Trickery Treats

 

It's officially Halloween.   It's that time of year where folks that celebrate it dress up in masks for one day a year and may partake in debauchery.    Unfortunately with our current Orange administration, debauchery is an everyday occurrence.    It's not a matter of if it occurs but rather when and what now.

This last week alone Orange has been busy admiring Republican (or Repugnant-can as Dom likes to call them) Jon Husted's ass.    He kept going on and on at his rally's on how he couldn't stop looking at it.  In the past he has spoken about the late golf great Arnold Palmer's genitals and recently was filmed touching some other guy's genitals.   To continue his misogyny against women he proceeded to objectify the repugnant Nicki Minaj's body.  Folks have concluded she's allowing herself to be degraded so that she doesn't get deported and her criminally convicted husband and brother don't get deported as well.  Minaj also is reportedly being considered for the new Press Secretary role after the disastrous performance of their former press secretary Katie Zacharia.    Zacharia made the former Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt look like a professional as opposed to a professional looney.  I guess Minaj can't be any worse than Zacharia who they fired less than five days after her disastrous debut.

Thankfully independent media has kept me updated on all the shenanigans going on in this country.   As I mentioned before I primarily get my news from various Youtube independent media sources.   I watched the episode where DL Hughley guest starred on Don Lemon's show and they floated the idea of taking their interactions on the road.

So when I saw that they actually had a national tour called DL + DL - Anything Goes (clever marketing that I remember Don had suggested) I thought it would be fun to see them if they had Chicago as a stop.   I didn't really think further on it until two weeks back when I looked to see their current schedule.    It so happened that they were planning a Chicago show on 10/30.

The venue was happening at the Chicago Theatre at 7:30 PM.   Since I work in downtown Chicago I would basically hang out in Chicago for the duration of the day until showtime.    It would be a very long day though.   I wake up at 4AM during my office days to leave the house at 6AM for my train to downtown.   Typically I leave the office at 3:30 PM to catch the 4PM train back home.   But seeing the show meant that I would have to wait until the 11:15 PM train and not get home until after midnight the next day.

But I have seen shows in the past after work when Dom would take the train to meet me.  So it wasn't a foreign concept.   Thankfully it would be Friday so at least I would be able to sleep in (and I did...LOL).

So yes I decided to get a ticket.  I wound up sitting in the box seat area.   I had expectations that I would have a little more space then I wound up having.   But the seats around me were a bit closer than I would've liked.   I had thought about getting seats on the main floor, including a corner seat that had one empty seat by me.   However, the app prevented me from getting that seat because it only left a single seat between folks (like other single people might not be going).   It was ridiculous.    The box seat I chose was a single seat and the nearest seat was drawn like it would be a few feet away.   It wasn't.  It was only separated by a bar covered in red curtains.    That was disappointing (see the picture I attached near the end of this post, my jacket marks the spot where I sat).   But luckily nobody sat in that one seat.

Work was relatively quiet that day.   Casework was relatively light for the week.    To my surprise they actually had a lot of free breakfast burritos that day.    So eating two of those filled me up for most of the day.   I decided that I would do a 5pm dinner at Nando's Peri-Peri restaurant on Randolph and Michigan Ave.    Nando's is a South African eatery known for all things chicken and their famous peri-peri sauce that they marinate their chicken in for at least 24 hours.

Food had to be ordered through a QR code which also gave you the option of pre-paying for the dinner.   I was dismayed that the host sat me between two other couples on a banquette.   One of the couples left and then they seated a family with a cute baby that couldn't help to turn around and look at me.    It was so sweet.   The food itself was really good.   I had their wings (small but mighty) with their spicy peri-peri sauce and then for the main, I chose three boneless thighs soaked in a mild mango lime sauce with a side of Portuguese rice and veggies.    I would probably choose different sides next time but the star of the show was a solid winner.

The restaurant wasn't far from Millennium Station where I waited for about 20 minutes after dinner until I made my way to the theatre.    Once at the theatre it was a few minutes wait until security opened their door.   They made me check-in my work bag which I guess was for the best.   I decided to treat myself to a $15 Cabernet.

The show was slated to start at 7:30 but didn't actually start until 8PM.   It started with a montage that introduced the two main men.    I actually had no idea that Don Lemon and DL Hughley hated each other prior since they seem to get along well now.   DL Hughley initially criticized Don Lemon due to Lemon's comments about black supporters of Orange.   He found Lemon's remarks disrespectful and dismissive of a particular segment of the black community.   It took the women in their lives to have them see their commonalities and ultimately they decided to reconcile.

