California Vacation 2023 - Sea Day #1

 

Sea Day #1.  

This was a day to relax.  We had nothing to do and nowhere to go. So we stayed in bed and had a late breakfast.  After exploring the ship a little, it was time for lunch in the main dining room. And that is where we shared a table with two ladies who went to college together.

Often, it is quicker and easier to get a table in the main dining room when one is willing to share a table with others.  This is something I tend to do on most of my cruises, as it allows me to meet with new people and learn new things.  This time, RQS and I were able to share some of our Eastern Canada / New England cruise experiences with others who had an interest in the itinerary.

After lunch, we decided to rest a while before dressing up for dinner.  RQS made a stop at the ice cream station on the lido deck where she got a specialty dessert for us to split.  (Getting these desserts is a perk we are entitled to in our cruise package.) It was yummy, but not something I’d have every day.

Soon enough, it was time for us to get dressed for the evening. Unlike one extremely formal cruise line I want to take soon, I didn’t need a “Dinner Suit” for formal night.  Princess is happy when women get dressed in nice dresses, and the men get dressed in a blazer, shirt & tie with a pair of dress slacks.  This would be the first time we got dressed up since our last cruise, and we enjoyed it.

Dinner in the specialty dining restaurant (the steak house) was good.  But one thing marred it a little.  The place was understaffed, and it took a while for service to get started.  When it did, it was up to the level met by the complimentary restaurants on the ship.  RQS was impressed, as it was a consistently higher level of service than NCL has on its ships. Yet, both of us agreed that NCL’s steak house had the better quality steak.

So how would we rate the ship so far in this cruise?  Princess has better quality service.  There are not as many attempts to upsell the cruiser extra products and services to make money.  We both prefer NCL’s buffet, but prefer Princess’s main dining rooms.  We are not as happy with Princess’s Medallion experience as we’d like, as the App doesn’t carry all the information one might need from the daily Princess Patter (such as times restaurants are open), but it is something I’d like to see implemented on other cruise lines.  

After dinner, we met up with a couple of people at the lounge.  We had a nice chat, although the band was playing too loud for comfort.  I wonder - is the band playing loud because the older demographic of the cruisers imply hearing troubles?  Who knows?  But I’d have loved to have chatted in an area less noisy.  At least, I was able to use my louder male voice for conversation.

California Vacation 2023 - Embarkation Day

 

Embarkation Day.  This is where I figured that we'd have some problems because I had lost (or misplaced) my Princess Medallion.  And I was right....

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Getting up this morning, I knew that when I arrived at the pier, that I'd have to go through a gauntlet of headaches before we could get to our cabin.  So I made sure to touch base (again) with the Princess personnel at the hotel to confirm what I needed to do to get on the ship.  And then the fun began.

RQS and I refused to pay $50 to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast.  So we got on line for the in-house Starbucks, where we found reasonably priced breakfast beverages and refreshments before getting on the bus to the cruise ship in San Pedro.  While making a Bio-Break, the bus came and RQS went outside for the bus.  She didn't hear me announce that "I had to see a man about a horse," so she went outside looking for me.  I got a little anxious looking for her, but things turned out all right and the bus started making its way to the pier.

Once at the pier, we had our first expected problem.  It took forever for the people at the pier to cut one-time-use cruise cards that we'd use to get on the ship.  And then, we walked onto the ship and into our second headache - the wait at Guest Services.  Normally, a visit to Guest Services shouldn't take too long.  But it was chaos in front of the desk, and the air conditioning was not able to keep up with the heat.  As a result, I was dripping when I approached the counter.  (Thankfully, I had no need to wear a wig on this trip, as I'd be presenting as Mario for the duration of the trip.)  About ten minutes later, I had a functioning medallion, and I was set to go.  One problem.  RQS's medallion no longer worked.  So it was back to Guest Services, and another ten minutes later, RQS had her working medallion.

It was a long day, and we took a much needed rest before dinner.  This would be the first of seven days where we'd enjoy great food, walk around a lot, and feel tired by day's end.  Things finally were starting to look good....

California Vacation 2023 - Los Angeles

The Birth of a Nation.  It was one of the landmark films of American Cinema.  But its racism gets me sick when I think about how the KKK is portrayed in this film.  Yet, this film is referenced in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as part of its exhibit of how African Americans have been portrayed in American cinema.

But first....

Last year, I contacted MWL (a woman I once dated) to find out which shore excursions I should take when in Hawaii.  Recently, she contacted me to find out whether I knew of some good places to eat in Los Angeles in her upcoming visit. And after her return, I found out that she used the mass transit system (mostly buses) to get around town.  So that gave me the idea that we might be able to use LA's mass transit system to get around town, and avoid having to use Ubers or local cabs.  I didn't know how bad a decision that would be, given our the experience we were to have in this city.  

