Best

I hit a new personal best at the gym the other day! It felt so good too because it was my chest muscles. hehehe Being a weightlifting typical homo I work out my chest a lot. One, well the obvious and two, I have such a hard time getting my chest muscles to grow.

I’ve you been using the exhaustion method a lot lately and I’m feeling/seeing the results. Instead of doing a prescribed list of set/reps I push heavy on the first set to failure [1]failure is officially the number of reps you can do WITHOUT breaking form, second set lighter weights usually by about 20/40 lbs to failure again, and so on. This method often requires more time in the gym as you need more rest time and going to failure naturally goes slightly longer.

Having recovered fully from my shoulder injury, I’m also doing almost 100% free weights now. I usually alternate between benches and dumbbells. The only problem with dumbbells is I’ve reached a point where it’s hard maneuvering the weights w/o a spotter. lol  Once in position it’s easy but getting to that position can be a hassle and creates a higher risk of injury. Don’t even get me started on the hassle of trying to to decline bench press with dumbbells. Having been at the same gym for basically forever, I know enough guys to reach out and ask for help. Often there are at least a couple guys I know that will pop over and help me when needed. I certainly don’t want to injure myself again so better safe than sorry.

Anyway, it felt good to push past a plateau I’ve been battling for awhile now. I’m not expecting any huge jumps but just being able to say I did it feels great. I’ve also been really good about not blowing off my cardio or leg workouts. I’m not pushing for huge increases on my legs but I wanna make sure they stay in proportion with the rest of my body. I’ve dropped all the extra fat weight I’ve gained lately as well. I’m taking the opportunity to see if I can lean up a little bit more. Naturally, this is a battle against my love for eating good food. [2]The previous batch of homemade cookies and cakes didn’t help none either!  lol  Either way, I’m comfortable where I am but looking a little more trim never hurts.

References

References
↑1 failure is officially the number of reps you can do WITHOUT breaking form
↑2 The previous batch of homemade cookies and cakes didn’t help none either!  lol

Poke

No, not what you’re thinking. However, have you logged in here lately? Moving on.

Being in a multi-device, multi-OS household, am I the only one that sometimes forgets you can’t reach up and tap the screen on your laptop or computer to move the cursor? lolol

I catch myself doing this all the time now. I’ll be on the laptop and trying to move the cursor and without thinking I’ll tap the screen expecting it to jump to my finger. I seem to be doing it more and more lately. I’ve gotten so used to being on the phone or the iPad, I’m totally conditioned to just tapping.

*tap, tap, tap* Is this thing on? 

ARK

Stands for Act of Random Kindness. [1]Totally stolen from Evan Almighty, the movie

cookiesI recently helped a friends sister with tips on how to get a job as a dispatcher. She happens to be in a different state but they utilize some of the same testing services we use here. I originally thought she was applying locally but whatever. lol  I gave her my best advice on what I know based on how we hire. Basically, be yourself, answer honestly not what you think they want to hear, be polite, and dress appropriately. Not that hard but you’d be surprised how many folks miss the last two.

She got the job and sent me this lovely container of homemade cookies and cakes! I was really surprised she went to so much effort but it was very sweet, literally. lol I’m sure it wasn’t cheap to the mail them and I was truly touched. Of course, I’m already half-way thru the whole container. lol I set some out for the ginger [2]my new/old roommate but he hasn’t been around much this week. I’m sure once he sees them he’ll help me polish’em off.

It just goes to show, sometimes the smallest thing can mean something huge to someone else. It took me all of 5-10 mins to share my views on the subject. IMHO we should all strive to help others and do good in the world. If we did, I honestly think the world would be in much better shape today. I know from my perspective it has paid off time and time again. Karma if you will or just plain good will being returned to you.

Just a thought…

References

References
↑1 Totally stolen from Evan Almighty, the movie
↑2 my new/old roommate

Attract

I normally don’t post hottie pics here but I figured once in awhile wouldn’t hurt. lol I stumbled over this pic somewhere recently and it sort of grabbed me. In a word, the guy is hot.  I have no idea who he is or where he is from but he certainly got my blood pumping. The photo is obviously some sort of production shot which is often a minus in my book but moving on. 

