Saturday, March 15, 2025

I got a call the other night about DCD

 



When I "sold" my old Honda Civic to DCD, I gave him a car in almost perfect repair.  A year or two ago, I replaced the car's exhaust system, and the car was running as quiet as when the car was first in my possession.  The other night, I found out how badly DCD is treating his car, and it made me sad.  He is not responsible enough to drive a car, much less own one.

NDC (as i called her in a prior post) called me right after I put a load of clothes in the dryer. She told me the story of how DCD screwed up the exhaust system on his car, making it sound like a convention of Harley Davidson motorcycles driving on the open road.  He lost his temper, sped through her complex, hitting a speed bump and making the exhaust system worthless.  But this wasn't all. He is now homeless and lives out of the car.  The other day, he ran out of gas, leaving his car in the middle of the street.  NDC lent him her charge card to buy a gas can and to fill his car.  But he dawdled enough, that she worried that he absconded both with the car and her charge card.  She was almost ready to call the police when he returned. NDC was livid.  DCD's car was still in the middle of the street a couple of hours after DCD called her for help.

DCD had medical appointments the following day, as part of making preparations for his upcoming cancer surgery and chemotherapy.  Without a car, he won't make it to those appointments. I expect that without the right help, he will die alone in his car - if he even gets to keep the car.  As for me, I don't want the car back when he dies - it will cost me more to fix it than it is worth.  At least, he and those around him will be out of their misery.

 

 

Friday, March 14, 2025

I don't know what to make of this

 

I don't know what to make of this.  When I first saw the video on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, I thought it was one of Kimmel's jokes.  However, this image (and others) comes from an Orange Snowflake post on "Truth" Social.  It wasn't until I looked it up this morning (by the time you read this, two weeks will have passed) that I found that it was a real post.  As some people in the hood might say: "This Honky is Nuts!"

- - - - - -

As much as I'd like to see the Israeli settlers kicked out of the West Bank, and Palestinian Gazans moved there, I could only justify a temporary US occupation of the land until the Israelis and Palestinians have learned to live in peace, and then Gaza could be turned into a co-dominium (yes, there are lands jointly ruled by two countries) owned by both nations run for the betterment of both.

The Middle East needs a two-state solution to the conflict, but one where both sides can live without fearing the other.  This is possible.  Most people want to get on with their lives, and don't give a damn if "the other" also does well.  Northern Ireland has proven that an intractable problem can have a peaceful resolution - Protestants and Catholics now live in peace.  And, in a recent election, a Sinn Féin member has been elected to run Northern Ireland.  So peace is possible in the Holy Land - as long as outsiders stop stirring things up. 

Sadly, we are scheduled to have a little over 46 months of this clown being in office.  Hopefully, we can recover our nation from the rubble he's turning it in to....

 

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Ever have a day that you had no energy to do anything?

 

Today, even waking up felt like an effort.  Although I might have gained consciousness around 9 am, I wasn't out of my bed until 11 am.  And the lethargy lasted throughout the day and into the night.  What caused this, I don't know.  I wasn't feeling sad.  I wasn't feeling upset.  And I wasn't in a bad mood.  I simply had no energy to get out of bed, save to eat and for bio-breaks.

By the time I had any energy, it was after dark, and I found myself with little to eat, save for a couple of frozen meals.  (There's much more to eat in the ice box, but I didn't want to take the time to thaw anything out, or put things on the stove to be cooked.)  If I had showered and dressed, I'd have gone to Burger King for Whopper Wednesday - I was in the mood for burgers, and I didn't even have any frozen White Castle sliders available. 

Late in the afternoon, I sat down on my sofa and fell asleep again, only becoming semi-conscious when a documentary about the construction and first sailing of one of the cruise ships I've been on.  After nuking and eating a couple of these frozen dishes, I became fully awake - around 9 pm.  AARGH!  Could today's lethargy be caused by my blood sugar level?  I think I'll have to start testing this again when I notice some symptoms when waking up.

So what should I do with the rest of my evening?  I think I'll end up folding some laundry, and get ready to go back to bed again.... 