Once the montage was done, Don Lemon came out first.   He basically did a live show like he would on Youtube.   His montage discussed everything from President Obama taking honest jabs at Orange's laser focus on redesigning the White House as opposed to solving real world problems to Orange's continued attacks on journalists and whether Orange is really in the closet.

After his set was done, DL Hughley came out and performed his own sets.   He had a lot of jokes that mostly landed on the political spectrum over the last several years, including jabs at COVID-19, the Jan 6 rioters, Epstein, and Erika Kirk.   It was a very funny set.

After it was done, Don came back out and joined DL on a makeshift living room set to have their own dialogue that mostly delved into politics.   Throughout the show it was reminded that we all need to vote next Tuesday to ensure the Democrats win enough seats to take over the House and Senate.   Dom and I early voted last Tuesday.

The current mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson wound up being their guest star for the evening.   Johnson was giving his take on tackling the problems of the city.    There wound up being a heckler that sat not far from me (in the next box seat) shouting if the Southside of Chicago was safe.    He said it a couple times with some folks around him shouting back that it was safe.   The heckler wound up leaving shortly afterwards.   Johnson touted that his summer jobs program employed 33,000 local Chicago teens which I thought was pretty impressive.

The segment ended with DL making jokes about Don's recent arrest (for doing his job as a journalist) and not wanting him or Johnson to catch Don's cooties.   LOL.

Overall the show was very funny.  I had an annoying lady sit at the booth behind me (that wound up being closer than advertised - pic coming up soon) shaking her popcorn bag and laughing loud.   She did not have her phone on silent and it kept ringing as well.    Thankfully she wound up moving to a different area after a couple other late patrons came in and confirmed she was sitting in the wrong seat. 

The latecomers was another thing that irked.   Thankfully I didn't have a seat directly in front of me though to that immediate right were two seats (though both ladies were thankfully on time).   I guess it's all the price you have to pay when dealing with the public.

I also got a chuckle when slowly making my way out of the venue I overheard a lady bitching to a friend about a peanut-head gentleman that was blocking her view and seemed to adjust his head the same way she was going.   I will say I do not enjoy interacting with the public often and prefer to be home away from people.   But Dom and I will be out and about next weekend for another show playing at the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago.    We're seeing the play Kowalski starring Johnny Galecki (of Big Bang Theory fame which is Dom's favorite TV show) and Jacob Moskovitz.    It's supposed to be an imagined scenario where Tennessee Williams meets Marlon Brando for the first time.   I wonder if there may be some homoerotic scenes.    Anyway it'll be a matinee performance so we'll hopefully be home before 8pm.    The good thing too is that SouthShore is giving veterans free rides that weekend so Dom will be able to ride both ways for free.

Gaslit E

 I made the decision earlier this year to switch my primary doctor to be the same one that Dom has.   I had one doctor that I've been going to for the last several years but I've felt like he hasn't been giving me the best care.   It seemed that his service has been pretty impersonal.   Also the last few visits I've noticed that he's been looking haggard and gained a bit of weight.   I felt like if he's not taking care of his own health then how can I expect him to care for mine.

Dom has been praising his newer primary doctor that he's had for a year or so.   He had wanted a male primary but the one he had wound up passing away.    He had a hard time finding another male doctor so settled on his current one.    

I had complained about my current primary and he suggested I switch over to his.  I was reluctant at first mainly because I wasn't sure about having a lady primary doctor.   I remember Mama always wanted a lady primary for her.   When she was in the hospital I remember her insisting wanting a female orderly to look over her.   In a lot of ways I was having the same hang up.   But then Dom pointed out that doctors hardly do physicals the way they used to do them.   So I decided to let go of my hang-up and officially switch over to his primary.

So far I've had two sessions with Gupta.   I will say that I don't know if I've noticed much of a difference between her and my previous primary.   Oddly enough though the two times I've visited her, my blood pressure readings both times were in the normal range (120/78 - 80).    That seemed so weird to me.   I had been adding a few more supplements including nattokinase which is an enzyme extracted from fermented foods.  I will say perhaps the extra walking when going to the office has helped.

