Lunch with a Boot Buddy

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I am still taking a break from blogging for a little while, but I wanted to post a picture that I took yesterday when my friend Clockner, also known on YouTube as Bootedman, came to the DC area for a visit. He is also a fellow blogger.

We met for a very pleasant lunch in the downtown of my home town in Maryland, close to where my office is located.

He is wearing brown Justin square-toe buckaroo boots with red uppers. He says they are about the most comfortable boots he has worn. I am wearing a pair of brown Lucchese wingtip cowboy boots with dark brown inlays. They are also very comfortable.

It’s nice to catch up with friends. I appreciate that my friend came to visit for a nice annual lunch.

Intensity Time Off

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Sorry, but I’m taking at least a week off from blogging. May is just way too intense for me. Partner isn’t well, yet wants to continue to do lots and lots of backbreaking gardening chores, his annual rite of Spring. He insists that I help him, and while I like the outcome, I do not like the … “intensity” … of his fervor to get these chores done.

Things on the job are really crazy, including necessity to train another new boss, and if you’ve ever had to do that, you know that it takes time. I’m sure it will go well, but I have to invest the time necessary to bring the boss up to speed yet continue to do all the mountain of work that has to be done keeping people across the country safe, educated, and responsible people empowered to make informed decisions.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, 14 May, 21 volunteers and I ensured that 62 seniors were safer in their homes, by installing grab bars, non-slip mats for the bathtubs, stronger lighting, replacing smoke alarms, and other minor but important fix-up safety things. Several officials from our county stopped by the event to wish us well and thank our sponsor. After running around organizing that event for eight hours, I still had to put in four hours of “plant this NOW!” demands by Partner. Uggghhh….

Back at the ranch, I am taking a week off from blogging for three reasons: 1) my time is really limited and I do not write personal blogs while I am on the clock for work and have no time in my off time to do it; 2) I am running low on ideas again; and 3) Blogger continues to misbehave, and I do not have the patience or time to fool with it. I hope it will return to normal in a week.

Be good, smile, and take care of those you love. Remember — life is short: show those you love that you love them.

Blogger Was Down

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Message that appeared on Blogger for a long time yesterday morning:

I had a couple people write to me yesterday to ask if I were okay, since all they were seeing was a post from March 11, and nothing more recent.

Unfortunately, Blogger, the platform on which this blog appears, had a major problem of some sort — perhaps related to the bad luck that supposedly occurs on Friday the 13th? Actually, Blogger has been behaving strangely a lot during the past week. I hope it’s not failing, and that I would have to migrate to another blogging platform. I really don’t want to have to do that.

Anyway, by early afternoon yesterday, Blogger had resumed normal operations.  I found the posts that I had written and were scheduled for Thursday (Law Ride Gallery) and Friday (Chaps Weather).  I had to publish them again, but at least I didn’t have to write them all over again.

This is one of the perils of using a free system.  One cannot expect 100% reliability all the time.

Life is short:  keep blogging!

Chaps Weather

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It is quite common that the weather in the Maryland ‘burbs of Washington, DC, changes from winter to summer almost overnight. However, lately we have been treated to a rare event: Spring. Yeah, Spring! Yippie! Coolish, but not cold, mornings, with very pleasant and non-humid, mild sunny afternoons. If it weren’t for the thick tree pollen, it would be perfect. Fortunately, I do not suffer allergies that badly, but when the pollen counts get so high, everyone gets a bit sneezy.

I digress: due to this spell of terrific Spring weather, it’s been “chaps weather” in the mornings. It’s too cool not to have something over the pants that I wear to my office for my early-morning commute. I have several pairs of motorcycle riding chaps, made custom to my measurements. Plus, I don’t like cheap chaps that zip to just below the knee then have snaps to the bottom. They look crappy — and cheap. Nope, my chaps have zippers on the outsize and go all the way down the leg to the bottom of the boot.

Why outside-zip chaps? First of all, outside zips are easier to reach. But the primary reason for zippers on the outside is that leather, not a metal zipper, may rub against the sides of the gas tank. Leather won’t scratch the paint on a gas tank as metal zippers would do. It is fairly easy to tell if a guy wearing chaps actually rides a motorcycle or is a wannabe by the quality of the chaps he’s wearing and the location of the leg zippers.

And honestly, I wonder, “is it only gay bikers who know about outside-zip custom leather chaps?” I see so many straight bikers who wear those cheap inside-zip chaps. Such a shame… if they only knew about custom outside-zip chaps: they also would avoid scratching the paint on their motorcycles’ gas tanks and present an appearance as if they cared about how their gear fit and looked.

