Too much of nothing...

April, May and June have traditionally been months for some of my antique car related activities.  But not this year.  In April I had a couple of shows planned, but for various reasons, they didn't work out.   And we had planned a car tour along with a visit to our son's place down south in May.  That trip fell apart, due to a May stint requiring me to be available for jury duty.  Thus it had to be  moved forward into June.   Then there was all the rain, from late April into May, spoiling many weekends.

The end result of all this change is that Mandy has not seen the light of day since the antique auto test trip to Assateague Island back in March.  And that was a "quick change trip", where I did not really have a chance to go fully femme.   I left the house, and returned home, wearing androgynous clothes and only light makeup.  The skirt, jewelry and lipstick appeared "in cornfields," which for some odd reason, didn't have any corn yet!

Unfortunately, this forecast leaves no hope whatsoever for a "March encore," at least until July.

Below is a photo taken in front of a C-130 transport on display in the National Vigilance Park, off of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, taken in mid-2013.

All is not bad...during the current "dry spell," excursions in capri pants and tops continue, as do occasional meals out with my wife.  We often find ourselves addressed as "ladies."  But I truly am looking forward to putting together something in July, though at the moment, I'm not sure what - or where - that might be.

Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I leave you with this skyline shot of St. Louis, as it appeared from Amtrak's Texas Eagle back in early 2009...

Enjoy!

Mandy

Honey, I shrunk the train...

Below is a picture from our visit to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland a few years ago.  It was a fun ride on a little (and I do mean little) train, along Casco Bay.  The track is 2 foot gauge (between the rails.)  For comparison, regular railroads are 4'-8.5" between the rails. The museum has great narrow gauge exhibits, and if you get a chance, it's worth while stopping by, especially if the train is running.

Time for my nails to get another fill.   Drove by the old nail salon and they were crowded...so I set sail for the new salon (the one in my town.)  The techs remembered me from my last visit, and welcomed me as "Ma'am."  They asked me to sit down for about 10 minutes and the tech I used last time would be ready for me.

And at about the appointed time, she invited me to her station, and work began.  She worked hard on my nails, and by the time she was done, they looked even better than the last time.  Before you ask, she did try to sell me on red...but I was able to escape it "again."   As she finished me up, she gave me the price, and it was the same as last time.  Will wonders never cease?  It hadn't gone up...definitely not an introductory price!

Sunday we got an email from our son's wife (on their anniversary)...thanking us for having such a wonderful son.  That touching note actually brought tears to my eyes - and still does, every time I think about it.   I responded about how much we love that he chose such a wonderful woman to spend his life with...

Monday, I was at the garage, waiting for the service adviser for my daily driver to finish with the previous customer to talk with me.  There was a woman behind me, and another service adviser (female) motioned the woman to come to her desk.  The woman said "She's first" meaning lil' ol' me, in my girly outfit of gray stirrups, black turtleneck, Mom's necklace, patent leather flats, a purse, and with my usual long hair and now very shiny nails.  The service adviser, who clearly knows I'm a guy, and was within earshot of the lady, respectfully said to me "She's waiting for Jim...so you're next." 

And following on the heels of that incident, I stopped at a carpet store to look for some new floor coverings for our kitchen.  I thought the clerk (who has worked with us twice) knew I was a guy, but after hearing her address me as female, to my face as well as to the other clerk, I'm not so sure.  Oh, well, if my wife and I go in together looking for floor covering I bet we'll be addressed as two women...and there's nothing wrong with that.

Sorry about the delay in getting to finish this.  Today I went to a big box office supply store for a few things.  And had to ask for help.  The clerk initially didn't use gender specific forms of address, but at the end, he found someone to "carry this stuff out to the lady's car."  I accept help any way I can get it!!!

Let me leave you with a sunset picture, of Portland, Maine's waterfront at sunset, with a beautiful sailboat between us and the shore...

Enjoy!

Mandy

Some days you can't win a nickel!

Another quickie:  illustrating that some days you can't win a nickel!

I needed to pick up some new turn signal bulbs for the antique, and decided to try the "other" parts store in town instead of the one where the "clerk in a skirt" (mentioned in previous posts) used to work.  At that "other" establishment,  they had the bulbs I needed, but I was repeatedly addressed as "Sir" (despite my rather-obviously-feminine capris, tunic, flats, purse and long hair. )  And the clerks all wore a uniform...company logo shirt, long black pants and all-black sneakers.  Not a skirt or flats in sight, nor did I see evidence of any women working there.  :-(

So apparently, (s)he's disappeared...and since I've been treated better at the establishment where (s)he used to work, I guess I'll keep patronizing them!

Over a recent weekend I took my antique to its first car show of the season.  And there, despite my typical feminine outfit, I frequently heard the dreaded "S" word...only rarely did people so much as omit a gendered greeting for me.   Judging from the number of "Make America Great Again" hats, full Duck-Dynasty-style beards, and the like, that was to be expected...   And disappointingly, it was one of the good-old-boy types of shows, where "You vote for my car. I'll vote for yours, and we'll both win"  is the order of the day.  They won.  I didn't.

One thing about being at that particular show...representatives from other shows this season were there, and based on the number of show fliers that I received, more than one tree was killed to make the stack of papers possible.  I don't plan to go to many local shows this year, but at least now I have several to choose from.

But not all was 100% bad...the next day I stopped at the pharmacy for some sunscreen...and since I used my wife's card there,  I was addressed by her name...several times.  Which was fine with me.  I mentioned the issue to my wife in passing, and she didn't believe it.  But she's impersonated me by name several times, and I have now "passed" as her several times.  We're about even...and it was fun.

I'll leave you with the following picture from my archives:  taken at a scenic overlook along the Pacific Coast Highway  (California State Route 1) in the Central Coast area, if memory serves me correctly.  Gorgeous weather for sightseeing, and calm seas, back in January of 2007.

If my memory is off a bit on the location, I'll leave it to you California Girls to correct me!

More later...

Mandy