However I've been off my routine for a few days and when visiting Dom's Mom and using her wrist blood pressure monitor to measure my blood pressure, it was reading 170/133 which is full on heart attack mode.    So I can't help but wonder if I'm being gaslighted at my primary.   But as I said I have been off my routine for a bit and maybe I need to get some exercise back again to see if things improve.

Incidentally I've taken two weeks off from work though I've still had to briefly check in since I had a few cases that were still in my name.   It's not like when I worked at my previous corporate job where taking off two weeks meant not logging in at all.    But I believe I've gotten things under control so hopefully I should be able to enjoy the rest of my time off.   Dom has not been happy with me still checking in for work.

Dom and I plan to early vote tomorrow even though Indiana usually winds up going Republican.   But I do hope maybe enough folks who identify as Republican wake up and realize that Agent Orange needs to be impeached and the only way to try and do so is to go blue.   I'm not holding my breath but miracles do happen sometimes.

Blessings Bestowed

As long as we wake up breathing it's another day where life seems to throw so much to deal with.   This has been a crazy year so far with Dom's health issues, the court drama, power outage, and our radiator going out.   It just seemed to be one problem after another.    But we managed to navigate through it all.

Every once in a while we get reminded that life has a way of throwing blessings as well.   Two of those blessings came our way this week.   The first was getting to see my friend Doug again.   I mentioned previously that he was in my neighborhood last week training for a new job that he started last week.   He was back in town this past week and he was determined to see me.   He mentioned Friday would be the best day.  

My plan was to work from the office Friday but I had a work issue that required me to be in the office on Thursday.  I thankfully was able to get that resolved.   Also on Friday I needed to get blood work done for an upcoming doctor appointment on Monday.    So I had to be home on Friday.   I took care of that and was blessed to find most of my results were in line save some minor abnormalities.

Doug wound up calling me around 10AM Friday.   He was able to finish his training early and just so happened to be in my area.   He just needed my address which I provided.    I was so excited when he rang the doorbell.    I went to answer the door and we spent the first minute or two just laughing and being excited to see each other and how we changed.    He reminded me that the last time we saw each other was when I visited him in Atlanta in 2013.

He got the chance to meet Dom for the first time and we had a chance to briefly catch up.   He was doing good and mentioned being on a health kick since he needed to have hip replacement surgery.   He reminded me of my health kicks that I used to do.   It was so great catching up with him.

He needed to leave though since he had to be at the airport by 1pm.   Things were oddly Meta though when he mentioned his phone needed charging as it was almost dead.   When I went to see him in 2013, I recalled my phone was near death as well and died just when I was in his neighborhood.   I had my charger with me though so I was able to charge it as soon as I found Doug's home.   Doug didn't have a charger it seems.   I unfortunately didn't have one that worked for his phone since he had an iPhone.   I directed him to a nearby Walgreens before he left and prayed that he would make it back to the airport on time.    Everything thankfully worked out and he made it back to Atlanta safely.    It truly was a blessing seeing him.

Dom received an unexpected blessing as well.   Our favorite bank (NOT!) Centier is going through an upgrade of their systems which is requiring a temporary login when they get back online Monday.   It just so happens that Monday is when our monthly mortgage payment is due.   They mentioned that access to check balances online would be disabled after 6pm on October 2nd.  I transferred some money that was due to arrive in our joint on that day.   

With everything that happened earlier, the excitement of seeing Doug, work, and losing our internet an hour after Doug left, I didn't get a chance to check that the transfer went in.    Thankfully the internet came back after I called them around 4pm to get it fixed.

Around 5:30 I remembered that I needed to check the joint account to verify that the transfer went through and there was enough money for the automatic mortgage payment on the 5th.   My transfer did go through but something else put me in shock.  I saw that our joint had over twenty grand in it.   Apparently the Social Security department sent a one-tie back payment to Dom.   I believe it may go back to one year.   It's the most money the joint account has ever had at one time.

I questioned if it was real but apparently it's a thing.   This is definitely a blessing that wasn't expected.   Dom plans to use some of it to pay off his medical debt including the recent settlement we had in court.   He also said he wanted to give me $5000 to help cover my credit card debt and pay back some of what I've paid for his hobby.   It is definitely a nice gesture and it should help make me whole again. He even asked me about the mortgage.   Technically some of it could pay off the remaining balance which is currently $1500 (so crazy that it's almost paid off).   I told him not to worry about the mortgage since I already am on track to paying it off by January 2027 at the latest.

