel agent on the email.  If the problem is not fixed, I will continue to escalate things up the ladder until we reach someone who can get things done. 

We would have been leaving on our cruise today

 

If all had gone to our original plan, we'd be on a ship headed for Nova Scotia.  However, we took a "Move Over" offer, and got a free cruise out of the deal.  (How often does a cruise get overbooked?  I don't know, but I'm glad that an offer was made to me to take another cruise for free as our compensation for the change in plans.)

So what did we plan to do instead?

We figured that we would leave for Mystic, CT for 3 mid-week days, and take a trip with me in Marian mode.  However, the hot weather forecast for the rest of the week made this trip impractical.  So, I suggested we cancel our reservations, and put the trip off until it is "cooler" outside.  Now, we're hanging out in the apartment in the flimsiest of jammies we own.

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Co-op business keeps getting in the way.  We had a legal issue that required the use of an attorney, and several board members treat their responsibilities as something that will occupy their time 3 hours per month.  The president of the board is getting tired, and I won't take on her responsibilities.  When the president asked for approvals during the day, I had to text some of the board, so that a majority approved using the attorney.  This is a familiar pattern of behavior, and we're tired of people who don't take up their share of the burden of running this place.

Once I get the co-op's ATM card, I will apply for a domain name for the co-op's web site.  (I will not publish it here.)  Hopefully, we will have people interested enough to write newsletters to send out, and for the co-op site to be a repository for them.  I figure that once I've used the co-op's needs to learn the basics, then I can start working on my other blog's domain name.  

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Keep as cool as you can this summer....