HAPPY NEW YEAR
HAPPY NEW YEAR
01/03/05
The New Years Eve Party on the RMS Queen Mary was MAGICAL! I can not remember having that much fun on a New Years Eve.
Most of the first part of last week was wet and stormy, but it cleared up enough so we could get to the boat Thursday afternoon. There was quite a bit of storm damage to the canvas on the bridge and aft cockpit tops. The canvas will need to be replaced because it is so fragile after twelve years of California sun. The estimated cost to replace all of it including the side curtains is about $4.500. I will get the tops replaced this month, then defer the rest until after I pay my property and income taxes.
Scott and I went to Busters Thursday night. The Flyers play there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. There was a light crowd there due to it being the night before New Years Eve. It was rather nice to be able to find room on the dance floor for a change. We stayed until the band quit at midnight. They usually play later, but there was only about a dozen people left by twelve.
 |
Friday stayed dry. Our original plan for transportation to the Queen Mary for Friday night, was to take the Long Beach shuttle, but Scott was told by one of the bus drivers that they would not be running past twelve thirty, and the fireworks on the stern of the ship were scheduled for then, so we decided to drive. The QM is only a couple of miles by surface streets from my boat, but we were concerned that there might be a sobriety check point on Shoreline Drive by the Aquarium like there was a few weeks ago. I decided that we would drive to the QM, but take a taxi home if we thought neither of us could not pass a DUI test. It turned out that neither of us had too much to drink.
We arrived at the QM about eight o’clock, and turned my car over to the Valet parking at the entrance to the ship. We were early enough that there wasn’t much of a line to get in. They had estimated at there would be about 6,000 people there, and I think that was about right considering the crowds in all the rooms we went to latter.
There was seven or eight rooms with bands and dancing, and we went to six that I remember. We bypassed the Hip Hop and Latin venues, but did go to the Jazz, Country/Western, Big Band 40’s, Disco, and we started at the Observation Bar of course. Chris and Lisa were just setting up their band when we got there.
We managed to commandeer a couple of seats at the bar. All the tables were taken by the early birds. We had a coupe of drinks and some hors d’oeuvres at the Bar, then went to check out the buffet. That wasn’t too impressive, but we had a good dinner on the boat earlier, so we weren’t hungry.
We roamed the ship for the next couple of hours, and danced to the different bands when we could find a clear spot on the dance floor. I limited my drinking to diet coke, so I was in good shape when we returned to the Observation Bar about eleven o’clock and conned some people out of the same two bar stools that we had when we first got there. We stayed there for the midnight countdown, and toasts.
We went up to the Sun Deck aft to watch the Fireworks at twelve thirty, then went back to the OB. The crowd had thinned out enough so we could get on the Dance Floor for a couple of dances.
We said our good-byes to Chris, Lisa, Evon, Jun, and the waitresses and left. There was no problem driving back to the Boat. I was hyped up on caffeine, and hadn’t had much alcohol all night, so it took me a couple of drinks to wind down before going to bed.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Saturday morning was clear and bright. I got up, made myself a bloody mary, and watched the Rose Parade on TV. Scott crawled out of bed latter.
Scott’s father was out of the hospital, and his mother said that she needed Scott to help care for him, so he had to leave for home after lunch. I had already arraigned to stay until Sunday, so I drove him to the Metro rail and he left.
I decided to go to the Queen Mary Saturday night for dinner, and visit my friends there.
I stopped at the Sir Winstons Bar to wish Alan, the bar tender a Happy New Year, then had a nice Salmon dinner in Sir Winstons.
It was quiet in the Observation Bar for a Saturday. Chris and Lisa were playing again, and there were some people dancing. I took a seat at the bar and visited with Evon for a while, then left, and went back to the boat.
 |
I didn’t feel tired so I put a Lord of the Rings DVD on the TV and watched that until I could get to sleep.
I came home Sunday afternoon.
01/09/05
Scott was going to sing in the Cowboy Palace Country/Western singing contest Wednesday night, and I went there to support him. He did a great job singing "Third Rock From The Sun". Even the band congratulated him on doing well, but he didn't win the contest that night. We left before the contest was over because Scott had to work Thursday.
