I am 35 today. I am officially middle aged. I'm not old yet, but I can't pretend that I'm young either.

I got old gifts. Steven got me a nice new set of dishes. RO got me new sheets for the bed.

RO also got me three guppies to join the beta in the fish tank. RO doesn't really know about mixing fish. One of the guppies is already dead. Another is missing. The beta enjoys hunting them.

Friday night Vic came down from Vancouver Island, Steven, Vic, RO and I had dinner at a new restaurant in old Renton- the Red House. It was a great find. I'll go back again. I'm starting to figure out why old Renton has so many great restaurants. One man, Gino, will open up a new restaurant and manage and be its chef for a few years-- until it develops a name. Then he'll sell the restaurant and do the samething over again. Gino is responsible for three of the five great restaurants in old Renton. The Red House is his latest venture.

Saturday morning we ran errands. Saturday afternoon we went for a short walk on Cougar Mountain. After that we we drove over to Andrew's Bay and spent to spend the night with Mac and Joe on their boat.

It was a good evening. The weather was perfect. RO and I slept on the upper deck under a canvas roof. That was fine for most of the night. It started to rain at about 3 in the morning-- just a gentle shower. Mac came out, pulled out a tarp and threw it over our sleeping bag.

It was very peacful until about six in the morning. Then the wind picked up. The rain started comming in from the side. At about seven I felt a few drops around my feet. I got up to see where the water was coming from. As I sat up RO said "Don't Move!" He got up and carefully gathered the tarp, pulled it over to the side and dumped gallons of rain water off the tarp and back into the lake. He said about 3 gallons of water had pooled on the tarp between us.

We were all up by 8am. We hung around, drank coffee ate a little and the left for land.

Sunday afternoon RO and I helped Jen move a washer and dryer-- at first it sounded like a simple favor. Jen recently seperated from her boyfriend and she needed a washer and dryer for her condo. She bought a used one and needed help moving it. We picked the washer and dryer up and drove to her place down town. It was a little awkward manouvering the washer in her appartment but we managed. Then we tried to hook the washer up-- the washer had a 3 prong plug. Her condo had a 4 prong outlet. Sigh. We headed over to Home Depot to get a new plug. Bad timing; a Mariners game got out at the same time. (Mariners won 5-4 over Boston) The Mariers traffic made our little 2 mile trip take over an hour.

Fortunatly the conversion from 3 prong to 4 prong was easy. Everything was colour coded. The washer/dryer worked fine after we plugged it in.

To return the favor, Jen gave RO and I two tickets to see the Rat City Roller Girls!

Sunday evening was the Survivor Potluck final. Matt, Sandy and Potsy came over. Steven hung around a bit, but he was feeling sick.

About a week ago Steven gave me four tylonol with codeine pill. (Available over the counter in Canada) I used one for a headache I was having, and put the other three on a plate in the center of the dining room table.

About Thursday of last week, someone took one of the pills. Now today, another pill is missing.

I wonder who is going to take the last pill. Or is that like taking the last candy from the bowl? I don't know my pill stealing etiquette.

I'm trying to get tickets to see the Rat City Roller Girls. Jen is on the team.

They have a huge fan base. And tickets go fast. To prevent scalping they are selling the tickets in small batches (about 100 at a go) at venues around the city. On Saturday, they put 100 up for sale at s store in Ballard. RO and I got there an hour after they started-- all the tickets were gone.

They are about to put 100 tickets for sale on line. I'm frequently clicking the refresh button to try and get two.

Sniff. The online ticket site now says "The May bout is now SOLD OUT! The good news is that we're very close to getting into a larger venue, hopefully for the June bout! So keep watching the website for details."

C2 said that it was Tullil was just hazy. no wind. lite dust. He's also been checking up on his possessions. He told is old roommate that if his cat dies, he's supposed to get another cat that looks the same and keep the death a secret.

He said the same to me about the cedar tree he gifted me.

Haze in Tullil 

Haze in Tullil 

Haze in Tullil 

So I...
hmmmm

Steven's eyes will roll when he reads this.

Short story. I flew down to Lousiana to meet Tommy. I ended up feeling so guilty, becuase RO and I have started datating, that, the very next morning, I left Tommy and flew back to Seattle.

Bleah.

Long Story.

I've known Tommy for years. He's a great man and I've always wanted to meet him in person. We seam to click. I like chatting with him. I like talking on the phone with him. I like reading his blog.

Months ago I decided to fly down to Lousiana and meet Tommy. I was looking forward to it. I bought the tickets so that I wouldn't get cold feet. I booked the time off work.

Then, weeks later, I started to date RO.

I didn't want to back out of meeting Tommy so I told RO I was going away on a work trip.

Well, I did fly down and meet Tommy. Tommy is excatly the man I always thought he was. More handsome in person. He has a big barrel chest that feels great when he hugs you. He's intersting and well spoken.

But, I felt guilty. Really, really guilty for lying to RO.

I was amazed how guilty I felt. I slept very badly that night.

In the morning, I came clean with Tommy. I told him I wanted to fly back. It was the only option that made sense. Yeah, I looked stupid, but that was better than hurting/ignoring RO.

Sigh.

I did enjoy my short stay. And, I will return one day for a longer visit.

Sand Storm in Tulil, Iraq 

Sand Strom in Tulil, Iraq. 

C2 is not enjoying himself in Iraq...

Barry, How full is your mail box? I'm trying to send you a 4 MB file and it bounces back. Might you know why?

So I met xxxxx and a few other guys the other day and long story short the other guys don't like me because I'm not attractive. It's not like I was going to fuck them or vice versa (neither were the cat's meow, or the dog's Grrr) but it would have been nice to just know a few guys here. I was having a good day until I got that email and now I'm bummed, just bummed.

I'm off to Louisiana for a few days. I get to meet Tommy Boy. Kewl.

The melencoly joy of power washing.

Today I bought a power washer-- 3000 PSI. It blasts the dirt off of anything. My cemet walks look new. My roof is clean. My old wooden benches look band new.

The washer comes with a "red" washer tip that can blast pieces off of cement and stone.

It's like cleaning with a tornado-- 3000 dirt blasting psi at the end of the hose. All that high pressure water has to go somplace. If you spray near soil or beauty bark then a blast of crap flies all over the place. You need to clean twice. Once at high pressure to chisel the dirt off and once at low pressure to clean the mess left by the first pass.

The other downside is that it does a good job, but slowly. It only cleans a strip about four inches wide so it takes a long time to do a sidewalk or roof. I tried it on a small patch of a bench. The wood went from weathered and grey to brown and new. The difference was so noticeable I had to do the whole bench and the wood chair next to it.

