I drank a lot on Friday. I had 2 beers at work, then I left for softball practice. At the field, they shut the lights off early, so my team headed to Changes for some drinks. I had half a pitcher there. I met up with Bruce at Positive Solutions. We changed their Exchange mail server so that it now handles all incomming, and outgoing mail. Then we went to the Elysian and had dinner, and another beer. Then we went to C.C's and had 2 cran and vodka's a piece.

Bruce asked me if I wanted a drive home. I said no, but should have said yes. I was seeing double for much of the way and had to close one of my eyes. I got home safe. When I got home, my DSL modem had arrived. So, at about 12:30am, I was stumbing around my house, Installing the DSL filters and modem. The service isn't activated yet, so nothing happened.

Satuday I went out and bought softball equipment. I also got a cell phone. Sigh. I've finally given in. In the afternoon, I met up with Steven. We went to the Chauteau St. Michelle wine tasting and sale. We bought and split a case of Merlot. Then, we headed over to Redhook, and had dinner. We came back to my place, started to watch a movie, but ended up going to bed.

Sunday, we woke up early. I had a softball practice at 9am. But, it was rained out. I hung around for a while, and then met up with Bruce and F at the Bluestar for bruch.

I don't know about Steven, he's cute, but I'm not really that attracted to him. I'll have to give him the 'let's just be friends' speach soon.

Nothing much has happened this week. Tuesday, Bruce and L managed to get their Positive Solutions topoligy up and running. They've got email too.

Wednesday night, I was supposed to play hockey at 11pm, but many guys said they weren't showing up, so I didn't either.

I'm having lunch with Ryan today.

Friday my heart was beating weird. It was missing beats, and then having real big beats. I made a doctor's appointment for Monday. The doctor told me not to worry about it unless there were other symptoms.

Friday night I went out to the Cuff. Met a guy, Steven. 9 months ago he got out of a 7 year relationship. Not much else happened.

Saturday, I waxed the truck, and went downtown early. I went to CC's to talk to the bartender about the Chicken Soup Bacherlors Auction. Previously, he asked me to be one of the bachelors. Unfortunatly, he wasn't in. I walked up and down Broadway, then at about 7:30 I met up with Bruce for dinner at the Elysian. F showed up at about 8. The two were fighting a bit. I think the next few weeks will be the testing moment of their relationship. If they get throug the next few weeks, they'll be together for a long time. Monday morning I got an apology from F. He said that Bruce and he had worked things out.

Over dinner Bruce asked me to drop by Positivie Solutions on Sunday. They needed some help configuring some servers.

At about 9, dinner was over. Bruce and F went home. I went to the Cuff. I ran into Steven again. We exchanged numbers. I also ran into Harry. He was in a bad mood. One guy was sort of ribbing him about an ex, plus some other shit. I think he's getting tired of the bars, and tired of being single. I want to tell him that I miss him and I care for him. But, it's real weird. I'm a bottom, and I need that. But I don't want to tell him.

I went home, and was in bed by 12:30am.

Sunday morning I had softball practice. After practice, I went over and help L and Bruce at Positive solutions. They just needed a simple topoligy design. I hand held them through some config changes.

Sometime in the afternoon, my heart started beating normally again.

After that, I called Steven, and we agreed to get together that evening. We had coffee at a Starbucks, and then dinner at my place. He spent the nice. He's an attracive man. Not sure I'll fall in love with him. He's out of town all week on business. We'll see what happens next weekend.

Monday morning, I went to the doctor. He did an exam on me, and told me not to worry unless there were additional symptoms.

Back to work...

First draft of the Africa notes....

Mon, 5th: Got to Amsterdam. Staying with Cory, a friend of the family in Permurend. Also visited Volendam.

Tuesday, 6th: Visited mom’s cousins in Amsterdam. Most of them don’t speak strong English.

Wed 7th. Went to the Van Gough museum, and the Rijksmuseum. The Dutch pronounce Van Gough like “Van Hough” The first ‘H’ is pronounced like you are clearing your throat; the ‘ou’ is like the ‘o’ in ‘hot’

Thursday, 9th. Mom’s cousin Tapka gave us a walking tour of old Amsterdam. We saw many churches, and took a walk through the red light district.