I always kept thinking how nice it would be to have an extra $10K fall in my lap.   Technically it fell in Dom's lap but close enough.   What a blessing indeed.

Headset Politics

 I never knew something as simple as replacing a headset would serve as a reflection of what happens due to my antisocial tendencies at work.   As I've previously mentioned, prior to recent developments in having new teammates, I was working solo at my Chicago office.   Since my work was separate from the other support teams, I tended to be on my own.    There was one guy that worked in one of the other support teams that happened to be part of the same Salesforce program that I participated in 2021.    But we would only chat briefly before going about our separate days.   He then wound up leaving the company in September 2025.   Oddly enough it coincided with one of our companies recent layoffs so when I saw his account was deactivated, I worried that he was impacted by the layoffs.    But when I reached out to him on LinkedIn he said he chose to leave to pursue another opportunity.    There is one other guy that is generally friendly to everyone who I chat with briefly from time to time.    But any communication to my actual team has to be done via our chat boards since the majority of my teammates are based in Indianapolis.

So Hemingway last month I was telling my manager that my headset had seen better days and wanted to see if I could order a replacement.    She mentioned that there were new headsets ordered a few months back that was distributed to the different managers and that I was supposed to get one.   I had never gotten the memo.   I mentioned I would reach out to that "one other guy" (let's call him Roland).

Roland was so nice about it and mentioned he would look further into it.   He mentioned he would reach out to the manager of the other support group.   However, I later learned that the manager was currently out on paternity leave.    Unfortunately Roland wasn't able to make any headway.   

The sound on the headset worked perfectly fine.   It was just that the ear foams were spilling out which made them look horrible.   I'm sure other folks around me were making fun of my headset.   After a month I finally decided to look through my previous headset order to see if I could find the exact model.   It ended up I had ordered my current headset sometime in early 2024.

Once I got the correct model, I was able to find replacement ear foams for under $10.   Thankfully I ordered the correct ones and I was able to replace it and save my existing headset.

The whole thing had me thinking how due to my lack of socializing with the team, I was overlooked for new headsets.   Maybe if I made an effort to talk to their team, I wouldn't have been ignored.  I never was good at small talk.   But part of it too is that my homebase office is still Indianapolis.   For example, Boston mentioned that the senior leadership team was meeting with Chicago support team.   I wasn't included in the meeting.    It was only later that I realized that it was because of my Home Office.    I get notices whenever the Indianapolis office has meetings.   So it's likely I wasn't on any list when it came time to distributing headsets and nobody thought of me.

The newer team members that are joining my support team will all have Chicago as their homebase.   It may be time for me to officially make the switch.    A part of me wants to stay based in Indianapolis just because it makes my taxes easier.    When I worked at the aviation company and Amazon in Illinois, I had to file both Illinois and Indiana state taxes which was a pain in the butt.   It always felt like I was being double taxed (though in actuality I typically got a refund from Illinois while owing Indiana due to Lake County taxes).   It is possible I'm leaving extra money on the table by not switching but I do like how much easier my taxes are now.    There's no rush though.

From A Distance

 Bette Midler - From A Distance

VERSES

From a distance the world looks blue and green,
And the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
And the eagle takes to flight.

From a distance, there is harmony
And it echoes through the land.
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace,
It's the voice of every man.

From a distance we all have enough,
And no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
No hungry mouths to feed.

From a distance we are instruments,
Marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They're the songs of every man.

REFRAIN

God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance.

The lyrics from this song are inspirational though definitely not our reality.    The world is not harmonious, folks are in need, guns and bombs are aplenty, and disease is ever present.   The skies are still blue and there are snow-capped mountains but humans are quickly chipping away at that.   We get daily reminders in life of this and it doesn't help that our current administration is slowing taking away our basic rights.

There is one thing I believe is still true.  God indeed is watching us.   A lot of times we don't understand why bad things continue to happen to good people but God is watching over us.   I was reminded of this when I received a phone call last week from my college friend Doug who mentioned that he was in my neck of the woods for his training at a new job he got at Motorola.  

