Some of the things I like involve historical restoration.

Lately, I've been watching videos  regarding the restoration of a GM EV1, number V212.  This is a rare car in private hands (a small number of the production run was donated to schools and museums with the guts disabled).  Unlike those cars in museums, this car has no restrictions on its use, due to the way the car was obtained.

The YouTube channel "The Questionable Garage" is actively attempting to restore this car to drive able condition.  And it is fascinating to see what they have gone through to prepare the car to be restored to road-worthiness.   When I saw their first video, they explained how the car fell out of GM's control, and the problems that they'd have to face in restoring it.  One of the big problems was the windshield, as no other car used this exact windshield shape.  They noted issues with batteries, electronics, and other challenges that they would have to overcome to achieve their ultimate goal. (See this article for more information.)

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the current management of GM is taking an active role in helping to get this "one of a kind" car in private hands back on the road.  And they gave this project a set of parts from their very own "parts car" (including glass) to help in the effort.  They showed the history of both GM's work with electric cars and the batteries used to power them.  Strangely enough, it made me feel good about GM to see them help get the car back on the road.

Hopefully, more episodes about this vehicle will be available soon, as I'm hoping that the owner will take the car on the road during 2027. 

Lasagna - a dish Garfield and I both love.

 

Today, it was lunch with CCS in Ossining.  Given that I hadn't seen her in a month, I was hoping for a quiet time at a "Red Sauce Joint" in Ossining.  That was not to be, given the loud table behind me making it hard for us to have a nice conversation.

But first...

I had some new clothes to wear today.  So after shaving, showering, and applying makeup, I decided to wear them.  First was the sports bra from Rainbeau Curves.  That fit well.  But the leggings were one size too small.  (I'll save them for when I shrink a size - they were cheap enough to gamble on.)  Over this was another tunic dress from J.C.Penney.  I looked good when I drove to the restaurant.

CCS and I arrived at the same time.  It was crowded for a change, and we ended up sitting too close to the group of friends/office workers (?) who were talking loudly.  I couldn't hear CCS, and I had to ask her to repeat herself many a time.  We talked about politics, health issues, family, and other things of note.  At least, the Lasagna was as good as usual, and I had enough for leftovers.  Yet, I could barely keep track of the chat due to the noise behind me.  But the crowd left before we finished our meal, and we had a few quiet minutes before we, ourselves, had to leave.

After dinner, I went home to relax.  I made a couple of appointments with friends - one for coffee with a co-op board member, and the other with a friend from Dover Plains that I haven't seen in ages.  This will keep me busy for a while.

Catching up on my reading. (A short post)

 

This is the book that I've been reading lately.  Unfortunately, I have no more renewals left on the book. It means that I'm supposed to return the book to the library by the end of the day.  Of course, I'll do my best to finish the remaining 325 pages by tomorrow night.

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I keep hemming and hawing about signing up for a dinner group in NYC.  To join will set me back $20/month, and I'm not sure if I want to spend this kind of money, plus the cost of dinners, and the cost of weekly trips to meet new people.  It might be worth joining the group for a month.  But I'm not sure whether this kind of commitment is worth it.  Yet, it might be nice to go into NYC on a regular basis for a while.

Right now, I have several more hours to make this decision.  I'll write more about this soon.

Getting used to a reorganized kitchen (a short post)

 

I wish my kitchen was this useful.  Sadly, I have too much stuff in the kitchen to make it truly useful.  It would make things easier for me if I were to get rid of items I don't use.  But to do that would mean making hard decisions that I'm not ready to make right now.

This weekend, RQS straightened out my kitchen.  But I hadn't yet had the chance to use it.  Today was my chance.  First, I had to drop RQS off at the station to return home.  And then, I could go home to rest.  Given that it was a dreary day AND that I had no plans to go out later, I got dressed as Mario just to drop RQS off.  After a quick stop at the deli to get a breakfast sandwich, it was home for the day.

Once home, I took a needed nap, and then started work on reorganizing information I'll need to create another cruise tool.  So, that killed some time until dinner.  There was some salmon in the fridge, but I wasn't interested in that.  Instead, I was more interested in the "more than" half chicken from last night.  Cutting off the remaining right breast (RQS doesn't carve a bird well) and full left leg, I proceeded to prepare this part of the bird for nuking.  Next, I made some flavored rice, then cobbled up some gravy to ladle over the bird.  Finally, I warmed up the bird and had a hearty meal.

Regarding the placement of some items in the kitchen, I switched the garbage can's spot with the original place for the rolling cart, Now, I don't have to move the cart each time I want to get utensils from the drawer.  RQS is good at finding the energy to do this kind of reorganization, but not as good at figuring out a practical final state.  Maybe that's why we work well together - we complement each other in our areas of weakness.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get out and (maybe) get my nails done.  Then, it should be another week as Marian.

Saturday, a trip to IKEA. Sunday, a brunch not eaten.