I needed to check out the boat after five days of heavy rain and wind, and it looked like there was going to be a break in the weather Friday morning, so I headed for Long Beach. I got halfway there when the sky opened up again and rained so hard I couldn't see the car in front of me. I managed to creep to Long Beach at a top speed of forty miles and hour. I had to change my panties when I finally got to the boat though.
It was still raining hard when I arrived at the boat, but I have a rubber storm suit there that I put on to get the stuff from the car to the boat and do a quick survey of the storm damage. The only damage that was visible was the aft canvas top that was ripped off the frame on one side. The cabin had some minor leeks through the window frames.
The rain finally stopped that afternoon, and I put a tarp over the aft canvas top. I also put the two missing side curtains back on the bridge enclosure.
Michelle called me Friday night to see if I wanted to go to the Observation Bar, and of course I did. She picked me up about ten o'clock and drove to the Queen Mary.
There wasn't as many people as usual on a Friday night with James King. Probably because more rain was predicted. James' performance was rather subdued that night, and no one was dancing. I asked him for "Mustang Sally" and got a couple on the dance floor with me, but that was about it.
Michelle and I enjoyed just being out, and had a nice conversation. We left about twelve thirty. I had my camera in my purse, but I forgot about it, so there are no pictures from that night.
It was raining when I woke up Saturday morning. I wanted to run the engines, but I got a call from home that one of the Oak Trees had been blown over during the night, and it was blocking the street. My room mate said that she tried to call the city to report it and get it removed because it was a city tree, but no one was answering the phone at city hall. I told her to call the police and report it, then I drove home. The police had already been there when I got home, and they told her that they would contact the LA County Public Works Department. A county truck arrived a little after I did, and they eventually sawed it up and removed it. The stump and the huge root ball is still there, and I guess I will need to get the La Canada City Public Works people over to remove that Monday.
It looks like I am going to be staying home for the next few days unless I want to see if my car can float.
01/14/05
Just a quick entry about this week.
I rained so hard the first part of this week that we couldn't even drive on our street because it had become a river. It finally cleared up Wednesday and I was able to meet Scott at Paolis Wednesday night. They have KARIOKE every night of the week.
Scott was waiting for me when I arrived about eight thirty, and we took a table near the mike. The KARIOKE starts at nine o'clock, so we had a drink and some chocolate mouse cake while Scott looked through the song books.
There weren’t many people there yet, so he was the second up. He ended up singing about a half dozen songs by the time we left at eleven. He is so sweet; the last two songs were romantic ones directed to me.
 |
 |
01/19/05
It was another great weekend thanks to MLK day on Monday. Scott had to work Saturday so he couldn't come to Long Beach until Saturday night, but with the three day weekend he was able to stay Sunday night.
I went shopping at the Lakewood Mall Saturday afternoon. Scott gave me a gift card for Christmas and I wanted to spend it on a new outfit. I found a sexy blouse, a nice wool skirt, and a pair of slacks that I needed. I got back to the boat just as Scott was approaching Long Beach on the Blue Line Train, so I went up to the Transportation Center to pick him up.
Saturday was Katt's Birthday Party, and we planned to go to that. It was suppose to start about seven o'clock and it was almost six by the time we got to the boat. I started dinner while Scott took a shower and changed cloths from his Bus Driver's uniform. We had a nice steak, mashed potato's and baked beans dinner, then I changed into my new blouse and skirt. We got to Katt's apartment about eight.
There was about a half dozen of Katt's neighbors and friends there when we arrived. She was in the kitchen making some more food. I think we had made a mistake in having dinner before we came, because everything was delicious. I pigged out on the crab cakes.
Katt's friends are a lot of fun, and we had a blast! There were several more that showed up as the evening progressed. We stayed until about eleven thirty.
 |
 |
 |
Sunday morning, we installed a new deep cycle battery, did some canvas repair, and replaced the oil absorbent mat. It doesn't look like there is much oil leakage, but the oil level on the port engine was low again. I have not been able to find where that oil is coming from. We started the engines and the oil pressure on the port was low, so we put some oil in it, and quit for the day.
We went to the Observation Bar on the Queen Mary Sunday afternoon to listen and dance to Chris and Lisa. I was on the dance floor when Katt came in. She has joined a Shakespeare theater group that rehearses on Sunday afternoons on the QM. The performance will be on the ship in a few months.