Last night RO and I went to downtown Renton. Steven was going to join us, but he got delayed returning from work.

We had dinner at the Melrose and dessert at Jubilant.

Downtown Renton is a weird mix. It's a city core rebounding from rock bottom. There are a lot of old crappy buildings. Many are now being restored and some great restaurnts are going moving in.

It's weird to walk around crumbling ghost city but then stumble on a packed little bistro.

Steven is at his wits end with his brother. In the last 6 months Steven has given his bro about $20,000 to get him back on his feet. It's not working. Steven is ready to cut the cord and let his brother fend for himself. The decision would be easier if his brother didn't have a son. Steven doesn't want to hurt the son. At the same time Steven's brother needs a very hard kick in the pants.

C2 writing from Iraq...

How are you doing? I very much appreciate your email but you must be saying 'Dang, it's like he emails Every Day!!' Well, I may have some extra time on my hands. The two people that work for me 'dont like me' because I ask too many questions like "what are you doing?" One guy was supposed to be working on an Access project for several days and when I asked to see what he's done, he got all pissy and deleted his work then stormed off. Later he pretty much said he doesn't have anything to so and then left on his R&R for 3 weeks (but first he told me he didn't like me.) Such is life..

Anyway, God Bless them Italians and GirlScouts. The Italians run a pizzaria here on Base that has internet access FREE from all the web Nazi sex filters that Halliburton and the Iraqis put in place. This means I again get to see pics of hot neked guys!! And the GirlScouts sent boxes of their cookies over here for the poor soldiers and I guess I qualify as they sent alot and give out boxes and boxes to everyone here! Cookies and porn, it just keeps getting better and better! If I didn't read the papers I wouldn't even know there's a war going on!


I even got a very good message from the ... ops guy at Baghdad HQ about my plan/proposal for data management here. They are really backward here (as far as efficient data management) and my proposal made me sound like I knew what I was talking about. I see my next job....

Anyway, I should get back to work making people hate me (buy just asking them to do their jobs.)

I've been working a lot. I don't really enjoy it when this happenes.

C2 writing from Iraq...

I suppose having to go to lunch in a flak jacket really says something about ones environment. I have to admit that there have been a couple of times (even on the convoy ride here) that made me think twice. I was talking to my boss the other day about camel spiders and he mentioned a story about a Major here having a spider fall from the tent ceiling and bite him. I didn't have a nightmare but I did think about it and that evening examined my tent area for any creepy crawleys. I got an email that my grandma died the other day as well. I'm not coming home for the memorial and I'm sure some will think of me as a cad for missing the event. I feel bad about it and I feel like I've abandoned you and others to some degree as well. Yes, I think about it.

Anyway on the flip side, It just keeps getting better here. Yesterday I discovered a stash of Holiday packages sent by kids in the US for servicemen. They had more than they knew what to do with and KBR got a bunch and here it is April and there is still some left! I was running out of toothpaste (there is none at the PX) and so I picked up a few packs with toothpaste and other goodies! Now if there were just some medium underwear and socks in some of those packages I'd be set! There is NO medium underware or white socks at the PX here. If you ever go to Iraq, bring plenty of underwear!

So, I'm sending C2 a care package of underwear and socks.

Over the weekend I did some hiking. WOrked around the house.

Matt and Sandy are having marital problems. So I don't hear much of them right now.

C2 in Iraq writes...

I'm glad it's raining there and it even rained a little here (but not much.) ... There's a Great water park in Abu Dabi (I think Vic has been to it) that I think you'd enjoy. The best part is that they use a water slide to take you 'up' as well as down. There was a 'Boston Marathon' here today so I've spent much of my day out taking pics. I also do PR stuff and need to start drafting a weekly newspaper too. Uh, do you have a copy of Publisher? I thought I had one but can't find it.

Yes, I didn't expect things to be all 'peachy-keen' here but frankly, I expected it to be more of a challenge as well. I mean I've not had to deal with one scorpion in my boot or run from any bullets or Anything to that effect! I get all the food that I can eat (free) and we've had lobster at least once a week! I'm almost free from hacking up green stuff, and frankly the worse thing that has happened is that I ran out of socks between laundry and had to go 'sock-less' for one day. Where's the Challenge? So, I'm not complaining (unless you call my last sentence a complaint.) I'm glad you look forward to my emails and I wish I'd hear from Matt/Sandy as well. I do hope they make it.

Well, enjoy the pics. They should be self explanatory. We wear the armoured vest/helmet at least once a week, for practice and for real when they consider things 'hot.' I feel and look like a dork but at least I'm a 'safe dork' (on my way to lunch.)

C2, writing from Iraq...

Work is fine. I have a 'problem' employee that I inherited and she'd 'going away' for a few days to Kuwait. She has problems but don't we all? I missed the body building contest last night as I forgot but there's a power lifting one on this Sunday and I'll try to take some pics. Not much is happening here. Some stuff. Did I send you the pics of the hooches and the decking? They got an award for that deck. Your deck is deserving of such too (when it's finished.) I've got to send some pics to Sandy as well and will do that today. ... I'm still hacking up green stuff and have started to work out again. I'd like to weigh 225 or so by the time I come back in July. Heck, I don't have much else to do here. How's Survivor night going?

Another email...

Living on a military base in a war zone has it's downers. There are your usual explosions and then there are the ones where you say 'that didn't sound right.' They're blowing up stuff all the time around here and usually it's far away, but just this morning was the closest mortar round to date. They (the bad guys) set up a delayed mortar during the night and then it might go off during the night but usually during the day, (which allows the bad guys to get away.) The explosion was BOOM and what did we do? We all ran outside to see it! Then went back to work since it was an attack on the airport/runway. If it caused any damage, they'll have it repaired by noon (it's 10 AM right now.) I should have taken a pic but I forgot the camera but it's your basic mushroom cloud. Anyway, I need to and other boring stuff. I look forward to lunch and dinner as I get to eat and see great haircuts.

Uh, do you have an extra coffee maker that you don't want? One that'll run on 220v? Just thought I'd ask. I need to send you some trinkets too to share with all. What are you doing around July/early August? Want to come to Abu Dahbi? We'll do a layover in Berlin and I'll show you a dungon or two. ... Here's a pic of a scorpion from Vector Control (they handle the creepy crawling things here.)

Sunset in Iraq 

Scorpion in Iraq 

C2 in Iraq writes...

My 'weekend'? Hmmm, let me recall.... I worked 12 hours on Saturday and oh yea, I worked 12 hours on Sunday. There really is stuff to do here but I'm trying to make it more 'quality stuff.' For example, I set up a DVD presentation the other day and it took over an hour getting everything together and testing it.