I think I’ve mentioned here on occasion I don’t have a set type. I like guys that are lean all the way up to muscle bears. Blond, brunette, hairy, smooth tall, short, it all depends on the total package to me. Some qualities on one guy that get me hot & bothered do nothing for me on another guy. I like this guy’s overall appeal. The smile/snarl grabbed me right away and pulled me in. lol  His sexy stare and overt sex appeal is obvious and I find that alluring. The slightly erotic rub of the nipple coupled with the stare and snarl just polished the pic off in my opinion. The body is great if a tad too perfect but still very inline with the obvious intent and look of this guy. [1]A topic of another time I’m usually not a fan of Mohawks but even that works for him in this pic.  Oh and the other shot of his backside I didn’t post certainly did wonders for my afore mentioned blood flow. hehehe

I’m not sure why I felt the need to stop and post this. I just liked his look and decided to give it a go. I’m actually envisioning what he looks like not all done up. What I imagine him to look like in real life is actually more appealing to me.  I bet his less than perfect polish in real life gives him the final humph that would make me wanna grab him and throw his ankles over my shoulders.

Happy weekend guys! 

References

References
↑1 A topic of another time

Vet

Cooper survived his first vet visit last week since coming to live with me. I’ve been putting it off as long as I could to avoidcoopervet the anxiety I thought it would cause him. He got left at a animal shelter/hospital and I was worried he would think the same thing was happening all over again. Dogs have long memories and bullies are especially known for theirs.

Cooper knew the moment I opened the door where we were. Be it the smell, the look, or a combo of both he immediately got anxious. He kept getting between my legs while I was walking and would occasionally whine. While we were sitting in the waiting area he refused to sit anywhere but partially laying on top of me. I soothed, petted, and reassured him with a loving tone in the hopes he would understand. I was almost in tears at the very idea that he thought I could leave him. To this day, it is beyond me how anyone could abandon an animal capable of so much unconditional love.

Anyway, to his credit he did better than I expected. While very much on his guard, he calmed down after we got in the vet’s office and he got treats and attention. Having done such a good job with Spike, I figured I could trust the SPCA clinic with Cooper’s care. He has had some reoccurring skin infections and I needed an expert opinion. I put it off as long as I could but it was time.

Anyway, I explained to the vet why he was anxious and she immediately begin to help sooth and calm him down. She rubbed him and got him to touch her with his paws, which is usually a dog’s way of showing trust. I’m continually impressed with the veterinary services offered by our local SPCA. They do such a wonderful job. The vet was very thorough with her questions for me and her examination of him.  She wasn’t rushed, answered my questions, and had obviously treated a bulldog before as she ruled out a couple different brands of meds right away.

In the end, she prescribed some antibiotics for his skin infection. We both thought his skin problems were related to his allergies. I’ve since put him back on Benadryl at a slighter higher dose, hence the picture of him almost zonked out. lol  I took him off of it originally as I didn’t know what effects, if any, it might have on him. The vet said he could tolerate it w/no problems and it would help keep him from getting reinfected. Bullies are often prone to skin problems so it wasn’t a surprise for either of us. I also got his heartworm meds refilled. While he doesn’t spend much time with other dogs, I still want to prevent him from ever getting heart worms. It is very hard to get rid of after the fact vs 1 pill a month prevention.

As for taking his meds, well that has presented a challenge. Normally, I just use the pill snacks, which is just a little treat hollowed out so you can insert a pill. The antibiotics must give off a smell because he absolutely will not eat them. Knowing how much he loves cheese, I wrapped his meds up in a small piece and he gobbled them down right away. Problem solved. hehehe

I took the day off from work and spent the rest of the day with him. I was kinda having a headache already so it worked out. He got to nap in the bed with him while I napped. We went to the park for a romp and I generally spent a lot of time showing him affection. By bedtime, he was perfectly settled down again.

I’m hoping next time we have to go to the vet he won’t associate it as a bad thing anymore.  

Upgrades

I was on day shift all last week for meetings with our primary software vendor. We are in the beginning stages of upgrading our software. While with the same vendor, the new system is built new from the ground up [1]new as in newer than we have now but still mature as a product and in many ways fundamentally different from what we have now. These type of upgrades occur only a few times in the life of a call-center. With emergent technologies, it is a necessary upgrade. We must do this or jump to a whole new vendor which would be a whole a lot more money than just an upgrade. And a new system is always rough on the end users. lol

The process itself wasn’t bad albeit a bit tedious at times. I had to flex my hours for the week to accommodate the vendor schedules. While a hassle, not the end of the world and well worth it considering the impact this will have on myself (and others) as the end users. Only 2 big surprises so far. The first surprise was a functionality problem. The new system while more robust created a more tedious format for one of our daily (and constantly repeated) functions. The architecture of the new system would not allow a fix no matter how much money we might have thrown at them. We were upset because this was not properly demonstrated during the initial investigative phase. Needless to say this caused some tense conversations. My big boss happened to be in the meeting at the time and was also not amused. But, while unfortunate and most definitely annoying, it was not a deal breaker. It does mean some training issues are involved and some headaches for the end users for the first few months.

