You already know from the prior post that for some time we’d been planning a trip to visit our son, DIL, granddaughter and the in-laws in TN.  So in that way, there’s a bit of duplication (but more detail) here.

We were planning to leave this past Sunday.   Late the night before, we got a call from our daughter-in-law in, who advised us they just found out that Saturday at work, her dad came into contact with individuals who were symptomatic and possibly at the very least COVID-19 positive.   The whole family – including herself, our son and granddaughter, her parents, and her brother who is visiting – faces the spectre of possible quarantine, and if we go, we would be included.   

Since we’d have been ‘camping’ alone in their partially finished “new” (to them) house being rehabbed, (fortunately finished and working kitchen, bathroom, HVAC, full electricity,  but minimal furniture and no TV or internet), with little food or supplies, we decided with much sadness and regret, it’s “game over – trip postponed for now.”  We are both over that age which would expose ourselves to added risk. 😦   So we’re at staying home, and FaceTiming them instead.  At least, till things improve.  Someday soon?   Hopefully. (But we’re far from confident about that.)

However, before we cancelled out trip, we got a call from them, that all stores in their town are out of soft goods such as tissues and toilet paper. Tissues? Those I can sort of understand, since they’re not terribly useful unless one is sick. But TOILET PAPER? So we said we’d bring some.

Same thing occurs here whenever snow is forecast – even as occasional flurries with no accumulation. At that point, the hot items are “milk, bread and toilet paper.” As perishables, milk and bread are sort of understandable. Even we don’t keep a huge supply of milk on hand. (Bread – well, yes, in the freezer.) But, once again, TOILET PAPER? Is it universal that nobody buys toilet paper till using the last 4 sheets of their last roll? And that the mere forecast of three flakes of snow is enough to cause folks to clean out every roll in every store within a 50 mile radius?

While we don’t need any soft goods (had purchased TP and tissues ahead, to take some to the kids anyway, which is now added to our inventory), I checked to see that the stock of milk and bread were still fine. I did manage to buy some other perishables to restock our supply at the house. (Apparently ice cream and prepared dinners are the other hot items, as their supply on both was down. But don’t need them, either.)

Here’s what I found in the soft goods aisle of our favorite store in a nearby town;

Basically, if you need anything except perhaps paper towels, you’re out of luck. Good thing our supply is adequate for a while!

Mandy

PS: They subsequently did get needed supplies of soft goods by accidentally arriving at the store as they were restocking.

PPS: Also saw on line that there have been instances of thieves smashing car windows to steal a couple rolls of toilet paper left in plain view. You would think that amateur criminals in training would think “at the minimum, the fine imposed by the judge would far exceed the value of the TP” and more importantly, “if the judge imposes jail time….was it really worth it?” Note to self: hide the TP and avoid the problem.

YAY! Another current event! Though subjects to write about may get scarce as more and more things close down…

We’re now both staying home, except for visits to the grocery store, pharmacy, post office, and so on. We don’t want to unduly expose ourselves to the nasty virus that’s going around the world. So far, we’ve escaped it, though had we visited the kids in TN recently, we would have both caught what they have now…fortunately whatever it is has been relatively mild.

But there’s an even better reason that we stayed home, though we weren’t aware of it at the time. We would still have been gone. The furnace died. That can be a problem in cold weather. The serviceman showed up promptly but had to order the part, which was part of the furnace’s “brain.” (It’s one of those high efficiency types.) So, some $650 later, it’s supposed to arrive and be installed today.

When I made a quick solo trip to the big box store nearby to look for a part for my phone, I wore my ballet flats from home, but changed to sandals for the store visit. Here’s a picture of my outfit;

Other than winter-white legs, I fit right in with the ladies who were wearing their sandals and capris, (My fingernails look like they’re done with french tips, but they’re not, it’s just the standard pink gel. Didn’t notice until now how well the black toenail polish matches my sandals….

I hope that as time goes on, sandals can be worn more often with my painted nails, both when out alone, and hopefully at some point, with my wife.

Time will tell,

Mandy

I came across a few ferroequinology pictures which may be of interest to some readers!.

First is steam locomotive 2101, formerly Reading Railroad, which was restored and used on the American Freedom Train & Chessie Steam Specials back in the 1970’s.  Here is a picture I took, at Grant Street Station sometime during the run of the Steam Specials – from 1977 through 1978.  My pix are unfortunately undated, but are from that 1977-78 era.

