Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #2 (08/13/25)

Breakfast for two....

There were more plates and trays of food to start our day.  But the day had come late due to Room Service personnel oversleeping.  (Or, that's the excuse the man gave.)

- - - - - -

We were awakened by someone calling from New York, trying to get RQS to accept a dental appointment for cleaning only, as her dentist would not be there.  As usual, the person was acting with a pre-set agenda and wasn't listening to RQS. RQS wanted to see the dentist as part of her regularly scheduled appointment. But RQS made herself clear and got the appointment she wanted.  As for me, I could have used an hour or two more sleep.

When were finally moving, we had to wait more time than should have been necessary for breakfast, as Room Service was running late.  By the time we finished breakfast, it was lunch time - a meal we decided to skip in favor of afternoon tea later in the afternoon.

- - - - - - 

Afternoon Tea....

Around 3 pm, we went down to the dining room for afternoon tea.  There was not enough room in the area outside the restaurant to hold all of the people waiting to get in for tea.  At 3 pm sharp, the restaurant opened to let everyone in.  RQS and I were seated at a table for 2, a table off the beaten track of wait staff flow. This wasn't the problem that made tea unpleasant.  Instead, it was the loudness of our area.  We had to shout to hear each other speak.  Unlike tea on our Norwegian Fjord cruise, the small finger sandwiches had almost no flavor.  Was it us?  Or was it the ship's environment that caused us to give a "thumbs down" on tea?  Who knows?  But I won't be in any hurry to go back there again for afternoon tea.

- - - - - -

 

Dinner....

We got dressed in our nicest clothes for formal night, and left early for dinner.  This would give us some time to get formal pictures taken of us before we went to dinner.  After walking around for a few minutes, we found a place where we wanted our pictures taken - and did so.  Then, it was off to dinner.

Arriving at the restaurant a few minutes early, we asked if we could be seated at a table where our favorite waiter was working.  They hemmed and hawed a little, and seated us at another shared table.  Then Marco showed up, and greeted us warmly.  We love his touch in serving us at our table.  (Now, I understand why my uncle was once upset at not having his favorite waiter serve my dad when he visited him in the Hamptons one year.)  Across from us was a couple from Turkey who could barely speak English.  Shortly after we ordered, two ladies were seated next to us, and we had a great, non serious chat with them.  I suggested the Orange Duck, and she was glad I suggested it. Our dishes came.  First was the crab cake, then the ravioli, followed by the duck.  Yum!  The orange sauce was not as pronounced as I'd make it, but it was good. Finally, dessert was served, and I had the creme brulee.

- - - - - -

When we finished dinner, we decided to do almost a week's worth of laundry.  One of the nice things about a Princess cruise ship is that most (if not all) have self-service laundry.  Two problems: the token dispenser didn't work, and the soap dispensing machine was empty (or, we thought it was).  So each of us had to make our way to Guest Services for help... multiple times.

All in all, this was a good sea day.... 

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #1 (08/12/25)

 

Our day started late, as we were catching up on some long needed sleep.  My back was causing me grief, making it hard for me to get my back into an erect position without pain.  Luckily, a hot shower helped my muscles relax, and I was able to get showered and dressed without incident.  Once I was up and moving, I was able to take a nice picture of the fog that enveloped our ship.  At this point of our journey, having a balcony cabin doesn't mean that much.  But it will mean a lot once we get into Alaska's inside passage.

After we were dressed, we got a call from room service asking us when we would like our deluxe balcony breakfast for two.  It was a little early for us to think of it, but we said we wanted it tomorrow, as we would still be at sea, on our way to Alaska. We made it to the buffet for a late breakfast, and we both enjoyed sitting by the window and letting the waves roll by.  About 30 minutes later,  RQS went to a presentation while I went back into the cabin to edit my blogs. Around lunch time, we went back to the buffet for another bite to eat and to kill some time. 

- - - - - - 

On select cruises, Princess  Cruises has a naturalist giving enrichment talks about places that the ship will visit on the cruise.  This is the case with its Alaska cruises, and it's something all cruise lines doing Alaska itineraries should do.  Shortly after lunch, we went to one of these presentations on Glaciers, and enjoyed the presentation. 

