A legal holiday, just when we need it.

 

Due to the Nor'easter that came to the NYC area, RQS stayed an extra night over the weekend with the idea of going home after the 3-day weekend was over.  This was another chance for us to cuddle and relax. But it was an excuse to do virtually nothing for the end of the weekend.

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On Saturday, we bulked up on refrigerator food to last us the weekend.  So, we were eating various tasty goodies each night, including Wagyu burgers one night.  I had foodstuffs in the cabinet just in case we lost power during the storm.  (Luckily, we didn't lose power, and the refrigerator stayed cold.)  Neither of us had much energy, and I surfed the internet a bit.  While surfing, I stumbled onto a message that concerned me - it appeared that an ex-girlfriend of 28 years ago had recently passed away.  I wasn't going to try and get more information - I've been out of this woman's life for years, and I think her husband would be upset if I did any more than just send my condolences.

Now, that got me to thinking of some of my other friends, and I've outlasted so many of them.  It's strange to see one's peers die (or otherwise drop out of contact for health reasons) while one is still tolerably healthy.  For example, WDS is no longer reachable in Florida, DCD is no longer contactable in Connecticut or New York, as he no longer has a cell phone and has stage 4 cancer, and Joanie (a former workmate) is unreachable.  

Years ago, someone set up a site called "if I die" which would contact a person on a regular basis, and email a selected contact if the first person did not respond.  Given how loosely people are connected these days, it would make sense for a person to pay a one-time fee for this kind of service.  Yes, there would likely be some false positives.  But it would be nice to know if someone has passed from the scene - even if one was unable to go to a funeral for that person.

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I spoke with my brother over the weekend, and his marriage is effectively over.  I can't help but feel sad for him.  But all of us have our crosses to bear.  It's just that some crosses weight more than others.  Let's hope his load is lightened soon.

A dreary day to get a dress hemmed and go furniture shopping

 

One of the errands we needed to take care of today was getting RQS's dresses hemmed for our next cruise  So, when we finally got dressed, our first stop was the local cleaners.  It's hard to believe that tailoring for the dresses cost much more than the dresses themselves. But that's the price one pays when one gets dresses from thrift shops (even upscale ones).

We got to talking, and RQS mentioned that we should go looking at furniture for her apartment.  Specifically, she wanted to replace her living room loveseat with a reclining loveseat.  I thought to visit Bob's Discount Furniture in Yonkers for this.  So we drove to Yonkers and we looked at the only loveseat that fit her needs.  Since we weren't buying, we thanked the salesman and proceeded home.

I thought of going to another furniture store one the way home, and made one mistake - it moved to the former location of another furniture store.  After entering the parking lot, we found out that the store had moved (I should have remembered this from other trips to lower county), and decided to do some food shopping at Whole Foods so that I could get "free parking" in the lot.  $54 later, I had a validated parking ticket that saved me $3.  A great way to "Save", huh"

On the way home from Whole Foods, I called my brother and he opened up about his life.  His marriage is over in all but name, and he wants to get on with his life.  I feel sorry for him, but given his wife's alcoholism, he needs to take proactive measures to save his own life.  Thankfully, my relationship with RQS is infinitely more nourishing.

A Bronx Tale (a great story, but a short post)

 

Last night, RQS came up a day early for the weekend, so that she could come to game night, and then go to see Chazz Palminteri in "A Bronx Tale" tonight.  It took a little bit of schedule coordination, so that we could get some chores done before getting together.

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I won't go into detail about game night, save to mention that hardly anyone came.  People who normally attend didn't, so bringing RQS made it possible to play a game or two.  We went home for the evening, and planned our schedule for the next day: getting a mani-pedi, doing some food shopping, and seeing Chazz's play.

The next morning, we got dressed and went out for a mani-pedi.  When the afternoon came around, we started to go to Fishkill to shop at Walmart.  Yes, this would mean that as soon as we got home that I'd have to put some lamb shoulder ribs in the oven and hope everything would be done by 6 pm.   But traffic got in the way.  So, we turned around and went to the local supermarket and picked up what I was planning on picking up in Fishkill.

