Latest Lifefront

 One of the senior members of our Church made the suggestion in September to have a monthly birthday celebration for all the birthdays that are taking place for the month.    The folks who had the birthday would be responsible for bringing a cake.    When I heard this I silently balked since I knew my birthday month was coming next.   Another new member volunteered to bring cupcakes for October so at least that was covered.

I honestly don't like to be made the center of attention even for a brief minute.   The most I like doing for my birthday is taking time off for work (always felt I shouldn't work on my birthday with the only exception being when I worked at Amazon since I needed whatever crumbs I could get) and traveling somewhere.   I normally do like to venture out somewhere but this year I chose not to.   It's a good thing too since the air traffic controller shortages that have been happening under Orange's administration.   I did take off from the 15th - 17th.

I do want to go to the Japanese Gardens in Rockford, IL for my birthday.   Since Dom isn't working and I know he has a love for Japanese culture, I thought it would be a good day trip for us.   Plus it would be nice for us to do something together.    The facility opens from 9am to 6pm daily and it would take us 2 hours to get there so we probably want to leave as early as possible.   Dom also wanted to see the new movie adaptation of Kiss Of the Spider Woman.   I had no clue that Jennifer Lopez was in it.    It should be interesting to see how it is.   Maybe we can do that Thursday or Friday.

So this past Sunday was when the October birthdays were being celebrated.    I was reminded last week from the same senior member that my presence was required.    As part of the Church board, our meeting was also being held at the Church as well.   So I opted to go after the service.   I'm so bad.

Of course since Dom and I are a package deal, I was asked about Dom's recent interview.   Unfortunately Dom is having to deal with ageism.    He mentioned that the interviewer was dry and disengaging the whole time.    I feel that the interviewer didn't like that Dom was walking in with a cane and immediately dismissed him from consideration.

It's so frustrating.   There's so many things we have to deal with when it comes to interviewing.   Unfortunately a lot of different biases come into play.   The interviewer made assumptions about Dom, not taking into account Dom's previous experiences.   It's sad that due to that person's preconceived biases they missed out on a great employee.

I feel like at this point Dom needs to reach out to his previous employer and get them to put him in as a substitute.    He tried applying for unemployment and as I expected, the previous employer declined it and claimed that Dom resigned which he didn't.    But I'm thinking Dom is getting a bit tired of dealing with the bull.   He's 61 now and if he waits till next June, he can hopefully collect on Social Security.

I just wish he would slow up on the hobby spending since he has no income coming in.   He did finally try to put some of his dolls on sale but he did it through his personal Facebook site.    He has not had any biters unfortunately so he needs to place his items on Ebay to hopefully get them sold.    

I hope I can hang on somehow to my job and not get sick.   On that front I'm in the process of trying to get a living trust done.    Dom always says that he wants to be the one to die first but life doesn't always go as you plan and I remind him that I could be the one that dies first.     If that happens I don't want Dom to lose the house because I didn't plan properly.    I've heard too many stories especially in the gay world where if the main breadwinner passes, the surviving partner is thrown to the wolves and loses the home, especially with family members taking over.    I'm fortunate in that I feel my sisters would not throw Dom out but I need to get things ready.   I also have other assets that need to be divided.   Fun times.

Mortgage Milestone

 My quest for financial independence took a positive turn this morning.   I forgot about a work bonus that is typically paid twice a year that came at the end of September.   Thanks to that bonus I was able to use most of it to get my mortgage down to an even $10,000.    I wanted to etch an extra hundred to break the 5-figure mark but of course Dom had hobby stuff that stood in the way.   Sigh.   But nonetheless I recognize that we're very fortunate to be close to paying it off completely.   My pay-off amount at least is in the four figures as of today.    If only I had an extra $7600 hiding somewhere.    

I took care of a household issue that I put off for a few months.   I had our regular plumber come over to fix a leaky strainer in the kitchen sink.   That was a $190 hit.   Dom thought it was a bit high.   But given how the cost of everything has gone up, I realized that gone are the days you can get things fixed for $50 or even under $100.

