The Play That Goes Wrong went so very, very right!

 

RQS and I went to The Play That Goes Wrong this past Sunday, and there was no way either of us could hold in our laughter - The play was hilarious.  I had seen this play before as part of the "20 at 20" Off-Broadway theater promotion, and knew that RQS would love it - and she did.

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A while back, I was hunting for an appropriate Christmas present to give RQS.  Both of our apartments are overloaded with stuff we don't need.  I knew that buying objects for her gift could be counter productive for our long term needs.  But buying experiences might be the thing that would make her happy and help continue bonding us together.  So I took advantage of a deal offered online, and bought tickets for a performance we could go to in January.

This weekend rolled around, and so did theater time. So I drove down to RQS's place to spend Saturday night, in order to have an easy trip to the theater.  One problem - the bitter chill in the air.  Yet, we caught a bus without much waiting, and made it into the city an hour before showtime.  Luckily, we were able to find a place in the theater where we could sit down and wait until showtime.

The show opened up with two "stage hands" recruiting an audience member to help them set up the stage.  I told RQS that this was part of the show, and to keep an eye on everything going on from that point.  After the audience member was sent back to his seat, the show (and its mayhem) began.  I knew that this was the perfect gift for RQS, as she was continuously laughing for most of the next two hours.

All too soon, the play had to end and we had to go home.  If this play is professionally staged near you, I strongly suggest that you see it.  It will be worth the effort.

Getting the plumbing fixed - a short post

 

Nothing related to my transgenderism to talk about today.  Instead, what I hope is a finale to a plumbing problem that caused me some grief 2 weeks ago.

The above pickure is a view of my bathtub area from the apartment below.  You will note that the shiny pipe connection is new, as the old one was near the point of failure.  This was partially the cause of the problem that happened on New Year's weekend.  There was an incorrectly seated drain control lever that was also a partial cause of the problem.  Since the important things that caused the problem are within the building's walls, I am hoping that I won't be held responsible for the problem.

The plumbers arrived at 9:00 am, and I was glad to be up and about a couple of hours earlier than usual. This was a day that I wouldn't be able to be out and about as Marian, so I made sure to be dressed as Mario when the plumbers arrived.  The problem was fixed relatively quickly, and the plumbers were gone by 11:00 am.

Although I could have gotten showered and picked up RQS as Marian, I decided to make this a "Mario Day" - if only to make RQS a little more comfortable after a long trip to get here.  But I'll discuss the weekend in another post.

I have a feeling that the tire shop was right about this one - a short post

 

For a long while, I've had to worry about a slow leak in one of my tires.  About once per month, I'd find that an "Idiot Light" would go on, telling me that one of my tires needed inflating.  Well, the first time this happened, it was the TPMS Sensor in one my wheel hubs which was replaced.  Later on, I had a true slow leak that was annoying, and probably related to wheel hub damage that would only be noticeable when the car is on the lift.  This was a problem that I lived with, instead of trying to get it fixed - even after replacing a set of tires at the end of their life.  And then, after the wheel hub was repaired, I had another slow leak on the same wheel - this time, the tire needed repair.

Just before I went on my trip to Hawaii, I checked the air pressure in the tire to be safe, and then parked for a week and a half at the hotel. During the trip, I occasionally wondered about the tire, and whether it would still be inflated when I returned to the hotel to pick up my car.  It's been a month since then, and I haven't had to inflate the tire yet,

Why am I thinking of this?

I'm living more and more of my life as Marian, and I don't want to call AAA (or another service) for help when in gender-nonconforming presentation.  There are still too many people who think that people like me are freaks.  And I don't want to lose a certain privilege that seemingly cisgender people have - an expectation of being treated with "respect" (but not necessarily with honesty).  The one time I needed to call AAA while presenting as Marian, I was able to switch into Mario mode before the tow truck came.  Since I no longer bother keeping a change of clothes in the car, I feel that I could be at greater risk if my car were to break down on the side of the road. 

Game Night - The first of the new year.

 

Normally at this time of year, we'd have already had a coating of the white stuff around here and the above scene would be replicated at a nearby park.  Sadly for our reservoirs, we haven't had any snow yet.  But we have had more than enough "warm" days for any winter season.  

With the above being said, tonight's rain made me want to stay home instead of going to Yonkers to play games.  Since I am a regular, I decided to go - and had fun with the gang.  It's always nice to be with this crowd, as I always go as Marian.  And, as usual, I never seem to win any games, but have fun doing so.

Tonight, two of my favorite attendees weren't able to attend.  Given that one's parent is not in the best of health, it was expected that they would be taking care of that parent.  I missed the female half of the couple, as we always have interesting chats after the games are over.  (Yes, she knows I'm trans, and it doesn't matter to her.)  However, a couple of others that I wanted to see were there, and it was nice to see them again.

