Where did that denim jacket go?

 

The other day, I noticed that my denim jacket is missing.  For some reason, I think I left it at RQS's place, but she said it isn't there. With all the mess in my place that I haven't cleaned up yet, she may be right.  But the same jacket could have been left somewhere before our cruise, and it's lost to the ages.  So, that gave me a task for the day - buy a new jacket at Lane Bryant.

- - - - - -

For the past few days (with one short exception) I have been able to go out as Marian and enjoy this time presenting as a female.  (I wish I could do it all the time, but in this political climate, it doesn't make sense to tease the bear without cause.)  Originally, I had plans to have lunch with a former coworker, but we postponed that until next week.  So I had a day to rest and relax again.

Around  3 pm, I started getting ready to go out, showering, shaving, and taking care of all of my "morning" preparation to go out as Marian.  It was nice to be able to get into a summery dress again, as I know that I won't have this option for long.  (When I get back from my next cruise, I'll likely need to be wearing clothes suitable for autumn weather.)  Knowing that it might get cool later, I put a shrug on over my dress, and out the door I went.

Instead of taking the most direct (and slowest) ways to Paramus, I decided to take the Bear Mountain Bridge, and take more of an inland route to the Paramus areaboth on highways and local roads.  About 1¼ hours later, I was at the store buying the jacket in the photo above.  It will be nice to wear on a brisk autumn day.  Then, I headed back home on a more direct route, only slowing down when exiting traffic blocked the lane I was in for most of the rise home.

And then it was time to make dinner and to do the laundry.... 

A long day where I don't feel I accomplished much. (a short post)

 

Tonight, I'm too tired to say much.  Yet, I did have a long day in spite of things..

But first....

I had a doctor's visit scheduled for mid morning.  If I could have, I'd have skipped it.  But if I stop going, I know my health will get worse.  So I tolerate the bad news to keep myself functioning as best I can.

After this, I had a zoom meeting with my niece.  Neither of us had much to talk about other than current American events - and that gets tiring after a while.

Given that I had dinner with Vicki scheduled for the evening, I got things ready, so that I could go out as Marian.  And then, I tried to take a 2 hour nap, after which, I didn't feel rested.  So I put on my makeup and got dressed, then off I went to the Japanese restaurant to have dinner.

Dinner with Vicki wasn't bad.  Neither of us could finish what we ordered, so I let her take home the leftovers.  We chatted about personal relationships, my cruise, and her friend who may need her to visit.  Once done, it was off to the stores for more shopping.

Eventually, I made it home, stored what I bought, and finally got to relax.   Not really much to say, other than a list of things I did without much context.  One thing of note: RQS's complaint letter to JetBlue got the attention of a mucky muck in corporate, and I got the message on my voicemail.  So I forwarded it to her, so that she can call them back in the morning.

Soon, another cruise. But first, some shopping.

 

Soon, RQS and I will be going on another cruise that (hopefully) will reach all of the above ports.  This year's route differs from the above route we planned to take in 2022, as we don't expect that a hurricane will prevent us from reaching Sydney and Charlottetown on this trip.  The last thing I want from this cruise is to make another unplanned visit to Cornerbrook with nothing to do there.

- - - - - -

Today, I received some important materials we'll need before our trip. We're counting down the days to go, and taking care of things that need taking care of between our two cruises.  I have a co-op board meeting, lunch with two friends, and a dinner with Vicki scheduled.  RQS will be coming up here this coming weekend, so that she can buy a new printer and have me deliver it, and her back to her place at the end of the weekend.

So, what did with most of my day?  If you said "Relax", you'd be correct.  I didn't get showered and dressed until 4 pm (or so), and took a drive up to Poughkeepsie.  It was a nice day for a drive, and even the rush hour traffic wasn't too bad.  Ending up at Aldi, I looked for things that would not need refrigeration, such as bread.  But I noticed one item that interested me - a Bluetooth folding keyboard. For $10, it was worth a try.  The darned thing works, but is not practical due to its size.  It'll be nice to keep around when my main keyboard needs to be replaced, and the stores won't open for another few hours.  Sometimes, toys can still be useful.  Once done with Aldi, it was time to go food shopping at Trader Joe's. Today's food haul was a record expenditure for me at this store.  I can't complain about the prices, but I can see the effects of inflation and the Snowflake's tariffs starting to kick in.  $67 later, it was time to go home. 

