Tuesday night the dog was sick. I am not sure what brought that on.

The dog is very good at warning us when she has to go outside. She will paces near us and barks. Should I walk towards her, she will respond by heading to the front door.

She did that at least half a dozen times during the night. Towards the end I slept on the sofa nearest the front door.

Then it was over. By 8am she was acting hungry so I fed her. Nothing went wrong. 

That evening I needed to catch up on sleep, so I pushed my regular Tuesday dinner with C2 to Wednesday.

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C2 occasionally sees the homeless man who now owns his blanket and has gives me updates on its whereabouts. C2 wants to take pictures of the blanket and the man. He holds back because the man looks unstable.

Speaking of purging... C2 is also also getting rid of old stuff. 

He owned a nice blanket that he hasn't used in years. Decades maybe. He acquired the blanket before his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, before years of working in D.C. and Colorado. It was too nice to throw out. He never needed it, so he kept it in storage or the closet.

Reality finally set in. C2 was never going to use the blanket. It was just taking space. It was time to get rid of it.

C2 gave the blanket to a thrift shop near him hoping it would find a new home. A few days later C2 saw the blanket in the garbage by the thrift shop. He felt a little bummed when he realized his blanket wasn't good enough for the thrift shop.

A few days after that, while C2 was out for a walk, he saw that someone homeless had claimed his blanket. 

The husband got rid of some of his old belongings. The experience made him a little blue. He had pictures of many of his old coworkers, grade and high school memorabilia, files, books. So many things. He could look at each thing and almost convince himself that it may be meaningful one day. Then he tempered that with the reality-- he hasn't looked in the boxes in years-- he hasn't kept touch with many of the people in decades. 

I struggle with that as well. While I'm pretty good with keeping my physical property in check, I may be a digital hoarder. I have so many files that just maybe useful one day. 

The husband is better. Yesterday he worked a full day. Today he is frisky.

Spring is in the air. Tomorrow the temperature should crack 60F. Of course, one should always view the weather forecast with some suspicion.

  

The husband is sick today. Perhaps a stomach flue. It's not COVID. I'm taking care of him as best I can. Mostly he needs rest fluids.

 

As a teenager, I listened in aww to CD's. They were so clear. So perfect. Such an improvement over tapes and records.

Now streaming is here. I can call up most any song, at any time. It will be played with perfect clarity.

My mother-in-law gifted the husband her record collection. The husband bought a record player.

I resisted at first, but there is something goofy and fun about listening to vinyl. 

There should be no reason for vinyl. I live in a world where I can just say "Hey Siri, play "Come Fly With Me." and instantly listen to the best possible recording of that song.

Vinyl is work. You have to have that album, get the album out, blow the dust off, take the old record off the player, put on the new and let down the needle. Only then you get to listen. 

Vinyl is also a commitment. With streaming you can stop or skip any song at any time. With a record player, you must get up, go to the machine and lift the needle.

And yet vinyl is charming. The extra work involved encourages us to be more thoughtful and a little more committed to listening.

We took a short ski-vacation in Park City with Bayley. This is the 3rd time we've traveled there with her.

Friday, I ended up working all day due to a work emergency. This carried over a little bit into Saturday & Sunday.

We have skiied/boarded at Park City three times. I enjoy snowboarding there. It has great hills. It's also easy for both Bayley and us to get there. 

Now Park City is *very* expensive. I think Bayle loves that. Shopping at the boutiques. Eating at great restaurants. The high cost of living high.

The husband suggested we book next years trip somewhere else and then invite Bayley along. 

And so I am looking.

 

C2 and I had good conversation over dinner.

We discussed a recent Saturday night of his. A friend of his was gooning, had taken drugs but then developed a priapism. I had to ask what goonging was. Apparently I am behind the times on current gay sex lingo.

The friend managed to get a prescription to treat the priapism, but didn't want to drive to pick it up because, well, he was on drugs. 

Rather than being upfront with C2, the friend invited C2 over to hang out. C2 has a crush on this man, so he said yes. 

After C2 arrived, the friend told him about his predicament and asked for a drive to a late night pharmacy. C2, being the softie that he is, went along with this. The first two pharmacies did not have the proper medication. They ended up driving to the other side of the city before they found one. All of this took hours.

Lately, I've been examining my life, trying to figure out what want, what the next phase will be. To inspire this, I've been contemplating the life goals of those around me. This story was my second reminder that many gay men are into partying, sex and drugs. It's an easy life