Going on despite…

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I love my job, really, and I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to travel. It’s been 28 years since I spent any significant time besides changing planes in Hawaii. My meetings and presentations are going well. I am meeting many more people and like expanding my network.

And I am the ONLY guy wearing boots. Man, so many flip-flops. Uggghhh…. but it’s the islands, that’s what they do, even if I think that the only correct place for flip-flops is in the trash.

However, if you heard my voice…
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On the Edge of Riding

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rp_Johnride04.jpgMother Nature is a damn tease, she is!

Last Thursday when I got home from work, I rolled the Harley out and spent an hour checking it out. I had not ridden my beloved motorcycle for almost two months because it has been so darn cold and wet.

However, that day it had warmed enough that I could ride, at least to a meeting of my riding club at my local motorcycle dealership being held that evening.

After a careful T-CLOCS inspection, …
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Affection + Appreciation = Love

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During the past week, my spouse and I have found ways to show the other how he loves him.

Truly, I am honored and blessed to have a man who loves me as deeply as he does, and I try to return the same deep and abiding love through actions — not gifts, flowers, or nights out on the town — but in little, meaningful ways.

Last week, I…
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Strathcona Boots from Alberta Boot Company

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strathcona_hibrownI have enjoyed conversations via email and phone with the President of Alberta Boot Company which is a family-owned bootmaker based in Calgary, Canada.

The Alberta Boot Company President contacted me when he found my Guide to Motorcycle Police Patrol Boots on an internet search.

Like others, I have seen and admired the Strathcona police patrol boot that this company makes, especially the “hi-brown” style worn by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But I regret, until now, that I had not listed Alberta Boot Company on my Patrol Boot Guide. (That has been corrected.)

Through dialogue, I learned that the boots made by Alberta Boot Company…
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Clothing Association Avoidance

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BHDR243I received an email the other day from the spouse of a guy who is from Oklahoma. He said that his husband

hates everything cowboy, including the boots. He thinks that cowboy culture perpetuates discrimination against gays in his hometown.

The email writer wanted to find ways to encourage his husband to embrace his roots, and try (at least) to wear boots. The writer himself enjoys wearing boots, and he would like his husband who hails from Oklahoma to do so.

As a youth, I spent a lot of time in Oklahoma — six months each year for my prime years of youth. Yep, that’s where my fondness of wearing western wear and cowboy boots was born, and even today while living in the eastern U.S. — Maryland — I wear cowboy boots every day that I don’t ride my Harley. I wear them to work, to professional and casual meetings, around town, etc.

However, knowing my fondness of “everything cowboy,” you may be surprised at my answer to this email. I wrote…
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