Thinking of taking a short trip to Atlantic City for its cheap midweek rates

 

RQS and I have discussed taking care of a personal errand somewhere on the New Jersey coast.  But most of the good places to stay are way overpriced for this time of year.  So I had a thought: Why not stay in Atlantic City overnight and save a few dollars?  There are some good places to eat near the casinos, and we could be wide awake when we took care of our errand.

Assuming we take this trip, we'll be taking advantage of a midweek special, where the hotel part of the complex is giving away the rooms to make a few extra dollars.  There is no way that I'd pay to stay in Atlantic City on the weekend, as a room I could get for roughly $50+tax could cost me over $300+tax. Ouch! The big question which I might have asked would be whether I would travel as Marian or as Mario. But I think it would be best for me to travel as Mario, so that I can avoid possible complications with hotel/casino security.  Could I change while in the room?  Yes.  But why bother?

I have gone to Atlantic City several times in the past.  Once with a former GF from Staten Island, and two/three times with XGFJ.  Most of the time, gambling bores me.  So, on the last trip with XGFJ, I was in the room reading a book when she came to the room escorted by security.  She had won $7,500+ at a slot machine, and didn't want to get mugged on the way to the room.  As for me, I was happy for her. But I simply didn't want to allow myself to get used to sitting in front of a one armed bandit and letting it suck money from my wallet because I got into a zone.

So what do I expect from this trip?

RQS and I will get to Atlantic City in the evening, have dinner, and go to bed.  The next morning after breakfast, we'll drive to Ocean Grove and take care of an errand before returning home.  I expect that we will have a nice time, and that RQS will finally take care of something she was unable to take care of before.  Yet, there is not much that will get me to go to Atlantic City again, as there is little to do except to gamble in this seaside resort town.

A visit to the Paley Center for Media

 

The Paley Center for Media. It's the perfect museum for a couch potato to visit when s/he has nothing to do. And this is the place that RQS and I visited this weekend.

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To start at the beginning....

Like many couples, RQS and I ask each other on a weekly basis:

"What do we want to do this weekend?"

We'll usually find a new museum to go to, or restaurant to try out.  But it always seems to be a variant on the usual theme.  We are simply looking for ways to avoid boredom, and want to do something that nurtures us in doing so.  

Saturday morning came, and we slowly got ready to trek into Manhattan.  The subway route that we would normally have taken was out.  So we ended up taking an alternate way into Manhattan, and get to Rockefeller Center by 1:30 pm.  From there, it was a short walk to the Paley Center.

 

Arriving at the Paley Center, we were surprised at how empty the museum was.  We started our visit downstairs, and viewed some programs related to Women's History Month.  We were the only two people in the theater.  Next, we went upstairs to see an exhibit on Black Achievements in Music on TV.  Both physical and video artifacts were on display, two of which were Louis Armstrong's Trumpet and Chuck Berry's guitar.  It was a small, but well curated exhibit.  But it paled in comparison to what is on display in Washington, DC.  (I've gotten spoiled by exhibitions at the Smithsonian museums.) 

And then, we went upstairs again to see some videos related to animation.  This wasn't that interesting, so we left the theater and looked at Al Hirschfeld's work and the art of Television on display. This was most interesting, and worth the trip upstairs.  Yet, we couldn't find all the Ninas in the pictures.  Next, it was up to the fourth floor to watch videos from their collection.  This time, I couldn't find the video of Groucho Marx appearing on the Jack Benny show riffing on the theme of Groucho's show, "You Bet Your Life."  But I did find something well worth watching for a Yankee Baseball fan - Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.  

On our way out of the Paley Center, RQS stopped to see whether she could join as a member.  By doing so, our admission fee was refunded and we helped the center in its mission.  Next time, I'll look for a similar deal with another museum we'd visit more than once, and do the same thing.

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By this time, our stomachs were growling, and we decided to go to the Nom Wah Tea Parlor's Nolita outpost.  Unlike their Chinatown site, this establishment was easy to get in to without a wait, but had a more limited selection of Dim Sum.  I was surprised that one could order everything via a touch screen, but had trouble with the credit card reader.  Although the food was as good as their original site, I still prefer going to their smaller venue in Chinatown with Ping's Seafood as a fallback.