Friday 9th. Drove to Haulerwijk (Mom’s birth city) We drove across the North Sea Dike. I stayed with Omka Jan. Mom stayed with Tante Ria. Neither speak English.

Saturday 10th. Drove to Zwolle. Had great food. Zwolle is a beautiful city. Stayed at the Hotel Fider, which is a historic building on the outskirts.

Sunday 11th. Drove back to Haulerwijk.

Monday 12th Took the train to Amsterdam, and left for Harare, Zimbabwe.

The Netherlands was kind of weird. I did the roots thing, so I hope I never have to do it again. I spent most of my time just hanging around people who can’t speak English, so I read a lot. If I go again, I won’t visit family. I’ll just tour. Mind you, Zwolle was nice. I’d stay there again. I had great food at a restaurant in downtown Zwolle. I wish I could remember the name. It was next to the central market, on the second floor.

In my spare time, I thought a lot about Terry. I tried planning ways of getting him to like me; to leave his boyfriend for me. When I flew back to Seattle, and ran into Terry, we talked. I decided to not follow through with my plans

Tueday 13th. Arrived in Harare. Mom lost some of her luggage.

Wed 14th. Toured Harare. David showed us the markets. Harare is a very grimy city, but not dangerous. The criminals don’t have enough money for knifes or guns, so you only have to worry about pickpockets. Our chauffer, Innocent, drove us to a wild life park. Godfrey asked me to find a good college for his stepson. Zimbabwe is run on favors and nepotism, so I’m not surprised he did this. I agreed.

Friday 16th. Mom got her luggage back on the 15th. Right now, It’s morning and I’m on the Train to Bulawayo. We left Harare last night at about 7pm. It’s an over night milk run. The three of us have a sleeper car. The towns are very small, no more than 8 houses. Many of the houses have straw roofs. For most of the night, our sleeper cabin’s radio was broken, but, “Love, Love me Do” by the Beatles just cut in.

Sunday, 18th. On the 16th we saw the Chipangaly Animal Orphanage, plus the Zimbabwe Museam of Natural Science. In the evening, we got on the train again for Vic Falls. We arrived in Vic Falls on the morning of the 17th. We are staying at the Settlers Retreat, a little B&B just outside of town. We are the only ones there. In the evening we went on a cruise of the Zambeze, and saw hippos and giraffes.

The manager of Settler’s Retreat is a retired park ranger. He loves to talk.

We are paying $US20.00 a night, total, for 2 rooms.

Went to a Crocodile farm and saw the Zimbabwe side of the falls. We got very wet.

Monday 19th. Went white water rafting on the Zambezi. The water is very high, so the rapids were fairly gentle.

Tuesday 20th. Game Drive in Zambia. Saw a white rhino attack a mini van. Not a lot of damage. The driver sped off after the rhino hit.

Also saw giraffe, antelope. We went to the Livingston Museum in Livingston, Zambia. The unemployment rate in Livingston is about 95%.

We visited a traditional village, I think it was the Maupani Village. Every lived in mud and straw huts. Saw Vic falls from the Zambia side.

Wednesday 21th. Took it easy. Mom got me to fake sick so we could get out of a game drive to Mozambique. The Tour guide figured it out. We had to pay cancellation costs of about $Zim1000.00 That’s about $US20.00

Thursday 22nd. Flew from Vic Falls to Harare. Took the bus from Harare to Mutoko. The bus was very poor. Mutoko is even poorer. Mom and I were almost ready to leave when we saw where we would be staying.

Friday 23rd. Sports day (Track and Field) at Mutoko High. Dave and I judge shot-put. Watched Beverly Hills Ninja again. Saw Dave’s computer lab.

Saturday 24th. Visited Obey’s grandparents farm. It’s a subsistence farm. Climbed up a hill to some caves. The caves had cave paintings in them.

Saw Blue Streak Twice, and 10 things I hate about you. There’s not a lot to do here.