In another digression, I have to be honest, the TourPak (like a trunk) on the back of my Harley spoils me. When I arrive at the parking garage near my office, I can store my helmet, chaps, jacket, and gloves in it, lock it up, and not have to drag that stuff into the office and back out again. When it is time to ride home, it has been warm enough that I have only needed a light jacket. I can carry the lighter jacket in the TourPak while riding into work, and then wear it while riding home, storing the heavier jacket that I wore in the morning back there. Very convenient, and spoiling. Sure beats dragging small duffel bags with gear in it into the office and strapping them with bungie cords onto the bike. I like this bike — I think I’ll keep it 🙂

Okay, dudes, it’s Leather Weather!

Life is short: Leather up and ride!

Law Ride Gallery

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I finally had some time to crop and assemble three galleries of photos that I took on the annual Law Ride held May 8, 2011, in Washington, DC. The galleries are at this link (officers, boots, and prides of boots).

I posted a link to these photo galleries on the Hotboots website yesterday morning, and I wasn’t surprised that hundreds of people visited the galleries from the link on the BOL board. The traffic to my website spiked almost instantly, although very few people made a comment. That’s typical, and not surprising at all.

I noted from visitor logs that a bike cop who writes a very interesting blog was among the visitors to this gallery from that Hotboots/BOL link. I didn’t know that he was a Bootman 🙂 He is a cool, relaxed, and understanding guy — the impression that I have from dialogues that I have had with him via email.

Not as many officers attended Law Ride this year as in past years, but that’s because most of the events for National Police Week begin later in the week, so officers from distant locations can’t justify the cost of spending an entire week during expensive tourist season in the DC area.

The vast majority of motor officers who attended were from jurisdictions in the DC area; however, there were a few from more distant locations (Mississippi and San Diego, California.)

The local motorcops from nearby jurisdictions wear dress instep Dehner boots, and some have double soles applied. Four officers from Mississippi wore Chippewa Hi-Shine engineer boots. Interestingly, I didn’t see one pair of bal-laced motorboots on the cops — only on my non-cop feet. Hmmm… I may have to do something about that! LOL!

It is an interesting and fun ride, where when we arrive at the destination of the ride, the Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial, we pay tribute to law enforcement officers who paid the supreme sacrifice in keeping us safe: those who died in the line of duty.

Life is short: pay tribute to those who care for us.

Observations: Cops Wearing Dehner Boots

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Here are a few photos of dress instep Dehner boots on some motor officers. I took these pictures during the staging of Law Ride, which was held on Sunday, May 8, in Washington, DC.

The boots shown in the pride above (i.e., a group of lions is a pride, as is a group of boots worn by proud motor officers) are double-soled. The officers who wear them are from a county police force in Virginia. They have double soles added by a cobbler.

The boots to the right are well cared-for. Some cops know how to take care of their boots, although he didn’t break them in correctly (see the left boot?  Bad ankle break; betcha it’s painful sometimes.)

…and some cops do not care for their boots (like these on a cop whose jurisdiction includes the county where I live). 

Ouch! The sagging at the ankles! That cop didn’t break them in correctly, and is making them worse by bending his ankles that way.

More to follow….

Life is short: know your Dehner boots.

Straight Assumptions

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This past Sunday, I rode my Harley to lead and join a large motorcycle event held in Washington, DC. I was dressed in leather breeches and a pair of tall patrol boots, and my perforated H-D leather shirt. So yeah, I was wearing leather head-to-toe. Again. So what?

I forget. There are indeed those who notice. Most don’t say anything, but two did. Here’s what they said and my reply.

1. A retired DC cop who was on the ride with my group looked me up and down and said, “I know a couple bars around the corner where you would fit right in.” He did not know that I knew that he was referring to the DC Eagle, which is the closest thing to a leather bar that there is in Washington, DC. There really isn’t any other bar that is known as a “leather bar” in DC. The Green Lantern “turns leather” one weekend each year when Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) is going on, but otherwise, it’s as much of a twink bar as anywhere else.

My response: “Okay, you want to show me?” Honestly, I couldn’t believe that I had the nerve to say something like that, but that is what fell out of my mouth. The cop just shook his head and I moved on.

It was obvious that he was making judgments based on what I was wearing, and probably was trying to be funny, not realizing with whom he was speaking. And you know what? Too bad. Or, “so what?” If he had made an issue out of it, I probably would have explained in clear terms, “yeah, I’m gay, I like leather, I have a partner who does, too!” But he didn’t say anything else and neither did I.

It also demonstrates that this retired cop thought I was straight (I mean, there aren’t any bikers who lead motorcycle rides and interact with cops and ride a big Harley who are gay, are there??? LOL!)

I spoke with him again as I was getting ready to leave. He asked me how my wife felt about being left alone on Mother’s Day. I don’t know where in the world he arrived at the assumption that I had a wife. We had not talked much… so he just assumed. I told him, “I’m sure there will be lots of chores waiting for me when I get home,” but I deliberately didn’t push the issue about the fact that my spouse-equivalent is a man. This guy was just plain oblivious, and I didn’t have the time or energy to correct false assumptions all day.