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RQS and I made a decision to see both the Academy Museum and the Petersen Automotive Museum before trying to visit my uncle in the nursing home.  We asked people at the hotel how we could get to an active Metro station, and no one had a clue.  LA is a car culture, and almost no one uses mass transit.  This was evidenced by the directions we got to a metro station "only" 4 long blocks away.  After walking there in the heat, we found that the station was was under construction and wouldn't be open until next year.  So, we ended up deciding to take an Uber to the museums.

This was my first time using the Uber app, and it took me a bit of time to get things working.  Luckily, we had help from an Uber driver who was waiting for an airport call.  After I got things set up and clicked on the "Ride Request" button, someone else agreed to the fare before our Uber driver even got the message.  AARGH!  We wanted to give him the business.  But we got a driver with whom we had a nice chat, and he helped us fix an error in the destination address while on the way to the museums.

Once at the Academy Museum, we gravitated to the exhibit of Blacks in Cinema, and I found it very interesting.  Although I identify as White, I knew of some of the racism Blacks faced in American cinema.  But I didn't know how diverse the black cinema experience was.  I found it interesting that movies targeted to the African American audience had as many themes as those targeted to a White audience, and often noted that the films had an all Black cast.

 
Both RQS and I noted that this museum gave a superficial view of what goes into making a movie.  New York's Museum of the Moving Image and New York's Paley Center gives the visitor a better idea of what goes into making a motion picture (Movies and TV Shows).  But I digress....

 
When we were done with the Academy Museum, it was across the street we went to the Petersen Automotive Museum.  And it was here that the full history of automobiles was on display, using individual automobiles (and motorcycles) to show the art of personal transportation by motorized vehicle.  We spent a couple of hours here, and wished we had more time, so that we could visit "The Vault."  But that's something for another visit.

Next, it was off to my uncle's nursing home.  On the way there (via Uber), my uncle returned my call and said that he wasn't up to having visitors.  Of course, this is understandable, as he was just told that he will never be able to return to his home due to injuries sustained in caring for my aunt.  So we walked around Beverly Hills a little bit, and then went for dinner at a reasonably proced Indian Restaurant.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get ready for our first day on the cruise ship....
 

California Vacation 2023 - We're on our way!

 

The California Coast.  I haven't been here in a while, but surprisingly,  I wasn't feeling that great about taking this cruise.  My uncle might not want to see me.  I might not enjoy the visit to San Francisco. And RQS's cousin (in San Diego) and I might not get along.  So many things could go wrong, and I wasn't yet ready for this trip.

So it was with a little trepidation that I trekked off to RQS's place on the day before our flight.  I took the time to explain this to her, and she understood how I was feeling.  She was a little nervous, as she'd be leaving her 18 year old cat with the sitter for 10 days.  Even with these things on our mind, we were committed to this trip, and hoped to enjoy it, no matter what happened.

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The next day, it was off to the airport.  We got there a bit early and breezed through security, leaving us 2 hours to kill before the flight was to board.  When we checked our bags, we found that our seats had been changed.  Our plane was changed, and we were lucky to get compatible seat assignments to what we had on the original plane.  We boarded the plane quickly, accidentally cutting in front of the line. And this gave us the leeway to find space in the overhead bins for our carry-on luggage and my CPAP machine.  Given that we were told that there might not be enough space in the overhead bins, this was a stroke of good fortune.

About 6 hours later, we were in Los Angeles, and made our way to the hotel.  We found that by being a member of the hotel's loyalty program, we could get free wi-fi.  So I signed up, but the software wouldn't let me finish the demographic entry process.  This was a problem that the hotel's staff couldn't fix.  And this caused me to be charged for wi-fi later on.  (Mariott's Bonvoy software is crap, and I don't trust their programmers to get things right - avoid the chain and its partners if possible.)  

Being tired, we didn't bother to shop around for a restaurant, as there was nothing in walking distance of the airport hotels.  Instead, we ate at the hotel, and spent $120 for a dinner we could get at a local diner for $50.  You can guess how quickly we fell asleep after dinner....

By the time you read this....

 

By the time you read this, I will have both gone to a doctor to see about my persistent cough and have gone on my California cruise with RQS.  And I'll have much to report when I get back.

I'm not one who is comfortable going to new doctors, dealing with new procedures, etc. when it comes to my health.  So, it took a badly abscessed tooth to get me going to a dentist on a regular basis.  It took me almost getting pneumonia to start seeing my internist on a regular basis.  It took a former girlfriend to get me to see a sleep doctor. And it took a former friend to get me to see a dermatologist (who I should see again soon). As you can guess, I am nervous about going to the Doc in a Box today, and may write another post about it later on.

