Dinner with Vicki

 

It's always nice to get together with Vicki.  Tonight, it was sushi dinner at a new joint in Croton.  Although this place has been around for a few years, we never made it there for dinner.  We finally did, and enjoyed the experience.

But first....

When I got up today, I was in a rush and forgot a few things. This was a harbinger of little things to come. Arriving at the office, I found that I didn't take my morning medications.  So I figured that I'll avoid trying to play catch up, and take my evening pills when I got home.  I then noticed that I had lost an extendable back scratcher, so I used one that wasn't as effective - and left it at the office.  Since I had no more lunches available to me, I planned to buy 2 more lunches to finish out the week on my way home - that wouldn't happen either.  But I get ahead of myself.

I was surprised that I wasn't as sleepy as usual today, and was wide awake when I left the office.  Since I had errands to run, I drove to the auto parts store for a cabin air filter.  From there, it was off to Walmart to pick up some coin wrappers. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to stop off at home to drop off my goods, so I didn't bother going to Shoprite as planned.  Instead, I met Vicki at the Sushi parlor.

Vicki and I had a belated birthday celebration, ordering way too much food.  Yet, we did a good job at finishing what was in front of us, and figured that we'd be going there again soon. Both of us liked the dresses each of us were wearing, and I felt good about my choice of what I wore today.  Once done with our "nutritious dishes of little raw fishes", it was off the the Blue Pig for dessert.

All too soon, it was time to leave - and we went our separate ways.  I will miss her when she retires and leaves the NYC area....

I hate heatwaves, but love dresses during heatwaves

As I write this, we're entering this summer's second heat wave.  I'm not a fan of hot weather, and I'm grateful that the air conditioner in my car "sorta works" after a few minutes on the road. (Yes, it's something I want to check out with my local mechanic, but I need to spend money on other things right now.)  But I'm not going to feel bad about how the temperature affects me in this weather, as there are many people who have to work outside in this weather, with no way to stay comfortable while working.

I don't care how much electricity I have to use in this weather.  But I'm lucky to be able to afford the electricity I need to make my apartment comfortable during the summer.  When I eventually have to move from here, I will need to choose an affordable place which will be less expensive to keep cool during the summer.  As you might guess, there is no way that I'll move South as I get older.

Yet, there are a few good things about summer.  Being TG, I have the option of wearing a dress when presenting as a female.  No one looks at me strangely if I choose something comfortable to wear in this weather, and I take advantage of the options available to me.  It's too bad that men do not have this option in our culture.  But discussion of that issue will be reserved for another time when I have more time to write about it....
 

Accomplishing much and nothing at the same time.

 

If I could find the original negative for the above picture, I'd develop a larger photo from it and frame thhe picture.  This is how I remember the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, and it's how I'd like to see it when I visit again.

Why do I mention this?

RQS and I have been talking about going on a cruise to New England and Canada's Maritime Provinces.  Halifax, NS will be one of our stops on the cruise, and I will insist on visiting Peggy's Cove while we are in port.  However, until I decide to leave my job, I can't tell RQS that it's time to book the cruise.

- - - - - -

Today, I was trying to stay awake during my shift at the office. While there, someone had moved a non functioning refrigerator into the center of the break room, so that a replacement unit could be slid into the spot occupied by the old unit.  Now, we will have enough room to cold store our lunches, instead of trying to cram them all into a small refrigerator that didn't have enough room for all of us.

After work, it was off to the dentist's office for a tooth cleaning.  This was the least expensive visit I have had for a while.  Afterwards, I ended up going home to do laundry.  What an exciting evening!  Not much was done today, and yet, I got some needed things done....

A short post.... A new dress.

 

I've been looking for a dress in this shade of blue for a while.  Recently, I found it at Target - with one problem.  I'd have to find it in the clearance bin at one of two New Jersey stores.  AARGH!  So I decided to drive across the river after work, and hopefully find this dress in the clearance bins.

But first....

Last night, I wasn't able to fall asleep until around 3 am.  This is terrible when one has to get up for work at 6 am.  So I wasn't sure if I could drive to the Hackensack Target after a periodic teeth cleaning at my dentist's office this evening.  I was very surprised to find out that my appointment was scheduled for tomorrow.  Since I didn't have anything else on my docket, I decided to go to Hackensack.