Returning to the room after the presentation, we spotted some pineapples on a couple of doors on the way to our cabin.  It's nice to know that there are still some people who have a certain spark of youth in them (whether or not they need a blue pill to ignite that spark.)  With that being said, this was the first time I have seen pineapples affixed to cabin doors on a Princess Cruise.  

- - - - - - 

Around 7:00 pm, we went to Sabbatini's (an Italian specialty restaurant on the ship) for dinner.  Without specialty dinner packages, this meal would cost us each $55.  Since we paid the Princess Premier fare, we got 2 specialty meals as part of our fare. Although I knew I couldn't finish everything, I had soup, an appetizer (fried shrimp and calamari), a pasta course (spaghetti and a tasty meatball), a main course (veal osso bucco), and a dessert (zabaglione).   Yum!  At the table next to us was a nice couple from Texas with whom we started a conversation and closed down the place.  At first, we were talking of our cruise history, and then it got to more serious topics while keeping things both civil and pleasant.  We were all dancing around cultural/political identity, and made sure to talk about issues and not parties.  In the end, it was a great conversation worth staying for, even though we missed out on the evening entertainment we planned to enjoy.

Who says you can't get serious and be pleasant? 

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Embarkation Day (08/11/25)

Embarkation day.  It's one of the 2, 3 or 4 most stressful days of a cruise vacation, the others being Disembarkation day, and the days one flies to a cruise port or returns home from a cruise port.  Today, RQS boarded the Ruby Princess for our cruise through Alaska's Inside Passage.  And, as expected, we encountered a long line to drop our bags off with the porters and another long line to make it onto the ship.

 

Nob Hill is a ritzy neighborhood in San Francisco/ When one stays at a hotel on  Nob Hill, one has limited choices for breakfast, as there are no easily affordable places where one can find a bite to eat, or find snacks to munch on.  To sate one's hunger, one could choose the hotel's restaurant and pay through the nose for a nice breakfast.  Or, one could take the cable car to a district where affordable dining is possible.  Or, one could use a service such as GrubHub or DoorDash to have breakfast delivered to the hotel.  We chose the latter and saved ourselves some effort and maybe a few dollars in the process.  Mickey D's is usually predictable, but today it was terrible - we both got spicy (read: HOT) breakfast sandwiches by accident.  At least, this would calm any hunger pangs we might have until we were on the ship.

Around 11 am, the bellman picked up our bags, and we went to the lobby to wait for our cab to come. After loading our bags into the back of the taxi, we were off to the cruise terminal.  It took us a while to drop our bags off with the porters, and then to snake through the line to get on the ship.  Yet, we were in our cabin by 12:45 pm, and in the restaurant for lunch by 1 pm.  Although there were two disjointed lines for luggage drop and for boarding the ship,it felt much easier to board the ship here than in some ports I've cruised from.  Hopefully, this will be a sign that we'll have a pleasant cruise.

 

After a little bit of unpacking and resting, we went on the balcony to watch the view as we crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge.  And then, it was off to the lounge to have a drink or two. Given that I didn't want to hang out in the lounge and keep drinking, I suggested that we look at the buffet and see how appetizing it looks. So, we went to the Lido Deck, and sat down and had some tea.  

 

While killing time before dinner, I noticed some islands to the side of our ship.  We weren't sure of what islands these were until I remembered that the Farallon Islands were somewhere off the California coast, West of San Francisco.  Looking at the islands in the distance and photos taken by others, I figured that the Farallon Islands were what we were seeing in the hazy distance.  Although I can say that I've seen these islands, I can guarantee that I'll never visit them.

Around 7 pm, we went to one of the main dining rooms for dinner where were served by a talented and experienced waiter named Marco.  It was a pleasure to have him serve us, as he kept us entertained from appetizers to dessert.  Dinner ended, and it was time to go back to the room to rest.  It was a long day, and we wanted to be fresh for the morning's activities. 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - San Francisco - Pre Cruise Day 2 (08/10/25)

 

Today was spent mostly with things other than sightseeing, yet we got a better flavor of San Francisco than had we visited the usual tourist sites.  Both of us wanted to buy sweatshirts, so that if we needed an extra layer to keep us warm in Alaska, that we'd have one.

