Yearly Archives: 2011

Benefits of Wearing Leather Every Day

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As my partner was doing our laundry, he remarked, “there’s less laundry than usual since you have gone back to work and telecommute most days.”

I said, “yep, do you know why?” He smiled, looked at me, then came over and said, “I love to hug my man in leather.”

I wear full leather most of the time when I do not have to go to a meeting or my “real” office. Thus, fewer clothes have to be washed. And continuing with my thread of explaining how we make financial decisions, we do not bring our laundry out to be cleaned. We do it ourselves. Easier, cheaper, convenient. And since we don’t dress up much, we do not wear clothes that would have to be cleaned at a dry cleaner. Okay, there I go again with my “anti-suit” prejudice, as well as my frugality. So be it — I admit to both.

Life is short: wear leather! (and save water by doing less laundry! LOL!)

PS: Now that it is significantly warmer, the days I telecommute may find me just wearing a pair of shorts (no boots, either!) Too warm for leather and it doesn’t make sense to pay for air conditioning just to cool the indoor air enough to make leather clothing tolerable. I’d rather keep the AC off during the day and be (almost) naked. Shhhh… don’t tell the boss that a conference call I was on from home found me in that state. I am so glad (for their sake) that these calls do not have a video component! LOL!

Hey, Bro!

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My twin brother is here!  What a surprise!

He was scheduled to visit and attend a meeting in Washington, DC, in mid-April. The date of his meeting changed indefinitely, so I did not think that I would see him until perhaps this summer. He even posted a reply on this blog yesterday (to throw me off the track).

Meanwhile, his meeting got rescheduled — to begin today — and that big lug didn’t tell me! He just showed up and surprised me yesterday morning!

Yesterday, I was working at home and heard a truck on the ordinarily very quiet street. I peeked out, and saw a DHL truck. That is a freight carrier ordinarily used in Europe. My brother told me in his blog comment to expect something from DHL.

I was in the middle of something, so I finished my thought, saved it, and as I ws getting up to go to the door, the doorbell rang. I thought that it was the DHL driver asking me to sign for a delivery. I opened the door — and there was my twin brother handing me a box. Apparently he arrived about the same time that DHL did, so my brother delivered it personally. What a character, that guy!

Technically, I had the day off work on Monday, but was working anyway to catch up on a backlog due to all that travel last week. However, once my brother arrived, I said, “that’s enough for the day,” and turned the computer off. We caught up, laughed, had lunch (at home) and while waiting for my partner to arrive from his visit to his mother’s home in Pittsburgh, I prepared a home-made lemon meringue pie (my partner’s favorite).

My partner showed up about 2pm. We helped him unpack and settle in. Meanwhile, I baked some potatoes, grilled some fillets, made a salad, and enjoyed dinner with two men who mean the world to me: my beloved partner and my twin brother, my two best friends in the whole world. What a great day!

My brother will use our home as “home base” and commute to his meetings in DC this week. I will enjoy having him around. My partner likes him a lot too, so this is great for all of us.

Life is short: cherish family!

18 Years and Going Strong

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Today marks our 18th anniversary … yep, my beloved partner and I have been joined at the heart for 18 years now, going strong, loving life, and each other.

The tune, “If There Hadn’t Been You” by Billy Dean (released in 1991) makes many points in its lyrics and hauntingly beautiful melody that means much to me, speaks of our relationship, and sounds like what I would say. Seriously, I truly believe that I would have been lost and incomplete if it had not been for the loving graces of my partner and what he has done for me.

Read the lyrics, then play the video embedded below and have a listen. Share our love.

“If There Hadn’t Been You” ©1991 by Billy Dean

A man filled with doubt, down and out and so alone.
A ship tossed and turned; lost and yearning for a home.
A survivor, barely surviving; not really sure of his next move.
All of this, I would have been, if there hadn’t been you.

[refrain]

If there hadn’t been you, where would I be?
If there hadn’t been you here for me?
I made it through times
I never would’ve made it through.
If there hadn’t been you.

