I decided to break out a new wig tonight.

This has been my go-to wig for a while.  When new, it does wonders for my face.  When worn out, it cries for replacement.  Today, I broke out my replacement wig and wore it to dinner.  No, I an not going to stop using my old wig for a while.  I intend to continue wearing it to work until the end of the month.

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As much as I want to replace this wig in my usual color, I decided to go a shade darker to see how it looks on me.  This wig will likely not make it to work for a while.  Instead, I will wear it less often, so it can last a while.  But I will replace the old wig in its color the next time it goes on sale at one of my usual online outlets.

Years ago, my former cruise partner criticized me for wanting to keep wearing an old wig until "My" expiration date - 3 (or 4) months after start of daily use.  There are two equally valid points of view here.  First, I allocate so much money in my budget for wigs each year. And if I break out a wig earlier than planned, I will need to replace it earlier than planned.  Since no one on a cruise ship will ever see me again after a cruise, who cares if they think I'm having a bad hair day?  The other viewpoint involves her wanting me to look my best, and damn the costs involved.  Give in to this urge too easily, and one will be buying expensive human hair wigs and not getting one's money worth from these purchases.  And to make the equation more interesting, my former friend wanted me to buy my wigs from the same places which supply human hair wigs to Ultra Orthodox Jewish women.  They are of the highest quality, and their prices reflect that quality.

The price/value equation for wigs was always a point of contention between me and my former cruise partner.  And I was not going to let her dictate to me how I should spend my money.  So, when I compute the cost per wear for these wigs over a two year period, I find that I get the same value by replacing wigs every 3 months that I might get from replacing a human hair wig every 2 years.  Yes, the human hair wig should last longer if properly cared for.  But I know that I am tough on my wigs, and would likely ruin a human hair wig early in its use.  So why spend good money on a wig that I couldn't maintain properly?

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There are less expensive human hair wigs that I could buy.  But I haven't seen any in a large cap that I could style to my liking.  If I were to buy one of these wigs, it would need to be a special occasion wig, for use at weddings and other important occasions.  Since I don't go to too many of these soirees, it doesn't make much sense to buy one.

What do you think?
 

Since grand juries are in the news lately....

 

In mid 2017, I was called up for Federal Grand Jury duty. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, save that I had to be up by 5:30 am to make it to Lower Manhattan (Pearl Street) by 8:30 am.  If I lived in Putnam, Dutchess, or Orange counties, I'd have served only in White Plains - a much easier trip for me.  But this option wasn't available.  So I traveled into NYC, and was lucky not to be called on to serve.  Given that they expected this jury to meet 2-3 times per week and to serve for 18-24 months, I was very lucky indeed.  

This should have exempted me from serving for 2 years.  Sure enough, 2 years later, I was called to serve again - this time on a "regular" jury.  Since I  was starting work at the census bureau, I didn't want to lose any money by taking the lower paid service on the court.  So I asked for a deferment and got it.  Then, the pandemic struck, and all jury calls were deferred until the pandemic eased off (or when government could figure out how to have people serve in the middle of a pandemic).  This gave me another year that I was able to avoid jury service.  And then, I got the above summons that called me in to serve in early July.  

I applied for my second deferment and got it.  Now, I'm hoping that I get called on to serve during the winter, as the subways will be much more comfortable than in the summer.  If the summons comes as expected (6 months after a deferment is requested), I should get a call for service in late December to serve in January.  And then, I'll be glad to serve - especially, given that I'll be in Marian Mode throughout my service.

You know you're tired when....

 

You know you're tired when you skip lunch at work to close your eyes and rest for 30 minutes.  I was fighting hard to stay awake, and was using every trick in the book to stay awake enough to do my job until quitting time.  Luckily, I was able to catch a second wind with the help of coffee, and catch up on things before leaving for the day. By the time I got home, I was ready to fall asleep.  Yet, I couldn't pass out until talking with MWL.  And even, half asleep, I was able to make plans with her and CWS for the weekend.

By the time I fell asleep for the first time at night, it was roughly 9pm.  But I kept waking up several times during the night.  Hopefully, I'll be able to be wide awake for work during the day....

Wings!

 

The origin of the Buffalo Wing is rather humble.  However, no one seems to agree on which origin story is true.  I figure that the most likely place where the dish originated was at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY.  However, this is in dispute.

Tonight, I went to a meetup at the White Plains Buffalo Wild Wings franchise,  The chain has a simple, basic bar menu - and lots of choices for spicing the wings.  This is not a place where I'd trust Fish & Chips if it were on the menu.  But I'd trust a Cheeseburger there, if I weren't in the mood for wings.