Since it was a Sunday, neither of us wanted to get to Target too early.  So I suggested that we use mass transit to reach San Francisco's Ferry Building at the end of Market Street.  This where I expected we could get a reasonably priced bite to eat for Breakfast - and I was right.  We had some stuffed croissants before trekking over to Target.  RQS found the perfect sweatshirt to wear, while I found an acceptable one - but one size too small to use, except in case of an emergency.

Once done with Target, we stopped into Mel's Drive In (across the street) where we had milkshakes.  (I also had some clam chowder, as I knew how good it was.)  These were classic thick shakes that were served with the metal container in which the shake was prepared.  Yum!  Pleasure straight from the 1950's!  From there, it was off to Japantown, so that RQS could visit a specialty stationery store.  I didn't bother going inside.  Instead, I waited nearby until she was ready to leave.  And it was back to the hotel to rest for a while before going to dinner in Chinatown. 

The bellman at the hotel recommended a place called Z&Y for some tasty Szechwan food.  Boy was he right - this place served authentic Szechwan food, spicy hot!  I ordered the Seafood hot pot, while RQS ordered the Mongolian Beef hot pot.  Both were yummy, but both of us preferred the beef as it was easier to eat and was less spicy.  If either of us had known how large the portions were, we'd have only ordered the beef - it was large enough to feed 2 people.

We left the restaurant as it was starting to get busy.  I summoned a Waymo driverless car to bring us back to the hotel.  RQS was a little hesitant at first, but she became more comfortable when she saw how smooth a ride it delivered, as it drove more calmly than most humans would drive.  Would I summon one again?  Yes.  But only in San Francisco.

Alaska Cruise 2025 - San Francisco - Pre Cruise Day 1 (08/09/25)

 

Today's focus was a visit to the DeYoung museum to see an exhibition of Paul McCartney photographs taken during the Beatles' touring years.  One would never think of Macca as an accomplished photographer, but many of his pictures stand the test of time.  (Note: His brother, Mike, is an accomplished photographer. So, a visual talent must also be in the family bloodline.)

- - - - - - -

The day started out with us waiting at the California/Mason cable car stop for a car which never came.  Who knows why this happened, but we made the mistake of not walking down hill to California/Powell to where we'd get the cable car to Union Square where we planned to have breakfast.  So, we waited a bit and I realized that SF Muni's directions had us walk to the next stop on the line (all downhill) where we'd be able to save time and get to where we wanted quickly.

 

Once we figured things out, we made our way to Sears Fine Food (a San Francisco restaurant that's been there forever) and had breakfast.  Even though breakfast was expensive by NYC diner standards, it was well worth the money - the food was top notch, and filling.  (If you're staying in San Francisco and you're in the Union Square area, Go There!  You won't be disappointed.)  While eating lunch, we noticed that we made a BIG mistake - we ruined the one day we could visit the Swan Oyster Depot.  So, that'll have to be on the docket for our next visit to "Fog City". 

We then walked to Mission street where we caught the bus to Golden Gate Park (and the DeYoung Museum.)  It was crowded due to young folks going to an outdoor music festival.  Both RQS and I got a picture of the group wearing Giraffe shaped hats. And soon, we were walking into the park and into the museum.

Although this exhibition of Macca's photos was in Brooklyn last year, I didn't have the chance to trek into Brooklyn to see it.  When I heard that the San Francisco exhibition was extended to October, I knew this would be a must see while in the city - and neither of us was disappointed.  The pictures told the story of Beatlemania in a way which few writers could put it - in the eyes of a Beatle. Once done with the DeYoung, we walked to the Japanese Tea Garden and took a lot of photos.  (RQS wanted to see what she could do with her camera.) And all too soon, our bodies were showing their age, and we decided to return back to the hotel with a couple of stops in between.

