BIKSS and I are in our 50s. We met in 1988 but it took us 24 years before hooking up in 2012. We moved into a DD/lg dynamic a year later. In April 2015 some shit hit the fan. We took some time off but eventually found a new us.
I used to live alone except for a few shifting years when my folks moved in then out, then after dad passed on, mum moved in again. Now that she too has passed, it's just me, one carer whom I've decided to keep on, and my tenant.
He lives with his family. This is us.
I have a multi-travel card that allows me to get on and off the buses and trains. They started an auto-reload function more than a year ago, and I've been using the service ever since. You can set it up to reload a specified amount of money and each time it does that you get an email alert.
Recently I joined a freelancers union and they have a tie-in with a credit card that gets you lots of rebates and points that you can exchange for cash to use for groceries. So I applied for it and once I received my card I proceeded to move all my existing recurring charges over to the new card. That itself was an exercise in patience and determination.
But moving on.
A few days ago I saw that there was a charge for my travel card on the OLD credit card. So I wrote in to them to have it rectified - ie, switched over to the new card.
The reply was that I had to personally GO TO the ticket office and get them to cancel the auto reload service, providing them with the travel card for verification. And then presumably once that is done, I can re-apply for the auto reload function with the new credit card.
Now why on earth would there be an option to "Change payment / add a new credit card" on the app if it's not going to take?
Sometimes I wonder if the people who launch these programs think it through at all! How inefficient.
Friday night. We took a bus to my new favourite waffle place that is now open for dine ins. Only they were crowded and I couldn't get a reservation for 730. So we opted for take-away and made a picnic of it.
BUT it just wasn't satisfying - cos maybe the beef ragu wasn't a waffle sandwich - but was more like a dip and eat thing. And there wasn't enough waffle for dipping.
So while sitting and eating on a park bench nearby I managed to get us a reservation for 830 to have dessert. I'm so glad we went back for it. They use their own honey btw. This was a mango-passionfruit ice cream sitting on some berry jam and chia seed pudding, with honey drizzled buttermilk waffle. Delish!
After that we came home and BIKSS helped me with the shelves in my wardrobe which needed flipping over. Honestly, I could probably have done it myself. He thinks so too. But it's always nice to have someone help you out with this sort of macho-man job! :D
And finally we got round to some sexy time. It wasn't anything too exciting, but after almost 3 months of NOSEX it was good to finally be able to DO IT! Still no spanks tho, I'm afraid. At one point I asked if he was ever goingn to spank me again. LOL.
While travel is still a huge no-no, it was nice to lie in bed and talk about visiting Vietnam again. We both enjoyed our trips to HCMC as well as Hanoi... and for a little while it was fun to 'look forward' to another trip.
I've just binge watched 6 episodes of The Order. I had a muted aerobics video going alongside my show so I jumped around WHILE watching it! Come on, that's commitment ok?
Hurray for werewolf knights.
Down with evil magicians.
You can watch it on Netflix.
And I finally got my original Nikes today. Cos the shops are now open. USD$50. (About 40% off from the outlet store near my place...)
I queued for 10 mins to go in. They're real serious about the number of people allowed in a store. They took my temperature, and I "checked in" to our local safe-entry logging app with the QR code at the entrance desk. Those without cell phones had to leave their contact details on a log-in/out sheet.
When it was my turn I headed straight for the shoes, and found a salesperson. I said to the lady, I need something for walking - about an hour a day - and maybe some light jogging / hopping around while I walk. I'm not fussed about colour or style. Just find me something under 60 bucks if that's possible.
She waved a magic wand and I was out of the store in 15 mins.
There was a salesperson for every customer. This is NOT normal. I suppose they wanted to make sure that we got in, got our stuff, and got out. None of that loitering and browsing business. It made for excellent customer service tho.
As soon as one person paid up and left the store, they let another one in.
I was quite impressed.
Then it started to rain. So I didn't get to break in my shoes.
In fact, it's been raining so hard, yesterday morning we had some flash floods and the buses that were going thru the flooded areas picked up some water along with their passengers! I might have been on one of those buses cos my commute to work passes through the flood zone! But I wasn't cos I was in bed oblivious to the mad rains.
Good thing I had to take an urgent day yesterday. Why? You ask? Cos I couldn't wake up in the morning due to a throbbing head - cos I only got 3 hours of sleep - cos I had to call a plumber at 2am the night before - cos the tenant took a poop (after 4 days of constipation) and choked up the WC at midnight. True story.
(Yes, I am thankful I live in a place where 24 hour plumbing is a thing.)
