Monthly Archives: January 2009

Motorcycle Boot Guide

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It is nice to have friends in the boot world. BootGuyOH and WescoBear did me a big favor and reviewed the latest tutorial that I wrote, a Guide to Motorcycle Boots. These guys are fellow booted bikers, and know their boots like I do. I give each of them a very warm and public “THANK YOU” for their help, which improved this Guide.

What inspired me to create this Guide? I was noticing that a number of people were entering keywords into internet search engines looking for “best motorcycle boots” or “motorcycle boot reviews” and things like that. Some would end up on my website. Then one guy a few weeks ago sent me a question about motorcycle boots and which ones were “best.” I gave him a rather long answer, then thought to myself, “that information should be retained on my website so I won’t have to repeat it again if someone else asks, and perhaps it would be helpful to others.” Thus, once more, was borne a “Guide.” I have a half-dozen of these types of Guides on my website now. I will wait a few weeks to see if search engines do a better job of directing people who have questions about motorcycle boots, their style, comfort, design, durability, and cost to my website.

Meanwhile, visit my Guide to Motorcycle Boots. I hope you find it helpful.

An Historic Day

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One can’t help but be moved by the peaceful transition of power as our 44th President took the oath of office.

I had a great view of the activities, but from multiple screens in a huge room where operations were being monitored. I enjoyed that, actually. I sat there, Dehner booted, with a bunch of (very young) civilian law enforcement guys and military dudes, watching events unfold. Everything remained peaceful, and all visitors — gazillions of them — were able to enjoy the events from the swearing-in of the President to the parade, as late as it got started and lasted.

Some folks on local news were complaining about how cold it was and that they thought they could endure it, but decided to turn back and go home. But about every five minutes, there was yet another teary-eyed person on the news saying that they never thought “this” could happen — the election and assumption of the Office of the President of the United States by someone who is African-American.

Those gathered where I was applauded at some major points in the President’s Inaugural speech. Some of them also applauded at Prez 43, which I could not do. I didn’t boo him (as was reported that some people observing the ceremonies did), but I sure was happy to see him go. And especially, to see that evil Deputy Prez get into a limo and be driven away.

I am pleased that as far as I could tell, our Metro system didn’t collapse, though there was one major problem when a woman fell or got pushed onto the tracks during the height of the morning travel time. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured badly and was rescued by a visiting cop. The rest of the reports indicated that the Metro functioned — so I eat my words when I predicted its failure the other day.

I am happy. I am very happy. Same is true for my partner, most of my family, friends, and neighbors, as well as most other Americans today. Let’s look forward to working together for a better tomorrow.

Watching

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Today, on the date of the historic inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, I am working on a special project, where I will be observing the coordinated and planned response actions of our fine law enforcement, fire departments, and other emergency response officials as they strive to provide for a safe series of events in Washington DC today. I will be able to watch today’s ceremonies on large TV screens, but (fortunately) not be out in the throngs of people.

This message was posted, actually, before I got there, but was scheduled to appear on this momentous day. I’ll write more about how it all went tomorrow. Let’s just hope that the only problems that occur today are minor inconveniences due to crowds and cold.

Watch history, savor the moment, and let’s work together to make things better. Frankly, I am sick and tired of the “terror” era, where this past President and his Deputy President did so much damage to our country in so many ways. I will be jumping for joy when I see that guy get on his helicopter, go to Andrews, get on a plane, and scram back to Texas. I wonder if they have a vault in Wyoming to stick the Deputy Prez in? Let’s hope we’re completely rid of the most dangerous person ever to serve in government in my lifetime.

We can make things better, we can rebuild our economy, we can reconstitute many damaged international relationships, we can bring our boys home, we can move on… one step at a time. Let’s do it!

Day of Service

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In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy, today was declared a national day of service in the United States. My community had a major program going to support it. My partner and I contributed to this event by collecting non-perishable food items for a local food bank. Unfortunately, since the economy is so bad, donations to the food bank have fallen off considerably.

Last week, I made a few phone calls, and got my legion of “elder buds” organized to donate some canned goods. I asked them to leave them at their door and we would come by to pick them up today. By yesterday evening, I had logged over 100 places to stop. Fortunately, I invited a couple of friends who offered to help pick up the donations since there’s no way I could have made all those stops myself (even with my partner’s help).

My partner has a unique relationship with a major grocery chain. We asked them to help out, and that they did. We collected a bunch of boxes of perfectly good but unsaleable food, including canned soup, boxed foods and cereals, and a lot of other stuff. We were there at 6am this morning, and we had to come back for a second load since we couldn’t pack all of it into my truck. We dropped off the second load to the food bank by 8am.