The three of us had fun dancing. Katt was invited to sing, and she got a rousing round of applause for the crowd as soon as she started, and a standing ovation when she finished.
We left when Chris and Lisa finished at six.
 |
 |
Our plan was to have dinner on the boat then go to Hamburger Mary's for KARIOKE. Katt needed to go home, so we agreed to meet at Hamburger Mary's at eight thirty when the KARIOKE started. I made spaghetti for dinner. We got to the Bar about eight thirty, and Katt arrived soon after.
Scott was up soon after Katt got there. He did "I've Got Friends In Low Places" as his first song, then "You Were Wonderful" as his second. I joined him at the mike and we did a little dance as he sang. I'm such a exhibitionist ;-)
It was quite a long wait until Katt was able to sing, and she was great. We left soon after she sang.
 |
We took the boat out for a test run Monday morning, and everything ran fine. It was a beautiful warn day, and we just took it easy.
We started home about three o'clock and the traffic was murder. It was about ten MPH most of the way to Van Nuys, to get Scott's car, and just as bad from there to home for me too. I guess it was a result of good weather beach traffic, MLK day, and the usual comutter rush hour traffic all heading home at the same time.
01/26/05
This was a Friday to Sunday weekend. It started late Friday morning to avoid the morning rush hour. I had planned to take my new slacks to the tailor in Studio City, but the 134 freeways was jammed so I just headed to Long Beach via the only open route through East LA. I still didn't get to the boat before noon though.
The first thing I do when I get to the boat these days is check the oil leak situation, and change the Oil absorbent pad in the bilge. There wasn't too much oil being discharged by the bilge pump but there was some, and this could give me a problem with the Marina, so that really has to be fixed.
Scott took the train from North Hollywood to Long Beach and arrived about seven thirty. I grilled some steaks for dinner while he showered.
We planned to go to Busters that night, and Katt was going to join us. I picked her up around nine. All the good tables at Busters were taken, but we found one that had a view of the stage at least. We had a good time, and stayed until their midnight break.
 |
 |
I wanted to go to Robinson May Saturday morning for their early bird sale on leather jackets. They had lamb skin Jackets by Valerie Steven's on sale for $80 that normally cost over $200. We got to the Lakewood Mall store just after noon. The early bird price lasted until one o'clock. I got their last one in my size just in time, and also was able to buy a sweater for $12 before the dead line.
We had heard that the restaurant in the Long Beach Airport was pretty good so we stopped there for lunch. The restaurant is called the Prop room, and it's on the second floor of the terminal building with an excellent view of the airport, and the Jet Blue gates. The food and drink cost is very reasonable. We both ordered the bottomless chili bowl for $4.50. It was good and we got a free refill.
They have a Champaign brunch on Sundays for $12! There is also a full bar in the room. We plan on going there again.
The Black Shadows was playing at the Lunaria Saturday night, and I wanted to see them again. Our old group, the Up Town Ladies use to follow them around town. They are a Blues band and they used to have an old blues singer with them. The leader of the band Robert still keeps us informed about when they are playing. I called Lunaria to get a reservation and our favorite Matri D' Johnny answered the phone to my surprise and delight.
This was the first time Scott was at the Lunaria. We were not able to get my favorite table next to the sliding wall, but Johnny gave us one close enough, with a good view of the band. He gave us two menus; one with a fixed price of $40 for a three course meal that included the entertainment cover charge, and the other an Ala. carte menu the did not include the $10/person cover charge. We ordered from the fixed price menu.
The meal was good, and the band was great. There was a new singer that was excellent as well. We stayed for the second set.
We got a surprise when we got the check. It was itemized as if we had ordered from the Ala. carte. I told the waiter that I thought we had ordered from the fixed price menu, and he took the check back to recalculate it and came back with a bill that was almost $20 more than the first check. That was a lesson for me. I should have checked the first bill, because he did not charge us the cover. The next time we go to the Lunaria, we need to do like Heather and I used to do. Order Ala. carte, and share the salad and desert.