Sun 25th. Went to church with the Mutoko High Students. Saw the Our Lady of Peace Orphanage. This was a unsettling. We saw many infants had had been through hell. Many of them were HIV positive.

In the evening, Mom got very sick. Everyone thinks it’s malaria. She’s stumbling around half naked trying to go to the bathroom. I had to help her.

Mon 26th. The Boarding Master drove us from Mutoko to Harare. Mom is very weak, but much better. She doesn’t remember much about last night. We took her to a doctor.

Tuesday 27th. Doctor says that Mom actually has a intestinal parasite, and has put here on new medicine. She still has cramps, but is much better. We leave for home tonight.

Zimbabwe was weird. In many ways it was very poor. For about $US100 000, you can buy what would be a million dollar home in Seattle. For about $400 a month, you can get 2 or 3 servants and a chef.

The people were the nicest people I’ve ever met.

I finally finished organizing my pictures. Got some good ones. Haven't finished the Africa essay yet. sigh.

Not much has happend this week. Just working. Still a bit jet lagged. I'm tired every night by 9pm, and in by 10:30. I've been waking up at about 6:00am. On the plus side, I've worked out every morning this week.

I lost 10lbs while I was in Africa. With all the exercise, hopefully it will come back as muscle.

Had lunch with Bruce today. He blew up at L about their volunteer work. L wants to do some kind of multimedia thing that would just blow all of the plans out of the water. Bruce told me that he's seeing a councelor about his passive aggresiveness. He told that more than once, he just puts up with things until he blows up. He doesn't ask for what he wants, and he doesn't initiate things. It's also affecting his relationship with F.

Wow. It's taking longer than I thought to compile all the Africa stuff. I'll pick with what's happened since I got back, and post the Africa entries later.

I got back last Wednesday. The earthquake hit Seattle at about 11:00am. The airport was closed, but they inspected the runways, and let our jet land. Bruce was supposed to pick me up, but he heard that airport was closed, so he no showed. Plus, when I tried to call him I heard "Due to Technical Difficulties your call cannot be completed..." I ended up taking a shuttle home. I was very jet lagged, so I went to bed by 9:00pm.

Thursday I went to work. Bruce called me up and apologized for not showing up. Thursday, I left work at 2pm, claiming jet lag. I went and bought a scanner. Later, I met up with Bruce, and we went to dinner at the NW brew house and grill that night. I'm not really a big fan of the food at the NW Brewhouse. It's ok, but it's a bit expensive.

Friday I went downtown. I ran into Terry and we talked for a while. I asked him why he was always at the Cuff by himself, when he had a boyfriend. He said that his boyfriend worked weekend nights, and that hanging out at the Cuff, and playing pool was comfortable. I've been thinking a lot about Terry lately. I want to date him.

Saturday, I went to a Softball skills clinic. It was ok. Since this my first year, I'm playing for a rec team, however one of the coaches asked me "Are you sure you want to play for a 'D' team" I'll stick with the team for this year, and change things next year. The weird thing about softball players is that it's much more gay than hockey. On my hockey team, you couldn't tell that our most effeminate player was gay, unless you spent some time with him. But in softball, half the players look gay. The other half, once they open up their mouths, you know they are queer.

F went to Vancouver for the day, so Saturday night, I met up with Bruce and we had dinner at the Elysian. Bruce was complaining about L. Bruce and L are trying to setup a patient tracking system for Postive solutions, but L seams to be over engineering it. Postive solutions only has about 5 people who are entering, maybe, 300 transactions a month. But L is installing this system that would be able to manage a large hospital. It's frustrating Bruce, because it's slowing things down.

Later on, Bruce and I went to CC's for a drink. Bruce is always tring to get me hooked up. So, he introduced me to a few cute guys. Both of us left by 10:00pm.

Sunday morning I went and bought a CD Rom burner for my computer. I had lunch with Bruce and F at Ruby's dinner in RTC. The three of us are looking for a cool place to hang out around Redmond. I don't think it's going to happen. Sunday afternoon, I sorted through my photos of Europe and Africa. I'm missing a role. I still have lots of pictures though, 16 rolls.