Then we came home and rested for a bit. By noon, off we went again. My friends had collected about half of the donations on my list, and met us for lunch at a nearby café. The list seemed to have expanded. They told me that they showed up at one place, and found bags from nearby residences waiting as well. When they thought they might have one bag to pick up, they had 3…or 5… or in one case, 10.

My partner and I found the same. Everywhere we went, we found many more donations than expected. The generosity was overwhelming, and very gratifying. The look on the faces of the people at the food bank was great to see.

We went back and forth, between pickups, dropoffs, and home in between. All-in-all, the Food Bank folks told us that we hauled in over 2,100 items. I’m happy to have been a part of providing essential service to our community. But man oh man, am I BEAT!

Oh, what did I wear? Tall Wesco Haness boots, brown leather jeans, and layers up top (t-shirt, flannel shirt, sweater, coat). It was cold out, but doing all that work made me sweat a bit, so I was constantly taking off my jacket, removing a layer, and putting it back on. Oh well, I was comfortable. (And nope, no one said a thing about the leather jeans or the boots, except one cute little old lady who said, “those boots look big. I mean really big!” I just laughed, and thanked her for her donation).

Hangin’ Out In Full Leather

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I had a great Sunday. My partner and I woke slowly, snuggled warmly together. We probably cuddled and talked for an hour before I got up, dressed in full leather, and went out to get the Sunday paper. Then I prepared a great Cialda brunch (waffles), with all the trimmings. I love to prepare a big Sunday brunch when I can. (Of course, “brunch” for us is about 9am, but that’s really late — for us!)

And yeah, there I am in full leather. Why not? After all, it is “leather weekend” in DC, and I just enjoy wearing it. (And no, that’s not my hair falling in my eyes; it’s a bad angle of the camera, catching something on the wall behind me. My partner isn’t much of a photographer, but he tries.)

After brunch, I went to the grocery store to buy some stuff we needed for today’s culinary creations, and also to get some things for some elderly friends. I wore my Chippewa Hi-Shine boots, side-laced leather jeans, leather shirt, and my Taylor’s leather cop jacket. No one — none of my elderly friends, no one at the store, not one of the six neighbors and fellow community activists I spoke with — no one nowhere — said a thing about all the leather. They just asked me questions, talked about various community issues, the weather, and so on. No one cares about me being in leather.

My favorite grocery store staffer asked me if the boots were new, and if I were riding my Harley (not — still too cold!) I saw a guy coming into the store as I was leaving, and we both said about the same time, “nice boots!” I also gave him a very hearty smile as I said that, and he returned the same. But he had two kids in tow, so I don’t think we were going to stop to chat about boots.

When I got home, my partner and I spent a quiet afternoon making pasta. Once again, we made cheese ravioli. It’s easy to do, but takes some time. With nothing else on my plate since my civic duties get a week’s break due to the Presidential inauguration, we got busy preparing one of our favorite meals. And it tasted great, too! Yum-ee!

All-in-all, it was a great day on Sunday.

Hassled – Updated

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My partner and I braved the bone-chilling cold and took Metro to DC and walked to the Green Lantern bar on Saturday afternoon to attend the Hotboots party held during MAL weekend.

Unfortunately, a bartender at the venue told me that “cameras weren’t allowed.” This was after I had been there for an hour and had taken about 30 photos of guys in boots — with their permission. Nonetheless, the bartender was afraid that someone seeing a camera flash might scare him away, and thus he doesn’t want to lose business. (That’s what he told someone else who tried to reason with him about his self-imposed rule and his crappy attitude.)

What the bartender didn’t see was how many guys entered the bar and left because they didn’t have ID with them. The bar enforces a 100% ID check. If you don’t have acceptable ID with you, you’re turned away. So the bar lost a lot of business, and I doubt anyone else would leave just because they saw a camera flash. And sure, if anyone told me that they didn’t want their photo taken, I would not do that.

UPDATE: A buddy who is a citizen of Australia told me that he tried to come to the party, but got there a little late. When he presented his Australian identification, he was turned away. He was told that they only accept passports from people who do not have U.S. driver’s licenses. What a crock of bull. That rule is self-imposed by the Green Lantern. I know from working with the various local police agencies that foreign official identification that shows proof of birth date is acceptable. The nut-case at the bar invented his own version of what is acceptable, or not, despite what the local police say. How awful!