Why hasn't Matt and/or Sandy emailed me yet? Did I piss them off? I've emailed both of them. I may have the wrong email though. I know you're not my secretary but would you please ask about that?

Might you also have C6 and/or Flying J's email? All that I can find is their snail mail address. Thanks.

Sunday evening I went to Taste Washington. It was an all you can taste wine and fine food exhibition. Over 200 wineries where there and lots of great restaurants.

After two hours I was bloated and drunk. I had a lot of great wine, but it all started to blur.

C2 writing from Iraq...

This weekend we're pretty much in armour vests the whole time when moving about the base. Most of the vehicles I ride in have been armoured as well and I must say, there is a comforting feeling driving around in an armoured Toyota Land Cruiser. Very secure and safe. Uh, you've sent no pics other than a fish. Ask RO to help you point out what to take a pic of. RO has has artsy gay-gene thing that say "Wow, now that would make a Fabulous Picture!!" (LOL)

C2 is in Iraq. He wrote...

Hello All,

How are you doing? ... I've been in Iraq a several days now and before that I was in Kuwait. I'm been sick with 'Kuwaiti Crud' for much of the time. I hack up green smurfs and have nearly lost my voice. It's about 95 here but will get hotter. Keep in touch.

I pretty much work 7 to 7 (if you can call it work) with generous time for breakfast and lunch. At least that's the schedule now. It really should change. Sorry for taking so long to reply. It was a Very long drive to Tallil from Kuwait in armour vest/helmet.

I've started writing C2 longer emails to give him something to do in his copious free time...

Hey C2.

How are things with you?

The weekend here was good. Fairly rainy. Some of the skii resorts have re-opened for spring skiing, but from what I hear the snow is very wet.

Saturday I did house work. The gardens are comming together. Everything is growing right now so I need to stay on top of the weeds. I planted about 100 sunflower sprouts on the hill next to the deck. Hopefully some of them will take off and hide the vines underneath.

RO was in a small accident with his car. He swearved to avoid some deer and ran into the ditch. It broke his axil.

I got a telephoto lens for the camera. It's fun though you need more patience to use it. The extra zoom means it's easier for camera shake to make blury picture. So, unless it's very bright you need to use a tri-pod.

What have you been up to?

B

I just got off the phone with C2 in Kuwait. Thanks to the magic of internet-phones, and free nation-wide long distance, I can talk to someone half way around the world for free! And the connection sounds good.

C2 is in Kuwait. Mostly he's bored. He sent me this email...

I very much appreciate your email. They have IP phones here that call as if one were in Houston but I don't have a calling card handy otherwise I'd give you a call. I'm 11 hours ahead of you and it's interesting watchin rush hour develop on the traffic cams. I'm staying here in Kuwait at what is referred to as a 4 star villa but it's really dump and 4 stars means there is running water and a flushable toilet. This really is a F#$% up part of the world. I leave for Tallil on Sunday in an armoured vehicle with bullet proof glass/etc. But frankly, the real action is in Bagdad and there is opportunity there too. Also the camle spiders really are over a foot across!

At work I've started on an interesting and scary new project. A co-worker has a very tight deadline for an important feature. If he doesn't make that deadline, the feature will be cut and all his work will be for naught.

The co-worker knows he can't make the deadline, so our manager asked me if I wanted to help out.

When I asked my co-worker why it wasn't stupid for me to join this feature, he was speechless for a whole minute. They he gave me a stock motivational speaks about new and unknown challenges.

Joy.

Vic and Steven's wedding was at Poets Cove. What a beautiful place. Pender Island is quiet and out of the way.

It rained on Saturday morning but cleared up for the wedding which was on Vic and Steven's patio. They had a great view of the ocean. It was the first wedding I ever attended where the wedding party (8 people) was larger than the audience (2 people)

Silken Lauman, a former Olympic athlete, was in the cottage next to Vic and Steven's. She's an interesting person.

Sunday Steven and his brother went out canoeing. They tipped the canoe. Fortunately someone saw the accident, boated over and picked them up.

Last night we had Steven's Bachelor party at my place. Steven's brother got a stripper. It was hilarious. RO was way too into it. He took about one hundred photos of the stripper dancing for Steven.

Steven has been approved as a permanent resident in Cananda. Now he move to Cananda and marry Vic without worrying about work.

He's not sure when he's going to move in with Vic. For now he wants to keep his job in the U.S.

His wedding with Vic is in a week and a half in Canada. Last night we went over his vows. He's not sure if he wants the judge to say "I now pronouce you married life partners" or "I now pronouce you life parnters" or... Anything other than "I now pronouce you husband and wife." sounds odd.

RO, Matt, Sandy and I toasted Vic and Steven.

Steven has been approved as a permanent resident in Cananda. Now he can married to Vic.

He's not sure when he's going to move in with Vic. For now he wants to keep his job in the U.S.

His wedding with Vic is in a week and a half in Canada. Last night we went over his vows. He's not sure if he wants the judge to say "I now pronouce you married life partners" or "I now pronouce you life parnters" or... Anything other than "I now pronouce you husband and wife." sounds odd.

RO, Matt, Sandy and I toasted Vic and Steven.

I spent most of the weekend on Lopez Island. It's very scenic and quiet.

RO and Sandy flew down to California for a weekend with the American Coaster Enthusiasts. Basically they road roller coasters non-stop from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. They didn't even have to get off the coasters. They could ride the same one over and over.

C2 is gone. Sunday morning he called me from Phoenix. He sounds relaxed. Even though he's going to Iraq, he get's to leave his troubles behind and to start fresh. I also talked to Tommy on Sunday. I get to meet him in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to it.

I haven't talked to my brother since Christmas. Today I got this email from him...

lol gotta love our families long winded ness...

well I'll tell ya I'm pretty sure I'm never gonna have any luck in teh hight tech field, so I'm looking elsewhere. I've been unemplyed for some time ever since I pulled my back muscle. so although I've had work to do almost none of it was paying....

the sting with the goverment has been over since summmer jsut about and well they have a bills from me accumulatign to 70k and I'm not expecting to see anyof that. my latest bunch of web work offers was well once completly for free to create a tsunami web portal. and an other for Videoflicks to make a website for
them. and that was for no money but I was going to get free movie
rentals from them. and although they have the start of their website.
I'm not getting rentals and .................. annoying


SO I'm pretty much playing WoW for half my day and weight training the other half... and doo ing reasearch into the things that I'll ahve to
do and be able to do too qualify for being a police officer... My
problem with this is that I don't know given my prior back injuries and my residual knee iritation if I'll be accepted... So I'm talking to a cop or 2 and getting advice from them. looking into being a security guard in the interm... so I'll have something to referr too during the situational and aptitude tests for police.

