I’m also not hosting anyone this year either for GHHD2. I think some of my excitement often comes from out of town friends who come up for the event. Seeing them excited gets me excited. Its like living in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, after awhile it just gets old. I do have a couple of friends coming up though. Chris aka Wildcuddler from twitter and the adorable Andy, both from Austin, are gonna be here.

I was originally supposed to go up to TN this weekend to see my younger brother while he is up there. But he was having drama so I decided against it. I was hoping to meet another famous blogger but he has his hands full with other stuff at the moment. Maybe after I’ve adjusted back to my old schedule, I can plan again. I have several more opportunities coming up before year end anyway.

While not unexpected or surprising, my blogging has suffered too. I don’t much mind as it ebbs and flows like everything in my life but it is a goo indicator. And you’ll get a kick out of this part, even my naughty time has suffered. Less trips to bb’s, less shenanigans at the gym, and even less online hookups. Relatively speaking, I’ve practically become celibate lately. lol If that doesn’t shock you, nothing will! Frankly, the boy has been the only real consistency in that area at all lately.

I’ll be honest, I’m irritated with myself. I didn’t realize how much my schedule was stressing me and seeing it now makes me angry. I really didn’t have a choice the last time as I got bumped off my days off but I did this time and I can’t believe I almost stayed on my current shift. What the hell was I thinking? The other irritating part is my vacation slots have to be planned a year in advance² and I’ve totally blown thru two of them already!

Lesson learned. Being off this week has been a god-send. And even though I haven’t done jack shit, it feels so good. I can slowly feel my energies returning and am looking forward to getting back on the shorter shifts come Monday.

1. Up your Ally street fair, formerly known as Dore Alley
2. We sign up once a year for all of our allotted vacation slots. We can take extra unplanned time but it is based on staffing levels which fluctuate wildly.

I had a good time in Chicago. Everyone seemed dramatically surprised I wasn’t staying the whole weekend for IML.¹ Well, I didn’t go for IML, I went to see the boy. I actually booked time off so I could go, but since I have yet to replace the roomie, I couldn’t really justify spending the money. Well, free airfare and a very inexpensive hotel room made it worth while.² The entire trip cost me less than 400 bucks.

I did hit a snag when I arrived at the B&B. First, there was no one to meet me. I had to go two doors down to a bar for my keys. Not the end of the world, B&B’s typically don’t have staff running onsite 24/7. The bartender was polite enough but kept getting customers and I stood there for about 15 minutes just waiting. Then, the outside door key to the hotel didn’t work. The final straw was when he opened the door to my room. The room was so tiny the rickety full-size bed totally dominated the space. Even worse, the room was smack in the middle of the living area, shared a wall with the office, and the bathroom was two doors down the hallway. Oh no no no, uh-huh, no sir, no-ma’am, no siree-bob, this would not do! I visualized my plans of some quality quiet time with the boy going down the toilet.

At this point, I can feel my temper start to rise. I take a few breaths to calm down. Its probably a character flaw but I am quick(er) to anger when something I pay for is not to my liking, especially when I feel swindled. And I definitely felt swindled. I was promised a queen or king bed with a bathroom inside the room. I was also specifically told the room was secluded and sizable. I managed to swallow my anger long enough to politely ask to have the innkeeper call me as ‘soon as she was free‘. He clearly got the message. My phone rang within 10 minutes, she was on her way back to the inn to meet me.

By the time she arrives, I’ve ticked off everything wrong with the room and was fully prepared to check out and go hunting for another hotel. She starts off with “well, I can’t always guarantee accommodations when you book thru a 3rd-party“. I’m thinking to myself, “3rd-party? How the hell was I supposed to know it was a 3rd-party? The guy said it was a ‘sister hotel’ and was intimate with the specs“. I’m literally close to boiling at this point. I don’t know if she was just being nice or could see the seething storm building on my features but she quickly offered to try and accommodate me. I’d already taken the opportunity to peruse the rest of the inn and wasn’t overly unhappy. It was pretty much as promised except for the god-awful room. Anyway, she finally gets into the computer and says there are two rooms left, one on the 3rd floor next to the kitchen and the suite. I immediately said, ‘show me the suite‘. It was “garden level” which means below ground for those not into the lingo. The room was horribly decorated in Cubs colors but was very spacious, had a king size bed, included a bathroom, and was definitely secluded. I didn’t need to see the other room, I took it. To her credit, she ate the cost difference minus a $50.00 service charge. Problem solved. I felt my anger evaporating as I quickly settled in.