And now, I shall go to bed. Leave a comment. Leave a caption for the flood-y bus pic. Leave me SOMETHING you guys!
Well, I happen to have a spare one cos the site we bought it from sent two, having believed the first one to have gotten lost in the mail cos they said they couldn't track it. So after we received the 'replacement', around a month later the original one showed up in the mail.
It's been sitting in my wardrobe ever since, still bubble wrapped.
If anyone wants it I'll be happy to just ship it over to you. I need to free up the space, and we really don't even have a lot of play-time to begin with, what with the current situation being what it is.
So the one we *have* used is also just sorta hanging out in the toy cupboard, seeing absolutely no action at all.
I don't think we're going to need a spare so PLEASE let me know (a comment is fine, so is email, if you're more comfortable with that) so that I can get it to you.
Last night Daddy came by for a couple of hours now that the lockdown has been lifted. We're in a "cautious" phase of reopening. So households can receive up to 5 visitors at one go. People are allowed to dine in restaurants again, but also with safe distancing limits and subject to a smaller capacity of patrons.
Of course my period decided that now that everyone's allowed to roam freely, it TOO would flow as it does. So I got my period on the first day of the re-opening. Pffft. So much for that long-awaited sexy time. There were no spanks, lest I get horny. But we did enjoy a very reconnecting blowjob.
It was so satisfying getting to nestle my face in BIKSS' crotch after almost 3 months. And at one point I held up my hand and muttered "dont disturb" with my mouth full of Roger. He got the message and he was hands off from that point on, leaving me to reacquaint myself with his cock. Yum. As per our usual, the warm towel post-cum made an appearance as well.
He chuckled as I was cleaning him up. I had a contented look on my face, he said.
The best thing about these recipes is there's no need for beaters, mixers and other complicated steps. Just dump everything in the bowl and mix by hand. I don't mind the zesting, or the cooking on the stove. I just can't be arsed with pulling out the stand mixer (I don't have a hand-held).
STEP ONE - Dump everything in a mixing bowl
STEP TWO - Chuck it in a preheated oven and wait for it to be done
STEP THREE - Make the glaze while it's baking in the oven
STEP FOUR - Pour over and enjoy!
That was my breakfast this morning. With a cup of ice-mocha. It was a fantastic Saturday morning treat!
Then I decided to look for more "easy" one bowl recipes - and ended up with this chocolate brownie. I had some Marou dark chocolate bars with bits of coconut and other random things in it, and I also have a whole tin of cocoa powder courtesy of BIKSS, who bought some then ended up not using it. He passed it to me some months back, but I was busy using my own stash...
I've since gone through my own supply so I broke out his Marou cocoa for this brownie -
Yup. I'm definitely on a baking kick!
In other news, the last of my lace bra purchases arrived yesterday too. This was $2. USD. I like it. Daddy likes it. It's a win for everyone!
Yesterday, while I was looking at daily skincare supplies... this popped up. Apparently looking at placenta creams (boxed) is a reason for the almighty algorithm to throw me a 'real gentleman dildo'. Hrmph.
So then I decided that was reason enough to quit the shopping sites, and go have a look at facebook.
On my ex-studnet's feed -
After decoding half of it I thought it was going to say Send Money. Well, it didn't. And I was like - um, I used to be your teacher. LOL. And then I did some maths and realised he's an adult now. So...
Right. We're all getting older aren't we?
I got a text saying that one of my parcels had been delivered to my postbox. So I headed down to retrieve it.
Ah... a pretty lacy thing to cheer me up on a rainy afternoon.
It fits well, has adjustable straps and removeable boob pads.
The V in front works well under my V-neck spaghetti tops - I only wish I'd gotten it in a non-nude colour. Still, it's pretty enough that despite the fact that the back can be seen it won't look improper.
The site I bought it from is a local one, so unfortunately it would be a bit pointless to leave a link to the one I got - but if you're interested, I've seen it sold on wish.com too. It would probably fit a not-so-booby US8-10 woman comfortably.
And this one arrived today - definitely a good buy. I suppose there are benefits to not being booby enough to need a good heay-duty support bra. For $2, I ain't complaining.
I couldn't find this particular one on the wish site... but if you go and type in "lace bralette" you'll see them all! Happy hunting!
I've been hooked on this series - BIKSS is enjoying it too. (I've had time to explore a LOT of tv shows... )
He was my pick on Gossip Girl (also something I enjoyed quite a bit) - not quite the main love interest, more the underdog... Dan Humphrey, front and centre - played by Penn Badgley...