Per Wikipedia, Reading 2101 is a 4-8-4 “Northern” type steam built for use by the Reading Company in 194.  Constructed from an earlier 2-8-0 locomotive built in 1923, the 2101 handled heavy coal train traffic for the Reading until being retired in 1959. Withheld from scrapping, the 2101 served as emergency backup power for the three other T1 locomotives serving the Reading’s “Iron Horse Rambles” excursions until being sold for scrap in 1964. In 1975, the locomotive was restored to operation from scrapyard condition in an emergency 30-day overhaul after being selected to pull the first eastern portion of the American Freedom Train. After being involved (and seriously damaged) in a roundhouse fire in 1979, the 2101 was traded to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, in exchange for the C&O 614. Today the locomotive remains, inoperable and on static display.

Here is 2101, on display at Pittsburgh’s Grant Street Station, along with the cars from the Chessie Steam Special.

Following is a picture of the tail car of the Chessie Steam Special, at the bumping post in Grant Street Station.

And for anyone wondering what the PaTrain looked like “back in the day”, following is a picture of one I captured from the vestibule of a steam excursion leaving Pittsburgh.  The regular engines (F-7’s which reportedly belonged to the abandoned Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad on the border of NY and PA) must have been out of service – a Chessie engine was on the point.  Unfortunately I do not recall the date, but it certainly was prior to 1989…because the Port Authority transferred the equipment to the Connecticut Department of Transportation after cesssation of PaTrain service in 1989.   I’ve lost track of their current whereabouts, though.

Those with more interest in what PaTrain operations looked like, all you need to do is go here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUfEXTkkV8A where you can find quite a bit of video of them in operation. And pictures of the inside of the station, which appears exactly as I remember it.  Fascinating.

While the following has nothing to do with PaTrains, a great caption would be “Houston, we have a problem.”   Or maybe:  “Ooopsy-daisy…”

I came across this scene in a small town in Western PA in the time frame of late 1986 or early 1987….the day after a massive snowfall and a concurrent major cold wave.  I can narrow the time down relatively closely, as #4213 (which began life as C&O’s GP-30 #3018) was repainted into CSX livery and renumbered in 1986.  It appears freshly painted in the above, underneath winter’s grime.

Ice between the rails from a drainage issue apparently lifted the wheels enough that the cab-end bogey escaped the confines of the rails, and led the engine off in a slightly different direction. The cars were cut off and picked up  by a relief engine (as they were blocking a public road crossing).  The crew was also apparently picked up, and they left the engine idling in order to prevent a freeze-up, a likely pollution incident.   When I went by a few days later, they had come back, re-railed and removed the loco.  The only evidence remaining of the entire incident was “marks in the snow…”  

You never know what you’ll find in my picture collection!

Mandy

Europe anyone? I present the following as my fifth Europe – and final – entry. Heads up: this does not present gender-related material…but should appeal to any folks who enjoy traveling.

Of course, at the time of these tours, “Mandy” didn’t exist. And, it was possible to travel around European countries in a dedicated group tour bus emblazoned with USA flags, along with 40 other American students. Very sadly, that would not be a wise or safe thing to attempt, in today’s terror-filled world. Gone are the days…

As info, these pictures were taken with Kodak Ektachrome color slide film in a 1970’s-era Mamiya-Sekor 1000DTL SLR, and in the early 2000’s, transferred to electronic images from those previously-developed Ektachrome slides. After all these years, memory fails me as to the exact route(s) the bus followed (there are several possibilities), and the exact order of the countries visited. So I fell back to the order of my converted-to-digital pictures, hoping to recreate it after the fact. Unfortunately, the shop which did the conversion did NOT follow the order one by one when removing from the slide tray, and the images are in random order. Yes, a map of the area shows several possible routes to go from place to place. ;-( Thus, each location will be treated separately in this and the following section(s).

Enjoy!

Leaving Lucerne, we eventually found our way to Innsbruck, Austria via the Arlberg Pass.  The weather was very foggy, and pictures generally weren’t possible.  Enroute, I snapped a pic of a freight train.

Love those “so European-style” boxcars!

We drove through St Anton, where I got the following pic.  A typical Tyrolean style hotel, this was very picturesque.

Originally a stop for travelers over the Arlberg pass, St. Christoph is now a small settlement of exclusive hotels at about 5,905 ft. elevation, clustered around a couple of ski lifts linking into the center of the Arlberg ski area.   

In contrast to the hectic pace of life in St Anton, St Christoph provides an exclusive high Alpine experience for its well-heeled guests.  Principal attraction is direct access to the slopes.  And the high level of standard accommodations is another draw.  Drivers are cautioned to have full winter equipment, as bad weather often forces driving restrictions for the pass.