2. Another guy looked at my belt buckle, which clearly says, “665” on it, and said, “one less than hell, huh?” Ooops, I didn’t change it. The 665 Leather store gave it to me when they made my leather breeches. The guy who made a remark about the buckle understood what 665 means by the choice of its store name, “one number short of hell.” I really didn’t think much about it, but I agree, it gives a message that perhaps I didn’t intend to give in a public gathering with families around. I was walking when that other guy said what he said to me, so I kept moving and didn’t say anything.

When I got home and removed the breeches, I changed the belt buckle to something less ostentatious.

Oh well, these things happen when you have gay fetish gear that you mix up as biker leathers and ride with and attend straight biker events.

Life is short: keep your cool.

Ride Notes

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I was able to go on an annual motorcycle ride held in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Here are some random shots — two of me (wearing my LAPD leather breaches and All American patrol boots), …

…and one of a young cop doing what youngsters do: instead of actually talk to people and maybe learn something, he was happy just to sit by himself and send text messages. This wasn’t just one short thing, such as sending a text message home saying, “I’m here.” This cop spent at least an hour texting away. Personally, I don’t get it, but then again, I am a Martian Dinosaur.

I will post more pics of that event eventually… but it may take me a while. As soon as I get off work each day this week, guess who has to go do stuff in the yard?

Life is short: talk, don’t text.

Reunion with Motorcops

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Late yesterday afternoon, I was given time off for good behavior (that is, I had done chores around the house since 7am…). I joined some friends for “a few beers” (in my case, I drank water since I do not drink alcohol.) The friends I met are motor officers who I have known for a while who were getting together with others who are in town to ride on the Law Ride being held on Sunday (when this post appears.)

A personal friend is a motor officer in the county where I live, and he invited me to join him to get together with his friends — same group who I had dinner with a couple years ago.

I mostly just listened. They have a bond of brotherhood based on their occupation which transcends jurisdictions and isn’t inclusive of “us civilians.”  They weren’t leaving me out, but there were some stories and interactions about which I couldn’t comment, because I do not share the same background and experiences.

While I am not a cop, I respect their work and these fine men for their integrity, honesty, and character. They all have good senses of humor — much better than my own. They told stories of encounters that they have had which were funny in the way they described them. But the stories are theirs to tell, and if I tried to relate them, I would probably mess up.

What were we wearing? Well, I’m happy to say that unlike last time, three of the guys besides myself had boots on. Just regular harness boots on three of us (including me), and the other booted guy was wearing tactical boots. The rest? What can I say? They love their sneakers. No uniforms — none were on duty or going to an event where a uniform was required. Just jeans, t-shirts, and lots of smiles.

I enjoyed being included for this gathering. I learn a lot each time I listen to what they have to say. One of them (besides me) is gay, and everyone in the group knows it — and didn’t say a thing about matters related to being gay (or straight, for that matter.) Most of their concerns was related to their respective agency’s budgets and cut-backs affecting their work, schedules, overtime, and shifts. Pretty typical talk these days among public servants who work in any capacity.

When a part of the conversation got around to budget cutbacks for uniforms, I asked a few questions related to the “boot budget.” Each of them told me that they are “making do” with the boots they already have, and do not expect to get any new boots from their respective employers, because uniform allowances were eliminated in three departments, and cut back so much in the others that none said they would do more than replace torn, damaged, or very worn clothing. I understand — public service agency budgets are continuing to suffer big-time. Most were appreciative that they still have a job, as they know many others whose departments have eliminated motor units completely, or cut them back and some of their friends had to return to regular patrol duty or suffered a layoff.

Life is short: learn from professionals who you respect.

I Hate May

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The rant that once was in this space has been removed… er “updated.”

Yeah, I don’t like May. Too much pressure on my time with work and things to do at home. My partner goes absolutely bonkers this time of year about Spring gardening, which to him is incredibly important. I don’t place the same sense of urgency on this matter as he does, and that creates tension. Honestly, I would rather be out riding my Harley on days when it is suitable. My partner has no understanding about what it’s like to suffer with cabin fever all winter, then not be able to get out and ride and have to do back-breaking chores instead.

I really shouldn’t complain. I like the results of all this work. It’s just the intensity of the schedule that makes matters rough. Always. May.

May even ends poorly because I have to go with my partner to spend three days with his mother at the end of the month. Gosh, that trip is difficult, because his mother is so hard to be around. Instead of riding my Harley for a big event in Washington, DC, on the last weekend of the month, I have to be stuck in a cage in Da ‘Burgh.

Oh well, it happens every year. I should know what it’s like by now. Just because I do, doesn’t mean that I have to like it.