The second surprise came from a sub-vendor regarding hardware upgrades and would be a total deal breaker. The software to control the hardware had to be modified and the modifications were just not going to work for us. The sub vendor was a bit miffed and seemed completely at a loss that what they had designed wouldn’t work for us. It’s always funny watching folks who don’t routinely use the software they create get frustrated when the users don’t like it. There are certainly two sides to that coin but at the end of the day the user-base should be happy, or at the very least still be able to do everything they need to do. In this scenario, it just so happens some of SF’s daily operations are unique and created a conflict. Naturally, the fix requires more than just some drop-in code. The interface will have to be almost completely rewritten. From my perspective, I see it as poor programming as the issue deals with API calls and they wrote an interface with no flexibility. It was all or nothing and as-is, it was nothing for us. lol The good news is the vendor wants the contract bad and will bend over backwards to make it work within the budget constraints. Granted some money issues will be discussed but that is way above my pay-grade. I think we’ll end up with a decent fix.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bitching or even unhappy. I’m actually glad I got to be part of the process. Being a bit technology-inclined I had a higher-knowledge base to work from. And while I may not have understood some of the hardware terminology, I was never once lost in the process. Both my coworker and myself pointed out some real issues along the way and the main vendor was very responsive to our needs.

In the end, the project will probably remain on budget but just barely and there will be some serious code re-writes to accommodate what we need. The rewrites are going into the base code which means less headaches anytime a system patch or small upgrade is put out. As for us, there will be some definite training issues and adjustments but overall the upgrade will make life easier for us. The project won’t go live until early 2014 so still plenty of time to hammer out the details.

I was very happy my boss included us because often times a lot of very important decisions get made about software w/o the end-user being consulted. Our input helped avoid some major problems that would have been over-looked otherwise. This of course, saves us a lot of grief being stuck with a product that only partially meets our needs.

References

References
↑1 new as in newer than we have now but still mature as a product

Think

Someone emailed me awhile back asking what I thought my foster mom would have thought of me being gay.

The truth is I don’t know. My foster mom died when I was young and I hadn’t reached a point where I could articulate what was different about myself. I’d hope that she would have been more accepting than my dad was. Granted, my step-mother had a huge part in his eventual explosion over it but still. I’d hope that she would have accepted me even if she didn’t understand.

I’d like to think that, like me, she figured out pretty quickly I was different. Maybe not on a conscious level but mothers are often more attune to such things. Even as I child, I knew something was up, just not what. Spending a lot of time with me, I’d assume she had a clue. Having never known my mom in an adult capacity, I have no idea what her feelings on the matter were. I can’t for the life of me ever remember her using the F word. That could just be I was too young and the memory didn’t stick or it could be that she just didn’t use it. I only remember her thru a child’s eyes and that is a very different view. I don’t remember her ever really disparaging anyone, which gives me hope she would have been more understanding. While I was her only adopted child, she never treated me differently. And if she did know, it never showed.

So dear reader, I don’t know the answer to your question but I am optimistic about it.

Move

So Apple guy moved out this past weekend. He moved into a temporary place until he decides if he is moving back to Texas. We’ve been separated for awhile but have still been living together as he was having a hard time finding a stable job.

Anyway, I think the move is good for both of us. For myself, I’ll miss him but I need a break for a variety of reasons, the biggest being finances. His financial struggles often left me picking up the slack. I won’t lie, it’s been rough & I’m broke. lol I have a new roommate setup and he has had a stable job for awhile now so hopefully I can slowly recover. *crossed fingers & toes*

It’s odd being both sad and happy someone is gone. I will miss him and I obviously still care about his well-being. There is sense of comfort from being around someone you know well that is gone now. And while he certainly drives me nuts at times, the apt feels empty now. Even though we haven’t been together for awhile, I still want the best for him. On the flip side, the financial strain has gotten to me and I started to resent him for it. Now that he is out I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest.

Anyway, he reminds me a lot of myself before I moved to SF. I was pretty much in the same boat. I was supporting myself but just barely and I didn’t have any real direction. Moving to SF was a big gamble for me. Luckily, it paid off. I hope the same for Apple guy. I hope he finds a spot to call home and gains the independence he needs. The boy is very smart so no matter where he goes I know he’ll land on his feet. He is currently leaning heavily towards moving back to Texas. His support base is there and he just seems to really miss it.

