Meeting with RQS's friends (a short post)

 

I wasn't originally in the mood to meet a couple of RQS's friends.  Not because I was against meeting them, but because the two of us would have to wake up early on a Saturday to do so.

- - - - - -

Getting up early is not something RQS and I do on weekends.  As I write this at 9:15 am, I've been out of bed for 30 minutes and RQS is still sawing wood.  I expect that the lumber mill will be running for another hour or so.  (But I still could be wrong.) So, we wouldn't have as much energy as many people do when starting the day.

After getting showered and dressed, we drove down to Yonkers to the Irish Coffee Shop for brunch with her friends.  The conversation flowed like water, and it allowed all of us to be open about things we might keep to ourselves under other circumstances (e.g. the presence of a parent who has strongly different political views.)  Given one of her friends' career choices was to help the transgender community, I decided to out myself, and was met with open arms.  

All too soon, brunch had to end.  We promised to meet again, then RQS and I went to Stew Leonard's for food shopping. $100 later, we were out the door and on our way home for the day.  Although we planned to go out again, we were in for the night. 

Saturday Night's alright for movies

 

It was Friday, and RQS came up a little later than usual.  Like me, she had GI Tract issues which delayed our reunion at the train station.  We had a choice of going to the movies and having dinner afterwards, or having dinner first and killing time before the movie. Given that the movie started at 9:45 pm, we chose the latter option.

RQS said that she preferred to have Chinese food, so off we went to a restaurant I knew about in Yonkers.  This restaurant, Tasty House, is one I've visited with a meetup group I no longer belong to  I recalled that the food was good, and well worth the money, and this time we weren't disappointed.  I had the Thai Tom Yum soup and some Ginger Chicken, while RQS had Wonton soup with Chicken Lo Mein.  Both of our hungers were sated by the time we left the restaurant.

We stopped by the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers to pick up movie tickets, then went to Barnes and Noble to kill some time.  At 9:00 pm, they kicked everyone out of the store, and we left for the theater.  After killing a few more minutes, we went inside to our seats.  I was surprised that there were few tickets available for the 6:30 pm and 6:45 pm shows, while we were among the only 7 people seated for our show.

The movie started, and it was non-stop "action" for the next 90 minutes.  It's hard to believe that this now cultural icon of a show was set up to fail from the very beginning, as NBC wanted to show that they had the upper hand in negotiations with Johnny Carson in regard to the Tonight Show. Even though we know what happened after 50 seasons, supposedly the chaos of the 90 minutes preceding the show could have led to disaster before the show even aired.  (Note: Some incidents depicted in the film did not happen, or they have been pieced together from incidents that happened over the first season of the show.) Casting was perfect, with several well known actors such as Robert Wuhl, J.K.Simmons, and Willem Defoe in small, but important roles.  Each of the people playing one of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" was able to portray their real-life counterparts as if they were those people.  In fact, the first sketch of the first SNL show was done even better in the movie than when it was first done on TV.  In short, run, don't walk, to see this film!

After the movie ended, we went home and watched the first episode of the show.  When this movie comes out on disk, I'll buy a copy, just so I can say I have episode #0 of the show.

Unexpectly, I am doing a cleanup with my apartment with time constraints.

 

I was looking for a 4-leaf clover and couldn't find one today.  My apartment was a mess, and I needed to  clean up some of it before RQS arrived.  Given that I have been extremely lethargic as of late, I'm amazed that I could organize what I needed and put it all in closets (or, at least, most of the mess) into closets until I'm ready to move summer clothes into storage containers for the season.

There were 4 laundry baskets of clothes ready for the closets and drawers - half of which needed folding as well.  And, at 3:45 pm, most of the work is done.  Although I have a long way to go before this place is ready for visitors other then RQS, I have put a small, but meaningful, dent in things today.

- - - - - -

RQS called me to tell me she was running late due to GI Tract issues.  This was good for me, as I was already running late and needed time to get showered, made up, and dressed for the evening.  When RQS arrives, I'm going to suggest going to one of our Greek Go-To places for something to eat, and then we'll discuss something serious.  No, it's not our long term future plans.  Instead, it's when she'd like to cruise again, as I might want to book her Christmas present soon.  After dinner, it'll be time to see "Saturday Night" on a Friday night.  I've been looking to see this movie for a while, and am hoping that the movie will be half as good as the real history it is reportedly based on.

Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

 

As I've recently reported, I have just completed a Bermuda cruise as Mario.  Soon, I'll be returning as Marian, and I'll want to be wearing a pretty pair of shoes to go along with a little black dress on "dress to impress" night.  Both RQS and I want a picture of the two of us together, we me looking my finest for the evening.  And a pair of shoes like the one above would fit the bill perfectly.

Today, I expect UPS to deliver these shoes.  UPS sent me a notice that the shoes were delivered - but they were delivered to the wrong address.  Stuff like this happens, but I'm never happy when it does.  So I messaged UPS, and got someone at an overseas service area.  (Given that the name sounded Indian or Pakistani, I think this is a reasonable guess.) After 10 minutes, they started to send an alert out for a missing package.  While on the line, my neighbor came over with the shoes.  Yay!  But now, I had to tell UPS that the problem was resolved, and to ask the carrier to be more careful next time.  Another 10 minutes later, I got a call from UPS on my landline - and I explained the situation.  At this point, "no harm, no foul."