We reminisced about old times and I couldn't help but remember our time at the club 9.9.   I actually blogged about that experience before in my original blog.   I kept a paper journal (which I've since lost) back in the early 90's (that was a whole lifetime ago over 30 years ago).   To recap I was part of an organization called National Society of Black Engineers.   Our chapter of the organization attended a national conference that was being held in Houston, Texas.   I believe we attended that conference in 1993.   I remember that the R&B group SWV was hitting the scene and they had two songs that were making waves, I'm So Into You and Weak.   Former college friend Earvin and I were riding in a rental when Weak started playing.    I remember telling Earvin how I enjoyed the song and Earvin saying that the ladies sounded like chipmunks.   I remember that comment making me chuckle.

Hemingway the experience that stuck with me the most was my time at a ghetto club called 9.9.   I had my version of my experiences there but when I reunited with Doug years after my first blog entry he shared a version of the story that I didn't remember.   He told me that I was almost jumped by three random hoodlums who were up to no good.   Doug said that he was standing off from a distance checking out the scene when he heard three guys talking and pointing at me saying that they were planning to rob me as soon as I left the club.    Doug said he was worried about me but didn't know what to do.   He stood still and was watching me from afar.    He said he was praying that I wouldn't leave the club on my own.

Next is where my version of the events and Doug's version of the events differ.   In my version I pretty much was standing in one spot (Doug and my recollection of that was clear).  I did not see Doug or Rick at all.   I did see Earvin having his fun with some locals.   Eventually Earvin comes to me and the two of us split up looking for Doug and Rick.    When we don't find them, we go outside and when walking to the car, we see Doug and Rick waiting there.

Now in Doug's version, he says that he was racing in his mind trying to figure out what to do to save me.   He mentioned that there was a girl fight that distracted the random hoodlums and other patrons.    He said during this time that he quickly came up to me and told me that we needed to go and to ask no questions.   He mentioned that we both went outside away from the club.

I don't remember the events playing out that way at all.   I feel like he would've told me that sooner.  Hell I would think I would remember being ushered out of the club.    But nonetheless if I truly was about to be jumped, all I can say was that God truly was watching out for me that night.   Who knows how the trajectory of my life might've changed had I gotten mugged that night.   Maybe I may not even be here today.   I do thank goodness guns weren't involved as shootings have become all the more prevalent.

But now that I think about it, comparing our two versions of the story, maybe Doug is misremembering who the potential victim was.    Maybe Rick was the one that was in danger and he actually was saving him instead of me.   The next time I talk to Rick I'll have to bring up the story to see if he remembers it the same way.    Either way none of us had any business going to that place.   God truly was watching us to get us unscathed.  

Growing Work Spurts

 My company in the last few months have been steadily working to add new employees to the mix.   With the proliferation of AI, my company's stance initially was to continuously reduce head count due to the perceived benefits of utilizing AI.    But AI isn't the end all be all when it comes to providing customer support.   Feedback from a growing number of customers has been the frustration of having to deal with an AI bot before they can connect to a human support agent.   A lot of times the recommendations from AI didn't correctly address the issues that customers were complaining about.  It does appear that the company may have finally heard the complaints and subsequently have decided to temporarily increase head counts.    Of course there's no guarantees that they won't reduce head count again at some point in the future.

One change is that my team is planning to add members to the Chicago office where I'm located.   I have been the solo Chicago member for more than two years.   But that ended when a second member named Boston was added in early July to my team.   Of course since I was the only Chicago member of my team, I was chosen to be his mentor.   Interestingly enough Boston's personality almost mirrors mine.   He is a bit quiet and he also has a tendency to want to retreat to quieter areas of the office.   In fact we don't always sit together.   I didn't interview him prior but I oddly felt like Boston may have reminded my manager of me.   He's a really cool guy and I look forward to him contributing positively to the team.

I also got pulled into doing a few interviews in search of more team members for the Chicago office.   They are wanting to grow our support presence in Chicago.    I hate doing interviews but I have to remind myself it's better doing them on the company side than me on the outside interviewing trying to find a new work home.    I performed three interviews so far (with more coming in the future no doubt).   Only one of the three showed potential promise.  Romero I learned actually is from Griffith, IN which isn't too far from where I live.   He spent some time working at call centers for tech support which I felt would be good for our chat cases.    He did wind up accepting an offer and will start work in Chicago on October 5th (though I'm guessing he may work from home initially that first week).

My manager also mentioned that a fourth person is planning to relocate to the Chicago area.   I met her last week when she briefly visited the office.   I had to meet her in the lobby so she could get a visitor's pass.   My manager wanted to meet with her directly (via Google meet) but was busy with several meetings including an interview.    So since she wasn't available to meet with her, she had me take a photo with Padma.    My manager mentioned that she has some good experience working in Support.   I wasn't clear if she was a current employee or not but at some point she'll be starting work in Chicago as well.