A man filled with hope who finally knows where he belongs.
A heart filled with love more than enough to keep it strong.
A life that’s alive again, no longer afraid to face the truth.
All of this, I would have missed, if there hadn’t been you.

If there hadn’t been you, where would I be?
If there hadn’t been you here for me?
I made it through times
I never would’ve made it through.

If there hadn’t been you on my side,
You In my life,
All my dreams would still be dreams,
If there hadn’t been you.

All my dreams would still be dreams,
If there hadn’t been you.

Happy Anniversary to my best half, my best friend, and the love of my life. 🙂

Leather on Easter?

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Someone sent me an email asking, “can you wear leather on Easter Sunday?”

Well, you can. Question is, do you want to?

I do. Happy Easter! (for those who celebrate this holiday). Today I’ve got a lot to do, and I’ll do it in leather (or in a pair of dressy leather pants, anyway.)

I will begin the day by taking several of my senior pals to an Easter Sunday sunrise service at oh-dark-30. The weather is promising to be cool and dry — perfect for an outdoor service. I plan to wear a light blue regular dress shirt, my dark blue leather tie, and a my dress leather pants over a pair of dress instep Dehner boots. I do not have a leather blazer that fits, so I probably will wear a light leather jacket if I wear any jacket at all. But not a suit jacket or sport coat (blech…).

Some among you may be aghast: No.big.deal. It’s what I wear. The leather pants are dressy, and look nice — as nice as (or better than) a pair of dress slacks. They look good with the boots, too … or the other way around: the boots look good with them. Not with leather tucked into them. There are times when it is not quite appropriate to wear leather tucked into tall boots, like at Mass.

After the early morning service, I’ll return home. I have to drive my truck to the service, as I am giving a ride to four other lovely ladies. After I drive back home, I will yank off the tie. No ties where I go next! I will take off the dress shirt, too, and put on a blue denim shirt and wear a thicker leather motorcycle jacket, hop on my Harley, then go pick up a senior pal who is celebrating her 85th birthday and take her to a celebratory brunch. After that, I will ride over to a sister’s house. She and her husband are having an Easter Egg Hunt for the grandchildren — some of my Great Nieces and Great Nephews. I will enjoy playing with the kiddos and having (another) Easter Brunch with the fam.

But the day isn’t over. After that, I’m heading over to a brother’s house to do the same thing with his and his wife’s grandkids — all 18 of them. Then we will enjoy lunch.

Where’s the partner, you ask? He’s up in da ‘burgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA), visiting his mother for Easter. He wouldn’t join me anyway with my family festivities. Kids and noise and joshing and loudness bother him quite a bit.

After a long lunch with this part of my family, I plan to drop by a niece’s house. She and her family just moved into a new home, and they are having a cookout as an informal housewarming.

So yeah, I’ll be in leather and boots for the day. Perhaps riding the Harley gives an “excuse,” but even if the weather were cold and lousy and I had to drive my “cage” all day, I would still have my dress leather pants on.

I don’t know quite what it is about guys having conniption fits about wearing leather pants or jeans. I think a lot of guys would *like* to do it, but have hang-ups about being thought of as “gay” or a “rock star” or a “punk.” Oh cripes, not the case. These guys need to think about what makes them believe this stuff. Who told them that or what did they read that influences them to abhor wearing leather pants? If they are dressy, then my opinion is: wear leather pants and enjoy. ‘nuf said. (I sure have said enough about that on this blog!)

Happy Easter! To answer that email: Yes you CAN wear leather on Easter, and it’s okay to do so. It is not a fashion faux pas to do so. At least not in my world.

Life is short: be the man you are, and comfortable in your own skin (and the skin of cows!)

It’s All About Attitude

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Not unexpectedly, my circuitous route from Alaska to my home in Maryland hit a severe snag with ugly weather. By the time I arrived in Chicago to connect with my last flight home, the flight to my home airport was canceled.

I kinda figured this would happen.

I was not the only one in this situation. Most flights for the remainder of the night were canceled. Hundreds of people got stuck in this unfortunate situation.

