I might be starting a new blog

 

Harpo Marx - The strong, SILENT type.  Although he could talk in real life, he fell into gold when he stopped talking in his act, and started doing visual gags on stage, then screen.  If you haven't done so, I suggest that you get a copy of Harpo Speaks, then read it.  You may find that you'll be wishing you could have met this man in real life.

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Why do I mention Harpo?  He was a man who did a lot of traveling in his life, 99% of it via surface level methods available in his era.  In my case, I prefer NOT to travel by air.  Instead, I like to travel by land and sea, Amtrak and Cruising being my favorite ways to go places.

Right now, there is a glut of people wanting to make cruise videos, thinking that people will be interested in amateur ship tours, images of plated food, and rehashed news about the cruise industry.  That is not what I plan to write about.  Instead, I will write about travel by land and sea, telling my readers how to determine which offerings will give people the best bang per buck, as well as ways to minimize headaches and maximize pleasure while traveling.

I thought of this idea when I realized that my girlfriend had never cruised before, and would be leaning on my experience to get the most enjoyment from this experience.  Given how popular cruising has become, I see a niche market in the idea of "Cruising for Dummies".  But after that, what else?  Riding the rails (via Amtrak) is also a way to chill out.  So why not discuss how to avoid air travel as much as possible, and enjoy the world of surface level travel?

So, if you see me mentioning a new blog, please feel free to say hello.  But don't be in a rush.  I'll have nothing posted for a few weeks at best.

I should have bought a 1 year travel insurance policy.

 

Although the fellow on the left will tell you that "you no foola me, there ain't no sanity clause", while ripping up a contract, I like well written contracts.  Specifically, I like to have insurance for whenever I cruise, as I've heard of too many situations where travel insurance is needed.

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By the end of this year, I'll have made at least 4 cruises in a 365 day period.  As a result, I would have done much better had I bought a yearly travel policy from a firm such as Allianz Travel Insurance.  Each time I took a cruise, I bought a travel insurance policy valid for only that single cruise.  Policies sold by firms like Allianz tend to have yearly terms, and pay for themselves after 2-3 trips.  In my case, buying this insurance when I booked my Hawaii cruise would have made sense, as the cruise line's insurance for that one trip costs me the same as if I bought the yearly policy from Allianz.

Although I don't think I'll be traveling as much in 2023 as I will do by the end of 2022, I'm leaning towards buying a yearly policy when I book my next cruise.  This way, I don't have to worry about which policy to buy: the cruise line's policy or that from a travel agent.  Instead, I'll have already made that decision, and be in a position to save once I've passed the 2 trip mark.

Given that RQS and I are already talking 2023 trips, it makes sense for me to start my insurance shopping now.  What do you think?

I keep ordering useful things from Amazon

Toothpaste tablets.  Why would I buy them?  Given that I'll be flying to Hawaii soon, the less I have to put in a special liquids bag, the easier my trip through the security checkpoint will be.  This is only one of the purchases I've been making lately, as I have to prepare for travel in a way I haven't done in over a decade.

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Lately, I've been buying things such as auto-on, rechargeable motion sensitive night lights, a cruise power strip (no surge protection), a clear sling bag (for use at Pearl Harbor), and a selfie stick (for taking pictures of me on my upcoming trip.).  I would never have bothered buying much of this stuff had I not been planning on a trip to Hawaii.  Given that I will likely be doing more travel in retirement than I did beforehand, I will be fleshing out an appropriate travel kit, something that can last me from 2 to 20 days as needed.

I understand how easy it was for my wife to become a spending addict.  Click on an item you want, and "by magic" it appears by your door.  You do not handle "real money".  Instead, you authorize a debit to your account (which you must fund), and lose the tactile feedback that paying with cash provides.  It is much easier to know that you are spending too much when you both see and feel less cash in your wallet.

Part of my spending spree has been to replace both a 20" carry-on suitcase and a 28" suitcase.  It cost 75% more than I planned, but I wanted to get something that would last a decade or two. I'm grateful to be able to do this, as I have a decent amount of money in my bank account from 40 years in the work force.  (If I didn't also have a good 401k and pension, I'd be in very bad shape right now.)  But this spending can't last.  Right now, my 401k is down 30% from its high point, and the yearly distribution I was planning on taking may need to be reduced.  I want to preserve as much capital as possible for now, and still want to enjoy living my current life of leisure.

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Last night, I met up with a transgender person for dinner.  If I weren't lucky enough to have been employed by a top-10 bank for 30 years, I might not have had the discretionary cash to afford this dinner.  I also might not have had the cash to have afforded the voice training, laser treatment and second wardrobe I need to go about in the world as Marian, some of that wardrobe coming from Amazon itself.  I only wonder what my late wife would have thought of the way I live my life today.

I had dinner with a friend tonight - Good Conversation, Mediocre Meal

I don't know how much I should say about my friend SR, so I'll leave things as generic as possible.  Like me, SR is transgender.  Unlike me, she has had "the operation" and lives full time as a female.  Given where we are in life, she is young enough to be my daughter (that is, if I lived in Tennessee 😀)  But each of us has a point of view that complements where the other is in our transgender journeys.

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It's hard arranging to meet SR, as she lives in NYC but does not take mass transit, while I live in Westchester, and use mass transit as much as possible. So, Manhattan's Chinatown was the best possible compromise, even though the restaurant (Wo Hop) left much to be desired. Wo Hop is the kind of place that caters to tourists, and to people who'd be satisfied by a 1960's suburban New York version of what was called "Chinese Food." (I'm more a fan of places like Ping's, just across the street.)  I got to the restaurant before SR, but we went down the steps together.

SR is a person who leans to the right politically.  So I knew to couch my language in a way where I could acknowledge the valid points that the Conservatives make without dismissing any of the valid points made by Liberals.  Yet, for the most part, we understood where each other was coming from, and I explained how I look at the world these days: Jeffersonian at heart, and Hamiltonian by mind. Strangely enough, we talked about sexuality, and she mentioned things best left unsaid here. 

All too soon it was time to leave.  the meter was about to run out for SR's car, and I had to get home early enough to chat with RQS.  Before we parted, SR invited us to her party being held next year.  I'm not sure that RQS and I will attend, as it is being held on the same day as RQS's wedding anniversary.
 

Today, I edited myself into a picture of me.

 

 

No, I'm not yet ready to show a picture of me dressed as Mario.  But this is as close as I'll get for now.

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My friends in Texas would love to see a picture of my "Boyfriend."  So I figured that I'd start playing with GIMP and try to overlay an image of RQS with an image of me (as Marian) to be able to show these friends what my boyfriend looks like.  Both RQS and my friend Maria say that I've done a great job.  But there is a flaw that I can't avoid - The two images look like they could be that of siblings!  Yet,it is good enough that I want to get a print made, frame it, and put it on my wall.

I'm not yet ready to show this picture to anyone other than to friends who know me in both modes. Yet, I'll be looking for ways to adjust this image to make Mario's image look less like Marian's sibling than it already does.  Until then, I'll be careful of to whom I show this picture, when I show them the picture, and how I show them the picture.  It'll be nice to be able to produce a picture of a boyfriend if called for.

I'd like to know:  How well do you think I did on my first attempt at photo editing?

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.