Virtual Comfort

Eugene was telling me about a guy that he has been emailing back and forth with from one of his social networking sites.   They seemed to be getting along well.   So they exchanged numbers.    Then they began texting.    After a few days of texting back and forth, Eugene sent a message saying that they should actually talk on the phone sometime.    He didn't get a text response to that suggestion.

The next day Eugene decides to call anyway.   The guy doesn't answer.

I admit there is a comfort level in using technology as a buffer in communication.   I'm guilty of doing that as well, especially if I'm not sure I want to take things further with a particular guy.    Also there is the fear that an actual conversation may not last as long talking as it does texting.     And then the other guy would lose interest completely.

Eugene raised the possibility that maybe the guy didn't want to talk on the phone because he wasn't truthful about some aspect of his life.    Maybe he's seeing someone and can't talk.    Maybe he's a she.   *LOL*

Ryan and I are at a similar virtual impasse.   We've been texting for close to a week though I've noticed he's been slowing down his responses to my texts.   I suppose there's only so much texting one can do.  I realize too that realistically since we're not at the commitment level, I can't expect us to keep texting at the rate we were texting.    We both had our separate lives before the text fest began and of course we still do.

With that said I'm ready to take our "budding acquaintanceship" (I guess that's a word...*LOL*) to the voice level.    I'm not sure if he is ready for that but someone has to make the move.    It might as well be me.   I am nervous though due to the reasons previously mentioned.    But hopefully my fears will be unfounded and we will have a decent phone conversation, assuming he answers.   Ahhh that's the rub.   At least I hope he has voicemail set up so I can hear what he sounds like.

As for Eugene he sent a text to his perspective guy the next day and of course he texted back later.   I guess some folks are more comfortable living in the virtual world.

Something New

I swear this month has been flying by so fast.   I can't believe it'll be Thanksgiving in a couple days.   I'll be making my annual trek to Detroit for the holiday to see the parents.    Speaking of Detroit, they've been going through financial hard times like other cities in the U.S.    Its neighbor Highland Park apparently removed all the city street lights in an effort to save money.   Crime be damned.    It's a scary situation for the residents there.   And sadly Detroit doesn't look like it's far behind.

It's fueling my feelings on trying to get my parents to get out of Detroit.    My Dad is open to living closer to my sisters in a nearby burb but my Mom wants to move closer to the hospital they go to in the city.    It's a mess.   Needless to say I'll be broaching that subject again this holiday season.

In other news I've been connecting with a handsome IT consulant online and via text messaging (well sexting depending on how you interpret the messages).   Hemingway Ryan as I'll nickname him lives in St. Louis, MO, which is about 5 hours from me.    It would be a long distance relationship if things even went there but it would be more doable than my fling with Madro, who so far hasn't really been all that communicative to me.    There's Amtrak, Megabus, the airline, and the car of course that can connect us within hours.

Of course I'm being way premature when I say the words 'long distance relationship'.   I'm just hoping we get through our first meeting and still have a desire to meet again afterwards.    So many times I've chatted with guys and it seems like we hit it off but then things change after that initial meeting.    But the optimist in me remains hopeful.

It's still amazing after all these years that I'm not more jaded than I am.   I mean I know not to expect the world and I temper my "eager beaver" attitude a lot but I still am hopeful with each new guy that something will be different.   We're tentatively planning to meet the 2nd weekend of December in his hometown.   He also mentioned that he may be working near me for a few days on a project.   If that happens we could meet up then too, whichever comes first.    I wish we could do it sooner but I'm visiting family for Thanksgiving weekend and the following weekend I'm going for a meet and greet in Tampa that I can't get out of.   But hopefully our sexting ways will continue.    It's going on 4 days so far.

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

Something Blue

A few days before my trip to Spain, I decided to visit my family in Detroit.   I figured if something unforeseen happened on my trip, I could at least say that I saw my folks beforehand.    So the trip was mostly uneventful save for an announcement.