One other thing that readers should be aware of if you are going to the Lunaria via Santa Monica Blvd. You can not turn into the Lunaria parking from Santa Monica Blvd. The access is from Ave. of the Stars, then back track to the restaurant.
 |
 |
Sunday morning we took the boat out. I showed Scott how to drop, set and retrieve the anchor. Every thing worked fine , but we lost some oil again.
Sunday afternoon it was our usual Observation Bar on the Queen Mary for Chris and Lisa.
 |
02/03/05
These weekends can get wild sometimes. Just when you think "Ho Hum, just another weekend in Long Beach", things get interesting. The Observation Bar was packed Saturday night and everyone was having a ball.
It turned out that this Saturday night was the last time that Lisa's Trio was going to play at the Queen Mary. Management has decided to cut back on entertainment, so there will not be anything on Friday night, only James King doing Elvis on Saturdays, but Chris and Lisa kept their Gig on Sunday afternoons.
Michelle called me Saturday afternoon and said that she was going out, and wanted to know what my plans were. I told her that Scott and I planned to go to the Reef for dinner, then go to the Observation Bar for dancing. She said she would join us at the OB.
Scott and I shared a large prime rib at the Reef. The food and service was great.
Michelle was waiting for us at the QM. She had saved a table, and there was several of our friends celebrating a Birthday at a nearby table. We had a ball dancing, and visiting.
I ran out of energy sometime after midnight, and we decided to leave.
 |
 |
 |
 |
We didn't get up until almost ten o'clock Sunday morning. We considered going to the Prop Room for the brunch, but then decided that we weren't hungry enough for a big breakfast, so I made a little breakfast on the boat. We thought that we might go to the Brunch later that afternoon, but ended up with a light Lunch before going to the Observation Bar for Chris and Lisa.
Katt had just finished her Shakespeare studio practice on the Queen Mary when we arrived, and joined us in the OB. There was a good crowd there, and we had fun dancing. Katt was invited to sing with Chris and Lisa, and did a wonderful job again. We left soon after they packed up at six.
I made some Goulash for dinner.
 |
 |
 |
Sunday night is KARIOKE night at Hamburger Marys, and we got there early enough to get a table next to the dance floor, and Scott got his song selections in early. Katt joined us soon after we got there.
We are getting to be regulars at Hamburger Marys on Sunday nights, and a lot of the other regulars know us. Scott did his two starting songs soon after the KARIOKE started, and Katt did hers a little later.
Scott had to leave early because he was working early Monday morning. Katt and I stayed until almost the end.
I suggested that we find somewhere for breakfast, and Katt said she would cook breakfast for us on the boat, so that’s what we did. We had a nice conversation about jobs, etc.
Katt went home about three, and I crashed until nine Monday morning.
 |
I had my mechanic come by Monday to verify that the oil leak on the Port engine was the oil pan. He is going to order a new one, then he will have to pull the engine and replace it. I guess that will be next week sometime.
I cleaned the boat up and went home.
02/08/05
Happy Marti Gras. I was going to go to West Hollywood tonight to celebrate Fat Tuesday, and watch the people, but a medical situation in the family put a damper on that.
Speaking of medical situations; I should stop abusing my body with all this partying. The booze and late nights are starting to make my wrinkles harder to hide. I am going to need a facelift or botox injections soon.
The only boat work I did this weekend was to replace an access port in the aft cockpit on Friday. It was mostly just sleeping and relaxing during the day.
Scott took the train to Long Beach after work Friday. We had dinner at the Hof's Hut near the Alamitos Bay Marina. Their food is home style and inexpensive. This particular Hof's Hut has a separate adult dinning room and bar in the back away from the family style seating in front.
We went to Busters after dinner, and found a table up front. We really enjoy the Flyers Band, and they usually play our favorites when they see us come in. One of Scott’s favorite is "Get Over It". I think its his favorite because of the one line in it that says "and there's my girlfriend Passed out on the floor". They always run a DVD of Tillila Shane during their break, and she opens with a song that lets Scott do the Electric Slide. The only thing that I don't like about Busters is their small dance floor.
 |
I made steaks for dinner Saturday night, then we went to the Observation Bar for James King's Elvis performance.
Michelle arrived at the parking lot just after we did, and I got the last parking space in the VIP lot, so she had to park out in the boonies. If she had waited a few minutes she could have parked up front too. The main concern for us girls when parking at the Queen Mary is the long walk in the dark with all the Gang Bangers around sometimes, so the closer you can get to the main entrance the better.