The fact that the title is YOU also makes for some creepy conversation "I'm going to be watching YOU for the rest of the afternoon"... What you doing? "Watching YOU".
It's been very evocative for me - I'm turned on, creeped out, moved, digusted, swinging from episode to episode between sympathy and frustration - sometimes within the span of a few minutes. One moment he's hot and the next I can't bear to look at his face. The women's characters aren't exactly straightforward either. I find myself feeling very strongly about them - on the one hand I can identify with them, their emotions; yet they also exasperate me no end!
If you have time and are still sitting around the house with nothing to do, give it a go. It can get pretty dark at times tho, you've been warned.
Those fake Valentinos I ordered arrived yesterday and I'm super happy with them.
Originals - $490 (on this website... I know not why, when I've seen them being sold for $250)
Fakes - $6. Success!
I also received my $6 step tracker. It doesn't do magic but then I don't need it to. All I need is for it to count my steps. And it does just that. The only kink (heh) in my plan was that I synced it at 5pm and by then I had already chalked up 3k steps. Syncing a new device meant that all those steps were erased. No matter tho. I managed to clock another 10k steps by the end of last night. Whoop!
I saw this on FB. I decided to try it. The good news - it's really near my place. The bad news - we still can't go out for dinner. For now, I'll have to settle for delivery services. Good thing they deliver to my area. (But I fully intend to drag BIKSS out there once we're allowed to dine-in again.)
I think I have finally found the perfect waffle place. This here is a spicy chicken n cheese wafflewich.
The chicken was so tender and the batter just crispy enough that even mum enjoyed it (and she's the fussiest eater on earth, with not a lot of biting power cos her dentures need seeing to - but # Covid Lockdown right?) and didn't turn down an extra helping. The waffle was full of buttermilk goodness, and wasn't too airy nor too dense. It was perfect! Dare I say, even better than the waffles from my original favourite waffle place that closed down (and left me on a super long search for another joint).
I got some pants and culottes and 3 out of the 5 ended up in my mother's closet cos they were a little to snug for me around the bum. The fabric was a bit clingier that I would have liked. One was ok, it's a beige thing that will work well with my tops.
The last one had a tear in it and it looked like it was thrown together by a very exhausted bear who's just about ready to go into hibernation. BAD. That's what it was. Terrible.
I've sent them pics and asked for a refund. Waiting for a reponse now.
And last but not least I've been looking at some changes that seem to be sweeping thru the US from music labels and bands, to baby naming sites and RPG card games.
Here are some links and videos for your reading / viewing pleasure.
The not-authentic Nikes arrived today. They looked good enough to walk around the block in for my daily exercise. But when I wore them and hit the pavement my toes started complaining! For some reason they just weren't comfy. They were OK when I tried them on earlier. Oh well.
So I'm letting the sister try them when she comes over on Sunday. Apparently she's coming by. I didn't hear about it till I mentioned the shoes to her. *shrug*
I've been looking for new stuff to bake cos you know, ALL THIS TIME ON MY HANDS...
I ended up baking a corn pudding. I also realised today that I'd never actually eaten any before. It's not common where I live, but I've definitely seen it on telly or on the net before. And I do fancy corn. So it's strange that I never looked it up or bothered looking for a recipe.
As with most things I try to cook, I went in search of an "EASY CORN PUDDING" recipe. And then proceeded to ignore the sugar, salt and pepper on top of it. Making it even easier than ever to put together. (I don't keep sugar in the house... so I would have had to buy some, so I decided to just omit it.)
Turned out yummy. The corn is sweet enough that it didn't need the sugar.
And then I went to read up on Corn Pudding. ← Click the link for some history.
I had some for dinner tonight. And that's mum's breakfast taken care of.
I've also been watching some fun stuff - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is very entertaining. The Great was also fun - bawdy, vulgar and hilarious. I caught Katy Keene (Riverdale spin-off), The Baker and the Beauty (which is an American adaptation of The Beauty and the Baker - an Israeli romantic-comedy series), Timeless (which is sorely lacking in its historical accuracy according to BIKSS but since those kinds of details don't bother me, I enjoyed watching it)...
Am I the only one who's watching Youtube video after Youtube video? Here are some I thought were worth sharing, if you want MORE stuff to watch, that is.
1. Trevor Noah on The Daily Social Distancing Show :
I also caught (and finally watched all 18 mins of) Trevor Noah's video on what I've taken to calling "the US mess" - you might enjoy it. Click this link if the video below doesn't play for you.
