Being Gay in a Masculine Profession

One of my (straight) friends, JT, is a cop. We ride motorcycles together in our off-time frequently. I have known him since grade school. We went on different career paths and lost touch while in college. A mutual friend held a party that I attended about 10 years ago. My ol’ pal showed up about the same time that I did, riding our motorcycles to get there. Our friendship renewed based on a mutual interest in motorcycling, we began riding together again from then on.

This past Sunday morning, JT asked me to ride to a pancake breakfast/fundraiser at a fire department in a distant town. Weather was gorgeous. My spouse said, “go for it. Have fun.” When we got there, another guy rode up and parked next to JT. They obviously knew one another by their friendly greeting.

The new guy, let’s call him Tom (not his real name), is a motor officer. He’s about 35 years old, very well built and quite attractive. JT introduced us, and then said, “Tom wanted me to get you two together for reasons he’ll explain.”

Tom said, “nice to meet you. I have some questions. You see, I’m gay…”
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The Week’s Boots

Bouletblack07This is a recap of what boots I wore during the past week, including “boots at work.” That is, for labor I did last weekend, as well as what I wore to my office. That’s me — always booted. I changed boots at least once each day, sometimes more often depending on what I am doing, where I am going, and what form of transportation I will be using. Follow along.
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What I Did On My Summer Vacation

When I was a kid in grade school, within the first week of school, we always had to write a paper titled, “what I did on my summer vacation.” Back then, I would regale about happy, carefree days traveling with my family to each state of the United States, visiting family, and many more fun activities. These days, as an adult, I looked back at this past summer and ticked off a list — what I did all summer:
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Financial Choices

I bring this up from time to time — I feel that as a responsible adult, I should manage my finances in a responsible way. However, there are so many choices, some of them quite sneaky…or enticing… however you want to classify it that it can be way too easy to spend money and get into debt.

I have had to learn financial discipline. That is, I stop and think before I spend money. My spouse is the same way. Here are some of our personal financial discipline principals:
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