Once home, I couldn't get the food into the refrigerator quick enough - my GI Tract was acting up again.  And soon enough, I was in for the night, and no longer in the mood to do laundry as I once planned. 

  

 

Now that I'm back from my cruise, it's time to catch up on things.

 

Now that I'm back at home, there was a lot waiting for me at my doorstep.  First, there was a large packet of held mail.  And then, were the packages waiting for me that were delivered while I was away.  And now, I'm thinking of what I have to catch up on before I go away again.

- - - - - - 

While I was away, I read something in the NY Times and Washington Post in regard to Transgender Youth treatment by medical organizations.  Seems like the Orange Snowflake is violating HIPAA rules to get access to personal information regarding these children.  To make things worse, it seems like they plan to force these children to go through "Conversion Therapy."  (I can only wonder how many of these children will commit suicide if forced into this kind of inhumane treatment.)  If of any readers knows of any transgender children receiving treatment, now is the time to get them out of the US by any means possible.  

I know one woman whose child is TG.  She's working on getting him German citizenship to protect him from the US government, with the idea of leaving the US and having his TG status protected by a democratic government.  I personally know one child who is receiving psychiatric care for being TG.  If needed, I will help this family bring the child to a foreign nation, so that the child will not be harmed by forced conversion therapy.

- - - - - -

Paying bills is always a chore.  However, I only had 5 bills to pay, and none of them were yet due.  So $660 later, I owe nothing to any bank - and my used credit is zero.  (Mind you, I'd probably have a better credit rating if I paid my bills between the billing dates and the due dates.  But I hate thinking about credit cards, when I treat them as cash for most purchases.)

Normally, I have a charge pending on one of my credit cards after a cruise.  On this cruise, I had a truck load of refundable and non-refundable cruise credits, and spent them down to within a nickel of exhausting them all.  When we take our next cruise, we'll have even more refundable cruise credits which we do not intend to spend.  This way, the money we got back for taking a "move over" cruise will end up in our pockets, and not in the cruise line's tills.

- - - - - -

Given that we only had 3 days of dirty clothes left from our cruise, I was able to unpack my large suitcase and carry-on, and be mostly packed for our next cruise.  (I'll take the laundered clothes and repack them when I'm next at RQS's place.)  It's nice to be able to do one's laundry on a cruise ship on a sea day.  How many times can one go to the buffet, ice cream shop or onboard movies before one has the itch to spend money?

Since I like NOT sending my laundry to the onboard (expensive) laundry service, I probably will keep cruising on Princess's ships, as their low-keyed attempts to pick a cruiser's pockets (and deliver value) is more my style of cruise line I like to cruise with.  Even though I get a free bag of laundry on NCL, the small size of their bags make it impossible to come back home without an overly large amount of laundry to clean.

- - - - - -

Tomorrow, I have to run a few errands.  I'll finally be back in Marian mode for the first time in over 2 weeks.  The next day, I'll see my doctor (who will read me the riot act for weight gained on this cruise), and I'll finally get the chance to have my nails done before going on our next cruise.  It's so nice to be able to spend the money to pamper one's self with a Mani-Pedi in a local salon.  

- - - - - -

RQS gained 5 pounds while on the cruise.  I expect that they will go away with getting back to normal eating habits.  But it is something we'll have to watch out for while we're on our next cruise.  (I guess I'll have to stop eating as much rich food as I became accustomed to on the ship.) 

- - - - - -

Of course, I expect that I will need to deal with both Co-Op related  business and family homestead related business.  I have been out of touch with both the co-op management corporation and the co-op president, as well as my brother (for the family homestead).  I expect to be dealing with some interesting issues when I'm considered back in the real world.

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Thoughts on the trip (08/23/25)

 

Some thoughts, looking back on our trip...

• If one needs to fly across multiple time zones to take an Alaska cruise, make sure to arrive at least a day or two in advance of the cruise to: (1) Get used to the new time zone, and (2) Have some wiggle room in transit arrangements, so that a delayed flight won't cause a person to miss the cruise.
  
  
• San Francisco is a wonderful city to spend a few days exploring.  We loved our visit to the De Young museum to see the exhibition of Paul McCartney Beatlemania era photographs.
  