All the while I'm affriad to let anyone know casue well I dont' know if I'll quallify and it's also possible I'm actually too tall to be a police officer but can't find anysuch limitations on teh web but I've
been told they exist .... so this may yet again be anouther
place/attempt to be gainfully employed that will fail miserably

But at least I'm getting into shape... my heal spur doesn't seem to be a problem anymore either so I'm relived about that.

My girlfriend is doing much better actually she's quite good she still has to learn what things go well with her stomach some foods seem to work sometimes adn doesn't others... she's well any time she eats shes burpy it's a little unpleasent but there are worse things that can exist.

Now enough about me how about U.

I like the cake 

I'm starting to worry about the tastefulness of the "Keep Your Head" cake. More than one person has commented "You're not actually doing that, are you?" in a surprized tone.

Tonight is C2's going away party.

Matt and I are bringing a "Keep Your Head" cake. "Keep Your Head" is written in icing on the cake. Then Matt will take a G.I. Joe, make it kneel, bind the arms, chop the head off, add a touch of red icing and voila a wonderfully tasteless cake decoration.

When I picked the cake up at the bakery, the decorator said they don't get many requests for "Keep Your Head." They mostly deal with "Happy Birthday" and "Congulations!"

The cake started out more innocently. C2 joked a few times that he wanted a sexy man to jump out of a cake at his going away party. I was going to get a G.I. Joe, strip it naked and shove it into the cake. When I told Matt, Matt had a better idea.

The beer is good! It's strong too. I feel it after one pint.

I am surprised how easy it is to make good beer. It's turning me into a beer snob. Now that I can control everything, from the taste to the carbonation, I don't see why I should drink mediocre beer.

T, gegging is what happens when you misspell kegging.

Sunday I went to a co-workers Oscar party. The crowd is very different from my usual friends. Many enthic people-- indians, chinese, moroccans. They were younger, nerdier, but still a fun crowd.

Friday night, C2, H, R and I went to Siams for dinner.

Saturday I gegged the beer I'm brewing. It will be another couple of days before it is carbonated enough to drink.

Even flat, the beer smells and tastes good.

Last night RO and I went to see Jaded 52. Ryan is a guitarist in Jaded 52. They are a fun band. They play punk and ska, not really my thing

Saturday night I had dinner with Matt and Sandy. We watched Secret Window, a thrille with a twist. I didn't really like it. The twist was too cheap.

Sunday RO and I worked on the wine. It's about 3 weeks away from bottling.

I've been working a lot.

C2's leaving for Iraq on March the 6th. I think he's stressed about it. I'm, not sure. Last friday he says he wants a change, that he wants a partner very badly, and that working on these dead end contract jobs isn't helping.

I wish him the best.

Working a lot. Did much maintenance on the house last week. Small things-- install a towel rack, change the oil in the lawnmower, the list goes on.

I went to C5 and J's for a superbowl party. We would talk during the game and pay attention during the commercials.

C5 and J have a very firey relationship. When ever they get drunk, they argue. They went out Saturday night and got into a fight. J punched C5 in the forehead. It blead. You can still see the mark.

C2 says:
there?
Barry says:
Yes
C2 says:
I was chatting with KBR.
Barry says:
KBR==the Halliburton unit?
C2 says:
yea.
C2 says:
we're at the point where it's now in my court. Looking at a 21 Feb departure.
Barry says:
Wow. How long before you answer?
C2 says:
I pretty much told him yes as I don't have too much else that is much better.
C2 says:
and it would be an adventure and different.
C2 says:
so to speak.
Barry says:
Congratulations then buddy.
Barry says:
You know I have to throw a going away party for you.
C2 says:
no, I don't want that as I'll be back in 4 months. If you want to do something, that would be better as I don't want to think I'm really 'going away'
Barry says:
Ok. I'll have a generic dinner with Chris and Friends then.
C2 says:
I'm not changin much, I'll keep the place at IR, cat, etc.
C2 says:
Ok, I've got to go grab something to eat, chat in a bit.

I did a lot this last weekend.

I bought a wine kit to make my own wine. It was kind of fun to setup. It's not that hard. You just need to make sure everything is clean.

If all goes well, in 3 months I'll have my own wine. 30 bottles of it. 30 bottles of wine raises it's own set of problems. I'm not a big drinker so 30 bottles may last for years. We'll see how it goes.

I also cleaned and organized the workshop. There was a lot of dirt back there. I need to do a dump run to get rid of all the garbage.

I had lunch with C6 today. He said he's tired of his managment. His manager doesn't believe she has a problem.

We talked over his laternatives to quitting. He could take a long vacation. He could switch devisions. He said he no longer wanted to be a middle manager. And that the only way to do that was to leave the company.

When it rains, it pours...
C6 called me. He's also leaving. He's taking a year off work. No definit plans.


The Law of Unintended Consequences...
Over lunch C2 mentioned that the Haliburton recruiters are unintentionally hiring many gay men for work in Iraq. Due to the nature of the job, they need mature men who can stay way from the U.S. for months at a time. Not many married guys fall into that category. Gay? Bingo.

C2 IM'd me.

C2 says:
are you there? busy?
BC says:
I'm here. Spinning my tires in the mud. So, not busy.
C2 says:
how are things?
BC says:
Not bad. Quiet. You?
C2 says:
it's 'fine.' I have a guy (recruiter at Halliburton) that wants to send me to Iraq!
BC says:
Wow.
BC says:
You going through with it?
C2 says:
Hey, want to lunch today with G and U?
BC says:
Yeah.
[lunch details deleted]
C2 says:
See you there at noon.
C2 says:
do you really think I'm crazy to go to Iraq?
C2 says:
you didn't seem too opposed when I first mentioned it.
C2 says:
not like others that REALLY were opposed.
BC says:
You're not entirly crazy. I just hope you realize everything won't be rosey and keen when you get back.
BC says:
Your dad won't change just because you go to Iraq.
C2 says:
and I've not even told liberal commie pinko crazy IR. I may have to move out.
C2 says:
Oh my dad will never change (too much.) I know that and things really won't be too much different. And it's not like I'll be away for ever.
C2 says:
I just found out that you CAN return to the US throught the year!
BC says:
kewl.
BC says:
I'll miss you.
C2 says:
but you cannot spend more than 33 days here total per year.
BC says:
tax?
C2 says:
yes, that's the reason why.
BC says:
I've known a number of people who have worked in Saudie Arabia and the UAE.
BC says:
so, I have a general feeling for the paperwork.
C2 says:
I want to do a bunch of things and this'll be Great opportunity for you to travael to some great strange places with me.
C2 says:
I want to hike the Kyber pass.
BC says:
You know I'll be there.