Our original plan was to take the bus back from the DeYoung, then catch another bus to California Street, where we'd take the cable car home.  (We didn't want to walk up any hills.)  We ended up at the end of Van Ness, and walked over to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner at a place called Cioppino's.  I figured that this would be a good place to get seafood for dinner, and I was right.  If I had known that their signature dish was big enough to feed two people, I'd have suggested ordering that for $53. 
 

 Our next stop was the Musee Mechanique, a place where I've made many pleasant memories on my trips to this city.  As expected, I played some of the pinball games there and contributed a few quarters to the local economy.

From there, we returned to our hotel via the Market street historic trolley, and then connected with the California street cable car to bring us back to the hotel.  When I looked at how much we walked today, I was surprised.  We walked 4.6 miles!  Not bad for a whale who travels on land.... 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Leaving for San Francisco (08/08/25)

 

Our day started very early, as we had to be at the airport by 10 AM.  And this is where the problems started.  On the way to the airport, an 18 Wheeler was attempting to make too tight a turn under the EL and blocked traffic for about 10 minutes.  This wasn't the worst part of the day.  When we arrived at the airport, we had problems with our boarding passes for which we needed help. And we encountered a Karen....

At first, the Karen was willing to help a little, but didn't listen to us or pay attention to our needs.  Both of us needed to have our Trusted Traveler Numbers attached to our boarding passes, so that we could use TSA PreCheck.  She got my boarding pass fixed, but RQS had to look up her number from another airline's site.  We asked for help again, but the Karen started redoing my pass and was ignoring RQS. So I started shouting to get attention, but I drew the wrong kind of attention. After things calmed down, the Karen refused to help RQS, or even let her through to the kiosks we were told to go to, as the Karen was taking things out on RQS to get even with me.  (You can guess what will go into a "nastygram" RQS plans to write.)  I ended up going through 1 PreCheck line while RQS got her problem dealt with at the kiosks on the other side of the floor.

Once we were past the TSA checkpoint, I was able to relax.  It took me a while to chill, but we had no further problems at JFK.  We got on the plane with no problems, and had an uneventful flight to San Francisco.  And that's where we were greeted by someone from Princess Cruises, helping us with our luggage and the cab to the Mark Hopkins Hotel in Downtown SF.  Both of us were tired and needed sleep.  But if we slept, we wouldn't be able to find something affordable to eat.

Around 6:30, we took a cab to the Stinking Rose, a restaurant specializing in Garlic dishes.  They moved to a new and better location since I ate there.  So I was glad that the cabbie knew that the place relocated to a spot further down the street.  RQS loved the place, finishing up her ravioli.  As for me, I enjoyed the food, but couldn't eat more than a half portion.  

By the time 8 pm came, it was time to go back to the hotel and finally get some much needed sleep....  

It's off to Alaska!

 

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

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

- - - - - -

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

• Princess
• Holland America
• Norwegian

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

• Endicott Arm
• Hubbard Glacier
• Tracy Arm 

I had several port requirements:

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

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

- - - - -

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

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

 

Updates on the last days before my cruise.

 

Lately, I've been preparing for my upcoming cruise, and trying to get as many things in order before flying to California.  I had been thinking of buying a camera for this trip and realized that it wouldn't make sense because I usually get good enough pictures on my cell phone and realized that that the DSLR camera I already own is gathering dust on one of my shelves. (In my defense, the camera doesn't take SD memory cards, lenses aren't made for this camera line any more, and the rig is bulky as hell.)

- - - - - -

Yesterday, I decided to look at cameras on Amazon and found that most of the inexpensive rigs would take more than 2 days to be delivered to my house.  (I wasn't going to pay extra for 1 day delivery.) This was unacceptable, and was one of the main reasons I started to think differently about buying a new camera.  For the most part, this was an unneeded expense, like my drive to the family homestead I took.

Why am I mentioning my drive to the family homestead?