So I've gone from being solo to having three new co-workers.   It'll definitely be an adjustment for me as I've gotten used to being alone.   There's a lot of office politics that I've mostly avoided because I wasn't near my team.   It'll be interesting too to see how the new team members play off each other.   

Still Kicking

 Another summer is soon coming to an end.   It's been a crazy one with Dom's health and court issues as well as the inclement weather that came through our region.   I still need to get the solar battery backup, repair the roof, and cut back some of our tree branches.   To top it off I need to get my old car for its annual maintenance, which is overdue.   All of that requires money.   My credit card debt has definitely creeped higher which I hate.   I have to figure out how to prioritize everything.

I did apply for a hardship credit from work last Friday for $800 that I'm hoping they will decide to credit me for.   That cost covers all the food expenses we had during and after the derecho storm.    That was a crazy time especially with the back and forth of visiting Dom in the hospital.     We've gotten some of the bills which actually weren't too bad so far but I'm waiting for the big one for Dom's overall hospital stay.   I'm wondering too if we'll also get individual doctor bills as well.    This will be in addition to the $607 a month we'll have to pay for his previous medical debt as agreed upon from our last court date.

I am getting a small bonus by the end of September, which right now I'm planning to allocate towards my credit card debt.   On the positive the mortgage is inching closer and closer to being paid off.    I'm anticipating paying it off either in Dec 2026 or Jan 2027 which is so exciting.   It's a milestone I've been working towards for a few years now since I started my career's second act.   I had originally targeted June or July of this year to have it paid off but life.    Assuming I make the new goal that would put me completely paying it off around the ten year mark of my thirty year loan.    It's so wild to pay off a 30 year mortgage in about ten years.

I haven't really been feeling like blogging lately but I wanted to post a quick entry since the month of September is almost half over.   Time is really flying and it truly waits for noone.    Till my next entry.

Surviving Some Dark Times

 As previously mentioned, Northwest Indiana (and a portion of Illinois) experienced power outages after a horrific storm crashed through the area on August 11th.   Some areas like Munster (Don and Juan live there) won't see power again until the 25th at the earliest.    I spoke to Juan on August 18th and he's suspecting it may be later than that given all the damage their area has experienced.   I reached out to Don and Juan since then and they mentioned that they got their power back on the 26th but they are still dealing with home damage and the other damages to their neighborhood.

So our first day after power went out, which was Wednesday August 12th,  I debated whether I should go into work or stay home with Dom.   He was having an aftercare nurse come to the house but she wasn't sure she could make it Wednesday since she was dealing with issues brought on by the power outage.   I decided to stay home and told my manager so I could take that day off.

I helped Dom with setting up the equipment needed for him to get his daily antibiotics.   He was confident that he would be able to take his shot on his own.  Dom was a medic when he joined the Navy in his late 20's so he picked up plenty of medical knowledge from his own experiences.    We set up the IV bag holder initially and he had a powdered form of the eraxis antibiotic.    Dom had to extract a saline solution from a small bottle to transfer to the powdered antibiotic.   Extracting it with the thick needle proved to be a challenge.

After he mixed enough of the saline, he then extracted the mixture from the bottle into a second needle.   He used that needle to connect directly to his IV and then he shot the medicine into his system.

I was impressed that Dom was able to figure things out.   But later that night Dom started experiencing chills again.   We were debating if we should go to the ER but decided to wait until the nurse came in the next morning.   

Dom felt better the next morning.   I wasn't sure if I should go to work but both my work and home phone were dangerously low and in need of charging.   I did not have an AV charging station for my car and I used both my personal and work laptop to charge both Dom and my personal phones.   I told Dom that if the nurse says he needs to go to the ER than he should go.

Since we couldn't flush the toilet, we decided to use grocery bags and a sitz bath to catch our poop.  We used a portable urinal for pee and dumped it in the sink drain.   Once the poop was collected in the grocery bag along with the toilet paper and wipes used to clean up, we took that bag and threw it in a tall garbage bag where we continued filling until it got half full and the flies and nats were finding their way to it.   It was disgusting but we didn't want to clog our toilet anymore than they were already or risk a backed up toilet.   

