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.

> Ahhhhhhhhhh vs. Awwwwww.

FxBear would like Ahhhhh much better. When healthy he's a touchy feely hedonist.

How have you been Snub? I see you have a new diary.

Last night was Survivor night at Matt and Sandy's. C2, BeefNBreifs, and RO where there. BeefNBreifs is an interesting man. He plays around a lot, so if you relaxing him, get him to drink some wine, he'll tell you an interesting story.

FxBear realy appreciated the visit...

I can’t express how much I appreciated your stopping by on Saturday.
Even for a few minutes, it really did my spirit good to see you guys.
It means a lot that you were thoughtful enough to call and stop over and I
really am grateful for it.

We tend to get isolated up here, rarely
going even to Monroe. Its easy to forget there is a whole community of
friends up in Seattle when you don’t go there on a regular basis. I often
drive into town for a doctor visit and then sit and wonder what to do next.
I’m not fond of going to bars, the idea of sitting in a dark dank room
isn’t appealing. My partner would love to go to the Cuff when we go
to town but I’m a stick in the mud. I wish there were a patio bear bar
here like we had in Dallas. It was a nice sunny patio where guys like us
hung out after work. It was always fun. The drive means I don’t
drink so I get bored pretty quickly anyway. There aren’t many other
alternativeness that I’m aware of. Maybe I should join a club or
something.

I’ve found that I love telling people that I care about
them but recoil from receiving the same kind of praise. Isn’t that odd? I
say that because I’m about to dish out some praise and it just occurred to me
that it would make me uncomfortable to have someone tell me the same thing.
Lol

I’ll say it anyway. I’ve always found you a caring and
thoughtful guy, if not a bit shy . I really like that quality
about you. Your stopping by was more needed than you imagine and it really
meant a lot to me. Thank you for doing it.

Your one of the
good ones Barry

FxBear

Satuday I went to Levenworth for Oktoberfest. It was strange and fun. Very crowded. Lots of older drunks. We didn't stay the night because the hotels were all full.

It's very surreal to be in a beer hall surrounded by thousands of people listening to polka music.

On the way back we stopped off at FxBear's. FxBear is sick. Ten years ago he had bone cancer in his elbow. Eventually his elbow gave out. Two years ago he had his elbow replaced. He never really recovered from the surgury. His body didn't fully accept the new elbow. Now he needs another one.

FxBear lives with his partner in a log cabin in the foothills. It's very isolated so they appreciate the company.

Sunday I tended to the house. I cleaned the roof and the gutters.

>"STEREO TYPE! People in LA wear flannel. When you talk about tans your referring to caucasions. Los Angeles is more the whites"

Dollars to donuts John wrote that. ;-)

Yes it's a stereo type, but you have to admit there is a grain of truth to it. Not every one fits, but enough do that you can't deny it. I'd bet that you have a nice tan and usually wear trendy clothing when you go out.

So what does someone from Seattle look like? What does someone from California, especially LA look like? Why is there a difference?

It comes down to the weather. L.A. has warmth and sun. Seattle has cloud and rain. The sun attracts people who want to show their bodies off-- the entertainment industry, models, actors, body builders, the trend set. In Seattle the rain makes you stay indoors. If you go out you dress warm.

So when someone shows up tan and buff, died blonde hair, funky sunglasses and a trendy cotton vest with no undershirt, you know they are from California. After a month of rain the sunglasses will go. The revealing vest will be replaced with a warm flannel shirt, the tan will start to fade and a mild depression will set in until he teaches himself to deal with the gloom, to drink lots of coffee and to to get out and be active.

Saturday afternoon. I worked around the house, mowing, fertalzing, weeding, sweeping.

Saturday evening, Steven, Vic, Stan I went out for dinner. Steven neede to blow off some steam. He didn't have a good day with his brother. Vic and I are worried that the brother is only telling Steven what he wants to hear and that once he's alone he'll be back to his old self.

Sunday I goofed off. I had breakfast with the gang at Endoline Joes. Went to a couple of farmers markets, watched a movie, hot-tubed and then hit the sack.