My brother and I own a house that we've been renting out for years. This year, our tenant left, and the place has been vacant since January.  There were upgrades we needed to make to the house, such as replacing the water heater, replacing leaking gas pipes and replacing the washer/dryer in the basement, that had to be done before we could rent the place out again.  While we were doing this, another "might as well" came into play - we repaired and painted the basement walls, then redid the electric wiring and lighting to make it appear as an almost finished basement.  Yet, my brother forgot one thing: Did he make sure that the fire extinguisher was back in the kitchen before the final inspection.  So, I took 4 hours out of my life to find out that the extinguisher was in place when I could have spent it doing something more enjoyable.

There was no way I could do anything else that day.  I had to open up a co-op board meeting specially held to interview 2 applicants to purchase apartments.  This kept me from doing what I would have liked to have done - having one last evening by myself before 2+ weeks of being in the constant presence of others.

- - - - - -

Today, I had only one thing on my docket: seeing an acquaintance I met on the first post Covid shutdown cruise I took in late 2021.  J, as I'll call her here is a retiree who can afford to take several cruises each year, including at least 1 from a bucket list category.  We have been in very loose communications over the past 3 years, and we had another opportunity to meet again - She's going on a cruise that sails out of New York tomorrow, and I'll be leaving for California the next day.  But there is one problem.  She's staying at an airport hotel.  (Why she's not staying in Manhattan I'll never know.) So, this makes my journey to see her more complex, as I have to take Metro North to Grand Central, take the Long Island Railroad to Jamaica, and then the JFK Airtrain to the TWA Hotel where we planned to meet.

My friend was supposed to arrive in NYC at 9 am, but got bumped to a later flight.  That worked out for her, as she didn't have to wait as long at the hotel to check into her room.  I started down to the airport when she was checking in, and was lucky to catch an express train with a few minutes to spare.  (It helped that some people were leaving early, and I found a parking spot within 50 feet of the parking meter kiosk.

With parking voucher in hand (I won't call it a ticket lest a reader get confused), I hopped onto the train (train ticket in hand), and made it to Grand Central at 3:45 pm.  I had a little time to kill, and went to the LIRR concourse at 4:15 pm, catching the next train to Jamaica.  It was easy to kill a few minutes in Jamaica (nothing much to see here, as the train station puts function over form), and then I caught the Airtrain to the airport.  (The Port Authority still uses the obsolete Metrocard to pay for Airtrain rides, and will eventually shift to a "tap and go" system sometime in the next 12 months.  But I digress....)  Given that I was in the airport at 5 pm, I decided to go to the JetBlue terminal, then walk over to the TWA Hotel.  Well, my friend made it to the Airtrain station earlier than I expected, and I trekked back to the Airtrain station to meet her. 

We met around 5:30, and proceeded to the TWA hotel for dinner.  This hotel was originally the TWA terminal at the airport and was decommissioned when American Airlines took over TWA.  It didn't make sense to preserve this terminal for flights, as it couldn't handle today's jets.  More importantly, this building is a landmark piece of architecture designed by Eero Saarinen.  So, it made sense to turn the place into an expensive airport hotel and make the place a living history museum.

I didn't get the chance to explore the whole place - it was time for dinner, and I was hungry.  We talked about cruising for the most part, and indirectly talked politics in a neutral way.  (She pays no interest in politics, but understands why I'd have trouble with the current regime in DC.  She loved the place, and was very glad that I suggested we eat there.  Service at the restaurant was fast in the delivery of our food.  Our water glasses were kept full.  And they weren't in a rush to chase us out for more paying customers.  So it was I who noted that it was 9:30 pm, and that I had to be on my way.

Hopefully, I'll see my friend soon on another cruise, or when she's in New York for some other reason.

PS: My friend is going on the same cruise as another friend from my Yonkers game night group.  Hopefully, they will bump into each other and have a great time.

  

Closing out a weekend with RQS (a short post)

 

Sunday came, and with it came a trip to RQS's storage locker.  Like many, she inherited lots of home furnishings from her parents and other relatives and couldn't store them in her home.  Since she couldn't deal with parting with this stuff, it was stowed away into the storage locker above.  RQS has purged about 50% of the locker's contents over the years, and there is still a lot of work left to be done.