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

I don't know about you, but it's time to get those "letters of transit" ready.

 

As I write this, the Orange Snowflake's DOJ refused to sign an arrest warrant against Rep. Cory Mills for an alleged assault. It seems like the DOJ is now thoroughly politicized, so that justice is being denied to people based on their alleged assailant's political party.  Justice is now transactional, and far from blind.

What does this mean for the transgender community?

I am lucky to be able to go stealth and leave this country.  I am working on getting a second passport, and possibly a third one as well.  But what about the rest of us?  The minute the economy sours, I expect that the snowflake will try to distract us from the damage he is causing to this country.  Since he has no current justification to round up transgender people, he has started to go after the illegal aliens (I won't call them "undocumented immigrants", no matter how I feel about letting more of them in to the US to do the work native born Americans won't do.) For the most part, his record of expelling these people is far from what he promised before the election.  So, he has a ready made excuse to restrict the freedoms of all Americans to facilitate his crackdown on those at the margins of society.

But what's next?

The snowflake has announced a "Golden Visa" program that would lead to citizenship.  Instead of upper middle class investors plunking down $100k-$200k in fees, plus another $800k-$1m to get a visa, he plans on selling one for $5m.  I guess he's trying to attract the Russian oligarchs he has become indebted to over the years.  

Yet, this is not the worst idea he has had.  He has changed our foreign policy to favor Russia, and refuses to acknowledge that Russia is the aggressor in the Ukraine war.  At least, the French president had the cajones to keep correcting the snowflake as he spouted out lies in a recent presser.  Now, the snowflake is making sure that the reporter pool excludes all who would ask him serious questions.  Hopefully, the foreign press will do the job ours won't do and force him into uncomfortable positions where the truth is spoken and he looks like an ass for defending his lies.

Am I saying that we should run away?  Far from it.  Some of us will have to lay low and hope for the best.  Others will be able to leave this country, and move to places where the rights of transgenders are respected.  Sadly, this will leave a large number of people who are vulnerable to this monster who is in office right now.  


Considering that Elon Musk reportedly told the snowflake that he would not support the snowflake unless Vance was made Vice President, one has to wonder - Who is really in charge of the government and the snowflake's cult?  The fact that the snowflake went after us first makes a lot of sense, considering that Musk has a transgender daughter and no relationship with her.  Could the snowflake merely be a puppet of Musk, as Musk can't ever be president by law?  Inquiring minds want to know.
 

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Last night, I had a disagreement with my brother.

 

My brother and I had a stiff disagreement last night, and it got me to thinking that we should sell the rental property we jointly own.  He is overworked, over-tasked, and overwhelmed.  And all I was asking him to do was to take care of the financials for the property, so that I can get my taxes done by April 15th.  Today, he called to apologize for getting upset, and I gracefully accepted the apology.  (I won't tell him that he triggered my emotional walls to go up and prepare for the absolute worst to happen.)

- - - - - - 

We are in the process of getting the house ready for another rental.  Recently, we were told that we need a new hot water installed.  This will cost about $3,000 or so, excluding permits. When the permits were filed for, we encountered another problem - our dad had converted the house from oil to gas heat.  But the paperwork wasn't marked as complete in the town offices, and we have more headaches because of things that happened years ago.

 

The work was done, but it appears that the final inspection wasn't taken care of.  So, my brother is contacting the plumbing firm that took care of the boiler install years ago, and we hope to get this resolved without spending too much money.  Once this is done, the new permit for the hot water heater could be issued, and we could finally be done with some of the work that's needed for the house.

- - - - - -

Looking at work we need to take care of , I feel that we need to replace windows in the basement, followed by installing a half-bath in the basement.  This way, we can up the rent and recover what we put into the house this year.

Right now, I have the money in my bank accounts to fund the work on my own if needed.  But that's not how things work.  My brother has to find ways of financing his home maintenance as well as financing his share of this house's maintenance.  This makes me glad that I only have to worry about my co-op board responsibilities, leaving general financing issues to a party of others.

