Category: charities

Meanderings

This is my last weekend off before heading back home. I won’t have much time for socializing but I am looking forward to seeing a few friends.

Today was very low key. Had a nice lunch date w/my friend Michael. He was a saint considering he’d just come from having his teeth worked on at the dentist. We took in a movie afterwards. Of course, once again, Tanifa and her husband sat on the same isle as us and proceed to have several conversations on her cellphone. She was quite enough I didn’t have to clown her about it. Annoying nonetheless.

Later, I was off to the Powerhouse for the BCC charity contest. Good contestants again this week so made for a fun evening. (Oh and btw, thanks Tim for telling me you were leaving. I spent 20 minutes rubbing heads in the backroom looking for you. None of them turned out to be you so I left. :-P) There was the total fucking hottie that came in right towards the end. Nice looking guy, 6’2″ bald head, masculine, good shape, and just oozing sexuality. Gave me a few looks but could never tell if he was really interested or just being nosy. Of course, as soon as I managed to extricate myself from the group to walk by and say hi, he left. I was miffed but will survive. *sniffle* Aaaaannyway, I’ll have a few pics to post by Sunday. The photographers alway get shots of me but I never post them. As stated previously, I’m making an effort to add photos to the blog.

B’day Boy

First off, thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes. I”m totally flattered. I woke up to an inbox just bursting w/emails this morning. Started my day off right. If I don’t get back to you quickly, be patient, I have a quite a bit to get thru. *G*

I’ve never really been big on birthdays for myself. My parents never made a production about it as a kid so I guess that has carried over into my adult life. I spent the day w/an old friend that I haven’t seen in a while. We had a falling out of sorts a while back and haven’t been on good terms lately. Very recently, he owned up to some issues that really plagued our friendship and I couldn’t help but forgive him. (I’m sure some of my issues drive him nuts too) So we just spent the bigger part of the day goofing off. We worked out together and then had a nice long lunch. He got some things off his chest that had been bothering him.

I think renewing an old friendship is an excellent way to spend a birthday. Tonight, I’m headed to dinner w/my Tim and then off to the Powerhouse. Its the first preliminary for the 2006 Bare Chest Calendar contest and Tim and I are volunteers. Should make for an interesting evening.

Long Day

Its been a long day. I was off today but had lots of errands planned. I was originally supposed to go to the gym but I’m still feeling a bit down so I wrote that off. Which was probably a good thing as I have a bit of a sore throat again. I keep thinking good thoughts…”get well, get well, get well…..” *g*

So I had a meeting w/the chairman of the Bare Chest Calendar in the late afternoon. He was a bit late, but not overly so, and he did call so no biggie there. We got off to a good start. He has some good ideas for the direction of the website and was very ok w/me changing the code up to fit my needs. The previous person was more into Java and less into html and I’m more into xhtml and CSS. Some of the code was overly complex for simple functions. Or, more correctly, its easier just to write it w/CSS instead of Java. With that in mind, I’m completely rewriting the site. Even better the chairman has heavy graphics experience which is my one lacking area. This just means I won’t be overtaxed trying to keep up w/their demands along w/the other domain and a full 40hr work week.

The other domain, thru my old company, hasn’t even decided on a new logo yet. Until they work out the details, any work on their site is on hold. Again, a bonus for me. Gives me time to focus on one at a time.

I got my days mixed up and I rushed home thinking I was running late for my grocery delivery. After getting home, I realized its tomorrow instead. (I get my groceries delivered via Safeway. Way easier than trying to pack them all into my scooter)

To finish off the day, I had a community meeting at one of the police stations. All of the stations in they city have community meetings once a month to help connect withe the community as well as give the community a chance to express their ideas, problems, complaints, etc. I totally expected it to be a bitch-a-thon. It wasn’t. It wasn’t very busy due in part to the weather being overly cold today. What I didn’t know was this month’s meeting was primarily about my job. Two of the supervisors were also in attendance. You could tell one was a bit nervous about speaking in front of people but she pulled it off well. The other, much like myself, was totally comfortable speaking in front of a large group. All in all it went pretty well.

Not much me time today. Course, tomorrow is wide open. Still haven’t done laundry, dishes, blah blah blah….

Laughter & Tragedy

I know I should probably be writing about the tragedy that happened overseas but everyone else is beating it to death, literally. I find myself trying to shake the bitter cold that has welled up in my heart by focusing on the good things in my life. Life has been a bit rough for me lately but, I still have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and job to keep me in the first two. I definitely know things could be a lot worse for me. I could be left cold, alone, homeless, and afraid after a tidal wave beyond imagining wiped out everything and everyone I loved.

So I did my part by sending clothing, canned food, and even some old gadgets to help those who lost everything and then some. Did you? Take a moment to scramble up just a few pieces of unwanted items and send them

The tragedy of the last week should teach us a lesson. For all our might we are still tiny insignificant flecks of flesh in the grand scheme of things. The even harder truth is that many of those who died could have been saved by a simple warning system. Why is it that we are such a reactive society? I mean time and time again we wait for a problem to bite us square in the ass before we deal with it. You would think as “evolved” and “educated” as we like to pretend we are, we’d be much more proactive about things. Just my two cents.

Good News

My partner is involved in a charity event and today was auctioned off for $4100.00 Apparently, it was the highest single auction bid in the history of this particular charity. The fact that every dollar goes to the charities in question only makes the day that much sweeter. Kudos to him for doing such a fantastic job. (I’ll post the pic as soon as I get the digital camera connectin fixed).