Just out of curiosity, I checked on line for one night’s cost in ski season at one of the hotels.  Get out your credit card and make sure there’s plenty of credit limit:  One night at some of the hotels can set you back from $457 to $954 a night…and there are likely additional fees and charges.  In return though, the ratings were from 8.2 to 9.7 on a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being very good.)

I won’t be going there in this life…since if my ship comes in, I’ll probably be at the airport and miss it.   LOL!

In Innsbruck a highlight was the Altstadt part of town, the Goldenes Dachl is a a building with a “Golden Roof.”  (Above) And it is considered by many to be the city’s most famous landmark.  It was constructed in the 1500’s for Emperor Maximilian the first.  The striking roof canopy is made up of 2,738 gilded copper tiles, while the lower balconies bear coats of arms related to the Emperor’s historical Territories.

Fascinating!

From Innsbruck it was a long ride back toward Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. During the many hours of bus riding, the guide pointed out some sights. One of them was above: Garmisch, the site of the 1936 Winter Olympic ski jumping competition. While we did not get to tour the site, it was amazing to see such a historic place!

Not sure where the above was taken, but don’t you just love the architecture and painted ornamentation? (Update: Helen just advised me that the above is located in Oberammergau. Thanks, Helen!)

Guess where this was taken? Yes, near Amsterdam…

And finally, for the trip home, a visit to the airport! The end to a wonderful trip…thanks for reading!

Mandy

The staff at Mom’s nursing home, and many residents, have known my gender “forever.”  It’s in their paperwork, etcetera.  And I am almost always addressed correctly for my actual gender (name or greeting), regardless of my presentation.  The only fly in that oatmeal seems to be the “new help”.   A while back, a new receptionist  addressed me as a female for several weeks.  I let it go, and carried on regardless… eventually someone got the problem solved, and we continue to chat a bit every day.  

Some more new employees have appeared over the last few months.  And last fall, while dressed in white capris, navy blue top and white slides, with my french nails and floral nail art, long hair and purse, one of them addressed me in passing as “Miss (enter my actual given name here.)  Once again, I greeted her appropriately and carried on regardless.  I don’t mind at all!

Love these nails!

Mandy

Another current experience!

It was time for a new mani and pedi, which my wife (obviously) knows about. She knew my toes would be painted again, due to the broken and bruised nails. And she was ok with the blue-green polish from my earlier pedi…. as long as I only wore sandals to and from the nail salon.

We were discussing some plans to visit our son in TN, and she cautioned me to ‘not plan to wear sandals with that color polish on.’ I assured her that I wouldn’t. Then she asked if they could give me something more neutral. Since light polish lets the black nail hue show thru, I suggested black, which was out of stock with my last visit, and was why the tech chose blue, which hid the black nails very well…

She was sort of ok with black, so when the tech asked if I want the same color, I asked her to try black. She had it in stock, so it was a done deal. When I got home, wife was in the basement…I changed into one of my everyday house dresses with my sandals, and went downstairs. ‘My gosh, that’s very black, but better than the blue!’ A discussion ensued, whereby I reminded her of the toes with issues…and said that if we go, I won’t wear sandals “this time”, but at least if someone should notice them (when I should have to empty a stone from my shoe or something), black is a lot easier to explain in light of my bruised toes.

And she sort-of agreed. So there may be hope for my painted toes with sandals in public – eventually! One small step at a time!

Now I need to make similar progress with some of my dresses in public…yeah right! Don’t count on that…but as above, one small step at a time!

Stay safe and well…

Mandy

Recently, I’ve had my share of the usual issues, which have kept my attention focused on things “other than wearing skirts.”  But other than those, things are more-or-less normal.  Mandy remains basically “in storage,” and it’s business as usual for my androgynous self.

I’ve been to various stores in several towns on the Delmarva, dressed in my usual stirrup pants, tops and flats (with my other feminine cues), and the magic has continued.   It’s wonderful to be treated as a woman so much of the time.  At a pharmacy in another town, I use my wife’s bonus card for purchases, and they address me by her name.   In fairness however, the clerks do not know either of us personally, and are simply responding to the female name on the card.  (Well – maybe… I do hear “good morning, Ma’am” from other clerks in the same store, who aren’t looking at the card.)