My Dad had a few health issues this year that have slowed him down.    The first one was a case of Sciatica.   It was so bad for him that whenever he walked, he would have to crouch half way down before he could move.   As a result he hasn't really been able to run his errands like he normally does.   

Trina was feeling the brunt of having to care for my parents and was feeling resentful of my other sister Tasha since she pulled a disappearing act when it came time to help.   There's no doubt a lot of unresolved issues between Tasha and my parents.   That could take up a whole nother entry so they won't be mentioned.   

Plus since I'm over 300 miles away it's not as easy for me to assist.    That in itself has made me feel guilty.  But to alleviate Trina some I took my work with me to Detroit for one week so I could help take our Dad to his physical therapy appointments.   

My Dad started improving somewhat in the sessions and was even able to drive himself after a couple weeks.  But then he hit another setback.   It started with him feeling very exhausted when driving to a local Micro Center store.   He could barely walk a few feet without feeling out of breath.   Trina ended up taking him to emergency where it was discovered that he had a blood clot in one of his lungs.

So he was in the hospital for a week getting treatment and recovering from that.   He afterwards had to be put back on blood thinners and every week a nurse came to the house to get blood samples from my Dad to make sure his blood levels were normal.   My Mom had to administer several shots of blood thinner to my Dad each day.   So he got past that and now has to take blood thinner pills indefinitely.

So my current visit found him doing better and full of ideas of what I should do while in Barcelona.    He was suggesting catching a ferry to Morocco.    But from what I was able to gather, it would take almost half a day to get there and I would need at least two days to get a sense of the area.   Plus from what I heard, Morocco isn't the best area as far as visiting but rather Tangier gets that honor.    He also wanted me to find him a Spanish beret to add to his growing collection of hats.    But that in itself wasn't the big announcement.

The announcement of the weekend came from none other than Trina herself.   She came by after work on Sunday to pay the family a visit.   Earlier this year Trina and her fiance experienced a loss of their home to a house fire.   The house luckily wasn't a total loss and thankfully they were able to get out of the house okay.    While repairs were being done they stayed at a temporary house that unfortunately was the barest of basics. It had no air, a lot of the place was dirty (including clogged jet heads in the bath), and the landscaping left little to be desired.     It took about eight months of repairs to get the house ready but they were able to move back in around end of September.    But that wasn't the announcement.

It turned out the announcement was a wedding date for Trina and her long term fiance.   She told us that the event would take place May 19, 2012.   I congratulated my sis and was thinking of the irony that my youngest sister would be the first of us to get hitched.    In talking to her though she's mentioning how expensive renting a hall is.   The minimum price she's seen is 10K and renting a yacht is even more pricey, almost 40K.   It has her thinking about just going to Vegas and getting hitched.    

My attitude is you definitely don't want to go into debt paying for a wedding so maybe an alternative location like Vegas might not be a bad idea.   We'll see what the final verdict is.

Slot Fever

I found myself a new hobby.    About nine months ago while enjoying another hobby (I bowl for a local gay league), one of my teammates invited me to go hit Ameristar Casino.   I'm not a regular casino gambler but despite not ever winning anything of significance, I thought it'd be fun to hang out.     I even went up and got my first membership card from Ameristar.    Staying true to form, I didn't win anything on that trip, spending about $50 in playing various slots.

Fast forward to today and I've been to more than a half dozen casinos.    These include Grand Victoria, Harrah's Joliet, Blue Chip, Firekeeper's, Four Winds, Magestic Star, Horseshoe, Hollywood, and Potawatomi (or Pochantas as I affectionately call it).   Of course I can't forget the newest addition to the casino family Rivers.    I've even joined a slots forum to share my experiences with other slot players.

Each of my visits I average losing anywhere from $40 - $200.   I do enjoy playing the slots and I have had temporary wins that I've wound up giving back.    My friends think I might be an addict.  Maybe I am.    I do get lured back whenever I get promos for free slot play.   But all it takes is that one elusive jackpot and I'm back on top.    Or maybe I just enjoy the pretty flashing lights.   LOL...yeah that's the ticket.