C2, Matt, Sandy and I had dinner on Friday night. I couple of times Sandy squeezed or rubbed C2's leg. C2 told him off.

Sometimes I worry about C2. I think he's deperessed and has been for a long time. He's too stubborn to see a doctor and I don't know how to snap him out of it.

RO and I drove out to Allyn and Shelton Both are very small towns.

On our way back we stopped for dinner in Tacoma. Apetizers and drinks at Stanley and Searforts Dinner at the Southern Kitchen. They serve very rich food.

Tommy, in the south do they really fry everything and add a cream sauce?

Tommy Boy and I talked with each other about how our journals have changed. They are not as juicy as they used to be. Three years we would mention the hot sex we were having or the trouble we were getting into.

Now... let me see... I write about shopping and movies.

I can't say I'm in a rut. If anything I'm out of a rut. I'm doing what I want, it's just that what I want doesn't involve S&M or slutty Daddies. I spend my evenings with friends. I work hard. I have a good quiet life.

Weird.

It's been dark and rainy here. Saturday was freezing rain. Sunday and Monday are just regular rain.

Friday night, C2, RO, BearOrgy and I had dinner at Siam's. BearOrgy had to leave early to watch the new Battle Star Galactica.

C2, RO and I went to Espresso Vivance for coffee. It didn't work out that well. The music was loud and the tables were large so it was difficult to hold a conversation.

Saturday RO and I went surplus shopping. First we stopped at the Boeing Surplus Store. They have lots of stuff there-- large sheats of aluminum, drill bits, tools, cables, old computers, old office furniture, on and on. You can get a good deal if you know what you are looking for. You can also buy a lot of crap.

After that we went to the Gourmet Standard Outlet Store. It's a tiny kitchenware store at the back of the Gourmet Standard warehouse. I bought a great new set of pots and pans. The manager was very helpful-- telling us why some things were cheap, what was trendy, what professionals used, what made good cook ware and what the good buys were.

I bought non-stick again. Professionals usually buy regular 'stick' pans. I wonder why. Probably because they last longer and are easier to maintain. On the other hand, it's so hard to cook low fat unless you have non-stick.

Last night C2 and I went with the movie bears to see Million Dollar Baby. It's a good film. Kind of like Rockey except Rockey breaks his neck at the title match. Don't worry. I haven't given the ending.

After the movie we want to CC's and ran into Faf and Officer Rob. Officer Rob told us about his mace training.

To use mace, the police force requires it's officers to be maced. When it was Officer Rob's turn, the guy spraying the mace accidentally sprayed Rob in the mouth. The sprayer said "Sorry, that's not good enough, I have to spray you in the eyes." So Officer Rob held open his eyes and was sprayed a second time.

Officer Rob's eyes swelled shut-- which was expected. He had to be guided to the shower. It sounds like mace gets deep into your eyes. For two or three days later Officer Rob said he could feel little bubbles of mace under his eye lid. Now and then a bubble would pop and his eye would sting again.

Steven got back from a week in California. His father was very ill and hospitalized a week ago so he went to visit. One week later his father is much better.

I didn't do much over the weekend. Fixed some plumbing. Cooked. Cleaned.

Saturday night RO and I went to a party. It was a large party but neither of us knew many people there.

I've been working a lot and still have the cold. Today is the first day I didn't use cold medicine. It feels good to be less groggy.

A third of the people I work with have this cold. Some much worse than I. Whever I get a two-week cold, I always worry "Do I have AIDS?" So seeing so many co-workers be sicker for longer than I is a comforting.

New Years eve I had a few friends over-- Matt, Sandy, the Tease, Bib, C2 and the Designer. It was a quiet evening. The Tease and I both had lingering colds so we didn't party hard.

Sunday, the Designer and I went to Leary House for an afternoon beer, wine and snack social held by the achivist at Leary House. Leary House is a huge mansion that's now 100 years old. It's full of beautiful wood and tile work. Some of the carpets are the original 100 year old carpets.

Steven and C2 are both very stressed. Both have work and family problems right now and it's draining their energies.

I'm back from Pembroke.

For those of you who got here by googling for "Gay Pembroke" let me warn you that there are is no gay community, no bars, no associations, in Pembroke. Pembroke gays who want to be around other gays leave.

Pembroke was an ok trip. Very cold. Temperatures around 5F, so I didn't get out much.

The difference between the rural and the urban hit me much more than usual. When you have ambition, when you want to do more for yourself, you tend to move to the cities. There are more opportunities there. I'm not saying that rural people are not ambitious. They can work hard. They can work smart. It's just that their goals are not as money and power focused. They want to raise a family, or farm. You don't need 'greater opportunity' to do that.

My parents give a lot of alcohol at Christmas. 40ozs of rum or whisky, or a 24 of beer. They gave their old neighbours a 24 of beer. However the wife had to work on Christmas, so mom&dad worried that the husband would drink the whole 24 by himself.

Stuff like that doesn't happen in Seattle

It's clear and cold up here in Pembroke. Good Christmas weather.

My little brother is here. He's 6'11, 300lbs.

We exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve. I got some shirts and socks.

Last night Toronto got a foot of snow. In the morning it started to rain. That didn't stop G and I from driving the 5 hours from Toronto to Ottawa. It was a slow drive and we saw many accidents.

I dropped G off at his in-laws, then drove an hour north to Pembroke, to my parents.
My cell phone works fine here. I get a better signal than back in Seattle.

Tonight I had dinner with JN and her kid R. The father, JYN was out of town on business and dind't show up till 10pm.

Every night, to put baby R to bed, they have "The 8 minute race" Basically JN sets a countdown timer for 8 minutes and baby R races to see how fast he can get ready for bed-- wash his face, brush his teath, get his bed clothes. on. During the race, Caulin and I called the race over a small loudspeaker-- "And now R starts brushing his teeth! What's this! He's spit up on his shirt! Can he recover from this delay! Wait Mommy steps in to help-- what teamwork!"

The forcast says Toronto may get up to a foot of snow tonight. G and I want to leave for Ottawa tomorrow. The snow may delay us.

Tonight I had dinner with JN and her kid R. The father, JYN was out of town on business and dind't show up till 10pm.