  
• San Francisco is a mass transit friendly city.  However, like New York, rerouted bus routes are poorly communicated to riders via their transit authority's app.
  
  
• San Francisco's Passenger Cruise Terminal is near the heart of town, and relatively inexpensive to reach via local ride services or cabs.
   
• One should book all Alaska shore excursions way in advance of one's trip.  Several excursions were sold out by the time we boarded the ship.  We were glad that we booked our trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad months in advance, as this 2½ hour excursion often sells out.
  
  
• In Juneau, there is an area in the center of the tourist district where cruisers can buy independent tours.  Most of these tours are professionally run, and are priced lower than those tours sold by the cruise line. We bought our Juneau excursion via shoreexcursionsgroup.com, and had only the minor inconvenience in finding the bus that would take is to the glacier and back.
  
  
• Although one can take Juneau's public bus system to the Mendenhall Glacier park, I would not recommend it, as one would still need to walk a distance before reaching the park's tourist center. I'd rather spend more of my time walking within the park, than spend it walking to the park.
  
  
• Glacier Bay is only reachable by ship.  Only 2 ships may enter the park in a single day.  One may see wildlife while cruising in the park, we weren't that lucky.  Focus on getting a cruise where one spends as much time viewing glaciers as possible - seeing a glacier calve is an amazing sight.  
  
  
• In Ketchikan, we went to see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show.  We could have booked our tickets on our own, and used Ketchikan's free seasonal bus system to get from our pier to the show and back.  From the show, it's a short walk to Creek Street and the town's arts district.
  
  
• At many of Alaska's ports, one can book excursions for whale watching.  If one hasn't seen a whale breach before, it's an awe inspiring sight.  As for me, I've seen enough whales on my trips to Cape Cod, that I don't find breaching interesting anymore.
  
  
• Many people will enjoy sled dog mushing and glacier fly-over excursions.  These tend to be expensive, but most people who take these excursions feel they are well worth the money.
  
  
• Our cruise gave us a full day in the 3 Alaskan ports we visited.  We didn't visit any of the more popular ports (Vancouver, BC and Victoria, BC).  Instead, we spent ½ day in Prince Rupert.  And that was the perfect amount of time to spend in this port, as there isn't much to see except what's in the Museum of Northern British Columbia.
  
  
• Assuming one is returning to the East Coast after the cruise, one should book flights as close to 12:30 pm to arrive in one's home city to get home by midnight.  With this being said, I prefer to return from San Francisco on a "Red-Eye" flight, so that I can sleep on the plane AND have more options when I get home.
  

I highly recommend visiting Alaska's inside passage if at all possible.  The landscape and wildlife are unique and can be awe inspiring when the stars align just right.  

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Disembarkation Day / Flying Home (08/22/25)

I first thought it was going to be a relatively short post for me, as I'm finally home and getting used to being back in my own apartment.  Yeah, Right!   This was a great cruise, but we didn't see the wildlife that most of us expect from an Alaskan cruise.  Given a choice between this cruise and another cruise through the Norwegian Fjords, the fjords would win out.  But that's something I can write about later on. 

- - - - - -

I didn't get much sleep the night before disembarkation.  RQS asked me when we'd be going under the Golden Gate bridge, and I said that we wouldn't see it when it happened due to San Francisco's fog.  And I was right.  The fog didn't start lifting until we were ready to get off the ship.

Around 7 am, we left our cabin for the last time and went downstairs for breakfast.  We had 1¼ hours to kill before we could get off the ship, so we had one last breakfast in the main dining room.  Soon, our number was called, and we proceeded to the gangway to get off the ship for one last time.  Once in the terminal, quite a few cruise rookies got in the way of us retrieving our bags and exiting the terminal.  Yet, we were off the ship and out of the terminal in less than 45 minutes, and on our way to the airport by 9:30.

- - - - - -

Once at the airport, we had to get our bags checked and boarding passes issued at JetBlue's service desk.  Although we had seat assignments made the day before (many thanks to our TA on his vacation!), we still needed new seat assignments because the cane I was using couldn't fold up.  (We were booked into an emergency exit row, and the service agent knew we'd have a problem if they saw our canes.)  So, he reassigned us to seats 5 rows in back of where we were first seated and 5 rows in front of the seats we originally expected to sit in.  This man was extremely helpful, unlike the "Karen" protecting the service agent lanes at JFK - this gives us something more to write about when we send in our complaint letters to JetBlue's corporate offices.

