Stormy Weather

 This summer has been quite eventful weatherwise.   It seemed like every week they were announcing some weather event where there was the potential for tornadoes and flooding.   Last month the tornadoes hit very close to where we live in the town of Merrillville.    We frequent there when shopping at Costco or when I was taking my certification exams for the latest Salesforce cert.    So it was surreal to see the destruction that took place.  My area received lots of rain and heavy winds but thankfully we didn't get the brunt of the bad weather.  I haven't been to Merrillville since the tornadoes but plan to go this weekend to Costco as we need to stock up on some bulk items.

We've had more storm events happen due to the very humid air in the air and a cold front moving in from the north.   Areas were also seeing hail the size of golf balls.    We have windows open because we have no central air and Dom insists on having them constantly open.   When the winds came through, the gust was enough to knock some of the spices we had placed on the kitchen sill fly off.

When coming back from our court appearance in late June, we drove through the town of Griffith, IN and could see that they had reduced major roadway Ridge to only one lane each direction, the other lane was filled with tree debris from fallen limbs.   

So this past Monday, Chicagoland experienced yet another storm event.    This time the Southern burbs of Illinois received the brunt of the tornadoes, including Lansing, Orland Park, and Homewood.   Anthony lives in that area and he mentioned that the power went out for him.   It so happened that this time Dom and I went without power.   The power was out for almost six hours.   Dom especially had a hard time adjusting to how hot the house got without fans and our A/C bedroom.

At first we were in the mud room where he opened the windows and a breeze was coming through.  I don't care for the mud room because part of the windows extend to our neighbor's driveway.  Dom of course was talking loud and his voice was carrying outside, enough for the Amazon delivery person delivering a package for our neighbors to turn is head and look at us.  

I decided to stay in the living room and lie down on one of the sofas.   Dom and I would continue to converse from between the rooms since the mud room is only inches away from the living room.   Eventually we moved upstairs and Dom of course opened the bedroom window w/o the A/C unit as high as possible.   But he wasn't comfortable.   I was wanting to doze off but really couldn't because he was tossing and turning.   So I went back down to the sofa and Dom eventually joined.   We talked for a bit before I finally dozed off.    By then we were on hour 4 or 5 without power.   I was definitely worrying about our food going bad in the refrigerators.   The mini-fridge in the kitchen nook starting leaking water from the freezer.

I felt the ceiling fans start spinning and the lights turn on in the living room after a little over 6 hours without power and heard Dom exclaiming joy.   I soon also exclaimed joy and was grateful that the outage didn't carry on through the night.   

It's funny that some do not believe in global warming but how can we explain all the major weather events especially tornadoes that have never plagued our area before.   It's not over either.   It wouldn't surprise me to see more events like this in the near future.   All we can do is take cover and pray.

Mario Bellissimo

 I reminisced back in February about my frotting good time experiences with MCD during the 2010's.   I recalled meeting him on a site called SilverDaddies.   Speaking on MCD made me think about another memorable guy that I met there but never blogged about - till now.   Yes my next post is another menses production post.

Let me tell you about Mario (his real first name).   I started chatting with him on SilverDaddies sometime around 2009.   He was active in my life around the same time period as Midas.    As much as I was falling for Midas during that time, Mario was another guy that I found myself falling hard for.   In fact Mario and Midas were neck in neck for my affections though Midas edged him out slightly.   If I could've gotten either guy to commit to me, I would've been a happy man.

Mario was a half Italian/half Mexican guy in his mid-30's.   I don't remember who started chatting with who but like MCD I had no idea what he looked like.   I just remember our conversations were very spicy.   Also similar to MCD he would have to come to my place as he couldn't host.   We agreed to meet at my house one Sunday evening.   As it turned out, Sundays nights usually were the best time for him to meet.

When Mario first came over, I was instantly attracted.   He was about 5'11 to 6 feet tall, around 220 - 230 pounds of beef.   He wasn't very hairy so not quite a bear.   But he had the nicest smile and was so friendly.   He was very handsome.   We quickly headed to the bedroom and proceeded to get it on.   

Mario was such a great lover.   He was considerate and always made sure I was satisfied.   He knew how to work his tool.  He had a slightly aggressive streak in bed and loved talking dirty.   After we were done we would chat for a bit before he eventually left.

We would continue to meet regularly for the next two years.  Within a few months as I got to know him, I started to fall for him.   I remember he mentioned working as either in marketing or finances.   He mentioned having a gym membership at a pricey club that his company paid for.

The issue with Mario was that he was in the closet.  Deep in the closet.   I remember I would suggest us going out for dinner and he would say he wasn't comfortable.   He even said something that was shocking and offensive.   He commented that he never ate out with a black person.   I remember being shocked and thinking why would it matter what race I was.    But then I realized his family likely had opinions on black folks that he no doubt carried.    And I wasn't the special black...*LOL* (and no there's no special one in a racist world - something Kash Patel still needs to learn).

I never knew if he had a girlfriend or another relationship as he kept that quiet.   But I suppose the fact that he only was available on Sunday evenings and we never could meet at his place may have been a clue.