Trevor Noah On George Floyd, Amy Cooper & Racism In Society
This makes me happy. I don't think women's (and girls') O and G problems are talked about enough. And when something as matter-of-fact as a monthly period affects a girl's education, then it definitely warrants some talking about.
Most people seem to think it's gross and private and there is definitely some shame attached to it - especially in Asia - and the general consensus is that proper ladies don't talk about it. Not even to each other. And that sucks.
And it's appalling how little we know about the potential conditions associated with "women's problems". The general public knows more about health risks of smoking, carcinogens, simple sugars, and cholesterol, than breast cancer, fibroids, or ovarian cysts. Ask a bunch of guys what a PAP smear entails and what it tests for and I'll bet fewer than half will be able to give you an answer. And to be fair, ask the ones who are married or permanently tethered to a female partner. I should expect them to be more aware than their bachelor counterparts. And I bet more women know about prostate cancer than men do about cervical cancer.
But maybe that's just where I live. No one is talking about peri-menopause. No one talks about pap smears. No one mentions anything to do with periods. Period. LOL. But we freely throw around cholesterol numbers, Hba1c values, and compare BP stats. We talk about medications for weight loss, discuss supplements for headaches, and claim to know everything about the benefits of acai berries and chia seeds.
So I think this is a step in the right direction. When decision makers aren't afraid to talk about subjects that are traditionally seen to be "taboo", the conversations can begin.
Oh, and given the state of the world right now... THIS. just this. I'm not sure if this is a post from this year... but hell, we don't need to be opening ANY new caves for the next 10 years at least.
And now I will leave you with this post that I stole from FB.
A Justin Pletcher shared this on his wall... and his post is set to public, so I don't think he would mind too much if I copied and shared it here. First he posts two pics -
....and accompanying the pictures he writes : -
Two Pictures:
May 25th, 2020 was my 10-year anniversary of becoming a cop. In the first picture I posted, my wife is surprising me with a cake and my son is helping me blow out the candles. It was an important day for me, because – as most of you know – I’ve always wanted to be a police officer. As soon as professional hockey player and R& B singer were no longer options, there was no other choice for me. I went to college, joined the army, served in Kuwait/Iraq, all to be better prepared for becoming a police officer. When I moved back to Minneapolis, I was certain I would be a cop for MPD, but due to the financial crisis this wasn’t really a possibility. Not many places were hiring so I applied anywhere I could. When Columbia Heights gave me the job, I was thrilled. Not only was I working for a diverse city, but I was literally working on the border of Minneapolis. For the next ten years I learned what it was to truly become a police officer. It wasn’t about the tickets and the arrests, it was about the partnerships you made. Don’t get me wrong, I love the action of the job but it’s not what fuels me to make this world a better place.
On same day as my 10-year anniversary, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department murdered George Floyd. There’s no other way to put this; this was a murder. I’ve watched the video so many times now, just trying to find some justification for the actions these men took, but I can assure you there are none. I watch this video and I get angry and I get sad and I clench my teeth and I hold back my tears and I ask, “Why!?” I say this not only as a police officer, but as a white man in America. I understand the pain it causes me even if I don’t understand the reason for this violence. What I don’t understand is the pain and fear it must cause all people of color, especially black men. We live in two different worlds and no matter what I’ve done while I’ve worn this uniform, this has not changed. I may have changed moments but I have not changed the world like I thought I would.
I’m not writing this to tell you, “I support you” or “I understand.” I do and I don’t, respectively, but that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to just tell you that I love you and that I’m sorry. I’m sorry George Floyd is dead. I’m sorry Philando Castille is dead. I’m sorry Eric Garner is dead. I’m sorry Sandra Bland is dead. I’m sorry Tamir Rice is dead. I want to tell you that I wish I was the cop who encountered them, because maybe they’d be alive today. I want to tell you that there are good police officers out there, trying to make this world a better place. I want to tell you everything I have done over the last 10 years to make people’s lives better, but I know right now none of that matters. Right now I just want to tell you that I’m listening.
Today was my first day back since this incident occurred. Last night, as my wife and I laid in bed, I could hear the flash bangs going off at the 3rd precinct, less than a mile from my house. Today I got out of bed at the last possible second and barely made it to work on time. I was dreading putting on my uniform but I did it, because that’s what I do. I’m a police officer, in good times and bad. We watched the video again as a shift and every one of my officers was upset. One of my officers came up to me several hours later and told me that he had never watched the full video and now that he has, he still felt sick 6 hours later. We talked about George Floyd and his cries for help. We talked about George Floyd and his limp body. We talked about George Floyd in the past tense because police officers had suffocated his present tense. And as a shift we mourned an unnecessary death.