I'm back. I've got 3 weeks worth of notes that I'm compiling into a larger essay. It will be posted in the next couple of days.

I leave for Amsterdam in a couple of hours. After a week in the Netherlands, I'm off for two weeks in Zimbabwe. I get back on Feb 28th.

A bit of worrying news from Zimbabwe. Last week everyone at my brothers school was woke up at 4am and had to watch a military parade. Afterwards the solders went around and destroyed any newspapers they found. My brother is ok, and no one was hurt. He said some of the students spread rumours that two teachers sympathized with a rebel faction. When news of this got around, the establishment sent in the military to flex their muscle and to show everyone they were still in control.

On Friday, at the Cuff, I ran into Terry. He says he still has a boyfriend. I don't understand why he spends weekend nights at the Cuff.. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe I'll find out someday. When I told him I was going to Amsterdam, he became kind of uncomfortable; looks like he has some feelings for me. Maybe he's single again, and he's just scoping me out to see what I do. After all, I have lied to him before.

Saturday night I went out for dinner with Bruce and F. We ate at Shilla's Asian Grill. The service very really slow and uneven. Bruce and F had almost finished there meals by the time I got mine. The food was ok.

Afterwards we went to Victors for some Coffee. They had a poetry reading. We didn't stick around to listen. Later we went to the NW Grill and Brewhouse for a beer.

I leave for Amsterdam and Zimbabwe on Sunday. So, this week I've been working like a dog to get things done. My projects at work look like they are running fine. I won't be able to check them in though. I was here till 10pm Monday and Tuesday nights. Wednesday night things were going well, so I was home by 8pm.

I still have a nagging cough, and a runny nose. I hope it doesn't turn into pneumonia. Not now.

I went out for beer with some guys for work. Later on, I went downtown, and met Bruce and F at CC's. I also ran into Lee, and a friend of his, Marty. Lee and Marty want me to be a bachelor for the Chicken Soop Brigads' Bachelor auction in April. I might do it. I'll stay in touch and see how I feel when the auction draws closer.

After CC's, F, Bruce and I went to Minni's for some food. Bruce had never been to Minni's before.

Went home, was in bed by midnight.

Friday night was a big drinking night. I think I had 7 pints total. It started at work, with 3 pints. Later I went out to the Timberline. I ran into Harry there. I hung around him all evening. He told me he takes Paxil for social anxiety. Before Paxil, Harry said he was afraid to go into public places. He just knew that every one was looking at him, and thinking "what a fucking faggot"

Later on we went to the Eagle. We ended up closing the Eagle. yuck. I drove home. Harry stayed a bit longer talked to some friends. He called me at about 2:30am, to make sure I got home alright.

Saturday I didn't do much. I hung around and cleaned up. I took a panorma picture at the Redmond Town Centre. The security guard walked up to me, and told me they don't allow photogrophy on the premisises, and asked me to refrain from doing so. I took another Panorma picture at Victors Coffee. One of the patrons in the picture noticed the camera, and has a strange look on her face.

Went to bed early, about 10pm.

Sunday Bruce, F and I snowboarded at Snoqualmi. We stuck we the Galary for most of the day, but later on we did the Triple 60. At that point F called it a day. He said he was tired. Brunce and I did the Triple 60 again, and then did the Quad. It was fun, I'm finally doing ok. I can stay on my feet most of the time.

I ran into a couple of people from work. Snowboarding is a very popular sport at work.

We left at about 4:30pm. I went home, took a nap, and then played hockey at 10:30pm. We lost, 4-2. I got one goal and one tripping penalty. Sara didn't play. She really dinged up her knee from the last game. She's supposed to have an MRI today.

I'm very stiff today. I still have a nagging cough.

Monday night I played hockey. We won 6 to 2. I got two tripping penalties. The ref was very pickey.