All the tables in the OB were taken, and I wanted to go up to the Sir Winstons Bar for a little while, and Michelle wanted to stay at the bar to talk to Evon, so she stayed there to wait for a table to open, and we went up to Sir Winstons to talk to Alan the Bar tender. He is a good source of the latest gossip about the QM.
We had a drink and a nice talk with Alan. He said that the Management was really trimming the staff to the point that some guests are complaining about the service.
Michelle had found a table when we got back. We had a good time drinking, dancing, and talking. There were some regular Elvis followers there, including our old friend Mary. Mary had been "eighty sixed" off the boat because she had crashed a wedding reception, but I guess they have now allowed her back.
We gave Michelle a ride to her car when we left.
 |
 |
 |
Sunday afternoons are for Chris and Lisa music at the Observation Bar regardless of it being a Super Bowls Sunday. It turned out that the OB was set up for the game with their TVs on and free hot dogs, but Chris and Lisa still did their performance, and there were just as many people paying attention to them as there were watching the game.
Michelle showed up soon after we did, and Katt came with her fellow thespians about five o’clock. We all had a good time dancing, eating hot dogs and drinking. I had a bit too much booze though.
A friend of Lisa was there, and when we started talking to him we discovered that he was working at my former employer California Institute of Technology at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and he worked in a field that is similar to Michelle’s. He and Michelle were able to discuss the technology, but I was tongue tied due to one too many drinks. I even forgot the department that I worked in.
 |
We left soon after the Lisa and her friend did, and went to the Madison Restaurant for a light dinner. There was hardly anyone there. we just had a bowl of soup and a night cap.
Scott and I went back to the boat and packed up, closed the boat and drove to Van Nuys for His car and we went home.
02/15/05
I am a little depressed due to the wet weather and my inoperative boat. Last weekend was OK, but spotty as far as having fun.
Saturday night at the Observation Bar with James King doing his Elvis gig was a disappointment. I don't know if it was because James thinks he is locked in now and thinks he doesn't need to be a professional entertainer, but that is the impression I had. The first set was all right, but when he came out for the second set with his guitar, it was lousy. He didn't have the electronics set up right and all you got was noise. Then he invited a couple of his friends to sing, and these guys were dressed like bums, and sang like someone you hear at a cheap KARIOKE bar. We left before the set was over, and I told Evon that he should talk to the manager about what happened.
 |
 |
Sunday with Chris and Lisa was great as always, and we had a good time. I brought some Valentines cards for Chris and Evon, and some flowers for Lisa.
Scott and I were going to have dinner at the Reef, but when we sat down to order we discovered that all they had on the menu were fixed price Valentine dinners at three times the normal cost. We left and I made us dinner on the boat
 |
 |
Sunday night we went to Hamburger Marys for KARIOKE. That was a ball. I was especially flattered when I was hit on by a couple of girls. The made a move on me until they figured out that I was taken by Scott. We stayed until the end of the KARIOKE.
 |
We both had to get home Monday for family reasons, so we left after lunch
02/21/05
Still depressed due to the rain. The mechanic can’t pull the boat engine to fix the oil leak when it’s raining.
My other problem is that my boyfriend is doing care giver duties for his mother, and can’t get out for any over-nighters. He can get free for a few hours, but can’t get too far from home. I haven’t been able to meet with him this week, because I have a problem driving in the rain in this area. It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are-it’s how good everyone else on the freeway is. Just listen to the traffic reports on the radio and you will note that many of the accidents are multi-vehicle.
It cleared up enough Sunday for me to make a quick trip to the boat to see if it was still afloat, and to change the oil absorbing pad if necessary. I also needed to double up on the dock lines, because the next storm was supposed to include very high winds.
I did all that in a couple hours and then ran the starboard engine which is the only engine I will have to get to the boat yard to work on the port engine.
By the time I did all that and had lunch it was three o’clock. I had promised to be home by six for the corned beef dinner my room mate was going to fix, and the trip home would take an hour, so I decided that I would use the extra two hours to go listen to Chris and Lisa at the Observation Bar.