Once done with food shopping, we went home, and I started cooking the lamb shoulder.  With a few mishaps, the lamb was ready around 6:15, and we were able to start out for the theater around 7:00.  Even then, we had to park 1/4 mile away from the theater due to the nature of parking in Peekskill.  (Not enough street parking, but lots of parking in nearby parking lots.)

The play started late, but it gradually got riveting.  For those who haven't seen it, this one man show documents a period in young Chazz's life where he is befriended by a local mobster for whom he did a solid when he was 9, to the time where that mobster was gunned down in front of Chazz 7 years later.  What was most impressive about this play was Chazz's appearance on stage, telling how he refused $1,000,000 to have Robert De Niro perform the lead in the film adaptation, and then having De Niro say that he was right - and partnered with De Niro to make the movie and jump start Chazz's career.

If you ever get the chance to see the play (or movie), do so!

Sorry, We're Closed!

 

At the time I'm writing this entry, the US government shutdown is 10 days old.  We have a president who is threatening to target the firing of federal workers in opposition party cities and states, to deny paying furloughed federal workers when the shutdown ends, and is willing to destroy the healthcare of Americans because he hated the person who set up the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare).  His lackeys on the GOP seem to be afraid to do anything to keep him in check, as if the Orange Snowflake is the Antichrist himself.

The only people who have been able to put a crimp in the snowflake's plans seem to be the Democrats in the US Senate.  Due to the Senate's filibuster rule, 45 Democrats have prevented the GOP (and the snowflake) from adopting a budget which kills off Obamacare.  As a result, our federal government has shut down, with minimal civilian functions and the military required to work without pay. And many of these essential employees have been calling in sick - no pay, no work.  I feel sorry for the understaffed air traffic controllers who work mandatory overtime, as they are being pushed to the brink of exhaustion.  I also feel sorry for many military families who have to make do without the paychecks of their breadwinning service member's paycheck.  And I feel sorry for all of those federal workers who are going without pay and have entered the gig economy (doordash, Uber, etc.) to help make ends meet.  (I'll bet that some essential workers are calling in sick to work gig jobs just to earn the cash needed to buy groceries.)  Yet, as much as I feel sorry for these people, they are collateral damage in the war against tyranny, just as the civilian lives that were lost because they lived too close to a munitions plant being bombed in WW2.

With all the pain suffered by these essential workers, they are pawns in a winner take all game of politics. If the snowflake wins, there will never again be a challenge to his power.  So, it is essential that the Democrats stand firm against the snowflake.  I figure that after 3 months, the system will crack.  Essential employees will start to quit, so that they can pay their bills working other jobs (if they can be found).  Service members may not re-up their enlistments, and look to find work in the civilian economy. And, if the transportation secretary starts firing workers in the already understaffed air traffic control system, the American skies will be empty - civilian air transit will be at a standstill.  Going 3 months without pay will make this a very bleak Thanksgiving and Christmas for the affected workers, and I can't wait for things to break down.  Only then will the snowflake's support among his supporters start to crack.  And I hope this happens soon.

I'm already starting to think of what will happen if this shutdown lasts much longer than I hope and expect.  I have a cruise scheduled for next year that sails out of Southampton, UK.  How would I get there if civilian air traffic in the US is shut down?  I could either cancel the cruise if the shutdown lasts into April OR consider buying airfare from Toronto to London, UK and going into Canada by land.  In my opinion, we all must start planning for a long shutdown, as I believe that the Democrats need to go "all in" on this issue.

Keep your eyes open on what happens in the House.  As I write this, the House is being kept artificially closed for 2 reasons: (1) to prevent a budget bill acceptable to the Democrats being voted on, and (2) to keep a new Democratic member from Arizona from being sworn in, and triggering a vote to release the Epstein Files.  Why is number 2 important?  Well, if there is one thing that the snowflake fears is the release of these files, as they potentially implicate him in Epstein's crimes against underaged girls.  To me, the snowflake fears this more, as he is unable to control enough of the GOP to prevent their release.

Windows 11 (a short post)

 

I just got around to updating this computer to use Win-11.  Unlike my laptop which had no prior organization, my former Win-10 desktop had evolved for my comfort, with files being in familiar places. However, Win-11 has tweaked things a little, and I'm finding out where things have moved by doing things such as taking screen snapshots and finding them saved to new places.