Wednesday night I went to Beppo's for F's birthday party. This time the lineup was much shorter. We were in within 30 minutes. I met a couple of F's ex's at the party. He meets many guys over the internet. I think he has a thing for older guys with weird looking faces. Not that Bruce has a weird face. Maybe that's why he and Bruce are still together. L wasn't there. As long as he's unemployed, he refuses to go out

I got paged for work Wednesday night, and was up till 2am. Grant Pride Co, a drill bit comapny on the east coast, hosed there system. They needed some TLC to get things working again.

Thrusday afternoon I got fingerprinted for my greencard. It's all inkless. They do it twice. The first time you put all your fingers down, and they scan them all at once. The second time, they scan each finger individually, and they computer marks the scan as pass/fail. Maybe they are comparing the second scan to the first scan to ensure that the capture is good.

I'll have to use gloves for all my criminal activities.

Thursday night I played hockey again. We won 6 to 2 again. It was a clean game; no penaties. Sara hurt her knee in a spectacular crash. I think she'll be ok.

Friday, I'm at work. I still have very much to do before I leave for Europe and Afica. It's only a week away. Yeah!

Friday night I went to C.C's, the Seawolf, R Place and then the Eagle. At the Seawolf, I ran into Russ and his new boyfriend. Russ used to be Harry's roommate, but then he fell in love and quickly moved out. One night, before Russ moved out, Rus and his new boyfiend were sleeping at Harry's. Harry said that early in the morning, he woke up and someone was rubbing his stomache. He looked over and the new boyfriend was kneeling beside the bed. Harry just laid still, and acted like he was sleeping. After a few minutes, Harry's alarm clock went off. The boyfriend hit the floor, and rolled under the bed. Harry stumbled out of bed, and headed for the washroom. When he got out of the washroom, the boyfriend had left.

So, when I ran into Russ, and his boyfriend, I really wanted to say "So your the guy who was feeling Harry up." But I didn't.

Saturday, I bought snowboarding cloths at G I Joe's in Issiquah. At 5pm I went to Beppo's for a birthday party of some guy I don't really know. He's a friend of Ryan and Jen's. It tooks us two hours to get seated! That's one thing I hate about Beppo's, the long waits. The food isn't that great either. The desserts are good, but that's not enough.

Jason is threatoning to mail me a bottle of his urine. He's looked my address up.

After that birthday part, I went to Suzanne and Paul's. Paul just made Captin (He's a pilot) so Suzanne threw him a party. Many of the old Toronto people where there. The change in conversation was jarring. At Beppo's we drank beer, and talked about sex, dildo's and other rude topics. At Suzanne's and Pauls we drank wine and scotch, and talked about work, the protestant reformation, and having children. Both parties were fun. Just different.

I'm kind of fascinated by the whole "freedom of speach" thing that many americans woriship. Take Bonsai Kitten for example. This site, it's a satire (I guess), about how to grown asthetically pleasing kittens using Bonsai techniques. The site has come under attack (By the humane society among others) for it's cruelty to animals. As a result, Bonsai kitten has been kicked off of two hosts. This is where the Protect-freedom-of-speach crowd comes in. They scream bloody murder in the name of free speach. Both sides act like the fate of western civilization is at stacke. Or maybe, it's just a bunch of nerds who have too much time on their hands, and fighting for their beliefs gives them something to do.

What's the point of satire, or spoof when your target isn't full of vice and folly? I did laugh at Bonsai Kitten.

Zimbabwe is geting closer. Only two and a half weeks away. I've got a lot of work to do between now and then.

When I get back, I'm going to bite the bullet, and take out a personal ad. I'm going to take some time to write it. It'll be hard. How do I scare off the guys I'm not attracted too?

So, what do I want?... "You should be masculine and straight acting. Deep voice and facial hair are a plus. I'm not looking for a sensative gentle man." What else do I tack on?

Last night, I went snow boarding for real! Not down just the bunny hill-- down the big slope. I even had a run wen I didn't faill!. Bruce, F and I went to Snoqualmie. It was fun.

Other than that, Still working a lot. My project is in buddy test, but it's not going well. Not quiet over my cold yet. Almost.

Wednesday morning, I got my vacines for my trip to Zimbabwe. I neede Polio and Typhoid.