- - - - - -

 

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but RQS's sister lives directly in the path of  Hurricane M(ilton).  So we were concerned that she'd be able to make it though the night, given where she lives.  We were in luck.  She made it through the night with minor damage to the house.  And RQS's other relatives in Florida are also OK.

Even though I was supposed to do laundry yesterday, I decided to do it today.  This way, all I have to do is hang up clean clothes when I'm done.  This weekend, I'll put much of my summer wardrobe into storage containers and stash it away until next year.  (I expect that we'll be taking at least one trip to somewhere warm before too long, and I don't want to hunt for warm weather clothing at that time.

- - - - - -

Normally, I might post something about game night.  But I think that would be an anticlimactic end to the day after all the above.

I did plenty of nothing, and nothing's plenty for me. (a short post)

 

It was the day after my flu/covid shots, and I didn't have much energy to do much of anything today.  Yes, I got things ready for me to get dressed after a shower, but that's as far as I got today.

- - - - - -

I have found that I need an extra push to get anything done lately.  If there is something scheduled for me to do outside of the apartment, I'll end up doing it - especially when Marian's presence is expected.  There is something that energizes me when I'm able to be out as Marian.

My original plans were to do some laundry in the morning, then go out and see a movie in the evening.  Obviously, neither of these things happened.  Instead, it was time to do two loads of laundry.  It's not the most exciting thing to do, but it has to get done before RQS arrives here.

While starting to get myself moving, I opened my large suitcase to unpack what's left inside of it. I found that one of the soda cans I had packed from my cruise had leaked, but I haven't found out what it leaked into.  I guess it'll all come out in the wash.

- - - - - -

Sometime over the next few days, I'll have to unpack my winter wardrobe.  In it are some long sleeved dresses that I wear as tunics over leggings.  Thinking of leggings, I just ordered 3 pairs from Universal Standard.  Hopefully, they will feel as nice as the one pair from them that I already own.

It's not something I want to do, but someone's got to do it.

 

Other than going out for my flu shot and for some food shopping, the high point of my day would be the co-op board meeting we held this evening.  This would be a longer than usual board meeting, as our goal would be to interview two prospective vendors before the main meeting started.

- - - - - -

Around noon, I went to the local CVS for my shots, then headed to Trader Joe's to do some food shopping.  Unlike my usual trips to TJ's, I broke the $70 barrier.  Mind you, I did this by buying some "expensive" olive oil, some packaged meals, and other items that quickly deplete the wallet - something very hard to do here.  Then I was homeward bound, as I had to get some food into the freezer before it started to thaw.

Sadly, there would be no way for me to go out presenting as Marian, as I had to be out as Mario until the board meeting ended.  So I killed some time, then started up the zoom meeting.  Although I got Zoom to work, I found that something was corrupted on my disk during two unplanned shutdowns that resulted in the equivalent of the "blue screen of death".  Although I don't think I have a virus, I'll have to check out things a bit more when I have the time.  But I digress....

The first vendor came online, and we had a polite conversation for the next 45 minutes.  Will we use this vendor again?  Maybe.  We've worked with them before, but one person there gives me a bad feeling about this vendor, given that his inattention to his job caused us a little grief in the past.  The second vendor fared a bit better, but we're not sold on them yet - we'd be taking a sideways step with technology, and our only gain would be to get rid of our current vendor.  Yet, we spent the better part of an hour and a half talking with this vendor.  So who knows what our answer will be?

Next came the session with our current managing agent.  We are not happy with the answers this fellow gives us, as I feel he is helping his manager to cover something up.  (I wish I had left the zoom recorder on like I usually do.  But I am only human, and was tired going into the meeting.)  Hopefully, he'll be able to supply us with the information we need by the time our next meeting comes around. 

It was an exhausting day, even though I didn't spend much time doing anything, save for the board meeting.  And that was more than enough for me....

The day after the cruise - back to reality

 

It's 10 pm and I'm back to reality.  There are two baskets of laundry waiting to be put into the washer, a bed to be straightened out before I go to sleep, and a dress to hang up for its next wearing.  I'm home, and I wish I were already on my next cruise.

- - - - - -

Although I woke up early after a short sleep, I didn't bother to get moving until noon.  There were clothes in a laundry basket left unfolded since before the cruise that had to be taken care of.  Of course, I was doing this on an empty stomach, as there was no fresh food in the house to eat.  About the only things I had to eat at home other than dried pasta and bottled tomato sauce were packages of instant oatmeal.  And that sated my hunger for a while.

Later on, I decided to get dressed and go out as Marian.  Once I showered, shaved and made up my face, I noticed one thing - I couldn't find the belt I normally wear with the dress I was wearing.  So, I knew what I had to do - shop!  This meant that I'd drive out to Paramus to see what Lane Bryant had lying around.  About 45 minutes later, I was in the store and carrying a bag with 2 belts and a necklace. 

Now that I spent most of my my discretionary money, I decided to have some dinner at a local diner. I chose the seafood over pasta - and I was stuffed!  I was lucky that the meal I ordered didn't include dessert, as I'd have to take it home in a pooch pouch.  And then, I was finally on my way home for the night with a quick stop at the supermarket to put something in the ice box.

Reality wasn't bad to me today - it's nice to sleep in my own bed again.