I changed from my grubby work clothes to the outfit I wore last Sunday which was more appropriate for the Queen Mary. I lucked into a parking spot right by the main entrance to the QM, went up to the OB and found a seat at the Bar. I only stayed for one set, but managed to get a solo dance to my favorite song "Smooth". Chris does a fabulous job with that song. He’s not quite as good as Carlos Santana, but very good.
The rain started again as I was driving home and I had to take a detour, so I arrived for my corned beef dinner a little late.
03/03/05
I am having a problem keeping the diary up with my outings lately. I have a cold today, so I am staying home and taking care of it, and get caught up on my diary.
Last week I met Scott at Paoli's for KARIOKE. He was wearing his western outfit, and sang some good Country/Western songs. He finished with my favorite "Wonderful" that he sings to me.
 |
Scott was going to arrive in Long Beach late Friday, so I went to Busters after dinner and waited for him. we had a good time dancing as usual, and stayed until the last set.
 |
Our Friend from Chicago; John P was in town and he stopped by the boat for a visit. Valerie and Rene' also came for a visit and we had a little party in the aft cockpit.
We had dinner at the Reef Saturday, then went to the Observation Bar. James King was doing his Elvis gig, and we danced for a couple of sets until he brought out his friends again.
 |
 |
We went to the Prop room at the Long Beach Air Port Sunday morning for their brunch. It was a real bargain for $11. Champaign was available for $1/glass.
We went to the Observation bar for Chris and Lisa Sunday afternoon. John P was in rare form dancing with all the single girls there. We had a good time, but I held back on the booze. I have been drinking too much lately and it's getting to me.
 |
 |
Valerie was waiting for us, and had saved a table. We had a good time talking, drinking a little, and Scott sang some songs. He did his "you were wonderful tonight" and I did my little dance with him as he sang. That is getting to be a common thing for us to do at a KARIOKE place.
Scott had to work Monday, so he drove me back to the boat and went home early.
 |
Tuesday night, we met at the Lodge in North Hollywood for their KARIOKE. He was waiting for me at the curb when I got there about eight thirty. The KARIOKE was just setting up when we went in.
He only had time for two songs, and one of them was the "you were wonderful tonight" song and I did my thing whispering in his ear and kissing his neck. We got a good round of applause for the audience.
We left about ten thirty, because he has to get up to go to work by five.
 |
03/15/05
The last two weeks have been weird. I was down with a cold until the 5th, then was told that my mechanics could start working on the engine starting Monday the 7th, so I went to Long Beach on Sunday to prepare for them.
Scott managed to get away for a few hours on Sunday and came to the boat. The only thing we had time for was dinner at the Reef, then I took him back to the train station and sent him home.
I stopped at Hamburger Marys for a drink after leaving him. There was only a few people there, and no where else that I wanted to go so I went back to the boat and called it a night.
 |
One of Harpurs mechanics came Monday morning to take the engine apart in preparation for pulling it out for repair Tuesday.
I drove the boat to the Boat Yard on the one good engine Tuesday morning. Maneuvering the boat backwards into the yard dock on one engine is not fun, but I made it. They pulled the engine out, put it in a truck and took it back to the shop. I moved the boat to a guest dock for the duration and went home. I could have stayed on the boat, but it was noisy with port sounds and smelled bad.
I went back to the yard Wednesday morning, and waited for Harpurs to bring the engine back. They showed up that afternoon, and I moved the boat back to the dock where the crane is and they dropped the engine in and bolted it down. I moved back to the guest dock and they worked on putting the engine back together.
The engine was back together by late afternoon, but it wouldn't start because there was no gas to the carburetor. They tried starter spray and managed to start a fire on the engine. We got the fire out and called it quits for the day. I went home for the night.
Harpur was at the boat when I got back Wednesday morning, and had replaced the burnt wires and other parts. The engine was started and seemed to run fine so I drove it back to Long Beach. It did run hot though, so Harpur said he would come back Monday to see if he could determine why it over heated. I went home.
 |
I went back to the Boat Saturday morning, and back flushed the sea water system to make sure that there wasn't any blockage from all the junk that is in the Harbor from the storm drains. Scott was able to leave his sick father and mother alone for the weekend, so he drove down to Long Beach Saturday afternoon.
