Author: Moby

On The Mend

Mending

 

Short and sweet, I’m doing better today. 

The longer version:
For those not in the know, I had shoulder surgery this past Wednesday to repair my collar bone.  I also got a nice metal plate to cover the bone. [1]I can’t wait till I fly again.  TFA came into town (on his birthday no less) to stay with me.  He had already planned to be here however, he deserves a recommendation for sainthood after putting up w/my constant up/down emotions.  That said, I can’t tell you how much better I felt having him here.  He stayed with me thru the surgery and made sure I got home safe/sound. 

I’m sad to say all of the friends who did sit around with me got to see my really cranky side.  Not towards them mind you, and I’m by no means a nasty person but, anyone outside my immediate bubble was an easy target for my anger.  I really am a big baby when I get hurt/sick. 

Anyway, yesterday the pain was almost unbearable.  I pushed my 4 hour limit all day long for taking pain meds.  Moving was almost impossible and trying to function in any capacity was a struggle.

Today was much better.  I was in about half as much pain and moving around did not send pain down my spine.  I got out of the apt a couple times and even found the energy to catch up on my blogroll a bit.

I must say all the well-wishes from everyone has totally blown me away.  I’m not yet able to type out replies to everyone but I want you all to know how grateful I am.  The replies and good thoughts brought me to tears more than a few times.

The doc says I’ll be back at work in about 2 weeks but the working out will have to wait several months.  I’m sad about that but it is what it is. 

Ok, I’ve reached my limit for typing w/o pain, more later and again thank you all so very much for checking in on me and well wishes!

References

References
↑1 I can’t wait till I fly again.

Offline

It took some effort to write this out.

I will be offline for a bit. I was either sideswiped or cut off by a car [1]I don’t really remember for sure today and crashed my bike. I have a fractured collar bone, multiple contusions, abrasions, etc.

I’m banged up but home from the hospital and enjoying the bliss of modern pharmacology. I expect to make a full recovery with time.

I managed to upload a quick photo via twitter today and the support has been overwhelming.

Adam was kind enough to come over and nurse-maid me tonight.

I’ll try to write more when I can.

References

References
↑1 I don’t really remember for sure

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble

Today was a test of my patience. Nothing really awful but several unfortunate happenings found me in a particularly foul mood. A mood which seemed to only worsen as they day went by.

First, I get spurned at the gym by a hottie I’ve been oggling. Not the end of the world but a kick to id.

Then, I find someone has backed into my bike and cracked the side fin. Thankfully, the same fin that has been scratched before. I think they might have actually knocked it over as I discovered later my low beam headlight was out.

Lost my favorite shirt. It could be in the laundry but I don’t think so. I haven’t worn it lately. My own fault, I know.

Work starts off slow. An incident in policy occurs between myself and a field unit. It was a huge safety issue for the field unit. I called him on it and his reply was completely out of line, I made a complaint and management did nothing. I’m not sure why that surprised me. They don’t give a rats ass about us. Anything outside their immediate bubble of responsibility is shunned and avoided at all cost.

Of course, I get a barrage of cranky callers who are insolent and nasty. I almost cursed one lady out. I told another she needed to grow up. Not very civil servant like behavior to say the least.

To top it off, I read some posts on an employee forum whining about how victimized they are and how the [Union] chapter was doing nothing. Well that just set me on fire. I bust my ass to defend my coworkers. I don’t get paid for it and it eats up a lot of free time. And frankly, I’m good at it. [1]not arrogance just confidence in my abilities I’ve gotten numerous punishments overturned and/or reduced. Management knows if I’m involved they better have their ducks in a row or I’m gonna have a field day tearing it apart. Anyway, I wrote a very scathing reply, thought better of it, edited most of the bitterness out.

I’m home now. My mood is foul, my bed is empty, my libidio is up, and I’m not a happy camper. Thankfully, I’m starting a 3 day weekend.

References

References
↑1 not arrogance just confidence in my abilities

Q&A

I thought I’d answer a list of recent questions. [1]Ok, most are recent, some are old and I just haven’t gotten around too yet.

1) Are all your "stories" about your playtime true? Absolutely.  I’m not a slut just sexually very generous. [2]This is probably the #1 question I get asked

2) Now that the MH founder has resigned, will you go back?  Nope.  He still has controlling interest so nothing has really changed in my opinion. 

3) Why can’t I read your hidden stuff? Probably, because you didn’t reply to my email request.  Or, my email might have gotten swallowed by your junk filter. [3]Especially, if you are on aol, hotmail, msn, yahoo..their filters suck big green donkey dicks.

4) Why are you such a dick? Because I can be.  Any questions? lol  (This guy was mad at me over my comments about MH on joe.my.god’s blog.)

5) Where do you find all your plugins?  No single place.  Sometimes I google’em.  However, I often go here first. 

6) Have you ever regretted being gay?  There was a time when I first came out and was still very confused.  Since then? Nope.  Being gay has helped to make me that man I am.  I wouldn’t change that for all the Gold in M. Phelps’ pockets. 