Change is inevitable, and I would have liked to remain on Win-10 for a bit longer.  Since I couldn't avoid it, I now have to get used to a slightly different way of interacting with this computer.  Some of the things I must make sure that work are my two printers - one is wired, as that was the only way I could get it to work after a faulty 1st install.  The other is wireless, but I've had problems with it in the past.

So, if I'm a little slow with my posts, it's because I'm getting used to the small changes made to a computer I was totally at home with. 

HVRW - Dinner and Lunch reservations (a short post)

 

I look terrible in this old picture  But I was having a good time eating out at a meetup.  Now that Hudson Valley Restaurant Week is near, I'm looking at going to 3 restaurants to enjoy nice meals.  The first 2 will be with Vicki, both places which have been around as long as this country has been around.  The other will be at a bistro where RQS and I can get some French Vittles.  (Why make French food sound fancy?  French people simply consider it proper dining.)

It would be nice if I could afford to eat at these places after restaurant week.  But it is a special deal offered only twice each year.  So, Vicki and I try out new places when we can.  If I can afford it, I may add another dinner to my choices, but this will stretch the budget a bit.  Dining at nice places isn't always affordable in the New York region.

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Soon, I will need to pack for my next cruise.  It feels strange to have had so many cruises in one year.  And then, we will again be eating hearty for the better part of two weeks.  Hopefully, when I pass away, they will place a bucket of KFC, a sausage pizza from Frank Pepe's, a couple of Big Macs from McDonald's, and a few liters of Diet Coke to send me on my way to the afterlife.  😆😇💭 

 

My internet is still out at home, and I'm connected to the world by a thin wireless tether.

 

It's now almost 48 hours since my cable went out, and I'm hanging onto the internet with a thin wireless tether.  What I mean to say is that I'm using my cell phone's data connection for my internet until the cable company fixes its equipment.

On night 1 of the outage, I called the cable company around 11 pm, and they went through some exhaustive tests on their end to find out what the problem was.  No help.  So we scheduled a service call for 11 am today.  During day 2, my next door neighbor's internet went out, and they placed a call to the cable company.  That night, I went through a form of withdrawal.  No longer could I watch my nightly dose of Perry Mason reruns, nor could I watch any of the YouTube channels from which I get solid information.  (I make sure that the channels I watch reference original source media, and not opinions on that media. In short, I don't let outlets such as Fox "News" cherry pick media clips and distort the news.)  Luckily, I kept in touch with the world via my cell phone.

This morning would begin the 3rd day of the outage, and I had the following exchange with my neighbor:

Neighbor: I think they're fixing something down stairs.

Me: Do you see their truck outside?

Neighbor: They came to our apt. It means we have to wait for a different service team to come fix the transmitter that is downstairs. The guy said probably no one in our building has Internet right now or it's very spotty because the transmission is very low. All he could do is put in a referral OSP, which is another service team. He said he marked it as critical, so hopefully it will happen quickly.
 
Me: I'm glad you got a call on this.  And yes I hope they fix it quickly.

Wonderful!!!!  When the service man comes to my apartment in 1 hour (as I'm starting this entry), I'll have to show him this text as well, so that he doesn't blame it on the wire on my side of the wall.

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The service technician came around 1 pm and checked the wire.  Seems like the cable was disconnected outside the building.  I wonder how that happened, and whether it could be connected to my neighbor's outage as well.

"Just because one is paranoid, doesn't mean that one doesn't have good reason to worry." 

Assuming that this is a benign disconnect, I'm not going to worry much.  The technician told me that the line for the 3 apartments in my group of apartments was disconnected.  Given that the ground floor apartment is vacant, that the people on the center floor are never around, that leaves me as the only one connected to the cable company's services at the moment.   Given how much our federal government has turned our national guard and other protection agencies of the government into personal "enforcement" agencies, I wonder whether they are tapping all of my communications mechanisms (with or without warrant).  Although I am probably too low on the food chain to take notice of, I could still be a target of theirs due to being a vocal TG.  

I can't bother to worry much about these jerks.  If things go sour here, I intend to be out of the country, safely ensconced in a retirement haven waiting for things to change.  As for younger people, I will give them as much help as I can while obeying the laws that the International Criminal Court would expect all "Civilians" to adhere to, and not assist in any crimes against humanity.