We went to The Reef for dinner Saturday night, then went to the Observation Bar for Elvis, and dancing. We had a good time and stayed until after midnight.
 |
 |
My friend Robin came by Sunday for a visit. I cooked some hamburgers for lunch and we had a great time getting caught up on what was happening.
I wanted to take the boat out for a test run to see if my back flush did any good, so we took it out into the harbor. The engine still ran hot.
We had started back to the dock when we hit some flotsam. I heard it hit the hull and the port engine lost power. We limped back to the dock, and shut it down. There was nothing I could do that day so we just relaxed. Robin went home and Scott and I went to the OB for Chris and Lisa.
We had a good time dancing and enjoyed the music as always.
 |
 |
 |
Scott needed to go home that night so he did two songs first up, then one later about ten o'clock, One of the songs was our favorite "Wonderful Tonight". He drove me back to the boat and went home.
 |
I called Harpurs Monday morning and told him what happened to the boat. He told me to have my diver check it out, and to pull the prop if that was damaged.
I called my diver and he is going to check it Wednesday. If it is the prop, and he can pull it he will, then Harpurs will take it to a shop that can fix it of replace it. If it is the strut or something else, I will have to have the boat taken out of the water for repair.
This is pleasure boating??????
03/21/05
I had a counseling session with Marie Keller Wednesday. She has been my Gender counselor for about seven years, so she knows mw well, and I tell her everything.
I have been self medicating with gin for my depression lately and felt it was getting out of control, and I told her that. She reminded me of all the health problems that can cause, which was no help since I was already aware of that. We have been discussing Genital Reassignment Surgery (GRS), and she has told me that she would give me the necessary letters of recommendation for GRS any time I wanted to have it, but she told me at this session that she would not give me the letter if I continued to drink alcohol. I assume she thought that would motivate me, but all it did was piss me off
I told Marie that he only way I have been able to abstain from alcohol in the past was to remove myself from temptation by not going to bars, and to not have any alcohol around, and I would do that and give her a report in about ten days. I haven't kept any hard liquor in my house for many years, but I do keep the boat well stocked, and most of the places I like to go serve alcohol.
I managed to get through the weekend on the boat, and I went to my usual hangouts without having any alcohol, so I passed the first test, and feel confident that I can continue to lay off the hard stuff. I may want to have a glass or two of wine at some point when I feel that I have things under control.
Scott wants to support me during this no booze period, and said that he didn't want to drink in front of me, so he was going to stop drinking too. I told him that wasn't necessary, and that was going too far.
The weather has been so uncertain lately that I wasn't sure that I would get to the boat Saturday, but it turned out OK I drove down Saturday morning and Scott arrived in time for lunch. Scott loves his beer and I don't, so beer isn't an issue with me. I left his beer in the boat's refrigerator, but I took my gin and vodka out and put them away. I have plenty of cold Diet Pepsi. The main thing for me will be to keep busy, so we need to find things to do that does not involve drinking.
We have wanted to see the movie "Aviator" for some time so I the checked Times Weekend Calendar section, to see where it was being shown in the Long Beach area and found that it was in the Lakewood Mall and Marina Pacifica. I needed to do some shopping anyway, so we went to the Mall. We got there at three o'clock which was when the movie was suppose to start, but when we went to the theater window we found that it would not be on until after five. We just went to the Mall and I bought a top, skirt and some lingerie, and we went back to the boat.
We went to the Queen Mary's Observation Bar after dinner on the boat. Michelle was going to meet us there about nine o'clock. The parking lot was almost full so we weren't able to park in our usual VIP lot spot. There was a cold wind blowing and we froze walking to the ship. Michelle arrived soon after we did.
We thought that James King as Elvis would be performing, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a band called the "LA Lions" playing. The group was a drummer, Base guitar, a Rhythm Guitar/Singer, and a female singer. We have seen them at the Observation Bar before.
I told the waitress that I could not drink any alcohol, and asked her if she could suggest a good drink for me. She suggested a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri, or Pina Colada. I had one of each during the night.
We had fun dancing and enjoyed the music. We left during the last set of the evening.
 |
 |
 |
 |
We had a breakfast, then ran some tests on the engines Sunday morning. The port engine still could not run above 1500 RPM under load. Harpur's was suppose to check it out to see what the problem is today, Monday. I have not heard from them yet.