Recently I visited my dentist (who has all new staff in his front office), for my routine check-up.  The new girls don’t know me, and I was pleased to be addressed as female.   (Until the dentist came into the exam room – he knows me, and he addresses me, as a guy, which is fine.)   Several times over the last 2 weeks, most recently two days ago, new staff members at Mom’s nursing home addressed me as “Ma’am.”   And I’m fine with all that!  The androgynous “me” still seems to elicit a proper response. 

However, there was a noticeable “close call,” which occurred when I was picking my wife up after her dental appointment later the same day as my own.   I had gone into the office just as she was being ushered to the front desk to set her next appointment.  As I opened my laptop and clicked on my calendar to check for conflicts, my wife showed the receptionist some pictures of our granddaughter at Disney World in FL, and pointed out that she was given a makeover and dressed as a princess for a day there.  After wifey finished her description of the lovely event, with the receptionist listening anxiously, she announced she had to use the restroom.   As wifey walked away, the receptionist asked me (with a smile):  “So did they dress you up as a princess, too?” (I should have been so lucky!)  Of course we both laughed and I said no – which was true…but we’ll ignore my being called “princess” several times as I was sent thru security lines staffed by females, along with the other women, because of my purse.  But I have to wonder whether my wife heard that conversation as she walked away.   All I can say for sure is that “nothing was said” in the car on the way back to the hotel!

Having very few new things to discuss, and no “Mandy gets out of storage for a while” plans in the imminent future, there are no new photos to post.  So I’ll dig into the archives…

Here’s an unidentified shot of an airplane which most likely no longer exists.  This was taken back in the mid-1950’s at Pittsburgh’s airport, as my father was leaving town on a business trip.   Lockheed Constellations (allegedly the first pressurized airliners) were built from 1943 to 1958 at Burbank, CA.  They had a cruise speed of 340 mph at 22,600 ft, and a service ceiling of 24,000 ft.  The last domestic passenger flight in the lower 48 states was May 11, 1967 from  Philadelphia to Kansas City.  (Though freight use continued beyond that date.)

Interesting factoid from the Lockheed-Martin current website: both Allan and Malcolm Lockheed legally changed their name from the original spelling of “Loughead” to the current spelling of “Lockheed.”  They also changed the name of the company from “Loughead” to “Lockheed” at the same time.  Bet you didn’t know that! I certainly didn’t!!

Long gone are the days of the age-old moveable stairs for passenger and crew access, as shown below.  (But some of us remember them…LOL!)

There are a few Lockheed Constellations left.  One with which I’m familiar is the following:

This particular aircraft is reportedly C/N (construction number) 4557,  a cargo plane on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover AFB in Delaware.  It’s painted to represent a USAF C-121-C, but was never actually delivered to – or served in – the Air Force.  The blue car you see at the end of the row in the left center is mine, on display as part of s car show at the museum, years ago.

Before you ask, not only do I like trains, but also airplanes!

Have a great week!

Mandy

The other day, I was preparing to walk  into the nursing home where Mom lives…and it was raining.  Hard.

A lady parked next to me, and went to her trunk, unloading medical mechanical equipment, and put it on a cart to take inside.  I pushed my umbrella outside the car and opened it.  After grabbing my purse, I got out, and walked around the car to head for the door.  The lady pushing the equipment came around her car at that same moment.  I said to her:  “Would you like to share my umbrella?”  Her answer was, “Thank you, Ma’am, that is so nice of you.”  And we walked to the door together, huddled under my umbrella.   She thanked me again as we parted ways…and it was a fun experience for me – a practical one for her.

The nursing home is breaking in a new receptionist…who has apparently decided that not only am I female, but my name is Connie.  It’s not, well, not even close.   But I answer to just about anything!  So I guess if I ever decide to take a different female name at some point, it might as well be Connie.  I kind of like that name!

From the archives:

This is a view of the rails of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor receding into the distance, from the rear lounge of a private railcar I was privileged to ride, back in 2001.  (Hard to believe that was 19 years ago!) Memory serving me correctly, this was just outside Wilmington, DE.  But someone familiar with the skyline might be able to refresh my memory!

There was a bit of bumpiness…thus some blurring occurred.  I was glad I wasn’t having to serve dinner on board!  But we were moving along at a pretty good clip.   The car’s speedometer was pegged at its limit of a little over 100 mph! From experience, parts of the Corridor have much higher speed limits than that.  (And the car was old enough that 100 mph was faster than most trains ever went, back in the day!)

It was a fun ride!

Mandy

Though I don”t walk so well in heels, they do look so very feminine!

And they can even dress up a pants outfit!

