GIMP or Photoshop - I'm far from an expert

 

I will be taking a solo cruise later this year.  However, I have a small problem.  A couple of my friends asked me to show a picture of my "boyfriend".  Since I am into women, and not men, this is a hard picture to set up.  RQS and I were talking about this the other day, and I said that I should Photoshop a picture of myself in Marian mode with a picture of myself in Mario mode, creating a picture of me with my boyfriend.

There is a picture of me and RQS I might use as a basis for editing.  But I am not an expert at using Photoshop (or, GIMP, in my case) to create good photo fakes.  So it will take a while to do this.  (Too bad that I don't have a good friend who can do these edits for me.)  Even if I were to do this, I see some potential issues with the two pictures I'm most likely to use for this project.

Hopefully, I'll figure out a good way to solve this problem, so that I have pictures of myself with a "boyfriend" that I can show others.  Any good ideas of how best to edit two pictures of my different gender presentations together?

A nice weekend with RQS - Part 2

 

 

I don't know much about the above "vehicle", but it can be yours for only $950.  It seats 1 person, does not look like it is street legal, and I don't know how it's powered.  But, for $950, you can have a well worn "golf cart" built for 1.

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RQS and I passed by this contraption today, and we are just as mystified about its use as we are about its owner.  What was it used for?  Does it work?  How far can it go?  There was a open parking spot across the street from RQS's place, just i front of this contraption, but I wasn't able to move my car to take that spot in time.  After letting a couple of MTA buses go by, I circled the block and double parked while RQS and I loaded some charitable donations into the trunk (and back seat) of my car.  Once the car was fully loaded, it was off to the Salvation Army to make our donation.

Before I go on much longer, I must note that many of the old stand by donation shops are no longer in business.  Most of the Goodwill shops are gone around here, as well as the Salvation Army shops.  So we had to make phone calls to find an available store open for donations.  And we found one in Elmont, NY.

Traveling from Glendale (Queens county) to Elmont (Nassau County) is a relatively quick trip as long as there is no traffic on the parkways.  We made it to the Salvation Army in roughly 40 minutes, and pulled into the parking lot.  About 15 minutes later, we left with most of her stuff out of the car, with only the arts and crafts stuff bound for the dumpster.  At that point, we took a "scenic" drive through Nassau County, making an Arby's in East Meadow our turn around point.  (BTW: We both had a strong hankering for thinly shaved roast beef sandwiches, and it was sated!)

About an hour later, we were back at RQS's house, where I dropped her off.  And then, it was off to fight rush hour traffic on my way home.

A nice weekend with RQS - Part 1

 

This weekend, I drove down to RQS's place to drop off the large suitcase that I'll be taking with me on our upcoming cruise.  And this gave us the ability to explore Lower Manhattan - specifically, visiting the SS Lilac, a US Lighthouse Tender that was in service from 1933 to 1972, then going to Ping's Seafood for some tasty Chinese food.

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When RQS mentioned that she wanted to visit the SS Lilac during OHNY weekend, I said OK.  When she mentioned where the ship was docked, I knew I had to suggest a side trip:

Do you recognize this building?  Well, the following numbers for the fictional business housed in this building are: 212-NO-GHOST, 212-JL5-1212, and 212-JL5-2368.  Last I heard, you can call this number: 212-897-1964 for assistance.   Just remember, they are ready to believe you! 

 

The SS Lilac, a Coast Guard cutter is an old vessel, now making its home in NYC pier 25, welcoming visitors from Spring until Early Autumn.  It was open to visitors for the recent Open House NYC weekend.  (It is closed for the season, but I expect that it will be open to visitors next year when it is warm again.)  It was very interesting seeing a 89 y/o vessel, as the core technologies used on the ship are very different from that would be used today.  (When was the last time you saw a steam powered boat?)  Like many vessels of its era, it is designed for people several inches shorter than I am, and I bumped my head getting out of the vessel's lower decks.

Once we were done with the Lilac, we were both too tired to walk across town to go to the Nom Wah Tea Parlor.  So I hailed a cab, and $14 later, we were a block away from my favorite Dim Sum joint.  Sadly, we didn't want to wait 45 minutes to start having a good meal.  So it was around the block and down the street to Ping's, where I knew we could get some great Chinese vittles. Since I was no longer in the mood for a Dim Sum meal, I suggested that we order 2 appetizers and 2 main courses.  RQS ordered the Hot Stone Pot Short Ribs, and I ordered a veggie and seafood dish NOT on the online menu.  They were both great!  RQS will follow me to any restaurant I now suggest.  

More tomorrow....

  

 

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You'll likely think we're a little crazy.

 

I find it hard to believe that RQS is interested in taking another cruise so soon after our first cruise together.  As much as a late season cruise along the above route seems appealing, I'm not sure of whether this would be the best use of a second cruise together in a short time.  But at a rate of roughly $75/night pp, the price is almost too good to pass up.

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Most people would look at cruises in different regions at this time of year.  But this cruise was priced so low, that we didn't want to pass it up.  So we booked it, and will have taken a second Eastern Canada / New England cruise by the time you read this post.

If this cruise is offered again next year, I will strongly suggest that we go somewhere else.  One can easily get bored with a destination if one is there too often.  However, since this cruise goes to Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME, I feel that we will be able to explore new places when visiting these ports.  For example, Newport has a group of mansions that are worth visiting.  Bar Harbor has both good restaurants and a National Park.  I've been to both places before, and will enjoy visiting them again.

If it weren't for RQS's cats, we'd likely be taking a different cruise in a different region.  But, we can only do so much without imposing too much on our friends and family.  Until the last cat has passed away, we will only be able to go away for 7 days at a time.  This is a minor issue that we will need to deal with for a few years at most.