Finally, it was time to go back to RQS's place for the evening.  It was nice to know that our weekend subway connections got us back to her place almost as quick as if we were traveling on a weekday. And it was something for us to remember the next time her subway line does a weekend termination at its first Manhattan stop.

Getting dressed can be such a pain

 

When I get dressed as Mario, my decisions are extremely simple.  I choose a short or long sleeved shirt from my closet, and a dark pair of trousers.  Weather conditions rarely matter, but I will add a sweater in a solid dark color when it is cold outside.  Rarely do I need to wear a suit, but when I do, it's always a classic dark blue or grey suit, a white or blue shirt, and a tie around my neck.  Simple as pie!  But when I get dressed as Marian, things are very different.

Getting dressed as Marian requires me to make many more decisions.  For example, my choice of bottoms (trousers or skirt like garment) is dependent on the weather outside  If the weather is warm or hot, I'll always be wearing a nice top with a skirt, or a nice dress.  If the weather is cool, I might wear the dress with a pair of tights.  But if the weather is cold, I'll wear a tunic like dress with a pair of warm leggings.  Before I put anything on, I must choose my intimates.  I need to make sure that the bra I'll wear won't be exposed by the top I'll be wearing.  Once everything is on, I finally choose my shoes (or boots).  Again, the weather can be a factor in this choice.  And finally, I choose my jewelry.  What kind of necklace will I wear?  So many decisions to make.  (And I haven't even talked about makeup!)  No wonder why so many women complain of having a full closet, but nothing to wear.

Now, I hate wearing trouser like garments as they force me to be extra careful when tucking.  I like having as flat a front as possible, so that my legacy genitalia do not create a visible bulge.  Dresses and skirts give me much more room for error.  But most cisgender women tend to wear trouser like garments such as jeans these days.  So I've had to treat some dresses as tunic tops (for coverage) and wear leggings (with compression undergarments which give me a flat front) to look more like a cisgender female.

When I went to Hawaii this December, I wore dresses every day.  It felt nice to have a breeze on my legs while on vacation. The one time I went into the hot tub, I wore a swim dress with pockets for my prosthetic breasts. I've never been happy when wearing that swimsuit, as the skirt always floats up with the jets from the hot tub. I wish I had real breasts to fill out the swimsuit cups.  Like many women, I am not happy with how I look in a swimsuit.  But I know that it's because it's a form fitting garment which tends to show off what I haven't got.

On the whole, I know that being transgender means that I have to accept the imperfections in my female appearance.  And I know that getting dressed will always be a pain, as I will always need to adjust my wardrobe to fit a body for which women's clothing isn't designed.

Introducing the "Left Handed Whopper"

 

This is a real ad placed by Burger King to announce a Whopper specially made for left handed people.

Burger King advertised a new creation: the Left-Handed Whopper, a nod to the million-plus diners frequenting the fast-food chain on a regular basis, according to TIME. Burger King explained how the sandwich was identical to the original Whopper except for ingredient placement. Finally, the company was acknowledging the neglected left-handed Americans who sadly struggled with the Whopper-eating experience. No more.

The statement created quite a stir, and some consumers might have taken the news as straightforward. After all, many culinary utensils cater to lefties, including knives, scissors, can openers, and oven mitts, notes The Left Handed Store. On Left-Handers Day in 2019, Longhorn Steakhouse even posted a Facebook video revealing new steak knives in which the serrated edges are flipped to prevent left-handed diners from having to cut with their right hands.

With an estimated 10% of America's population identifying as left-handed, per Healthline, it's smart business to accommodate them when feasible. Burger King customers could now order the Left-Handed Whopper, a left-centric Whopper incarnation in which condiments had been rotated 180 degrees. This evened the playing field for lefty customers previously forced into right-handed eating methods. However, "Ambidextrous consumers will not be affected by changes."

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Happy April Fools Day!

I'm officially an old geezer - a short post

 

Sooner or later, I'll have to deal with getting old.  No, I'm not trying to avoid being seen as a 65 y/o woman.  Instead, I'll have to deal with long term care plans.  Given my age and health, long term care insurance will be very expensive.  But I will need to have some money held in reserve, so that I can be cared for in my final years.