Haven't talked to Andy lately. He just got back from a weekend in Las Vegas.

Not much has happened. I've been working at. I worked all day sunday, and long hours Monday. I completed my features, but they aren't working that well right now.

The Bistro Lautrec is closed! The food was so good there, and the chef was hot. The good news is that Lautrec guys have opened a new restaurant called 'ing'. It's just around the corner from the Lautrec. Bruce and I ate there instead.

The crowd is much more gay than the the Lautrec. Maybe once word get's around, a wider variety of people will show up.

Bruce was fairly wired. He bruised his ribs snow boarding. So he's on vicadent. We shot the breeze, drank a bottle of wine, plus some coctails. Afterwards we went to the Cuff. The cover charge is now $3.00. I going to stop going to the Cuff for a while. Yeah, it's probably Seattle's best bar, but that's not saying a lot. I'll get buy by touring the smaller bars.

We met a couple of cute guys. Bruce is very outgoing, especially after consuming vicadent and alcohol. He wanted to fix me up more than anything. I'm still under the weather with a cold, and didn't feel like meeting anyone. I ran into Tony who has invited us to a Super Bowl party next weekend. It will be a mixed crowed.

Bruce and I went for an early drink tonight, to the 8th Street bar. It was a bit of a work event. Bruce went with his team from work. Bruce and I started talking about boyfriends and what we want. We started calling the two Chris’s, L and F to distinguish them. F is Bruce's boyfriend.

Something weird happened between F and Bruce. I think F was supposed to show up to join us for drinks, but Bruce didn’t really want him to. F can’t act straight. He’s been out of the closet since he was a teenager. Bruce and I, on the other hand, always act straight; to the point where, sometimes, if we go into a gay bar, the doorman will say “You do know that this is a gay bar?”

Bruce said that he would be kind of embarrassed if F showed up. I guess those two are having problems.

Bruce is a bit of a size queen. He said that everyone he dates has to have a certain minimum length. I told him that one of my problems with Harry was that he is so small. Thats not the only problem, but it was another thing that kept me from saying, “all else being equal…”. I told Bruce that I was still chasing Terry. Even though Terry didn’t have the world’s largest dick, he made up for it in other areas. I'm kind of jealous of Terry's boyfriend.

We also talked about L, and guys in the military. We noticed that guys from the military often have rape fantasizes. They want to be tied up, trash talked, and fucked real hard. Last summer, I dated a guy from the air force who was exactly like that. L is the same way. For me, it’s kind of a turn off. When I’m in bed with a guy, I don’t want him to just lie there, bound. I want someone to make love to me too. Sex doesn’t have that power component for me. Maybe it’s because I’m a bottom too.

F is going to Vancouver Saturday evening, so Bruce and I are having dinner together Saturday night—at the Bistro Lautrec.

Oh yeah, another thing I forget to record.

Played hockey Monday night, and we won, 6-3. Even better, the team we won against had a couple of guys who dropped off of our team.

It was a pretty tense game. We were ahead 3-1 at the end of the 1st, but they caught up, 3-3 at the end of the second. We pulled ahead in the third. Curt even got a goal. He said it was his career first.

I'm a looser. Not in the spiritual/social sense, but in the physical sense. I'm constantly loosing little things. notepads, wallets, cutlery, tools. Two days ago, I was using a can-opener to open up two cans of tomato sauce. I opened up the first car and poured it into the pot. Then I turned to open up the second can, but the can-opener was gone. I hunted for 5 minutes for it. It had slipped underneath some grocery bags at the back of the counter.

Today I lost my hundredth notepad. Somewhere, all my collected business knowledge is sitting around unused by the masses (or even me). Maybe it's in a garbage can. Maybe it's on a shelf.

I haven't permanently lost my wallet in a long time. I almost lost it Tuesday night. I couldn't find it the next morning, and it wasn't at work. It ended up being in my dirty laundry pile.

Can you tell I don't want to work?

I'm off sick today. My cold won't go away. I might go in for the afternoon.

Ryan and I reviewed another Restaurant

My project at work is still going slowly.

I'll just take it easy the next few days.