Every night, to put baby R to bed, they have "The 8 minute race" Basically JN sets a countdown timer for 8 minutes and baby R races to see how fast he can get ready for bed-- wash his face, brush his teath, get his bed clothes. on. During the race, Caulin and I called the race over a small loudspeaker-- "And now R starts brushing his teeth! What's this! He's spit up on his shirt! Can he recover from this delay! Wait Mommy steps in to help-- what teamwork!"

The forcast says Toronto may get up to a foot of snow tonight. G and I want to leave for Ottawa tomorrow. The snow may delay us.

Tonight I had dinner with JN and her kid R. The father, JYN was out of town on business and dind't show up till 10pm.

Every night, to put baby R to bed, they have "The 8 minute race" Basically JN sets a countdown timer for 8 minutes and baby R races to see how fast he can get ready for bed-- wash his face, brush his teath, get his bed clothes. on. During the race, Caulin and I called the race over a small loudspeaker-- "And now R starts brushing his teeth! What's this! He's spit up on his shirt! Can he recover from this delay! Wait Mommy steps in to help-- what teamwork!"

The forcast says Toronto may get up to a foot of snow tonight. G and I want to leave for Ottawa tomorrow. The snow may delay us.

Tonight I had dinner with JN and her kid R. The father, JYN was out of town on business and dind't show up till 10pm.

Every night, to put baby R to bed, they have "The 8 minute race" Basically JN sets a countdown timer for 8 minutes and baby R races to see how fast he can get ready for bed-- wash his face, brush his teath, get his bed clothes. on. During the race, Caulin and I called the race over a small loudspeaker-- "And now R starts brushing his teeth! What's this! He's spit up on his shirt! Can he recover from this delay! Wait Mommy steps in to help-- what teamwork!"

The forcast says Toronto may get up to a foot of snow tonight. G and I want to leave for Ottawa tomorrow. The snow may delay us.

Tonight I had dinner with JN and her kid R. The father, JYN was out of town on business and dind't show up till 10pm.

Every night, to put baby R to bed, they have "The 8 minute race" Basically JN sets a countdown timer for 8 minutes and baby R races to see how fast he can get ready for bed-- wash his face, brush his teath, get his bed clothes. on. During the race, Caulin and I called the race over a small loudspeaker-- "And now R starts brushing his teeth! What's this! He's spit up on his shirt! Can he recover from this delay! Wait Mommy steps in to help-- what teamwork!"

The forcast says Toronto may get up to a foot of snow tonight. G and I want to leave for Ottawa tomorrow. The snow may delay us.

Tonight I had dinner with JN and her kid R. The father, JYN was out of town on business and dind't show up till 10pm.

Every night, to put baby R to bed, they have "The 8 minute race" Basically JN sets a countdown timer for 8 minutes and baby R races to see how fast he can get ready for bed-- wash his face, brush his teath, get his bed clothes. on. During the race, Caulin and I called the race over a small loudspeaker-- "And now R starts brushing his teeth! What's this! He's spit up on his shirt! Can he recover from this delay! Wait Mommy steps in to help-- what teamwork!"

The forcast says Toronto may get up to a foot of snow tonight. G and I want to leave for Ottawa tomorrow. The snow may delay us.

I'm not homesick for Toronto. It's more like nostaglia. While Toronto is a great city, that's all you get. It literally takes hours to get out of the city.

In Seattle, the mountains and skiing are an hour away. The Ocean is an hour the other way. Portland and Vancouver are 3 hours away. So, there is a great variety of things to do, urban and rural.

On top of that, If I moved back to Toronto, I would have to live way out in the suburbs. Toronto downtown is beautiful and expensive. The affordabile suburbs are ugly and way out.

I can handle the suburbs in Seattle because I have a log cabin on a greenbelt and because downtown Seattle is a 20 minute drive away. If my home were in Toronto, it would be worth well over a million dollars.

Way back when, Bruce used to be my best friend. We worked together. Then he ran into problems with his job and got fired. That was the start of a long slide down for Bruce. He's been unemployed for the past two years and is very bitter about it.

In the process Bruce left Seattle and moved back to Toronto.

I tried to track down Bruce, have dinner with him, but he never responded to my emails. I asked C2 to talk to Bruce, to see if it was me.

It was me. Bruce responded to C2 almost right away. Bruce gave some bull shit excuse how he and I haven't kept in touch and how our lives have gone seperate ways.

Oh well.

The deep freeze has let up. The temperature in Toronto is now a bearable 30F.

I spent yesterday with J&G and their kids who we took to Sport Ball

Other than that, I slept. Yesterday for the first time in months, I didn't have coffee. Probably related, yesterday for the first time in months, I had an afternoon nap.

I love being on vacation.

Toronto is booming. Hi rise condos are going up everywhere. The condos are huge-- 30 to 60 stories, with talk of 80 stories.

Yesterday Caulin took me to Seneca hill to see the Toronto skyline from the north east. You could see the condos follow a twenty mile stretch along the Younge Street subway line. I'm not sure how many condos there are, but it has to be over one hundred. The Young and Finch intersection has a dozen and Younge is Finch is just the beginning (Of the subway line)

Why all the condos along the subwayl line? Two reasons. First, driving in downtown in downtown Toronto is insane. Constant traffic james and pay parking everywere. The cheapest parking is $2.00 an hour. Second reason, toronto can be bitter cold in the winter. With a condo directly connected to the subway line, and because much of downtown Toronto is connected via a huge underground city, you can go from home to work without everhaving to go outside.

I've been visiting many of my old friends. In the seven years I've been away from Toronto all my friends, even the gay ones, have had children. J&E have 3. G&J have 2 with the 3rd on the way, M&S have 2, J&J have 1, Liam has 1.

Having a child changes you. You watch what you say. You don't swear. Your whole life revolves around the child, take care of them, making sure they stay out of trouble.

Lat night Liam and I went to a hockey game-- he was playing. It was fun to watch. I recognized a few guys from the league I haven't seen them in years.

I'm in Toronto right now. It's insanely cold. -5F with a windchill that feels like -20F. At that temperature bare skin starts to tingle and hurt within minutes of exposure.

Friday night I'm heading up to Ontario to spend Christmas with friends and family. Updates will be sporatic till the 29th.

The holiday party season is uppon us. Tuesday my manager took our team out for a great lunch.

Tuesday evening I had a dinner party at my place for some of my neighbors and friends. Granny M came. Granny M built my house back in 1957. She raised 5 kids her. After her kids moved out and her husband died, she found the house too big and too much work. So she sold it and bought a smaller place just down the street-- maybe 5 houses over.

Granny M is an amazing woman. She's 79 years old, but doesn't look much more than 50. She's fit. She smart. I hope I'm as well off as her when I turn 80.