Scott had brought some movie DVDs, and we watched the comedy "Ruthless People" while we had lunch, and got ready to go to the QM for Chris and Lisa.
We got to the Observation Bar a little after four and enjoyed the music and dancing. We toasted the six o'clock ship's horn with our Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris. We decided to have dinner in the Promenade Cafe on the ship. We both had a Salmon that was good.
 |
We went back to the boat to load Scott's car with his baggage, then drove to Hamburger Marys for the KARIOKE.
Scott signed up for three songs. Usually "Shed" the operator has people do two songs first up, but he had them do only one that night. Scott got to do his "Mack The Knife" early, and got a nice round of applause. There were a bunch of people signed up to sing after we got there. We waited until ten o'clock for him to get to sing his next song,which was his usual "Wonderful Tonight" for me, but there were still several people ahead of him . We both needed to drive home Sunday night, so we had to leave before he could sing again.
Scott headed home, and I left about an hour later after cleaning up the boat a bit.
03/28/05
It was a short but fun weekend.
I had an appointment with my hormone Doctor, Dr. Horowitz Friday morning. I told him about my depression, and the alcohol problem, and that I had discussed it with Marie Keller. The two of them; Keller and Horowitz are the two most important people in my male to female transition support team, so I tell them everything. The smartest thing I ever did was to seek professional help with my transition, and it would be stupid to hide anything from them. I think that girls that try to do it on their own, and buy drugs from the black market are really asking for trouble.
Scott had left his car at the Fly Away terminal in Van Nuys, and taken the bus to LAX Friday morning. He had lunch in the theme restaurant at LAX, and was getting ready to take the shuttle to the Metro train when I got out of Horowitz's office and called him. We decided to meet at the Proud Bird Restaurant adjacent to the Airport’s B Parking Lot so I could have lunch, then he could ride with me to Long Beach.
The Proud Bird is a very nice Restaurant, and they have kind of a Museum of planes in front and back of the building. Scott loved that, and he was also able to tune in to the Control Tower radio with his reciever, so he was in seventh heaven.
I BBQ’d a steak for dinner on the boat, then we went to Busters for some fun.
It was past nine when we got to Busters, and it was crowded. We had to sit in the side room, but we had a view of the stage. I ordered a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri. It’s a good drink for me because it is low on Weight Watcher Points, it also tastes good, and it is filling so I drink it slowly, and I only need two a night to make me satisfied. It is also very cheap.
We had fun dancing and enjoyed the music. We left during the last set of the evening.
 |
 |
We took the boat out Saturday morning, and it ran perfectly! I called Harpur’s to tell them that and asked what they did to fix it. He said that they just checked it over. They did change the oil pressure and temperature senders, but not the meters. The new meters were left on the boat, and I told them that I would install them. I think the senior Mr. Harpur did his magic when he came down last Monday. The boat is ready for Avalon!
We went to the Money Tree in Toluca Lake for dinner. Their menu is almost all Italian now. They used to have more choices, but the food is still excellent. I had a delicious Chicken Cacciatore. They have a Spanish singer/piano/Guitar player on from six to nine o’clock on Saturdays, and a Jazz band every night starting at nine o’clock.
We left at nine to go to Girl Talk night at the Lodge in North Hollywood. All the tables were already taken, so we sat at Roxy’s bar. Roxy is my favorite person at the Lodge. She is always up beat, funny, and efficient. She usually starts making a Gin Martini as soon as she sees me, so I quickly told her that I was on the wagon, and please make me a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri.
Roxy’s end of the bar is a little far from the dance floor, but you can hear what is playing, and she will save your seats while you are go dancing to the music you like.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the Countessa on the dance floor. I took her a few seconds to recognize me when I spoke to her. She said I was so skinny that she wasn’t sure it was me.
 |
 |
I had to leave at eleven o’clock because I needed to get up early Sunday morning to take the family to Easter Brunch at the Caltech Athenaeum. I took Scott to his car in Van Nuys, and went home.
HOME
Go to diary index
Go to the latest Diary entry
Go to the Fourth Quarter 2004 Diary
Get your own Free Home Page