The boy arrived an hour later. I’m sure I don’t need to fill-in the details from there. *eg* The deal was I got Thur/Fri with him and then he spent Sat/Sun with his friends at IML. Besides being a very sweet man, his eagerness to please was very intoxicating. The twist here is I didn’t feel the need to use that to my advantage. Just the contrary, I mixed my natural aggression, a lot of tenderness, and a little teasing together for a mixture he just could not seem to resist. heh heh heh Yeah, I’m having fun with it and so is he.

Sadly, the two days flew by and before I knew it, it was time to go our separate ways. My flight Saturday wasn’t until late so I took the opportunity to take in some of IML. Chris (my buddy Wildcuddler from twitter) was there so we hung out, had lunch and surfed the waves of men at the leather mart. It was good to see him and hang out. He did his best to get me to stay longer. I was tempted but that would cost significantly more than I wanted to spend.

After lunch, I had to make my way to the airport and head for home. The trip was totally worthwhile and I had a great time even if it was short.

1. International Mr. Leather
2. God love my friends for hooking a brother up!

I typed this at 30,000 feet on my way to Chicago. The flights were very smooth with one interesting occurrence. Flying on a friend’s buddy pass, I had to hop from SF down to SD and then a connecting flight from SD to Chicago. No biggie as I’ve flown standby plenty of times and more than familiar with the process. Anyway, the first flight was short and sweet and I slept right thru it. The second flight looked to be iffy at best and I’d already assumed I wouldn’t make it. Luck seemed to be on my side though. I made the 2nd flight w/o any hiccups. It was a very full flight but I managed to keep my seat. Even better, since it was physically the same plane I’d just flown in on, I didn’t have to reboard and got to nab a much nicer seat in the exit row.¹ A very sweet young girl from the OC ended up taking the lone seat next to me. She was friendly and we chatted awhile before settling into our own little realms of preoccupation, her on her mobile device playing Sudoku (spelling?) and me on my laptop.

Now here is where it gets a little interesting. Half way thru the flight, I suddenly feel a tap on my shoulder. One of the flight attendants (a very Barbie-esque woman) was telling me a “gentleman wants to buy you a drink”. I must have given here a dirty look as she repeated herself but softer. Being pulled from my distraction, I was a little perplexed but agreed not wanting to be rude.² After my drink arrives I try to discover who it is that bought it for me. The stewardess said he wanted to remain anonymous. Of course, this drove me nuts. I kept turning my head around to see if I could catch someone staring or eyeballing me. There were definitely some hotties on the flight I would have been happy to make into new friends. A random woofy guy here and there, several army boys in their fatigues, and one very striking fembot.³

Sadly, I never figured it out. None of the afore mentioned guys gave me a second glance thru the entire flight. I’m still scratching my head as to why someone would send me a drink but not want to at least be recognized. I tried to convince the flight attendant to tell me but she held fast and clearly I couldn’t get her alone on the plane to try and charm it out of her.

Oh well, I was very flattered. She did say right up front it was a guy so I can only assume he was gay. Mysterious man, if you are out there and on the off-chance read my blog, thanks for the drink bud. Nothing goes down quite as nice as free liquor!

*

I was about to add more here at the end but the boy just rolled over and something “came up”.

1. Exit rows always have more leg room. duh!
2. Hey, I grew up in a trailer, you don’t refuse free shit, especially liquor! lol
3. a very feminine guy