Dropping off some baggage

 

 

This is going to be a short post, as I don't have that much to say today.  RQS and I will soon be going on another cruise, and I'll be dropping my big bag off at her place.  This will make it possible for me to travel to RQS's place the day before our cruise, and then catch an Uber together to the cruise terminal the next morning.

Packing luggage for male or female modes is still an art for me.  I usually pack way too much stuff, and have gotten away with it because I've been traveling on cruise ships or on Amtrak for the past decade. Somehow, I will need to learn how to pack much lighter if I want to do more traveling, as I don't want to get hit with overweight luggage fees when flying on vacation.  Because I am a heavy person, my clothing weighs more than the average person, and I need larger bags to carry the same number of garments.

Losing weight has never been easy for me, and I wish I had never met Ex-GF-M - if only because my food addiction would never have been triggered on a daily basis.  I had lost 70 pounds in a short period of time, and gained them back when with her.  Those pounds have stayed on long since we broke up, and I have to start eating more fruit and vegetables if I'm going to have a shot at weight loss.

But enough of that.

We all have to deal with the baggage from our past.  I have to deal with the memories of things I said to my late wife out of ignorance.  I have to deal with memories of hurting a best friend because I said too much about her life.  And I have to deal with memories of many more things than I want to discuss here.  This is the baggage I'll always have with me.

One thing that my former therapist taught me is that I have to learn how to forgive myself for my screw ups. I can ask others for forgiveness, but it often can't be given.  In the case of the former friend I used to talk about too much in my blogs, she couldn't deal with the pain from her past.  Now, she demands to be in control of people and things, as she fears being hurt by the ones she loves most.  Because of things we have said, neither of us trusts each other, and there is no way to rebuild any semblance of a friendship.  So sad.

In order to move forward in life, one had to drop off baggage in the proper places to move forward.  In the literal sense, I am dropping off a bag at her place, so that I can go on a cruise with her.  In the case of my former friend, I have had to accept the fact that I screwed up, forgive myself, and move forward to new friendships.  

Hopefully, my future will be better than the past I left behind....

Seeing friends

 

 
It's been a long time since the above group held a meeting, and I've grown a lot as a person since then.  Yet, I yearn a little for the innocence and ignorance I had back then, as I was in a period of rapid social growth as Marian.

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Lately, I've been trying to catch up with friends I've made over the years: friends I've made at work, friends I've made through meetups, and friends I've made in the general course of life.  It isn't always easy finding the time or money to get together with these people.  But I try to do so.

As I write this, I will be lunching with a friend from where I last worked.  Next week, I'll be meeting with one of my transgender acquaintances, and with a woman I once dated.  It's not always easy planning things 2+ weeks ahead, as I've found that most people are only able to plan for social engagements that are 1 or 2 weeks ahead.

Now that I'm seeing RQS, I have even less time to get together with people, as most of them are unattached.  However, I do not intend to make the mistake I made when I was married.  Losing friends is easy when one is coupled.  Keeping them is much harder.  And I intend to do my best to keep them.

Dealing with screwups!

 

I've been in the position where I've royally screwed up, and deserved to get laid off from my job.  Today's post covers a screw up that I have to deal with for an upcoming cruise, and a vendor's representative who does nothing but screw up.

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When I booked my Hawaii cruise, I noticed that the cruise line didn't have a place where I could enter my middle name.  Normally, this would not be an issue, as TSA does not get involved (much) in who can (or can't) go on cruise ships.  However, since the cruise line booked my air, I found that they screwed up the booking of my flights.

Sometime toward the middle of the year, NCL sent out an email to inform those people who are using the cruise line to book their air travel that they would need to have their complete legal name on file for their flight booking.  I contacted NCL, and gave them my full name: Marian Ann Johnson.  Well, I found out that NCL sent the name "Marian Johnson" to United Airlines, and not "Marian Ann Johnson." This prompted a call to United, where I needed to get past their unfriendly chatbot to reach a human who could fix my problem.  And even then, they may have created an error, as my name now reads "Marianann Johnson".  When I called United for a second time, their chatbot threw up a gauntlet that got in the way of reaching a human to fix the problem the first agent may have caused.  When I finally reached an agent, she said that TSA should accept this.  I am very skeptical, so I will soon be contacting TSA to verify this claim.  AARGH!!!!

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Just after dealing with my plane ticketing issue, I had to attend a co-op board meeting.  Although I can't say too much about went on at the meeting, we made the site representative of our management company very uncomfortable - his performance does not meet the standards I'd want to see in someone with whom I'd do business.  I asked him about an issue regarding a light that illuminates a sign, and he reported that the light was fixed - the electrician had worked on the light the day before.  Well, I was upset.  He is responsible for verifying that all contractors complete their work to our satisfaction before paying these vendors.  So I said that I'd check this light when I went out later.  And, of course, it was not lit.

At this point, I was livid.  This man had left our meeting early, as he was not up to the criticisms we had about his performance. And now, I had proof that he didn't bother to check that the work was done properly.  I'd bet that he'd pay the bill for work not done if I didn't call him out.  So I wrote a polite letter (with photographic evidence) that the work was not done, that the light was not on, and asked him to get this fixed ASAP.  Of course, I made sure to copy the full board on this issue, and blind copied his boss.  24 hours later, he still have not replied to my email.  So, sometime tomorrow, I will send an email to his boss, saying that I (as an individual, and not as a board member) have no confidence in this man being able to take care of requests in a prompt manner, and that I intend to write to the boss from now on for any services that I might need.

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Please remember that I have screwed up big time in my career, and have paid the price for it - I was dismissed from my job.  Since I have a responsibility to the co-op's shareholders, I will exercise the same kind of responsible decision making that others have had to make when dealing with careers like mine....