Like most people, I have a long list of activities to do when I am on my own time outside of work. For this blog and my website, the list is growing longer.
But I am not being compulsive about it. Instead, I…
Continue reading
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Counting My Blessings
I had lunch yesterday with an old friend who was visiting to attend his high school 40-year reunion. We met and worked together at a voluntary organization back in the ’80s and ’90s. My friend and I have had a similar upbringing and educational background, but our situations changed over time — his for the worse and mine for the better. It made me think…
Continue reading
A Marriage Is A Marriage
Just a brief break from the boots-and-cops postings. My spouse and I are pleased that finally our United States Supreme Court has rendered a decision that essentially says that a marriage is a marriage. That’s it. There is no “gay marriage,” or “heterosexual marriage,” but a marriage is a marriage is a marriage.
We appreciated the words of Justice Kennedy on the top of the front page of today’s Washington Post, our hometown newspaper, which stated…
Continue reading
Dressed-Down, Firefighter Booted Cop
Last night, I slogged through the slow bumper-to-bumper traffic between my home state and Virginia to attend a training session for judges at the upcoming motorcycle police skills competition that will be held tomorrow and Saturday.
Man, traffic during “slog hours” (I have no idea why they call it “rush hour.” No one is rushing anywhere!) is a nightmare. I am sooooo very glad that I do not have to deal with that traffic on a daily basis, or I would lose whatever is left of my mind.
Anyway, when we arrived, some cops…
Continue reading
You’re One of “Them?”
The other night, I attended a meeting in my community of a group that I once served as the elected leader. Three terms of office later, I am pleased that the current Board and leadership are doing a good job carrying on my legacy. The group deals with matters related to planning, zoning, and transportation for an area of roughly 80 square miles in the heart of the sprawling suburban county where I grew up and have lived my entire life.
I greeted dozens of people in the room who I have known for a long time — neighbors, friends, colleagues in public advocacy. While we were waiting for the meeting to begin, I took a seat next to someone I had not met before. He was about my age. I introduced myself and he shook my hand and introduced himself to me. A new resident of the area — concerned with construction of a small housing development near him.
He began to chit-chat with me by discussing the news of the day, including (for whatever reason), that the U.S. Supreme Court is due to announce a decision on same-sex marriage once again. I just let him ramble, until…
Continue reading
When A Cop “Asks”
When a cop “asks,” you do as requested.
Yesterday afternoon, I was in our back yard with the spouse. He was relaxing by the pond that I built for him. I was using the powerwasher and cleaning the winter’s grime and algae from the siding on our house and the decks.
It was a rather warm day. While I would like to have been out riding my motorcycle, I still have this incredibly long “honey-do” list on which I only have weekends to execute. I lost time completing home fix-it tasks when I had to take too much time off recently to allow my back to heal.
The powerwasher makes a lot of noise. I had ear protectors on. So I didn’t hear a police motorcycle arrive and park in the drive. I was in the back yard, and could not see the front.
Imagine my surprise, then, to be up on a ladder with the spray wand of the power washer and look down to see a cop talking to my spouse. What was that about?
Continue reading
Wear Cowboy Boots to the Office in DC?
My website’s cowboy boots collection and this blog receive a lot of visitors from men who are curious about whether or not it is acceptable to wear cowboy boots with a suit or dress clothing to a professional office, especially in stodgy, drab, dull, fashionless and conservatively dressed Washington, DC.
Recently, I received another email from a DC-based office professional who went on a business trip to Texas and bought himself a pair of nice boots, then began to question his decision after his girlfriend made some comments after he returned home with them. The email said:
Continue reading
American Rebel Boots’ Marketing Ploy
There is a relatively new brand name of boots out there: American Rebel Boots. The company motto is: “Ride. Rock. Run Wild.” Further marketing promo information on websites about these boots reads the same,
Show your wild side in the (product title, such as “Axle Skull”) Biker Boot. American Rebel Black Harness Boots stand for getting wild, renegade music and forging your own path. Pull on American Rebel Motorcycle Boots and break free. Ride. Rock. Run Wild.
I call bulldoogie…
Continue reading
Law Ride 2015 Photos Posted
Of the various themes of my writing on this blog, boots, motorcycles, and cops are dominant. After all, I AM the one-and-only “Booted Harleydude.”
I posted on May 11 that I rode for the 10th year in the annual “Law Ride” in Washington, DC. That event was held Sunday, May 10. However, after the event, I…
Continue reading
Ongoing Build, Pride, Cops
I spent the past weekend executing a remodeling project for a senior pal who lives alone in her own house, yet wants to remain in the home in which she has lived for the past 50 years. It was also a weekend of competing events — DC Gay Pride and an annual fundraiser for a police charity. The weather was unusually hot and sticky for mid-June (95F/35C actual air temp with 75F/24C dew point). Man, I was a sweaty and sticky busy guy…
Continue reading