I present this as part 4 of my tour of Europe back in the early 1080’s.

There are more pictures, and I will follow up with some of them (Parts 5, and maybe more), as time goes on. Heads up: this (and and similarly-titled additional entries) do not present gender-related material…but should appeal to any folks who enjoy traveling.

Of course, at the time of these tours, “Mandy” didn’t exist. And, it was possible to travel around European countries in a dedicated group tour bus emblazoned with USA flags, along with 40 other American students. Very sadly, that would not be a wise or safe thing to attempt, in today’s terror-filled world. Gone are the days…

As info, these pictures were taken with Kodak Ektachrome color slide film in a 1970’s-era Mamiya-Sekor 1000DTL SLR, and in the early 2000’s, transferred to electronic images from those previously-developed Ektachrome slides. I have some notes labeled with the locations, however there seems to be discrepancies in the locations. Plus, some simply aren’t identified. I invite anyone with knowledge to provide accurate location, as well as, whether the subject still exists!

Enjoy!

First stop after a bus trip from the Hovercraft port of Calais, France was the Arch of Triumph, or as it is called on that side of the pond, the “Arc de Triomphe” – I seem to remember that it was taken from the Avenue des Champs Elysees. Gosh, look at all those antique cars! Wonder how many are still running?

The Arc was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. Laying the foundations alone took two years. Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the rallying point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns and for the annual Bastille Day military parade.   Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies  in 1944 and 1945. And in the early 21st century, it has suffered vandalism as a part of the Yellow Vest protests in France.

Onward to the banks of the River Seine and historic Notre Dame Cathedral. Following are two outside views:

The architecture is absolutely amazing…

These were obviously taken before the tragic fire last year, which collapsed the roof and caused other major damage.

One more pic, this one of the magnificent stained glass windows, from inside.

I wish the inside pictures had turned out better…but there was no tripod.

Below is a view of the Eiffel Tower, as seen from the Place Joffre, looking toward the River Seine.

And now, a bus ride. After all these years, memory fails me as to the exact route(s) the bus followed, and the exact order of the countries visited. So I fell back to the order of my converted-to-digital pictures, hoping to recreate it after the fact. Unfortunately, the shop which did the conversion did NOT follow the order one by one when removing from the slide tray, and the images are in random order. (Yes, a map of the area shows several possible routes to go from place to place. ;-( Thus, each location will be treated separately in this and any following section(s).

Now, into Switzerland, to Lake Lucerne:

A beautiful place to visit, and strangely, there was no problem communicating with the locals. They knew enough English to get by, and it made this part of the trip stress-free.

Then we visited the nearby top of Mt. Stanserhorn. Per Wikipedia, the Stanserhorn is part of the Swiss Alps, located in the canton of Nidwalden near to the border with Obwalden, with the peak at 6,227 ft above sea level. 

First public transport route to the peak was started in 1891 and completed in 1893, a three section funicular railway. The first section started from Stans town, through the low pastures above the town and over three level crossings, to an intermediate station at Kälti (also sometimes spelt Chälti). The second section continued through forest to another intermediate station at Bluematt, then the third section crossed the high pastures and the exposed slope leading up to the summit station and hotel. This third section included a 520 ft. long tunnel and a number of avalanche protection walls. 

After a lightning strike in 1970 damaged the system, a new cable car was built to replace the two upper funicular sections, which started operation in May 1975. The first funicular section continued in operation, as it does to this day.  In 2010 construction work started on design for a new cable car system to replace the 1975 installation.  Since it did not go into service until 2012, my visit included the old system.  Wish I had taken pictures of it!

It’s just a shame that the weather wasn’t clearer…well, nothing’s perfect! I guess we could be glad that it didn’t rain….or snow…LOL!

In our travels through the countryside, we came across a number of fabulous buildings, which may not have been identified at the time. As I said previously, the images are now in a different order than their descriptions, so “feast with your eyes.” But they are undoubtedly historic, with a story to tell, for anyone who may know it.

Then, back to Lucerne…..

We did not stay at that hotel (Des Alpes) but some of us enjoyed eating outdoors there, on the shores of beautiful Lake Lucerne.

If there was one place from this tour which “still” stands out as the most wonderful place to visit again “someday,” Lucerne would be that place. However, at this stage of life, and with the current political unrest and medical calamities throughout the world, it’s doubtful that will ever happen. So at least I have the pictures to remind me of the incredible beauty and mystique of the Swiss Alps…

Stay tuned for more!

Mandy