With that being said, how does this T-Girl want to live?  Do I want to take the next step and get facial electrolysis, removing traces of beard as needed?  (I think so.)  But what about the steps after that?  Can I afford electrolysis on other areas of my body? (I'm not sure.) And further along this path (after losing a lot of weight), what about facial feminization surgery (FFS) on the lower part of my face?  I want my face to look as feminine as possible when out as Marian, but be masculine enough when out as Mario.  An androgynous face would be perfect for me - but I have to get to work on losing weight to do this.

I will always have most of the body shape of a male, even if I go on hormones.  But I have to consider RQS's wishes if I want romance - and I sure do.  Unlike most older women, I'm not in the mood to spend the rest of my life alone.  And I'm not about to risk what I have with RQS to have a future without someone to love....

Slowly eliminating clutter from an apartment

 

Over the past year, RQS and I have been clearing out a lot of clutter from my apartment.  It has been like playing a hybrid game of Jenga and Tetris, as I've had to find room for things I want to keep while both adding and purging things from the apartment.

One of the things many M2F transgender people do is to learn what clothes work (or don't work) on their bodies.  They also learn what clothes they should wear for all occasions, and make a lot of mistakes along the way.  But the thing we don't learn easily is how to purge clothes we no longer wear or no longer look good in from our closets, so that we look good and appear appropriate for all occasions in the clothes we have left in our closets.  Lately, I have purged half of my feminine wardrobe with the help of RQS, and donated what I had to charity.  Now, I have room to back fill a small number of missing items into my wardrobe.  And I present a much better appearance to the world, now that I have a better focus on what I can wear.

But this is not the only clutter that I've been sorting through.  The other day, I started sorting through all my kitchen utensils, and found a few that I will either give away or toss in the trash.  This is typical of what I've been doing lately.  I find a place where I've stored way too many things, and sort through them when I find the time and the energy to take care of a certain amount of work in one area of my apartment.  The other day, it was an area of the kitchen.  Before that, it was cleaning out corners of my bedroom. And even before that, was an area near my dining room table.  I've gotten used to taking two steps forward, just to take one step back in this long term project of removing clutter from my abode.

I am hoping that I will rid the apartment of enough of my clutter before some required electrical work must take place.  When it does, I'll have to move furniture (or have it moved for me) so that an electrician can do work in my place.  So I'm working on the clutter now, so that I won't be overwhelmed by it later on....

Seeing friends in person and via zoom.

 

The above picture has nothing much to do with today's theme.  But it has all to do with people supporting each other.  And that is what I'll discuss today.

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I had only two things on my docket (save for postponable things such as laundry).  First was having an early dinner with my friend, AR.  And then, a Zoom meeting with my friends Stephanie and Jen from Texas. But this is not how my day started.

Sometime in the morning, my aunt called me from California.  Since I know that she's suffering from dementia, I also know that the conversation would be short.  In our short chat, I found out that she still remembers who I am, but is not able to make much of a conversation.  All she could do was to say that she's coming to New York soon - something I know isn't true.  The call ended, and I realized that she has the cell phone that my uncle used to call me in Hawaii.  Instead of trying to reach my uncle, I decided to text my brother and see if he has an alternate number for my uncle on which I could reach him.  Unfortunately, my brother didn't call back, due to him being up to his eyeballs in projects.

Next, I decided to clear out many of the kitchen tools I don't use, and empty a gadget drawer.  Although I didn't clean out that much, I made more of a dent in the mess than I would have expected.  By the time I was done, I was ready to get showered and dressed - as Marian.  Since the weather outside was cold, I decided to wear a nice dress and leggings outfit which would be prefect for the day.  

I was out the door by 5 pm, and met AR at the Italian restaurant in town.  Yum!  We had a nice leisurely meal, and I had enough leftovers for a second meal.  (Too bad that I left it in my car - it'll probably be unsafe to eat when I get back to the car.)  AR knows me only as Marian, so I code switched all of my experiences to that of a female, talking about RQS as if she were a he.

Next, it was back home to chat with my friends Stephanie and Jen.  This was our first chat since I was "Out" to them as transgender, and the chat flowed as it usually does.  They are both interested in meeting me and RQS in Chicago, and we have a weekend date to plan for - as soon as RQS's taxes are done.  All too quickly, the chat had to end - we were all tired and talked out.

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Hopefully, my Chicago trip will come off as discussed.  It'll be nice to see these friends in person for a change....