There is banter on public internet boards about my problem with taking photos at the bar. One person suggested that due to observations about ongoing problems with the District of Columbia, that perhaps MAL should be moved out of DC to another venue. That ain’t gonna happen: MAL is “owned” by the Centaurs, which is a club based in Washington, DC. Of course they will hold their signature and money-making event in their home town. They’re not going to move all of MAL just because one bartender down the street has a crappy attitude and someone who wasn’t even registered to attend MAL had a problem.

Further, what we have to remember is that the Hotboots party is held at the same time as MAL, but isn’t sponsored by MAL itself. Without an official connection between MAL and this party, no one from the Centaurs will attempt to persuade this bar to change its self-imposed rule.

Instead, I’ll do this:

  • Vote with my boots and not patronize this bar. I’m sure they could care less if I don’t show up any more. But if enough people don’t patronize a bar whose representatives have “attitude problems,” then perhaps they’ll get the message (or close due to lack of business).
  • Remember that cameras aren’t allowed in this bar. Okay, fine, that’s their rule. I don’t have to go somewhere if I can’t do what I enjoy, which is to take pictures of guys in boots.
  • Make this the last time that my partner and I will go into DC during MAL weekend. As I have said before, we’ve long lost interest in going to that event.

UPDATE: I seriously recommend for anyone to avoid going to the Green Lantern bar. While there are few establishments in Washington, DC, that are “leather friendly,” this bar has proven to be among the most unfriendly-to-anyone place there is, and does not deserve patronage. Close the damn joint. My opinion, but it’s just awful, awful, awful, and the gay community should either force a change in management’s narrow-minded operations, or just cause it to shut down for lack of business.

Okay, basta. There are lots of other and more worthwhile things to which to devote my time and attention.

Leather Weekend!

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BHDIt’s time for Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend in Washington, DC! Get out your gear, condition it, shine your boots, and come on out! MAL is reported to be the second-largest leather fetish event in the United States, after “International Mr. Leather” (IML) in Chicago. We attended IML in May 2007 — and once was enough. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt and the boots shined.

I used to, once upon a time, look forward to this weekend to hang out with other guys in leather. Now that I’ve been essentially married for more than 15 years, going to fetish events is not something that my partner and I are interested in doing any more.

However, we do plan to go to the Hotboots party today at the Green Lantern, then head home.

I’m sure the guys attending MAL are finding their leathers useful and practical, ’cause it sure has been darned cold! In fact, in honor of this “Leather Weekend,” (and just ’cause I like to wear leather regularly), I’ll be “BLUFfed” up. (For those not familiar, BLUF means “Breeches, Leather, Uniform Fetish”). I will be wearing my leathers all weekend as I go about doing things at home with my hunky partner, and being involved on Monday on a day of community service in honor of Martin Luther King’s legacy.

Life is short: Wear your leather!

Metro Is Going to Fall Apart

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I seldom post two message on one day, but this situation deserved it.

Warning! Warning! The famed DC Metrorail system is going to fall apart!

Presidential Inaugural planners have been worried about how the Metro system is going to be able to handle “crush-loads” (their words) of people — somewhere around 1.5 to 2 million — in Washington DC on January 20. And their worries are not without foundation or experience. Already this week, our Metro subway system has had some trains break down, thus throwing the rest of the system’s schedule way out of whack. Crowds form quickly when even one train goes out of service.

This morning the thermometer at my home read 9°F (-13°C) when my partner dropped me off at our nearby Metro station. (Lucky dawg: he gets to work at home on Fridays). I got on the Metro as usual, and thought perhaps something was amiss when it began to run herky-jerky. It would start, then stop, then start, then stop. Thank goodness I was seated, because the stops were fast and would have caused people to lose their balance if they were standing. (None were — it was very early before typical “rush hour” crowds).

Then the train just stopped… and announcements were made about a train in front of us in trouble. After waiting about 10 minutes, we were made to get off our train and wait on an outdoor station platform. While they made fairly regular announcements, the information was useless. “We’re experiencing a train malfunction” followed by “we regret any inconvenience.” Duhhhhhh! But no substantive, meaningful, information was ever given.

As I waited on that really cold platform, where the wind chill made it fell like it was below zero F (-16°C), I looked around. I wasn’t surprised, but was very sorry for the large number of men standing there without a hat on their head, no gloves, and a silly thin coat or suit jacket. What were these guys thinking??? It’s COOOOOLD out there! Do they expect to remain in a heated area throughout their commute??? People who fail to dress for the weather really put themselves at risk. They worry me a great deal, but I can’t be responsible for irresponsible people.