 

Saturday would be a day spent presenting as Marian.  But first, RQS decided to help organize the clutter which was my kitchen.  So, for half the day, I didn't bother doing much.  But at 4 pm, we ended up driving to IKEA to look for a rolling cart.  $143.00 later, I had the cart and other needed items coming home in my car with us.  Both of us knew NOT to work on any IKEA assembly (including simple ones) until after we had a chance to sleep and get some more rest.

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Sunday would be a day spent as Mario.  We had negotiated noon as a mutual time for brunch, as RQS's friend insisted that we meet no later than noon because her grandchild would need her 1 pm nap.  I was a little miffed, as I knew that the friend didn't want to bend or accommodate our needs.  But, since this friend was down from Boston, I said OK to having lunch at noon, missing church for the nth Sunday in a row. !0 minutes before we were to arrive at the diner, the friend called asking us if we could meet at 1:30 pm.  Both of us were annoyed.  We altered our plans for the friend, and now she wanted to change things.  Both of us were peeved.  Her friend didn't care what she was doing to our schedules.  Only her schedule was important.  So RQS said we'll have to get together another time, and we proceeded to have lunch on our own.

What to do next?  Well, we hung out until 5 pm, assembling the rolling cart we bought the day before, then drove to BJ's to pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner, and then went back home to eat.  For the most part, it was an OK day.  But one that could have been much better if we had been able to keep our original plans for the day.

The day started with phone calls

 

Anyone who knows Commercial Street in Provincetown, MA will notice something very wrong about the AI generated image above.  I gave ChatGPT instructions to draw me in front of the Lobster Pot restaurant in Provincetown and got the above picture.  Can you tell me what's wrong with the image?

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There were several things on my docket for today, and two of them involved phone calls.  First was a call to RQS to tell her NOT to bring up her fancy dress, as we'll be a little bit more casual tonight when we go out for dinner.  The second had me being more apprehensive, as it was to return a call from my doctor's office.  I found that the assistant couldn't get the GLP-1 drugs cheaper than the prices I found, and was asking me to check with my mail order pharmacy to see if they had a better price for the drugs.  So, I have another phone call to make soon.  RQS would be coming up later in the day, and that meant that I also had some laundry to take care of before  I picked her up at the train station. 

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Around 1 pm, I put laundry into the washer, and started my process of getting ready to go out.  By 3:30 pm, my laundry was done and I was ready to go out.  At 4:30, I picked up RQS at the station, and we drove to Chappaqua for dinner - French Food on the last Friday of Restaurant Week.  It was a good thing we got there when we did, as the place was empty when we got there, but getting full by the time we left. The food was very good, but I made one mistake in my choices: I chose the wrong liquid in which my mussels were prepared.  I chose the white wine sauce, when I had a craving for something like the Dijon mustard sauce.

Once we were done with dinner, we went to the supermarket to do some shopping.  And finally we were home for the night.  It was nice to take off my bra again.  RQS will never understand why I want the headaches of being female, but then, how many people understand us TGs?

 

 

Lunch with "Short" Vicki and finally a Game Night

 

I really didn't want to get up today.  The weather was dreary, with intermittent showers punctuated by periods of drizzle.  But, it would be my one chance to have lunch with "Short" Vicki and see her before she goes on her cruise.  

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The other day, Vicki asked me if we could change our lunch date from Friday to Thursday (today), as one of the pregnant ladies she has been helping (Vicki is a Doula) was expecting to go into labor this evening. I had no problems saying "Yes", as this would give me more time on Friday to get things ready when RQS comes up for the weekend.

Just after I took my shower, I got a text message from Vicki.  Basically, it said: "WTFRU? in much more polite language.  I told her that she was an hour early, and I'd be there at 1 pm.  Although I was getting interrupted by messages, I was out the door and in Scarsdale a couple of minutes late.  One problem - the parking meter ate my quarters and wasn't showing that I had time on the meter.  To be safe, I ended up moving my car to a spot with a working meter, and ended up entering the restaurant at 1:15 pm.  AARGH!

We settled down and started chatting service at the restaurant wasn't rushed, and we both enjoyed a nice Italian meal.  Both of us had to go out and check the meter after we finished the main course, but that was only a minor interruption for us.  All too soon we had to go.  I'm not sure if Vicki was going to head straight out to the hospital where the baby would be delivered, or whether she'd go home to wait for the phone call.  Either way, I knew she would have a busy evening in front of her.  As for me, it was time to go home and relax before game night.

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This would be the first time I'd be going to game night (if I recall correctly) because of cruising and uncleared snow.  So I put this high on my priority list of things to do today. 

Around 600 pm, I got up and got ready to go to game night.  Arriving around 7:45, I was just in time for the first and only game of the night, and enjoyed playing it (although I lost as usual.)  It was nice to see familiar faces again.  But all too soon, I had to go home.  And that was just as well, as I had had enough of people for the day.