My second dispatched call of the day today was a phone call. I called the number and a man named Calvin answered. Calvin said that he was a health inspector and that he would be inspecting some neighborhood homes today. Calvin said, “I’m a big black man with dreads,” and he wanted to make sure that police were aware in case we got a call about him walking around the neighborhood. Calvin asked that I come out there to verify his employment so I could squash any calls before they became something bigger. I obliged and I apologized to him for this even being necessary, but I told him I understood. Anyway, I arrived and we exchanged pleasantries when I noticed he had an Omega Psi Phi bracelet on, which is a black fraternity known as "Q." I told him my roommate in college was a Q, making the hand gestures, and that one of my officers now was a Q. Calvin smiled, I smiled, and all of a sudden the apprehension in the air immediately dissipated. He ended up knowing my college roommate pretty well, and we decided we would spend the next hour walking the neighborhood together. Calvin was about 15 years older than me, but we talked about how we both loved to travel and about our kids. We spoke about George Floyd and police brutality, and how it's a different world for black men. We talked about the importance of getting to know people and how racism is borne of fear and ignorance. Calvin spoke and I listened.
This second picture is of me and Calvin. At the end, we both said almost simultaneously how much we needed this today. We were both hurting and this was a small ray of light into a darkness that had covered us. We would have hugged but, being that we both believe in doctors and science, we elbow-bumped instead. We exchanged information and took this picture. An hour later my old college roommate texted me saying he heard I met Calvin and how happy that made him. Calvin then texted me a few hours after that saying that he believed things happened for a reason and that we would see each other again. I believe him. I'm not a religious guy and I mostly chalk things up to chance, but it really seemed that the universe was communicating today - at least to Calvin and me.
I’m not writing this to tell you that everything is going to be okay. I honestly don’t know if it will be. I have hope, otherwise everything I’m doing would lose meaning. I’m not telling people to not be angry or to not protest. Black people should be angry. White people should be angry. I’m angry. I’m just writing this to tell you that I love you all and that I’m here to listen to you, whenever you’re ready to talk. If you’re black and hurt and you don’t understand policing, I’m here to listen. If you’re white and you feel lost and you don’t know how to use your voice, I’m here to listen. I’ll answer what I can, and when I can’t we’ll work together to find the answers.
We need to listen to each other. We need to support each other. I’m only as good of a police officer as my community says I am. If my community doesn’t trust me, I need to listen. If my community fears me, I need to listen. I met Calvin today and I listened, and because of this I gained an ally and a friend. I know enough about change to know that you can’t tell people what to do, you need to listen to them and build change together. So please listen to me for this brief moment as I tell you this one thing: I’m here. Not for you, but with you. I am, have been, and will be a member of this team. Our team. I’m here. As both a police officer and as your friend. So speak. I’m listening.
You know I love scones right? I love my English Tea because I love the scones! The couple of times I've gone to the brand outlet zone across the border I've always made sure we had tea at the English tavern-themed restaurant there!
And most recently (I think it was a week ago) I was craving some good ol scones and sandwiches so I went and bought my own bits and pieces for an English Tea luncheon at home.
Smells delicious, I just had to peel off that top cap and have a taste!
I'm pretty certain we had English Tea at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang too.. but for some reason I can't find the pics or the post. Maybe I didn't write a post? Which seems strange. But whatevs. I'm very sure we had English Tea there.
I had fresh-out-of-the-oven homemade scones for brunch today. How awesome is that!
In any case, I finally found a really quick and easy recipe that requires just ONE mixing bowl and a muffin pan, and they're the perfect texture. The scones I've made in the past have always been disappointing... sure they were edible, but not quite "right". But now I'll never have to buy scones again. And to seal the deal - the mother approves - PLUS she didn't quite believe that I made them from scratch!
Recipe can be found HERE. Just add the oil in with the milk / egg mixture - it was left out in the instructions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit - FOUND THEM! I went digging for the E & O English Tea pics... here they are. These were taken on our trip in August 2015. We really should think about making another trip to Penang. Oh wait.. Covid. Feck.
The restaurant is called "1885"
SCONES GLORIOUS SCONES!
What a spread huh? I don't know what it is about the set up and the spread that's so
The reply was that I had to personally GO TO the ticket office and get them to cancel the auto reload service, providing them with the travel card for verification. And then presumably once that is done, I can re-apply for the auto reload function with the new credit card. 