I got dressed in one of the dresses I had at RQS's place,  This dress was a little cooler than I wore into Manhattan, but not one in which I'd want to do any heavy lifting at the storage locker.  After a several block walk, we reached her storage locker and proceeded to do some work there.  Since there was no AC in the building, I wasn't going to work up a sweat and ruin a dress I had only worn twice.  This was just as well, as it gave RQS an excuse to stop working and for us to go out for a burger.

 
We stopped at RQS's place to rest a while, and I noted that I had to make sure I had a parking spot that would stay legal on Monday morning.  Once we visited my car, we saw a couple eating ice cream cones.  Both RQS and I wanted something cold, so we walked several blocks to find a Saturday/Sunday only shop, the Ice Cream Window.  According to the website, the window opened in the midst of Covid for 3 weeks, and has been open every summer since then.  While there, I asked one of the employees what goes on from Monday to Friday and he noted that the main business in the shop was a graphic design studio.

- - - - - -

The next morning came, and I packed up some of my gear and got ready to leave RQS for a few days.  But first, we had to deliver some of RQS's stuff to the Salvation Army.  This meant driving a couple of miles in slow traffic to get there.  So I dropped RQS off with her donations, and drove home for the day.  After a pit stop, I drove over to Uncle Giuseppe's and picked up some food to last me until I leave for my cruise.

Am I ready to cruise yet?  Probably, but I don't feel that way.  

A visit to the Poster Museum (a short post)

 

Sadly, lighting at Poster House made it impossible for me to capture good images of the posters on display without getting reflections from the glass that covers these pictures and protects them from damage.  The above photo was taken of one of the few posters for which I didn't get reflective distortions when taking it.

- - - - - -

Yesterday, it was cool enough that I wore a denim jacket to RQS's place.  Today, it was just warm enough to leave the jacket at RQS's place.  

But first.... 

We woke up a little later than planned, and I had my usual GI-Tract issue at the worst possible time.  Instead of leaving for Poster House at 11:30 am, we didn't get out of the house until noon.  To make things worse, we missed the bus and had to walk to the subway and climb the stairs to the platform.  Once on the train, we had to make a transfer at Myrtle-Wykoff to take the 14th street line into Manhattan.  Instead of taking the advice of the MTA app which recommended that we get off at 6th and 23rd, RQS figured we should go to 8th and 23rd.  By the time we made it to Poster House, it was a little after 1:30 pm.  At this point, I needed to cool down, as the wig I was wearing was keeping me way too warm for comfort. So, we didn't start exploring the museum until 2:00 pm.

After an hour of exploration, we went to a sandwich shop to have a late lunch and chat.  We had a great time until they decided to close the shop around 4:30 pm.  So, we packed ourselves up and proceeded home for the night. I was exhausted from all the walking we had done, and passed out from almost 3 miles of walking added to a touch of dehydration caused by not having a cold water bottle with me.

I was glad that I was able to present as Marian today.  On a day like this, it was nice to be able to wear a comfortable dress, as many women were doing today.  I didn't stand out, and was treated as the woman I appeared to be. 

 

 

It was a good weekend to go to RQS's place. (a short post)

 

The above picture was taken this spring.  Except for the change of seasons, I could wear the same clothes to RQS's place that I wore before our last cruise.  However, I was bringing my luggage to RQS's place for our upcoming cruise and I decided to present as Marian the whole weekend.

- - - - - -

We expected the weather to be in the Mid 70's-Low 80's, and on Saturday we'd be seeing her former coworker in Manhattan.  As a result, my decision was made for me - dress as Marian, and deal with the subway's heat.  So I packed a change of clothes even though I have 4 dresses at RQS's place, with enough underwear to last the weekend.

Since it was Friday, I expected the usual traffic jams on the way to RQS's place.  And the traffic was as expected - terrible on the approach to the Whitestone Bridge, bumper to bumper on the Van Wyck "Expressway", and lethargic on the side roads between Rego Park and Ridgewood Queens.  What bothered me most of all about the drive down was the erratic drivers on the road.  People are driving more aggressively these days,and it bothers me much more than it used to.  (I was once one of those erratic drivers.  As they say, it takes one to know one.) Luckily, I had a choice of spots within a couple of blocks of RQS's place, and took the closest one I could find, just a block away.