Fortunately, being the preparedness guy that I am, I was wearing thick wool socks and tall leather-lined Wesco Harness boots (again), long johns, corduroy pants, and on top I was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, thick and lined corduroy shirt, sweater, and my Taylor’s leather jacket with its Thinsulate® lining. I wore a warm ball cap and a biker’s neck warmer and ear muffs and a scarf. Oh, and some thick biker gloves, too. So I was protected from the cold well enough. Just “inconvenienced” as Metro likes to say.

After enduring that cold for about 15 minutes, finally another train on the opposite side of the platform pulled up and we all piled on. I can just imagine how prolonged the residual “inconveniences” will be.

Let me tell ‘ya, if the trains are unable to function during a light Friday rush (at the time I get on the train, it’s never full)… then mark my words: I regret to predict that when the system is tested with unprecedented ridership on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 19 – 20, it’s just going to fall apart. It won’t be able to handle it. One or two trains will go down, then the resulting backups will create chaos.

No way, no how, no no no no no — you will definitely not see me try to venture into Washington DC on those days. Seriously, no wonder most of the locals are leaving town. Leave the pandemonium to the tourists!

Heavy Leather

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I’m sure this title will undoubtedly grab attention from the leather community — those from around the world who visit this blog, and locally around DC who are arriving for Mid-Atlantic Leather. I thought I would post a pic of me in my warmest motorcycle jacket. This Taylor’s Leatherwear Jacket is made of thick cowhide leather (9-10oz), and has a Thinsulate® lining. I definitely require a thick lining with temperatures in the single digits this morning!

This jacket is a traditional motor officer style, and even has a badge holder on the left front. It has great maneuverability when I wear it while riding my Harley. But not in these frigid temps! The bike is warm and toasty in the garage — and like me, is longing for Spring. (Or at least a day above 40°F [4°C]!)

Also shown are my oldest pair of thick leather breeches, which are fitting me again now that I’ve continued to lose weight from eating light meals with smaller portions, giving up those Cokes (ooops, slipped at a meeting the other day, but otherwise, I’m drinking water), and swimming weekends at the University.

This photo is actually one of the first that I posted on my website when I first created it, back in 2005 before having on its own domain.

I’ll be wearing the red-striped leather breeches and this Taylor’s jacket with a newer pair of lug-soled Chippewa Hi-Shine boots to the Hotboots party at the Green Lantern on Saturday afternoon (that is, public transit and weather permitting and provided my ever-antisocial partner still wants to go.) But as I’ve said before, this is the only MAL Weekend event we are going to. Honestly, leather fetish events don’t interest me any more. Been there, done that, got the t-shirts and the boots shined. So many once-a-year leather queens … well, basta. After that, my hunky partner and I will come home and snuggle in our leathers and boots.

Before closing, let me give a special shout-out to a buddy who is celebrating his half-centennial today! Happy Birthday, Robert! May you have a wonderful day, and for those of us who read your blog, we’ll love you with all our hearts.

Tall Boots for Cold Weather

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So like the rest of the United States, the DC area is bracing for the coldest temperatures yet this century. By Friday evening, it it forecast to be in the single digits (F). I know it is colder further north, but it’s all relative.

I am wearing many layers, including a leather vest at work today, and my tall black Wesco harness boots. With corduroy pants that stack nicely on top of them, these boots don’t look so huge.

I can’t wear any additional leather at work — it doesn’t fit the dress code and considering that I have my performance appraisal today, I’m not going to attempt to challenge it (at least for today LOL!)

I will “leather up” more completely when I get home from work. But what will keep me warm is sitting with my wonderful man, holding his hand, and keeping close, then snuggling under the covers when we go to bed. Thank goodness, no meetings tonight!

Oh: the typical DC-area “brain death” or “snow freaking-out” is going on. Most school districts in the area are having a delayed opening because they saw a few flakes of snow this morning. OMG, they’ll never learn. And to think, when I was a kid, I had to trudge up hill (both directions!) for miles through mountains of snow to go to school. Or so it seemed.

Nowadays, all they have to do around here is to predict snow, and the yuppies run to the grocery store to buy everything in sight, whether or not they need it, then put on their tassled loafers, top coat, no hat, no gloves, and feel invincible driving their four-wheel-drive vehicles to work. I just love it around here; seriously, I do. It is soooooo amusing!

Life is short: Wear your boots! (keep warm, and keep smiling among the ditzy-ness!)