We then went through TSA security with only one minor hitch - even though I have a trusted traveler number, my belt had to come off due to its amount of metal.  AARGH!  I'll have to look for another belt just to go through airport security one day soon.  And then we were in the airport, waiting at the gate for 2 hours.  Luckily, we were in the first general boarding group, as people boarding behind us would have to gate check their bags.  (RQS gate checked her carry-on anyway, so that she could get on the plane with her remaining bags.)

Eventually, we got on the plane around 12:40, and it would be another 5½ hours before touch down at JFK.  We knew that we wouldn't have our bags until 10 pm, and I started to think: What places would be open for late night grub delivery in RQS's section of Queens by the time we got home?  That would be a question that could only be answered when our plane touched down and our luggage came off the carousel.  Hours later, we had our answer.  Our bags were off the carousel around 10 pm (even though the plane arrived at JFK 30 minutes early), and with a ½ mile walk from the terminal to the Airtrain coupled with another 30 minutes in an Uber, we wouldn't be home until after 11 pm.

Now we had a minor problem.  All of the late night joints in RQS's neighborhood were closed.  Luckily, DoorDash and McDonald's came to the rescue.  The clock said midnight in New York, but our bodies said it was 9 pm in San Francisco.  By the time we finished our burgers, we were ready to crash for the night, as we had no more energy to do anything.... 

 

 

 

 

Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #5 (08/21/25)

It's the last full day of our cruise, and I'm a little sad.  We've gotten used to the routine of cruising, and we've been away from reality for the better part of two weeks.  Right now, we're one day away from San Francisco, and we're getting ready to go home.  Our bags are almost packed, and we're figuring out how to keep our big bags under the 50 lb. limit for the plane.  (Luckily, we have a hand scale that we can use.) With this being said, we'll end up going home, then getting ready for another cruise.

Right now, we have to pick up our pictures from the photography studio, and burn off our remaining onboard credits.  RQS will be going to a spa session, while I'll be buying a watch I don't need.  It's not the best way to spend money.  These are just the best ways we can think of to use these credits. 

- - - - - -

Given that my shipboard non-refundable credits were still over $200, I knew we had to burn off some of these credits quickly as this was the last day of the cruise. The first thing we did after a late breakfast was to go downstairs and see if a watch I wanted was available at a price I wanted to pay.  It was.  $95 later, the watch was being adjusted for my wrist, and we were off to the lounge for 45 minutes.  And then we were off to the Crab Shack pop-up restaurant.

On certain sea days, Princess turns its Crown Grille restaurant into a seafood joint (Crab Shack) serving a limited menu focused on crustaceans.  We weren't able to get reservations for the first Crab Shack pop-up on this cruise, but we got one for the last day of the cruise.  RQS compromised with me, and we ordered the Seafood Bucket for Two.  YUM!  Lobster, Snow Crab Mussels, Tiny Clams, and Shrimp - all cold, fresh, and Tasty.  I wasn't sure of how we'd have room for our last dinner on the ship.  But I knew that we'd find a way to do so.

- - - - - - 

Around 1:30 pm, I noticed an email from JetBlue telling me that we could now check in for our flight.  When I looked at things, our assigned seats were gone.  This could be a great disaster for us, as I need to have an aisle seat, and RQS strongly prefers one as well.  So, I contacted our travel agent and found out that he was on vacation.  Yet, he took care of the problem and got us decent seats for the trip home.

At this time, I also found out that a charge made to RQS's account should have gone to my account.  So I had to trek to guest services to move the charge to my account.  At the end of the day, my credit balance was $0.03.  Not bad for people trying to use up both refundable and non-refundable onboard credits.

- - - - - - 

Shortly after 7 pm, we went downstairs for our last MDR dinner.  As usual, no one ended up seated with us.  (This MDR was way below capacity, so we weren't surprised.)  I had a seafood cocktail (more like a salad with seafood) and the seared salmon.  Yum.  Too bad my stomach was still digesting lunch.  But we made sure to thank our two servers profusely, and give them tips before we left for the last time.  When dinner was over, I went upstairs to get things ready for tomorrow morning, while RQS went to the casino to make a donation.