Still working a lot.

Sandy got us free tickets to see "Spain in the Age of Expoloration 1492-1819" at the Seattle Art Museum. It was nice. I'm not a big museum fan, so I went through the show rather quickly. RO took his time, read and listened to everything.

Afterwards we had dinner at Siam's.

Sunday, C2, RO and I went to the company blow out tent sale. The crowed was maddening. They had good deals there, but I didn't buy anything.

Saturday night Matt and Sandy came over for drinks and hot-tubbing. They spent friday evening at Enchanted Village riding the roller coasters for an American Coaster Enthusiasts event.

Steven and Vic got back from their Carribean Cruise on Sunday. They had a great time. The were very tan and said they ate and drank too much.

Sunday I did some Christmas shopping. RO, C2 and I spent Sunday evening at Matt and Sandy's. Dinner and Surviovor final. We also watched part of Pornocopia, a documentary on the porn industry. It was very interesting.

Tonight is the Tease's birthday party. RO got him a gift. I told him not to. The Tease is flakey and not a big gift giver himself. So, he gets what he deserves.

I watched Dazed and Confused last night. It's an interesting move about the last day of highschool in 1976.

I was at a martini party on Saturday night. It was an interesting crowd-- RO's friends. They are good people.

This is the first time I've met RO's friends. C2 suspected they would be weird artists. He wasn't too far off the mark.The friends mostly used to be artists, but life got in the way. Career opportunities and family forced them to make their art a hobby and turned them into respectable people.

One lady there was an author of four books. She found writing to be lonely so she got a part time job, which turned into a full time job, which turned into a career. Without planning it, she ended up a bank manager. Her story wasn't uncommon. There was a pianist who pays the bills by being a banker. A photographer who works for Home Depot.

This is kind of depressing.

A cold is going around. I have it. My manager has it. Steven and Matt have it. So far RO and C2 have gotten off scott free.

Matt claims he and I have the same immunity system. We often get sick with the same thing at the same time.

I was on Vactation last week-- did some work around the house and goofed off a lot.

IR has had some weird drama. He had a stalker who called him every hour or so. Then IR called the cops. The cops talked to the stalker and the calls stopped. But then one day when IR came home from work, IR's door was open and all his underwear was missing.

I spent Thanks Giving with C6 and J down on Fox Island. It was a good dinner. Afterwards we watched White Chicks which is a good bad movie.

Steven's had a re-org at work. He doesn't like the changes because he'll be traveling more. Right now he travels 2 or 3 days a week.

I spent the weekend in Palm Springs. It was an ok weekend. I went down for the sun and heat, but in a weird weather fluke, Palm Springs was cool and rainy. Infact, just a little higher in the Yuca Valley, there was snow.

Saturday I went to an antique auto show and took the tram up the the top of Mt San. Jacinto

Sunday. It rained. The snow was low on the mounts. All the locals were excited. I wasn't. If I wanted cool rainy weather, I would have stayed in Seattle.

Monday I went to Joshua Tree National Park. It was nice. Parts of the park were closed because of the snow.

I've removed the "How People Search For This Page" section. It was interesting, but it became self perpetuating.

About a third of the people who read this blog get here by googling for spelling mistakes. Mostly misspelled porno terms like B.R.E.S.T. or M.A.S.T.U.B.A.T.I.O.N.

But, the problem with calling out these weird searches is that they just happen more often. When I put them on the main page, more and more search engines find my blog and think it is about C.H.I.R.O.P.A.C.T.O.R. S.E.X.

I got my hair cut yesterday. The barber goofed and nicked the back of my head. While I was sitting in the chair, I felt the barber slip and the clipper hit the back of my head. The barber immediatly backed off and sighed. A few moments later, without saying a word, he switched to a #2 from and #3 and cleaned up the mistake.

I wasn't sure that he realy did goof, but yesterday evening, RO spotted patch.

Last night, Steven, RO, Sandy and I saw The Polar Express in IMAX 3D. It was cool. I'm not sure how good the movie would be in a regular theather, but in IMAX 3D it was eye popping.

Mac and Joe are moving in. They rent a condo, but it was sold. They a place for a couple of months. They are also trying to pay down some bills, so renting a room rather than a whole apartment gets them some extra money.

I hope it goes well. There could be problems. There is some tension between Steven and Joe. The two have argued in the past. It shouldn't be a problem for a while though as Steven is out of town for about half of December.

C2's room mate, IR, had some weird drama. IR had a one night stand with a man. The man started stalking him, calling and saying strange things. The man accused IR of putting a magic spell on him that made him unattractive and unlikeable. He hinted that his life was not worth living while under the magic spell and that he may retailiate against IR. IR called the cops. A policeman dropped by IR's. While he was there, the stalker called. The policeman answered the phone. Since then the stalker hasn't called back.

So far our conversation goes:- "Hello! How are you?- "I love you"- "How are
you?"- "I love you."

Lol. I work with a few Romanians. They do have a very thick accent.

I think work is going to be stressfull over the next few months. We are doing schedules right now and they have no room for error.

My heckler hasn't returned. I'm kind of disappointed. Oh well. I'm avoiding listening to the news. I'm so tired of the debate, the analysis, the opinions.

I took it easy last night. It was my first quiet night at home in a long time.

I'm watching Reservoir Dogs on TV. The swearing is dubbed over. They will say "dick" and "shit" but they won't say "fuck." When someone says "fuck" they very badly dub over it, like someone just picked up the mic and said "shit" instead of "fuck"

This morning I saw The Incredibles. Is was a work moral event. The Incredibles is very good movie.

Saw Ray last night with RO, C2 and the movie bears. It's a good movie.

>>Let me explain it to you. The canadians that I know are a bunch of social fascists with their heads shoved up their ass.

Nice intro. I like you already.

Onto Bush. This is the man who is lowering our taxes will adding over a trillion dollars to the debt. I want lower taxes, but not when it means my taxes will go up when I retire. I want smaller goverment. Not the unprecidented growth that Bush has created.

This is the man who launched a war on Iraq that has killed more Iraqis than Sadam Hussien. Mean while Osma Bin Laden, the man who actually attacked the U.S. is still at large.

You do know that Iraq was not supporting Al Qaeda? That Iraq did not have weapons of mass distruction?

This is the first president since the great depression who after 4 years wound up with fewer employed Americans than we he started.

This is the man who flip flopped about nation building, free trade, same sex marrage, campaign finance reform and many other important issues

Finally, do you really get anywhere by calling me a "social fascist, fag, gay rights activist?" If you want to win me over then educate me, don't insult me. The readers of this blog know that name calling is the tool of someone who doesn't have facts to back up his position.

