Monthly Archives: July 2008

Dumb and Dumber

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I took the day off from work today and rode 212 miles with some cop buddies of mine. We had planned this ride for several months. We got people to pledge an amount of money (ranged from US$0.05 to US$1.00) per mile that we rode. My haul in pledges (computed for all the miles ridden today) was $2,819.60. Once collected, that will be donated to a charity that supports families of officers killed in the line of duty.

While riding across our beautiful State of Maryland, including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and almost to what we call mountains way west of the bay, we observed a lot of people on the road, including other guys on motorcycles. I really can’t call some of them “bikers” because they weren’t. Dumb-dumbs wearing shorts and sneakers on a motorcycle are, well, dumb. Then there were the ding-dongs on bikes wearing (off all things), flip-flops. For a short jaunt into Pennsylvania to have lunch in Gettysburg, there were the [deleted] not wearing any helmet at all, since Pennsylvania repealed its mandatory helmet law. My jaw just dropped when I saw a guy on a big Harley like mine with his woman on the back seat riding happy-as-you-please way above the speed limit in shorts, sandals, no shirt, and no helmets. Oh my gosh. What stupidity.

Then I can’t begin to say what I think about the dumb-dumb drivers yakking away on hand-held cell phones, not looking where the heck they’re going. I really wish my state would adopt the cell phone laws that were enacted and took effect in California and Washington on July 1, which ban the use of anything but hands-free cell phones while operating a vehicle, and ban them completely for drivers who are under 18. Eventually… but our part-time legislature that looooooves to yak on their cell phones are hard to convince. I’ll keep workin’ at it.

I was booted as shown, in my Chippewa Firefighter Boots which are sooooo comfortable and they don’t get hot at all. I didn’t wear leather; it was above 90°F (32°C). Long jeans, shirt, and my full-face helmet, which is well vented and quite comfortable.

Not all the motorcyclists on the road were dumb-dumbs. Many wore boots, long pants, a shirt, and a helmet. But there were far too many in sneakers, shorts, and helmet-less. Uggggghhh… sorry, guys, I just can’t abide by the fact that even though the law permits it, some people have to be so thoughtless. Their medical bills cost all of us in higher insurance premiums and tax dollars spent at public hospitals to care for those who are injured and uninsured.

Who am I Now?

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and musing with some friends and my partner… asking myself, “who am I now?”

My life is settled. I have a wonderful partner; regular full-time job that I enjoy; nice home in the quiet suburbs; a Harley (and a 4-wheeled vehicle too); great family, good friends, and a wonderfully accepting and tolerant community. I lead a busy civic life, and enjoy having opportunities to help make others’ lives just a little bit better each day. I am a fortunate man in many respects.

Am I the guy dressed in leather going to a leather bar? Not (any more.) Am I the cowboy entering the gay rodeo? Not (any more.) Am I the guy showing up at the gay pride festival? Not (any more.) But you may find me in boots and leather around my community and at home, and perhaps on my website or a few other places around the ‘net. I may not get out much, but I’m not dead (yet).

I am… the colleague who explains where to meet when the fire alarm goes off… the neighbor who helps you fix that broken window… the friend who commiserates the loss of a pet cat… the Road Captain who leads you on a fun and safe motorcycle ride… the homeowner’s association President who gets the county to repair your broken sidewalk… the civic activist who will be with you at a public hearing on local development issues and who testifies before local and state legislators about issues that will improve our community… the “nice young man” who escorts you to the polls to exercise your privilege to vote or who helps you compute your income tax return and file it… the fundraiser for local charities… the gentleman who organizes volunteers to install safety items in your home, and twists arms of local vendors to supply the materials… the cousin who shares your joy at the birth of your latest grandchild and updates the family tree… the nephew who takes you grocery shopping… the brother, uncle, and great uncle who loves you more than you’ll ever know… and the partner in every sense of the word to his one-and-only man.

Yeah, I guess I have changed, from a guy who played a bit in leather, but uses it now for riding his Harley than going out to leather bars. The former cowboy who if he rode a horse today couldn’t walk for a week. The guy who might sit and watch “CHiPs” re-runs on TV but now is so involved in the community, with friends, and with family, that he doesn’t even know what’s on any more (and doesn’t care).

My focus and interests have changed. Is it maturity? Is it age? Is it accepting that I am fulfilling my parents’ desires for a life fulfilled? I dunno. I muse. I wonder. But you know, I love my life and for that, I thank God, my family, my friends, and most of all, my loving and abiding partner. He really made it all happen for me, more than he will ever know.

Life is short. Wear your boots. Love those you love even more.

The Demise of Frye Boots

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As I was doing my routine review of the pages on my personal website that are viewed each month and tally the results from the logs, I continue to see that for 24 months running, my pages on Frye Boots remain the most visited on my website.

In June alone, there were more than 16,000 unique visitors who viewed one or more “Frye Boot” pages on my website. About 70% of the visitors were referred by a Google search, another 15% by other search engines, and the remaining visitors came from other pages within my own website. That’s pretty good, considering this is just a gay guy’s personal, non-commercial website. But that number is an indication that lots and lots and LOTS of people are searching for photos and information about Frye Boots.

Frye Boots sure have a huge reputation. Those of us “about my age” remember fondly seeing guys in Fryes while in high school, and perhaps getting a pair of our own. Man, I went “Frye-crazy” when I was in high school. There was this cool-looking dude that everyone admired who strolled into class one day in olive Frye campus boots. I swear, the next day, ten more guys had on Fryes!

The classic and unique look, the sound of their clunkly heels on the floor, and the feel of those boots was just something else. Even today, searches for “Vintage Frye Boots” are what’s driving lots of visitors to my website, to eBay, and to other sources on the web.

Pity that Frye as a boot-making company is no more. Yeah, that’s right. You can find the Frye website, and see them advertise their boots. But let me quote from what I wrote on the HotBoots “Tutorial” a while back:

“According to Frye, the Frye Company is the oldest continuously operated shoe company in the United States (Notice the careful choice of wording — they no longer refer to themselves as a shoemaker or bootmaker.) The company was founded in 1863 as the Frye Boot Company in Marlborough (or Marlboro), Massachusetts, and continued to produce their shoes and boots in that location until 2003, when they closed the plant, outsourced bootmaking to other countries, and relocated the company headquarters to Great Neck, New York.”

Yeah, that’s right. Frye boots available today are not made in the U.S. any more — they are mass-produced in China. Guys who have ordered the “new” Frye boots since 2003 have told me often how much they are disappointed with them. The quality is poor (compared with Vintage), the colors fade, the heels have come off, the threads have loosened, the insole is crappy, and the leather is not as thick.

So, if you are interested in Frye Boots, don’t buy new ones. Search eBay using the term “Vintage Frye Boots.” Then look carefully at the photos. Look for a “Frye” white label on the inside of the boot shafts. (Fryes made in the ’70s and earlier had a black label on the inside of the boot shaft.) Ask the seller when the boots were purchased. Don’t be fooled, and don’t buy boots from a company that now is merely a shell for what it once was — raking in money from a name, not the quality we once knew.