I observed many people becoming upset and angry, which caused the airline representatives to respond in-kind. Bad behavior begets bad behavior, so it seems. While being delayed and stuck overnight isn’t fun, it is not the airline’s fault. Yelling at them, demanding that “I have to get home for [insert lame excuse]” does not help anyone.

When I arrived in Chicago and saw that lovely word “canceled” next to my flight number, instead of going ballistic, I found a quiet place and called the airline. I was pleasantly surprised that a real human picked up the phone after I pressed zero at the automated annoyance (sometimes called “automated attendant” or “call router.”) While the agent began her conversation with me intensely, expecting that I was going to yell, I maintained my composure. I simply said, “I was on flight number ### which has been canceled. Have I been automatically rebooked or will you rebook me?” A few keystrokes on her computer later, I got the last seat on the first flight out in the morning. Had I waited in line at the ticket counter, goodness knows what flight (next week?) I might have gotten stuck on.

However, I still had to wait in that long line to get a discount coupon for a hotel stay. While the airline will not pay for a hotel room if the flight is canceled due to weather, they often have negotiated rates with major hotels, so it is worth it to wait (and wait and wait and wait) to get that coupon.

Five ticket agents were helping customers at the ticket counter. The line was moving slowly. I observed that the agents were just nasty. Some of them made snarky comments that, in my humble opinion, were not deserved. Sure, the jerk who yelled at one of them needed to be dealt with in accordance with his negativism — but the rest of us do not deserve to be treated as if we will all act like that.

While waiting in line, I observed two agents say loudly, “I’m off shift” and walked away. It is a very sad situation when any airline does something like that. They know they have a lot of customers who are unhappy. Abandoning them that way — even if the shift is over — is a poor way to maintain any form of customer relations.

When I finally got to the ticket counter, I smiled a big, broad smile and said, “I’m sorry about this situation. I have gotten rebooked, so I am only seeking a hotel discount coupon.” The agent was so surprised that I was smiling and nice about it, she called the hotel to make sure they had a room for me, and then gave me a voucher for breakfast at the airport. She said that she knew that the hotel offered free breakfast, but did not start to serve breakfast until 7am. My flight is at 6am. She figured out that I wouldn’t get the free breakfast, so she helped me out. I thanked her profusely. She said that she did it because “you were the first nice customer I’ve had all night.”

Hmmm… there’s a lesson here.

I waited for the hotel shuttle, got to the hotel, checked my email and wrote this post, then crashed into bed.

I hope to be home on the day this post appears on this blog. Wish me luck!

Life is short: you can get better service if you maintain composure and be pleasant — even in unpleasant situations.

How Much Do Leather Cowboy Boots Cost?

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Yet another question entered into a search engine and landed on my website.

Frequently I receive questions, “how much did those boots cost?”

Honestly, it varies. New cowboy boots can cost as little as US$50 (if they’re machine-made plastic) to well over several thousand dollars for one pair of custom-made  all-leather boots. For my preferences, I usually choose commercially-made cowboy boots from reputable makers, such as Tony Lama, Dan Post, Nocona, Lucchese, and several others. I choose boots that are comfortable, good-looking, and generally go with “business casual” clothing which is what I wear to my office. I like my boots to be made of all leather. Further, I want them to be comfortable and to wear well, so I look for a pegged sole.

I have some custom cowboy boots made by Champion Attitude, and a few pairs of Buckaroo boots by Olathe. However, while those boots are nice, their heel height and style don’t quite work for how klutzy I am when I walk, so I wear those boots when I don’t have to walk very much.

I do not have boots made by some of the top custom cowboy boot makers, such as Paul Bond. While I like the beauty of these top-notch bootmakers, I realize that having boots that cost well over US$800 per pair (most of them are in the thou$ands), it is not worth it to me. I feel that I would have to frame them and admire them as art. Well, in reality, I would wear them, but not enough to justify in my warped way of thinking that the investment was worth the cost.