Ugh. Bush has won.

I don't understand. Why does more than 50% of the population think that man is a good leader? How did I end up so removed from the other half of America that most everyone I know voted Democrat?

Yesterday RO and I hiked up Rattlesnake Ledge. It's a steep 1.7 mile hike up to the top.

The view is increadible. RO Couldn't stand close to the edge. He said he had a fear of hights. He would even turn around and look away when I got close.

After we got home, Mac and Joe called and said "Hey we are in your neighborhood. Mind if we come over?" So they did. We had leftovers together. It was good. Tonight Mac and Joe have invited RO and I over to their place for leftovers.

Steven came home later-- drunk. He went out the Cuff and the Timberline for the Sunday Beer Busts. He said after spending the weekend in Victoria with his mother and his brother, he needed to blow off some steam.

For me, Halloween is the 2nd biggest holiday of the year, after Christmas. I don't dress up or anything like that, but I always get invited to many parties. I'm busy the whole weekend. I eat too much candy. Drink to much.

As an added bonus, the clock goes back an hour are Halloween. So I get the gift of an extra hour of sleep.

Friday night i went to JR's house for a pre-halloween party with the bruders (His friends) JR is a differnt sort of fellow. Very smart. However art, any art, crappy-drawing-printed-out-on-a-cheap-printer art gets him way too excited.

Saturday I worked on a retaining wall with C2. We had to pour concrete. There was a gap at the bottom of one of the forms in an areay we couldn't easily see or get to. While we pouring, C2 suggested that the form was holding much more concrete than you'd think it would need. We scrounged around and found the leak. I had to crawl on my belly for about 10 feet to get to the leak and plug it up.

Saturday night C2 and I went to T&J's Halloween party. I was invited to two other parties, and i was planning on leaving T&J's early. However, I had a good time there and stayed till late.

After that C2 and i went to the Madison Pub and the Cuff to gawk at the costumes. There were many very elaborate outfits. C2 commented how some people really get into it and feel proud of themselves. C2 and I agreeded; making a good costume takes much time, skill and effort, but we just don't care about the results.

We saw Behr at the Cuff. He's looking good for a man who just had a heart attack. We didn't talk long because it was loud and crowded.

Had survivor potluck last night. C2, RO, Sandy and Beef were over. Something happened to Matt and he couldn't make it. Matt said he had a bad day at work. Sandy speculated he had a bad day at a Casino.

C2 left early. The rest of us soaked in the hot tub for about an hour.

Last night Vic proposed to Steven over the phone. Steven is much much happier. Since marrage between gays is legal in Canada, this will help Steven's get resident status.

Steven asked me 3 times if I called Vic and encouraged him to propose. Vic has always been against marrage-- he's divorced. I told Steven that no, Vic proposed on his own. I don't know if Steven believes me, but it is true.

It probably made Steven feal good to hear "Your boyfriend asked to marry you because he wanted to, not because someone pushed him into it."

Steven is livid with his brother. His brother was on the verge of ruin. Steven moved him up from L.A. rented him a new appartment and payed the banks off enough to unfreeze his brother's bank account.

What did his brother do? Bounce four cheques.

Steven is also frustrated by his relationship. Vic lives in Victoria, a 3 hour drive and 2 hour ferry ride one way. Steven has been visiting Victoria almost every weekend since they met two and a half years ago. Because Vic has kids in Victoria, it's difficult for Vic to visit Seattle.

This past week Steven's application for Resident status in Canada was denied. This raises lots of questions about Vic and Steven's future. Questions that really bug Steven.

I went up to Victoria this weekend. Mostly to move some stuff for Steven. Also, to get away.

It was a quiet weekend. I chatted and drank with Vic and Steven. Vic makes his own wine. It's not bad at all.

Saturday I just hung around the city. Victoria is old so there are many interesting buildings. Had had lunch with the Slueth He showed me some tricks to parking in Victoria. He likes to give advice.

Saturday Evening I watched Daddy Day Care with with Vic, Steven and Vic's kids. It's a mediocre comedy.

Vic is a bit frustrated with his kids. They are kind of lazy, unambitious and at times rude. He tries to be strict with them, but they just don't care. I'm not sure what to say. When I was a teenager, I once took a swing and my father, so all-in-all Vic's got it easy. But, still...

Sunday we got up, had breakfast and made our way home. Victoria is an island with a $50.00 ferry ride. Steven sighed at the fact that he's travled to Victoria more than 120 times to spend the weekend with Vic.

From: Littel BearSent: Friday, October 22, 2004 7:53 PM
Subject: Udate
on Behr

Just wanted to update everyone on Behr,(I'm using Mac and Joe's
rafting trip e-mail for the addresses so if I've left anyone out please forward
this, and if your saying 'who the heck is Behr' then just ignore it ;-).

Behr came home from the hospital this afternoon. He is just restricted
from lifting or other heavy work for a while, not because of his heart but
because of the small opening they made in his femoral artery to place the
stints. Other than that he's feeling back to normal. They'll give him a couple
weeks or so before they do the other 2 stints. Thanks to everyone for thier
calls and concern. Hope to see you all soon.

Little Bear

From: Mac and Joe
Subject: Behr
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 07:10:07 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Gang,
I don't know if you've heard, but Behr had a heart attack last night and is in Swedish Hospital. At 9:30 PM he was undergoing an Angiogram with the possibility of having a stint installed to open up a blockage. You can call Little Bear at xxxxxxxx to check on Behr's condition and relay any messages to Behr.

Joe and Mac

From: Little Bear
Sent : Thursday, October 21, 2004 4:43 PM
Subject : Behr's doing well

Hey all, Thanks for the calls and concern, Behr is in recovery in the CICU at Swedish Hosp. First Hill. He had an angiogram and 2 stints put in ( a relatively common procedure) and is feeling much better. He can have visitors but I'm not sure what visiting hours are, so you might want to call first. We expect him to be there another day or two. He knows you are all concerned and wishing him a speedy recovery. If I am in his room my cell phone has to be off so I may not get your call if you try and give us a ring.

thanks again and see you all soon.

Little Bear

Saturday, Mac, Joe, RO, T&A moved Mac and Joe's boat from Lake Washington to Puget Sound. It was a good cruise, though it took longer than we expected-- with the clouds it got dark earlier than we planned and you can't go fast in the dark.

Sunday was a maintenance day. I delt witih a clogged gutter, put the patio furniture away, planted some spring bulbs, replaced an hall light and tried to fix some weird electrical problems.