I’d like to think I learned a lot from our failed LTR. There were some heavy realizations that hit after our breakup. [1]More on these later. So ends another chapter in my life. I’m moving forward, wounds and all, with a positive outlook. I know I’ll recover. It isn’t a matter of if but when.

References

References
↑1 More on these later.

Comment

Interesting factoid. Ever since I commented on the other site a while back about the reparative therapy guy preaching how he wasn’t really cured of ‘the gay‘ but was turning his life over to [insert deity of choice] my junk mail has taken on a very ‘christian’ theme. lol Co-weenky-dink or God’s gentle people being a bit bitter? You decide.

Either way, all new comments get held till I can log in to review them. This catches about 99% of the wackos. Sometimes, I read thru them just to get a good laugh.

On a side rant, some of the s p @ m m e r s are getting creative. Some of the comments are relevant to the post but the outgoing links are to junk sites. lol Don’t they know I check ‘sheet‘ before it’s approved? lol

Casa

Jimbo was doing updates recently on the many places he has lived all over DC. It got me to thinking about all the places I’ve lived in SF. It was certainly a bit of a roller-coaster ride the first few years. I finally settled at my current place but not before some interesting bounces.

Upon moving here I stayed with a friend in the SOMA [1]south of Market area for the first couple months. He had a small 1 bedroom live/work space. I got a birds-eye view of what some of the seedier areas of the city were like back then. Anyway, after the first month we kinda got on each others nerves a bit being in such a tiny space. He stuck by me though. I tend to land on my feet so it wasn’t long before I’d found a new place.

I found my 2nd place based on a referral from a friend of a friend sort of thing. It was in the Duboce Park area which is close to the Castro. It is a very pretty and enjoyable neighborhood. It was half a block from the park, and much like my current place, walking distance to virtually everything. Sadly, my housemate was a bit cray-cray. Seriously, unknown to just about everyone he had started succumbing to AIDS-related dementia and would forget whole conversations. He would often go on and on about drama with previous roommates and how hard it was for him to get them out. I’d made it clear if things didn’t work out he wouldn’t have to fight with me to go, I’d just go. He would of course forget all of that and start over the next month. While the place itself was nice and convenient, I couldn’t handle the weekly episodes. Not to mention, the rent seemed to be a different price every month. Ironically, he insisted on paying me to move out. lol It worked in my favor as money was tight and his contribution covered my deposit for the new place.

Making a jump, I landed out in the Sunset which is as close to suburbia as SF can possibly get. I was close to the beach but that side of the city tends to stay foggy a lot. With the fog came the chill too. At that time I still had my scooter and driving over Twin Peaks at night was a chilling experience. I lived in the garage apt of a house being rented out by a very nice straight couple. The rent was good and the roommates were great. I just hated living so far out and the chill was miserable. After about 8 months I opted to move inwards again.

Making another jump, I landed just on the edge of the Tenderloin very close to work. I lived in a high-rise building. It was ok for the price. The amenities were nice, especially the jacuzzi! I still miss having that hot steaming jacuzzi to come home to at night. lol I could also walk to/from work as well. Not being rent-controlled, eventually the price got to be a bit much.

It’s at this point I had a very short stay in a coworkers vacant house. He practically begged me to move in. Unfortunately, the day I moved, he decided to change all the rules and ask for a ton more money than we had agreed. While I could have fought it and stayed, I bounced back to the high-rise building for awhile, albeit a different apt.

I then found my current place thru a blog buddy. While not perfect, it’s pretty damn close. I’m close to the hood, walking distance to most everything I need and live on a quiet street. I’ve been in my current place for over 6 years now. If it were just a tad bigger, I would consider it perfect. I get along with all my neighbors. [2]even the russians with the screaming baby I’m still close to a big park and there is also a nice dog park for Cooper just a few blocks away as well.

Overall, I consider myself very lucky. Housing in SF can be a real pain. The rents and the demand are high so this creates a variety of problems. You could show up to an open house and easily find 20-30 other people vying for the same place. You can also find yourself in bidding wars if you are dead set on a certain place. I’ve been lucky enough to avoid all that. I found a great place, my rent isn’t bad considering the market rates. My landlord is a pretty good guy too. Short of someday buying my own place or leaving SF, I probably won’t move again. Once you find a good place you hold on to it!

References

References
↑1 south of Market area
↑2 even the russians with the screaming baby