7) Were you in the local paper recently?  Yes but the article was about my work not me.  They just happened to use a stock photo of me.  It also had my full name so I didn’t link it here.  (I’m pretty not stupid. lol)

8) What is twitter? A micro-blogging service.  Look at it as a blog meets random spur of the moment updates.  It is highly addictive if you aren’t careful.

That is all I can think of at the moment. 

Oh and if you use any sort of filtering software for your blog, add 63.243.145.133 to the banned list.  This is the #1 IP I get junk from. 

Time to head off for work. 

References

References
↑1 Ok, most are recent, some are old and I just haven’t gotten around too yet.
↑2 This is probably the #1 question I get asked
↑3 Especially, if you are on aol, hotmail, msn, yahoo..their filters suck big green donkey dicks.

Almost There

I fixed a few of the last remaining annoyances with WordPress upgrade. he Cocomment thing almost never worked right so it was first to go. And since they still haven’t upgraded it to work with Firefox 3, I just figured it is no longer worth it.

I also nixed the poll. I really like the poll and it will come back at some point. However, I need to find one that works w/my version of WP.

Lastly, I fixed the email link. Switching to a widgetized version of sidebars on my blog caused some unexpected errors w/link routing hence, the old email call function not working. It was actually pretty easy to correct and still protect my email from being harvested by bots. You’ll notice the link (lower left) is an image file of my actual email addy and clicking it auto-fills the To field on your email form.

Of course, for some odd reason the Title for the recent comments widget has gone bonkers. I am wondering if there is an errant piece of code throwing it off or just poorly written. Either way, it is a mild annoyance and I will fix it in time.

That is all. We now return you to your regularly schedule blog surfing…

Drip, Drip

I had originally planned to post this sooner but the whole MH scandal pushed it back.  Tsk, tsk.  This post is not to be considered medical advice but more as basic info.  I hope you’ll take the time read it all the way thru. 

Many of you read about my unfortunate trip to the free clinic.  I also had the glorious task of notifying my play buddies of exposure.  Well, they were more than grateful.  And let’s face it, I get around. I know color you shocked right? lol  That said, I take my sexual health

I still get surprised by the number of gay men who do not know about STD’s and HIV. [1]For the record, HIV is an STD but for the purpose of this post I will discuss it as a solo item.  While I’ve beat this horse before I feel it bears repeating after getting a slew of questions via email and twitter.

I hate to sound like I’m scolding but I am.  As sexually active men, you should at least know the basics.  With the ability to play around comes responsibility.  Besides, hiding behind fear and ignorance is so 80’s.  Take it upon yourself to get educated.  It is your responsibility.  Besides the plethora of free info available on the web, you can also get printed documentation thru your doctor or neighborhood City clinic.  Unless you are in a closed monogamous relationship this applies to you. 

If you have sex (with another person) more than once a month you should probably get screened for STD’s once every 3-4 months.  Not everyone will develop symptoms of having an STD so it is very easy to spread without regular checkups.  STD’s, if left unchecked, can cause serious health problems later on in life.

Gonorrhea/Chlamydia/Syphilis are much easier to catch than HIV.  They are also easily treatable in most instances with prescription antibiotics.  No you can’t use the same antibiotic to treat all three.  Most Cities offer some sort of free or low cost alterative for STD/HIV testing so there no excuse other than irresponsibility not to.  Most clinics also offer programs for anonymously notifying your sexual partners of exposure as well.  This means you don’t have to necessarily be the bearer of bad news. [2]I kind of see that as a cop-out but as long as they get notified, who cares. 

As for HIV, things are different.  HIV is much harder to catch but there is also no cure.  And while the number of HIV related deaths has decreased with the advent of better meds, people are still dying. Fortunately, HIV is a rather fragile bug.  Unless you are using injectable drugs (read dirty needles) the primary infection route for gay men is unprotected anal sex. 

And this line, "well he said he was negative" is a bunch of bullshit.  NO ONE is responsible for your health but you. [3]Don’t get me wrong, people should be held accountable for their behavior however, that doesn’t do you any good health-wise if you sero-convert.  And frankly, you should get away from worrying about other people’s honesty and focus more on finding a sexual pattern that works for you.  Regardless of whether a person is poz or neg, stick to the same practices.  This avoids the temptation to engage in high risk behavior in situations where you don’t know or think you know a person’s status.  If you stick to the same behaviors you also tend to worry less. 

It really is simple folks, if you are sexually active get tested on a routine basis.  Pleading poverty or ignorance is not an excuse.  Know the facts about transmission and protection and act accordingly. 

/rant

References

References
↑1 For the record, HIV is an STD but for the purpose of this post I will discuss it as a solo item.
↑2 I kind of see that as a cop-out but as long as they get notified, who cares.
↑3 Don’t get me wrong, people should be held accountable for their behavior however, that doesn’t do you any good health-wise if you sero-convert.