Although my large bag weighed under 50 pounds, it felt like much more when I carted it up the stairs to RQS's apartment. There are things I may still need to pack.  But I figure that I'll stuff any remaining things I need into my backpack, and bring them down with me the day before the cruise.

At this point, we were in for the day.  Tomorrow, I'll meet RQS's former coworker on a visit to the Poster Museum.  And I wanted to be presenting as Marian. 

Some Unorganized Thoughts

 

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

- - - - - - 

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

- - - - - -

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

- - - - - -

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

- - - - - -

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

- - - - - -

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

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

- - - - - -

That's enough for now.   

Preparing for my upcoming cruise

 

Today, I am driving down to RQS's place and will be dropping off a couple of bags containing the clothes I will be wearing on my Alaska cruise.  For the most part, I am wearing the same clothes I had planned to wear on my New England / Eastern Canada cruise that was moved over to later in the season.  

- - - - - -

Alaska is a very informal place, where formality can be defined as wearing a freshly laundered (and pressed) pair of jeans to dinner.  (I may be exaggerating things, but I'd bet that few local women wear dresses, given the weather in the state.)  The weather can go from 40° to 80°, rainy to sunny, all in the same day.  One has to be able to dress in layers, as they will be put on and taken off as needed.

This will likely be my last visit to Alaska, unless we find a cheap cruise there which has an itinerary which interests us.  Once I've seen the best of the Inside Passage, I don't want to keep repeating similar itineraries. There are so many other places in the world worth visiting, and I want to visit them while I'm able to do so.

- - - - - -

Several years ago, I felt comfortable humping my cruise luggage on various forms of mass transit.  Other than taking commuter trains into/out of New York City and using the JFK Airtrain from Jamaica to the airport, I will no longer do so with more than a carry-on bag.  The NYC subway system does not have enough "Accessible" stations, and there is no way I want to deal with staircases on my way to a cruise.  If I'm sailing out of Manhattan, I'll take a cab from/to Grand Central to/from the cruise terminal. If I'm sailing out of Brooklyn, RQS and I will take an Uber from her place to the terminal, and use a combination of a ferry and an Uber to return to her place.  If I am cruising alone out of Brooklyn, I'll use a cab to go between Grand Central and Pier 11, then use the ferry to go between Manhattan and the Brooklyn cruise terminal.

This trip will involve an Uber to the Airport, coupled with the expected airport delays.  I'll be sure to carry a book or two with me, as well as a fully charged cell phone for entertainment.  Given that the plane's entertainment system will require corded headphones, I may bring my own pair with me, as the quality of those provided by the airline usually are sub par.

When we arrive at our destination, I know what to look for when using cruise line provided transfers.  (One time, I missed the transfer, and had to make my way to the airport hotel myself.)  Yes, I'm lazy.  I pay for the simplicity of having the cruise line make all of my arrangements to travel between my home airport and the cruise ship.  Simplicity is a blessing, especially when traveling.

- - - - - -

But enough for now.  I'll be on my cruise within a week's time, and I have to get showered, dressed, and out of the house before traffic gets bad.

You can't make this S**T up!

 

By the time you read this, two weeks will have passed since I wrote this entry.  Normally, this wouldn't be much of a concern, but one of these news items will likely add even more fuel to a scandal hitting the press.  The other of these items affects something more precious to me: the separation of church and state.

- - - - - -

I'll start out by talking about the most important of these issues: the proposed IRS settlement regarding the Johnson amendment and churches' political speech rights.  For the past 70 years, churches have been allowed to exercise their free speech rights to advocate for certain causes, but NOT endorse political candidates or parties.  This has helped maintain the separation of church and state.  Now, with the Orange Snowflake in charge, I expect to see preachers and their churches abuse their churches' tax free status and directly meddle in politics. The effects of this change may take months, if not years to have an effect on the American body politic. But it has the potential to cause great harm to minority religious groups to practice their own faiths.   