I'm glad that I never bought a townhouse or detached home....

 

 

 

 

Monday, March 10, 2025

Sometimes, it's too much of a bother to present as Marian (a short post)

 

Yesterday, we spent some time straightening out the apartment.  One of the things i did was to find a "new" blanket in my cedar chest and put it on my bed, along with a "new" mattress pad.  This meant that I'll have to restock with new ones later on - especially when the "new" blanket has been sitting in the chest for years, and is suffering from a form of dry rot (found this morning).

But this is not what I intended to talk about today....

I wasn't in the mood to spend the time to shave and apply makeup just to go to Walmart.  If I were a cisgender female, this wouldn't be an issue for me.  However, I am trans, and do not look that much like a female without makeup.  So, I figured it was time for Mario to make an appearance.

Walmart is only 15 minutes from my place.  Both RQS and I were able to get showered and dressed quickly, so that we could make it to Walmart and to the local grocery store before 7:30 pm.  (We were thinking of doing some laundry when the machines weren't busy.)  I was glad not to make myself up, as I would have hated to clean off the makeup after 2 hours out of the house.

Did we get around to doing laundry?  No.  But we did get out of the house for a couple of hours.

Sunday, March 9, 2025

My paperwork is almost ready

 

As I've mentioned before, I am in the process of getting a second passport.  It's not just because I want to reconnect with the nation of my grandmother's birth, but it's also due to politics in the USA.

- - - - - - 

I've said many times that the Orange Snowflake is a threat to us all.  First, he has targeted transgenders.  Now, he's going after many of the Federal workers which help keep this nation running smoothly.  As I like to describe it, he's on his 2025 revenge tour for his loss in 2020.  He is not as popular as he once was, and the polling over the past few weeks shows a precipitous drop in public approval.  

So what does this mean?

If history is my guide, he will use political persecution as a means of distracting the public from the greater evil he is trying to hide.  As for me, I intend to have an exit plan, just in case things get much worse than they are now.

Right now, I am following this guide from one of the nations that I qualify for overseas birth citizenship:

Documents relating to the applicant (unless stated, originals must be submitted):

  • Completed, signed and witnessed application form (see list of witnesses at 1 above)
  • Original civil birth certificate (showing parental details)
  • Original civil marriage certificate (if applicable) OR other change of name document (if applicable)
  • Photocopy of current state-issued photographic ID document (i.e. passport, drivers licence, national identity card) certified as a true copy of the original by application form witness
  • 2 separate original proofs of address
  • 4 colour photographs (2 of which to be witnessed) – do not attach these to the application form
  • Documents relating to the xxxxx Citizen parent (unless stated, originals must be submitted):

Original civil birth certificate of xxxxx Citizen parent (showing parental details)
  • Original civil marriage certificate of xxxxx Citizen parent (if applicable) OR other change of name document (if applicable)
  • Photocopy of current state-issued photographic ID document (i.e. passport, drivers license, national identity card) certified as a true copy of the original by a professional from the list of witnesses OR original civil death certificate (if applicable)
  • Documents relating to the grandparent born in xxxxx (unless stated, originals must be submitted):

Original civil birth certificate of xxxxx born grandparent (showing parental details)

Original civil marriage certificate of xxxxx born grandparent (if applicable) OR other change of name document (if applicable)

Photocopy of current state-issued photographic ID document (i.e. passport, drivers licence, national identity card) certified as a true copy of the original by a professional from the list of witnesses
OR
Original civil death certificate (if applicable)
 
All I need to do right now is get a copy of my grandmother's death certificate, get my proofs of address, pay my application fee, get the application form notarized, and send it in.   Right now, they are processing applications sent in during November.  So if all goes right, I'll be sending in my paperwork in March and getting my second passport around my birthday.  It won't be as dramatic as getting the Letters of Transit in the movie, Casablanca.  But it will have just as good a result for me, if things go very sour here....



Thoughts about a friend and her husband

  I had lunch with a friend the other day, and noticed that she may be a little divorced from an objective reality.  A society needs objecti...