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Tomorrow, we'll be flying to LA for our cruise.  On our one full free day in LA, we intend to see my uncle, and then do a little of the tourist thing.  Unfortunately, many of the attractions will close at 5 pm, not giving us enough time to do more than one museum or attraction.  But then, I never loved LA.  Its sprawl befits the description, "LA is a suburb in search of a city." I prefer to be in a traditional city.

Afterward, we will go on our cruise and stop in San Francisco for a couple of days. In a way, this trip is our way of connecting with family on the West Coast. First, we'll visit the place where I scattered my late wife's ashes. RQS won't mind that, as I was with her when she scattered her husband's ashes. (Of course, we'll spend the better part of the two days in San Francisco doing the typical tourist thing.) Then we will sail off to San Diego, where we'll meet up with RQS's cousin for the day. And all too soon, we'll be home.

It's been hard to identify why I am ambivalent about taking this trip.  And now I think I've figured it out.  It will likely be the last time I see my uncle while he's alive.  It may be the last time I visit San Francisco and go where I scattered my late wife's ashes.  It may be the last chance that RQS gets to meet her older cousin.  In short, it's a trip with a set of "Lasts" that is giving me a sense of sadness before it begins.

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A while back, FCP criticized me, saying that I had nothing going on in my life. (I take this slightly out of context, as I don't want to rehash old wounds.)  I think she'd now say that I have a life of my own. It's far from perfect, but it's my life and I'm living it.

RQS makes me glad that she's in my life.  Unlike Ex-GF-M, RQS is willing to try new things when with me.  She is willing to get a little lost along the way, and explore what serendipity brings to us.  Unlike XGFJ, she's willing to force the issue and make me tell her how I feel.  And unlike my relationship with Patty, our relationship is built on solid ground - we both feel secure.  It's a shame that it took me almost 25 years to find a relationship that really works for me. But as they say, "you've got to kiss a few frogs before you find a prince(ss)."  

I may be going to a "Doc in a Box" tomorrow

I haven't been feeling well for a little over a week.  First, I felt that I was getting over a very mild case of the flu. And when I felt better, a cough set in that won't go away.  So, I will likely go to a local "Doc in a Box" before trekking down to RQS's place later in the day.

- - - - - -

It's frustrating when one has too much planned for a day, and then lets an important thing slip.  In my case, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to be back on time to start the co-op board meeting, especially when vendors were calling in from 3 pm onward.  So I put things off, and will need to deal with this persistent cough tomorrow morning.

Luckily, the co-op board meeting went well.  We got much more done than usual, because we had done a lot of the leg work beforehand.  We also took a more active part in vendor selection than we had done in the past - and we now are reasonably sure which vendor we will use for work scheduled to start in the Summer. In addition to interviewing prospective vendors, we interviewed a prospective buyer.  In this case, we were unable to come to a decision, as there were complicating factors to be considered.  So when in doubt, ask for more information and see what shows up.

By the time this overly long meeting ended, my coughs were bothering me.  Even TCL said that I should have seen a doctor today when she called, and RQS recommended that I make the Doc in a Box my first stop after I get up tomorrow morning.

Keep your fingers crossed for me....

Trying to get things done with no energy

 

Lately, I have been dealing with a lack of energy to do things. If I have something scheduled for the day, I have no problems getting moving.  But if not, then it is a different matter.  Over the past few days, I have felt out of sort, feeling like I was getting over a cold early last week, and then having a cough settle in my chest later on.  And a week later, this cough still lingers - even though I have been taking cough suppressant medicine to get to sleep and to make it through the day.

Considering that I will be taking a trip soon, I'm going to try to see my doctor for a last minute visit.  One problem, I also have a LONG co-op board meeting that I must attend because we are interviewing vendors and dealing with issues I won't describe here.  There is too much going on, and not enough of me to go with it.  Luckily, I found the time to do laundry tonight.

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Since this would be the last day for two weeks that I'd be able to present as Marian, I made sure to get out and about in the new dress I got from Universal Standard.

I love the color of the dress, but it's a little "off" for my figure, as I don't have a defined waist.  Yet, with the right cardigan over it, it'll work well for me.  So, I put the dress on, and went out to find something to eat.  Instead of heading North or East, I headed South - and ended up at a new Lefteris Gyro establishment in Hartsdale.  Yum!  After an enjoyable meal, I took my leftovers and went home before the expected rains were to come.

Once home, I changed back into Mario and took care of a last minute chore - Laundry.  Although my dresses are air drying, I still have a couple of baskets to sort and fold.  I think I'll try to do this during the co-op board meeting, as the co-op president has asked another board member to take notes for a change, and give me a much needed break.