Having said all this, I have not yet answered the question: how much do leather cowboy boots cost? Boots that meet a minimum of my standards — all leather, comfortable, pegged sole, reputable manufacturer — cost in the range from as low as US$180 to as much as US$400. Beyond that, I usually don’t consider buying them. Sure, I may look, but I often ask myself, “why on earth do you want a pair of cowboy boots that cost over US$600 when you already have so many pairs?” — good question. That self-questioning holds me back from making many purchases (believe it or not.)

Life is short: have (and wear) at least one pair of cowboy boots.

Gays and Black Boots

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This stuff drives me nuts, but honestly, I don’t pay much attention and do not let it bother me because I do not suffer fools well.

From Bothell, Washington (a suburb of Seattle): “Why do gays wear black boots?”

I can tell that it was written by someone who is not well educated and who is straight — the pejorative term “gays” is a give-away to both conclusions.

Now, to address the question. Well, there is no answer for stupid assumptions. Honestly, where do some people come up with this garbage?

Most men’s boots come in black or brown, and you’ll find cowboy boots with more colors — the most common besides black and brown is black cherry, cognac (orange-burnished), tan, and there are also men’s boots that have inlays or accents of blue, red, white, and other colors.

So, ding-dong from Bothell, hear this:

Not all men’s boots are black.

Not all gay men wear boots.

Granted, most motorcycle boots are black — but then again, I would venture to say that the vast majority of bikers who wear black boots are not gay.

Gay men who wear boots wear more colors of boots than only black. Sheesh — look at my cowboy boot and motorcyle boot collections. I have boots of all colors. And I’m gay. So what?

Get an education, friend. Wise up and then go speak with some gay men. You may be surprised to learn that they’re people too, much like you — and me!

Disclaimer: I have been to Bothell, Washington, and know that most of the people there are fine, upstanding, well-educated people. There are exceptions everywhere, so this post was not meant to take a swipe at everyone who lives or works in Bothell. I betcha you can find some equally ignorant people near where I live, too.

Life is short: stop looking for stereotypes.

Temporary Change of View

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Yes, this is Alaska, USA. Yes, I happen to be in the same town made famous by someone saying (and later spoofed on national television) “I can see Russia from my window!” No, I cannot see Russia from here, but I can see America the Beautiful.

“Up” here to teach a course this week for work.

Meanwhile, the blog will go on “auto” until the course is over and I return home.

This is my personal Moose. He is keeping me company and keeping me safe. Admiring the long hours of daylight (before I pulled the blackout curtains shut so I could get some sleep!)

Blog Comments

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Lately, several attempts to leave comments on various posts on this blog have had to be deleted. A ding-dong from India has been commenting using a fictitious American-sounding name, leaving compliments on certain posts (with bad grammar and incorrect English) with an embedded link to a cheap leather goods website. Someone else from the Philippines attempted to comment on a post and had a link to a motorcycle vendor in Australia. Someone else from Pakistan has been active, leaving comments with links to cheap Pakistani leather vendors. A while ago, an operator of a gay resort in Mexico also attempted to leave a comment. The comment was good, but the link back to the resort was not.

Once again, I remind readers that I welcome comments, but I have a firm blog comment policy: 1) you have to use a name (screen name is okay) and 2) you can NOT embed links to commercial websites. That link could be within a comment or I have also found them in the “screen name” of the person leaving a comment.

When you go to my comment area for any post on this blog, you will see this:

All comments are reviewed prior to posting. If you do not have a Google ID or Blogger ID, you may use the Anonymous ID option, however, you must type your name with your comment. Comments without a way to know who wrote it may be rejected or deleted. Comments with embedded links to commercial websites WILL BE DELETED–NO EXCEPTIONS!

I don’t know how much clearer I can state it. Please comment, but please do not attempt to use this blog to promote commercial websites.

All comments are held in moderation for me to review prior to posting. I will approve comments that add to a post’s content or share opinions about it, even if opinions are different or contrary, but not rude, racist, homophobic, or malicious. I delete posts that violate my blog policy. As it says above, “no exceptions.”

Life is short: follow the rules.