My mother wants me to go Grande Prairie to spend a weekend with my new niece. Sigh. It's a seven hour flight one way. That's a lot of traveling for a weekend. Maybe I'll visit them over Christmas or Thanksgiving.

Steven is back from LA with his brother and nephew. This morning I helped them unpack. The nephew is very high energy. Definitely ADD. The brother seams like a nice guy though we didn't talk much.

He looked very California. Man-o-man is he in for a supprize. Seattle is sunny today but soon the rain will start and it will be rainy and gray till May.

I hope things go well for them.

Just got this from mom...

From: Barry's mom
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 5:37 AM
To: Barry
Subject:

Hi Barry ,the baby is 100 % , we are counting our blessing,
and Donna is holding her own, so things our starting to look up
love Mom

Lots of bad news.

My sister-inlaw delivered a baby two weeks premature. There were complications and she needed a c-section to remove the baby. The baby came out flatline but is now alive and in an incubator. My sister-inlaw is not doing well. Her kidneys are shutting down and her womb won't shrink back to normal.

Steven is having a worse time. His step-mother died in a car accident. Also, he is in L.A. packing and moving his brother and nephew to Seattle. Last night when I called he started to cry. He said his brother is addicted to crystal meth and has run out of money. They were living in horrible conditions.

Damn it. I wrote a nice long post but Blogger ate it. To recap.

Saturday C2 and I finished the wook work on the deck.

Sunday I went out on the boat with Mac and Joe. We ran out of gas. Mat's parents helped us out.

Steven is moving his brother and nephew from L.A. up to Seattle. His brother can't hold a job, parties too much and is flat broke. Steven is renting them an apartment up here.

Today is the day all my work is due. My whole team is putting our feature's into the product. It's been a scary day.

At about noon I realized that I had made a small fuck up. My heart stopped. I worked fast and furious to clean up the bug before anyone noticed. I was on the verge of a panic attack the whole time.

Fortunatly I fixed the problem before anyone noticed. Well, someone noticed, but I told them that it was "user error" and not a bug. They believed me.

I'm still working a lot. Steven says he doesn't know me any more. I have been taking the odd evening off.

Last night I went to the annual HRC dinner and auction. It was a swanky dress up event. WST brought C2 and I to the dinner. WST is an HRC Federal club member which means he donated over $1200.00. Good for him.

It's a good cause. But, I didn't really enjoy myself. The seating was weird-- they didn't place C2 and I at the same table. Neither of our table mates were that interesting.

Oh well. I went home early, slept and now I'm back at work.

I have been working 12 hour days since Friday. I'm starting to lose it. I have periods where my eyes just wont focus.

I've been working a lot this week. We have a big deadline on Sept 20th and I have to make up for all the goofing off that I've been doing.

I spent the weekend in Victoria. It was fun and relaxing. Victoria is very quaint. It has very mild weather year around, making it a great place for gardens and retirees. It's in the rain shadow, so even though it's very close to Seattle, it gets much more sun.

We (Matt, Sandy, Mac, Joe and I) left Seattle at 5:30 am to make the 8:15 ferry.

We got to Vic and Steven's place at around 10:30am. It's beautiful. It's farily high up on Mill Hill, so they have a great view.

We didn't do much on Saturday, hung around, had dinner, played cards and went to bed.

Sunday we went to Butchart Gardens. They are very beautiful. It must take a small army of gardeners to keep them in shape.

After that, we went to downtown Victoria, watched an Imax Film and walked around the city. Very cute and touristy.

After that was dinner.

Monday, we got up late had breakfast, goofed off, packed and headed back to the ferry. Unfortunatly the ferry ride back was painful. We were delayed by about 45 minutes leaving. Then, when we got to the other end, another ferry was in our slip so we haid to wait another 20 minutes. Then, it took about an hour to get through customs. bleah.

Last night, Steven's passport and wallet were stolen from his jeep.

He was a bit careless, they were in the front seat and he didn't lock the door. At the same time it doesn't feel good knowing that someone is going around late at night trying car doors.