This meetup group has several regulars, including at least one person who is visually impaired.  Tonight, two attendees were using canes, even though both had partial sight.  So it was interesting to see how these two people functioned among the sighted.  What was more interesting was that in one meetup group, that this legally blind person was asked NOT to bring his seeing eye dog.  What F'ing nerve!!!  

The issue of service animals came up when I mentioned the problem our co-op has had with Emotional Service Animals (ESAs) and people who want to use this designation to have a pet in a pet-free building.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this blind man supported my view that an Emotional Support Animal should go through the same kind of intensive training to be considered a service animal that performs a therapeutic function for its owner.  

All too early, I had to leave the group - I had 2 loads of laundry to get done, and not enough time left to do it.  Luckily, I got home early enough to get my loads in before my laundry basket turned into a pumpkin.

And now, something somewhat different.

 

There is something about the book "Soppy" that I love.  Is it the drawings?  Maybe. Is it the minimal use of words to convey the author's point?  Probably.  Is it the sentimentality about the mundane issues of courtship and living together?  This is a definite Yes!  Philippa Rice created a book that I find very touching.

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I can still remember how I felt being married.  I loved being able to share a quiet meal with my wife, knowing that neither of us had to say much of anything to communicate how much we cared for each other.  I thought I had this in a more recent relationship, but I was wrong. She needed to hear things much more than I felt comfortable saying them.  (She didn't complain about it. If you don't ask for something, you won't get it. And she didn't.) Yet, I still hope that I can find someone with whom I have that "quiet" communication, and settle down with her.  This will be much harder with me being TG.  But I can hope....

Recently, the same author has done a book about having a baby.  Although I haven't had the chance to view pages from this book, I expect that it will be along the same lines as Soppy - pleasantly sentimental, but touching on the mundane things that are not that romantic.  Maybe, I'll get this new book from the library to see what the author thinks of babies....

I wish I had hips....

 

One of the problems that I have with my body is that I don't have the hips to wear certain garments.  When the above dress was new, I looked OK from the top up.  But my hips left a lot to be desired.  I had no natural curves.  This dress has long since been retired, and yet, I'll always have the same problem as I did several years ago - my hips are not wide enough to meet the proportions of a typical woman of my age and size.

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Over the years, I have learned to dress appropriately for a woman my age.  And that includes wearing more traditionally masculine garments such as trousers.  But I prefer to wear the feminine versions of these garments.  Over time, for example, I have grown to feel much more comfortable carrying a handbag and not looking for items in my pockets.  So it has now become strange for me to wear any garments with pockets, save when I'm in Mario mode.  And, about the only time I've been in Mario mode these days is when I see my internist, my dates, and my family. On these days, the feeling of male garments is noticeably different that what I normally wear during the week.  

The other day, one woman started to ask me about the women in my wife - as if she needed a scorecard to keep them straight.  But then, I am very unusual, as I am a genetic male who finds females more interesting to have as friends than to have as bed partners.  And, if I had my choice, I would have been born as a cisgender female, so that I could partake of the richness of emotional experiences open to women.  This comes at a big price, and no one should forget it.  Females are often ignored because of their gender.  They are bullied (or worse) by males, as they have less body and muscle mass.  And they have all the major headaches of reproduction. Cisgender males have no idea how easy it is for them....

With all that being said, right now, I simply wish I had nice hips, so that my clothes would look better on me.

What do you do with an old wig when it's worn out?

 

It's too bad I can't do voice impersonations with the written word.  If I could, I'd be channeling Rod Serling's voice and doing a Twilight Zone type of introduction to this entry. Sadly, I can't, and will try to do my best with this limitation.

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Over the years, I have had to replace my wigs on a regular basis.  When I was out and about as Marian once or twice during the week, I replaced my wigs every 6 months or so.  These days, with almost daily use, I tend to replace my wigs every 3-4 months, usually having at least one emergency wig in reserve. Yet, I'm usually left with a wig that's serviceable, but not one that makes me look my best.  So what should I do with it?

Right now, I have a collection of several old wigs that should either be thrown out or restyled for other uses.  They are all in the same style, as there are very few large cap wigs that fit my head and look good on me.  Yet, I can do something with a few of them.  But what?

I expect that I will soon throw away most of the older wigs, keeping one or two for use as backups when I go on cruises.  (Why wear a good wig when going into the hot tub?)  But until then, they will be collecting dust in a dark part of my closet....