So I have to get our garage fixed yet again.    For years we had the issue where the garage will not close all the way but rather reopen and then we have to struggle to get it to close.   I had it adjusted twice before but I was told that the issue is that garage itself is shifting in one direction which is affecting the door function.   A more long term fix is to adjust the door so that the sensors will pick them up properly.   But doing that would leave a gap on the right hand side of the door.   I wasn't keen on doing that and they made adjustments to the settings to get the door to close.   But the issue keeps returning months later so now I'm ready to try the long-term fix.   I bought a floor strip for the garage that I'm hoping will help cover some of the gap.    But we'll see.   I need to get it fixed before the weather changes for the colder so will have to work on that this month.

In other news Dom had an interview for a teaching position yesterday at a Gary charter school.   It isn't a math role but rather an elective teaching role on career and college preparation.    He said the interviewer was boring and he wasn't sure if he made a connection with him or not.    When Dom has interviewed in the past, he's had it where the staff reaches back to him within an hour after the interview and offered the job.   That didn't happen here but I'm hoping he'll hear something soon.   

He ran into a former colleague that is working security at the school.   He described him as resembling the actor D.B. Woodside when he played Amenadiel on Lucifer.   They bonded over their hate for the same member of the admin team.   Apparently that member screwed Amenadiel over as well.  

Maybe Amenadiel can put in a good word for Dom if the principal asks.   We shall see I guess.

The last time Dom was unemployed was in 2010.   Prior to losing his job, he had already paid for registration to one of his first doll conferences.    He said his parents helped him get a plane ticket to the event.   I found an old tattered sign that he put on his display table back then when he was selling a few dolls.   It looks so sad and sweet at the same time I wanted to share it.

We all have our crosses to bear in life but we find a way to get through and ideally in a better place.  That's life in a nutshell.   As long as we're breathing we have more opportunities to navigate through what gets thrown.   Dom and I are both pushing along. 

Brother Clay Cane

 Back in the mid-2000's when I first starting blogging at my original blogspot, I discovered over time a community of folks who had their own blogs and occasionally chimed in with feedback and sometimes tough love on my blog depending on the topic.    When I started blogging again a few years back, I often wondered what happened to my fellow bloggers and hoping they all are living their best lives.   

I recently rediscovered none other than Clay Cane on Youtube.    I knew from his blogspot (which actually I need to get invited again...LOL) that he was a prolific writer and political activist that was already making moves.    It's so cool to see him doing his thing on Youtube and he's speaking the truth on a lot of topics.   I don't have SiriusXM so I'm not able to listen to him live or call in so it's good he adds them on Youtube as well.    And he's also an author as well and has an upcoming novel titled "Burn Down Master's House" that's coming out in late January 2026.   I will definitely have to check that out.   I also looked him up on LinkedIn and can see that he has a profile there.   I sent him a connection request so I'll see if he responds.   In the meantime here are a few of his videos.

First one I'm sharing is his most recent (as of this blog entry date) where he and his co-host Reecie Colbert talk about ICE's attack on a black Southside neighborhood apartment.   From reports that I've seen, they took everyone out of that apartment and kept them in custody for several hours.   It's crazy how they are using immigration to violate human rights.   They didn't care if a person was a U.S. Citizen or not when they removed everyone.    Not only that but the way they did it, rappelling from helicopters and breaking windows and doors to get into apartments.   There were children living in the apartments and I can't imagine the trauma they'll have to deal with thinking that they don't have a safe space.   Of course Orange's administration doesn't care about that one bit.

The next video I'm sharing is one where Clay Cane with co-host Ted Winn talked with legendary R&B singer Teena Marie's daughter Alia Rose who is an artist as well.    We got to hear stories about Teena Marie from Alia's perspective.    She also mentioned an upcoming biopic that's she involved in that tells her Mom's story.

Finally here's Clay's video about former The Biggest Loser loser trainer Jillian Michaels and the gall about her recent comments relating to slavery and how it wasn't so bad for black folks and that less than 2% of whites owned slaves.   I watched Netflix's documentary on The Biggest Loser and was reminded of what a piece of work she and Bobby Harper were to the folks that participated on the show.    Like everything else on TV, it was all about the money.   The show went on for 18 Seasons and spawned other versions of the show internationally.

So Hemingway it was nice seeing that Clay is doing well and I wish him continued success.