We've seen what happened in a country when religious leaders got unchecked control of Iran.  Forty years ago, Iran was a prosperous, modern, and moderately free (if one didn't offend the Shah) nation.  Now, religious police patrol the streets, and the people have to do their best to live within a religious authoritarian state.  Do we want that here?

- - - - - -

Yet, the thing that may be the most consequential in the short term is the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.  The Daily Beast reported that the FBI has the Epstein prison tape with no missing minute.  There was another report (I can't find the source) that someone in an orange jumpsuit was near Epstein's cell on the night he allegedly committed suicide.  Hmmm.  Could this be a rub out?  The Orange Snowflake acknowledged that Virginia Giuffre was stolen from his employ at Mar-a-Largo by Epstein. My first question is: Why did the snowflake hire an under aged female to be employed at Mar-a-Lago's spa? Then, I ask: What was going on at Mar-a-Lago.  According to an article in Vanity Fair, the snowflake and Epstein had a "Calendar Girl" party  where they were the only 2 males present.  Even MAGA loyalists want answers now!

No matter how much the snowflake tries to deflect things, I think this scandal has legs.  It's one thing when the snowflake abuses the power of his office and accepts a $400,000,000 bribe from the Qatari government.  But when it comes to the combination of possible adolescent child abuse coupled with lies from the snowflake saying that he'd release all the files on Epstein, it's something else.  MAGA is upset, as this is one betrayal they can not deal with.

The snowflake can't have it both ways.  If he is innocent, why not release all of the files.  The worst that can be said about him in that case would be that he once associated with the wrong person and cut off contact when he felt Epstein had crossed the line.  But if he is guilty, then MAGA rightfully is upset, as the snowflake is as much a part of the swamp that he claimed he wanted to drain.  This will likely stay in the news for weeks to come.  I certainly hope that this is the case! 

My paperwork is complete. Now to send it out.

 

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

- - - - - -

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

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

- - - - - -

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

I started repacking my bags for my Alaska cruise

 

 

As I write this, we are in the middle of a nasty heat wave in the NYC area.  The temperature peaked around 97 degrees in the shade, and I was very glad that I took the opportunity to stay inside and relax. This meant that I had no excuse not to work on repacking my luggage in preparation for our Alaska cruise.  Somehow, I still have to figure out how I'm going to bring my winter coat with me, even though I doubt I will need it.

- - - - - -

About a month ago, RQS and I were about to go on a New England / Canada cruise when we got an offer that we couldn't refuse: The cruise line would pay us (in refundable cruise credits) to take a different cruise (up to 10 days long) to the same region.  Instead of each of us paying $2000+ to take the cruise, we'd get a free cruise with the money we paid for the original cruise refunded to us (minus charges) once the replacement cruise ends.

We took Princess Cruises up on this offer 5 days before the cruise was to sail.  This left me with a packed 28" bag, a 20" carry-on bag, my backpack, and my CPAP machine - all ready to go on a summer 10-day cruise. Now, I had to repack, pulling out all but a couple of short sleeve shirts, replacing them with warmer garb. There was no way I was going to travel as Marian, given the current political climate.  Certain minorities are being rounded up (legal residents and non-legal residents), and ICE is treating many of them worse than we treated the Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War 2.  Cruelty is a trademark of this authoritarian administration, and I don't want to be one of his victims trying to travel as Marian through any CBP checkpoints.  Luckily, it made much more sense for me to dress as Mario on the Alaska cruise, so much of the packing I did for the cruise we did not take made it easier for me to repack for this cruise. 

For the most part, repacking for Alaska is relatively simple.  Replace most summery gear with wintry gear and assume you'll have autumn weather often interrupted by rain  Even if we lived in "normal" times, I'd still be traveling in trouser-like garments in Marian mode (if I were full-time), as Alaska is a very informal place to visit.

- - - - - -

On other matters....

Right now, my brother's availability may be the weakest link in us getting the rental permit for the family homestead completed. Officially, someone has to inspect the place.  However, the place has already been through 2 inspections by the same fellow working for the town, and it will be up to my brother to take care of things.