The other thing I remember is that Mario and Midas share the distinction as my only time where I double dipped with two guys.    That means having sex with two different guys on the same day.   I still fondly remember New Year's Day 2011.   I spent New Year's Eve with Sally hanging out with a girlfriend of her's in the city.   Before meeting Sally I made plans with Midas to head to his place at 3am.   Luckily he was about a mile from the CTA Green line so it was walkable.   Yes during the early morning hours I had sex for the last time with Midas.   The next evening I had sex with Mario (so technically it wasn't a double dip but it was the shortest amount of time between two guys that I had).   Sadly that wound up being one of the last times that Mario and I had sex.

I found out mid-February 2011 that I had contracted syphilis after noticing the classic symptoms in the palms of my hands.   It was from a random Craigslist hookup that I had earlier that month I had no business being with.   I remember Mario was wanting to come over that Sunday but I obviously couldn't have sex since I was treated for syphilis and needed time for the treatment to do its thing.   (I don't think I ever blogged about that but yes that was my experience with STDs, along with a case of crabs that I had caught early in my sex career and then the HPV in 2013).

I was honest with Mario about the situation and that pretty much ended our relations.   Oddly enough he would still call me wanting to talk dirty which we did.   But he never again came to my place.  I tried telling him that we could be friends.   But how could we be friends if he didn't want to hang out?  I even suggested maybe we could cook a meal at home.    But I spooked him for good with my news.

We still chatted and emailed periodically for a while.  I even remember telling him about a place in Barcelona where I saw a restaurant with his name on it while vacationing there.    But eventually our chats tapered off sometime in 2013.  

He hurt me with his rejection.  It really hurt realizing how because of a stupid moment, I ruined our thing.  But realistically if he wasn't willing to go beyond the bedroom, how much longer would it have lasted?   That was part of the reason I was still looking for a boyfriend and strayed in the wrong places.  If there was any chance he expressed interest in more, I would've committed to him in a heartbeat.   Yeah Mario and Midas were the only two that I had those feelings for at that time.

The last time I messaged him was sometime in 2018 or 2019.   He was doing good.   He even said he had a boyfriend (so I guess he was out of the closet).   I assumed the boyfriend was of "Caucasian persuasion" but I didn't ask.    I told him about Dom and then we basically said goodbye.

I do hope Mario is doing good.  Like MCD I will fondly remember the good times we had.  And now I'm thinking about two more significant guys early in my gay life that I've never talked about.   One of them was my first guy (after my Halloween 2022 escort gay) I met being new to the gay scene.   The other guy was a younger brother that had his shit together that I ultimately messed up but he gave me something to remember him by.    Those two will be for another time.

More Court Fun

The weeks have been moving along pretty quick.   Dom and I went to the Courthouse on our appointed date 06/26.    They said our court time was 8:45AM but we didn't get seen by the judge until almost 11AM.   We got there earlier around a little after 8AM.    There's a metal detector that everyone has to go through because you know with the litigious nature of the cases, people could become postal and bring a gun or another weapon.    They weren't letting people through until 8:30AM.    So we waited in the lobby along with other folks that had their own cases to deal with.    

Once we passed the metal detectors, Dom had to go in the court room and register that he arrived.   Then we had to sit in a hard chair and wait till his name was called.    That was a long 2 1/2 hour wait.   I had forgotten to eat anything beforehand so I was starting to get hungry near the 11AM time.

So we saw the lawyer for the plaintiff walking in the hallway and disappearing in the court room for other cases.   I didn't know for sure it was him until I heard him mention the hospital while talking to the staff and then disappearing with other defendants in the court room when it was their time.

Eventually it was Dom's turn.   We were ushered into the courtroom where the judge gave Dom an earful for not showing up on the previous court date.   I was pissed but all we could do was sit there and take it.   The judge accepted the motion to set aside the judgment (that I went to the court to hand off) and basically we went with the plaintiff into a private room to see if we could agree to an amount.

We didn't agree to the amount.  The plaintiff listed all these various amounts from 2020 - 2023 that weren't listed in Dom's bill portal.   They did add up to the nearly $5000 bill the hospital was claiming he owed.   The bill portal had $2400+ that was listed as gone to collections.   I had paid $1400 of it which left $1000.   If nothing else we feel that we paid part of what they think we owe and a reevaluation is needed.

Since we didn't agree, a new court date of July 31st was given.   We showed the plaintiff the bill portal that showed we only owed $1000.   He said that he would share this with the hospital and mail us a copy of the bills they claim we owe.   We still haven't received that yet but I am thinking we may need to log into the portal once more to see if they added anything there.   They may mail it closer to our court date as well.   Who knows?   

 I will be glad when this nightmare is over.   I will have to budget whatever the final expense is.   There is light at the end of the tunnel coming though.  Dom heard back from the Social Security office and they mentioned he will start getting monthly payments in late August.   So he'll finally be getting some income (it won't be a lot but it's something).    We also learned that there isn't a separate payment for disability.   It's apparently rolled into one so if disability payment is higher, that is what he will get.   If social security is higher, that is what he will get.    He needs to provide some additional information to get qualified for disability and then we should know what the amount is.    It sucks but actually that makes sense.   If Dom were still in his working years, the disability would be a separate income stream while he can't work.   But since Social Security is now his income stream, disability if paid separately would be like supplemental income and the government can't have that apparently...LOL.

Stay tuned.