On other matters....

Lately, I've slowly made process in cleaning up my apartment.  Today, I made the decision to take two donation bags that were ready to go to charity, add a couple of comforters to those bags, and bring them to the donation center the next time I go out.  Additionally, I'm also finding a new home for a piece of luggage that I no longer use, clearing out even more space in my place.  But most importantly, I got around to hanging a poster my brother got me for Christmas - in the one remaining space in the apartment where it wouldn't distract from other things displayed in the apartment....

Seeing a friend for dinner - a short post.

 

I haven't seen my friend Vicki #2 in a while, so it was nice to get together with her again.  Vicki's spouse is living with cancer, but has no quality of life.  So Vicki has to arrange her life to take care of her spouse until the home healthcare aide arrives for an 8 pm to 8 am shift.

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It's important that key details of Vicki's life be kept private.  So I'll avoid going into fine detail here.  Like any caregiver spouse who tends for a permanently disabled spouse, Vicki's life is not her own these days.  So, when I contacted her before New Year, she suggested tonight for dinner.  But she made sure that we would meet when she knew that she'd be free.  Each time we've met lately, she feels grateful that I'm making the effort to reach out.  She has too much on her plate these days.

Vicki knows that I am TG, and has met me in both gender presentations.  However, most of the time, I meet her in a feminine presentation.  And this is how I dressed when I met her tonight at The Cube Inn, a small restaurant/bar in the heart of Tarrytown, NY.  This is not one of my favorite places to eat dinner.  But it is a nice place to go for a quiet drink with a friend or two.  I was lucky that we scheduled our get together for 8:45, as I wouldn't have been able to order a burger before the kitchen closed.  Thankfully, we could drink (if we wanted) until the cows came home.

We had a leisurely chat over a couple of drinks and some food, and all too soon it was time to go.  RQS and I have an invitation to drop by when Vicki is home.  So, who knows, we will be over someday soon....

The saga of water that flowed wrong - so far.

 

On New Year's Eve, RQS overfilled my tub, and water ended up flowing onto the ceiling of the apartment below me.  Although I'm pretty sure I know both cause and way to prevent this from happening in the future, I did the safe thing and reported this to the co-op management company, and asked for someone to investigate.  With a statement from the co-op saying what damages I may need to take care of, I could then go to my insurance company and file a claim under my policy.  This should be a no-brainer, and something that should be taken care of with a minimal amount of fuss on my end.  But things aren't as simple as they seem.

Both my downstairs neighbor and I reported the problem to the managing agent over the weekend, and we expected return phone calls (or emails) that next Tuesday.  All I got was crickets.  I figured that by Thursday I'd need to write again and ask for an update - which I got.  Finally some information!  The site representative was in contact with our plumber and would look to set up a date for an inspection.  I was bothered by this.  The same plumber was here that Tuesday morning, I was here that Tuesday morning, and my neighbor was here that Tuesday morning.  There was no excuse for not asking the plumber to spend a few extra minutes to come to our two apartments and determining the root cause of the problem.

The following Tuesday, we held a co-op board meeting.  As much as I can't talk about many things that happened in the meeting, I can say that I brought up my concerns to the site representative.  And he told me that he already scheduled an inspection of the two apartments' plumbing on Friday at 8:30 am.  What if either of us was planning on being away?  The site representative should have checked with the apartment residents before committing to a date and time.

As you can guess, I am annoyed.  From the time that the problem was detected to the time the apartments were inspected would almost be two weeks.  You can easily see why I want this site representative replaced as soon as possible.

"Bored" Meeting

 

Once every month (excepting Summer), my Co-Op board meets to discuss issues before it.  Tonight, was this month's board meeting, and as usual, minutes were taken and hours were lost. Although I can't go into any detail, I can say that we were frustrated coming into the meeting, as we'd get a series of excuses from one person as to why things haven't yet been taken care of.  

It seems like we have the same basic problem every month.  Under the first management company, our goal was to find out where we were financially and move forward from there.  With the second management company, our goal was to keep up to date with things and not let someone return us to the position we were in with the first company. And now, with the third company, the problem is holding one person's feet to the fire, so that things get done when we need them done.

Sadly, problems like those we have are common with cooperatives/condominiums and their management companies.  It takes an alert board to keep a management company in line.  But how many people have what it takes to do this?  I don't.  Thankfully, the president of our co-op does, and I will help her keep this complex on track until a new generation of people are ready to take on the mantle of running this place.

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Right now, I attend board meetings as Mario.  But after this Spring's public meeting, I plan to attend more of them as Marian.  This will give me more time during the week to live life as my authentic self. Even if I spend much of my time with RQS as Mario, I have found that I need to get out as Marian to live a balanced life.  I can only imagine what it will be like when I attend my first public board meeting as Marian....