The major roads on the other side of the river were fouled up, so I took the side roads to Hackensack. Target is hidden from the main road, so I over shot the place and got lost in a city that closes up shop at 5 pm.  Thankfully, my GPS got me to the store, where I could only find the Size 3X version of the dress.  I figured that I might as well try the dress on And, amazingly - it fit!  So into my shopping cart it went, and I became the proud owner of a dress I may wear when in Hawaii later this year....

 

PS: I ordered and received the black version of the same dress.  Dressed up a little, with the right jewelry, and I can wear it on a formal night onboard a ship....

Another end to a weekend

 

The above is the menu at the Blue Pig.  Yesterday, RQS and I decided to go there instead of the local Carvel, and she loved the ice cream there.  Today, we could have used some ice cream.  But we decided to relax before going out to do a weekly shopping run for my weekly lunches....

Our original plan was to trek down to Wegman's so that I could buy some Asian lunches.  However, with a traffic jam on I-287, it made sense to abandon this plan and go to Stew Leonard's for our shopping run.  Once on this path, I knew that I'd need to spend more than I planned for the day, as a typical run to Stew's runs about $100+ these days.  (And it's worth every cent!)

One thing about shopping at Stew's is that there are few goods on sale there that are not related to food.  (Yes, they have sold linens, slipper socks, face masks and other things.  But they are not known for selling the greater variety of things found at a typical supermarket.)  About $115 later, I had enough food to get through the week, and some money left over to buy RQS and I a couple of ice cream cones.

All too soon, RQS had to leave.  So I drove her to the station, filled up my car, and went home to take a nap.  After waking up TCL called, and I served as her sounding board for the next 2 hours.  Only then could I get some rest and fall back to sleep....

Eleanor Roosevelt - Val Kill

 

The last time I was at Val Kill (Eleanor Roosevelt's home), I was with XGFJ and we enjoyed the visit to the place.  This time, it was a bit warmer, and the "tour" shorter.  I guess with "Large" crowds, they prefer to give their presentations outside and tell people what to look for as they make their quick passes through the building.  Luckily, we didn't have to pay for the visit, and we enjoyed the chance to see grounds that appear much like they would back in the time that she and FDR loomed large in American politics.

- - - - - -

But first....

RQS and I took our sweet time in getting up.  First on our list of things to do was a trip to the tailor to pick up a pair of trousers the man had hemmed for me.  Next, we went North to Val Kill with a slight diversion to pick up some items at the store.  By the time we made it to Val Kill, I knew that I was going to have GI tract issues.  So I was very glad that the tour was short, as I was indisposed for about 30 minutes.

On our way back to the car, we were able to get a few pictures by the pond - and this was one of the highlights of our visit.  The above picture does not do the site justice.  It's a place where one can take a lot of beautiful pictures.

- - - - - -

We left Val Kill around 3:30, and went to BJ's so that RQS could pick up a Chromebook just like the one I have.  She loves it as a backup machine, and for $120, it's a steal.  No, it's not a great machine.  But it is the type of machine I think should be given to all students upon entering school, so that they can do their computer based work with a machine which is kept up to date without the help of a school's "Technology Department".  After BJ's, we went for tacos at the Mexican take-out joint in Croton. And then we made it home for the night. 

Fish & Chips

 

Today was a strange day for me.  I was late for work because I left my cell phone at home, and decided to go back and get it before arriving at work.  As much as I was going to lose an hour's pay, I treat my cell phone like people used to be admonished to treat their American Express Cards - "Don't leave home without it."  I certainly didn't want to do that....

Work was the usual dull grind, and I was trying to keep myself awake all day.  It was harder than usual, as I noticed that I didn't remember little steps I took while in the middle of indexing a document.  (How did I get to step C, when I didn't recall doing step B and the evidence showed that step B was completed properly?)  As usual, I started waking up towards the end of the day, realizing that RQS would soon be here for the weekend.

RQS and I have been trying out different cuisines each week she comes up here.  We're almost at the point of repeating restaurant types - but not yet.  I told her that we had another food category to try out - "Atlantean Food" (food now eaten in Atlantis.)  It took her a minute or two, and then she picked up on my reference - Seafood!  And we then proceeded to have a nice fish dinner in a place where one would not expect good food - a nondescript strip mall just outside of downtown Ossining. Afterwards, it was off to the blue Pig in Croton for dessert, and then we called it a night.  A great way to end the day....