 I wound up doing sink baths to get ready for work.   I used bottled water for wetting the bath rag and getting the soap lathered.    Afterwards I got ready and also took my personal laptop with me so I could charge the phone.

It was really hard to concentrate at work given all that we were dealing with being without power.   I was still getting tossed all kinds of Sev1's on issues I've never had to deal with before.   I was able to charge my personal laptop as well as my phones.

I tried to call Dom around noon.  He picked up the phone but he didn't say anything.  I said hello and then he hung up.   I waited a few minutes and tried to call back but it went to voicemail.   My mind went to the darkest place thinking something was wrong with Dom.

It took everything in me to get through the rest of my workday.   I wound up leaving two hours early so I could get home sooner.    Since I have to take the train to work, it took over an hour to get home.   It also took longer because at several stations, the crew had to manually go and lower the rail stations.

By the time I got off the train, my emotions got the best of me, and I was crying as I quickly ran the 0.5 miles to get home.   I cried out for Dom when I got in the house and he responded.   He sounded fine but I quickly unloaded that I thought something had happened because he had hung up and didn't answer when I called back.    We hugged as he assured me that he was fine.

It ended up that he had just gotten lunch for himself when I initially called.   He said he did not hear me so he hung up.    He then accidentally dropped his phone and decided not to reach for it when I called back.   He also said the nurse was impressed about how Dom was able to get the IV done himself.   But a step was missed where the antibiotic solution needed to be inserted into the IV saline bag that would need to be supported by the IV bag holder which we forgot all about.    She also said he likely experienced the chills because he took the whole solution at once as opposed to diluting it in the IV saline bag and letting it slowly come through.

Our neighbor Sandra was very nice to provide Dom and I dinner on a couple of the nights as well as ice and even some snacks.   I also provided her dinner on Friday evening.    It showed how neighbors can check in on each other during the hardest of times.

Our evenings after dinner were spent conversing and reading.   I caught up on Mariah Carey's autobiography book called The Meaning of Mariah Carey.    I will say it's been interesting reading about her childhood as a bi-racial girl and the rough road she had to travel.    Now you know why Till The End Of Time was the first song I played when we finally got power again.

It would get really dark after 8pm so there wasn't much else to do but to lay down and eventually drift off to sleep.   I would light up a couple candles to provide a little bit of light to the darkness.   It was so hot and poor Dom was not having it.    He opened two of the front windows as wide as he could much to my chagrin.   I understood it was needed but hated the thought of our neighbors getting views of our home.   A lot of it of course is imagined but still didn't like that possibility.   Plus I was concerned about the bugs (who still find their way in our home anyway...uggh).   

When Saturday morning came I decided to venture to Michigan City (which Sandra and I heard had power) to try and get gas and a few house essentials along with ice if possible.   I kept my car outside the garage since it was still nonfunctional and I had the boards on the other side covering the bottom half of the garage that wouldn't close.

Due to the power outage, there were reports of very long lines at the few gas stations where there was power.   I heard a story of one lady whose car had to be pushed into the station because it completely ran out of gas while waiting.   Luckily I still had a little over half a tank of gas in the car.    As I made my way to Michigan City a little after 9am, I saw one gas station that was open on the outskirts of Chesterton, IN.   It didn't look too full even though every station was taken.   I drove up and waited behind one station before another station next to me opened up.  Luckily there was no other cars waiting so I was able to drive around to that station.

The station was requiring cash since their credit card stations weren't working.   Luckily I had some cash so I gave $30 and was able to fill my tank.    I then continued my way to Michigan City but not before my tire pressure light flashed.   With my experiences related to tires in the past, that of course had me freaking out.   I found myself repeatedly saying "no, no, no, no..." like that maid in the Get Out movie.

After I calmed down a little, I realized that the car seemed fine and I didn't notice it driving any different.   That gave me reassurance as I made it to Michigan City.   Seeing all the traffic lights and businesses with power felt like a different world compared to where I was coming from with dead traffic lights and no power.

I first went to Meijers.   I picked up some snacks like Nutty Butters and Entermann's donuts that we could eat in a pinch.   I also got a few canned goods.   I obviously couldn't get anything that required refrigeration.  I searched for ice but they didn't have any.   I then drove to Gordon's and they also didn't ice.   I was wondering if I would have to venture to Michigan to find ice but decided to make a stop at the Walmart's in Michigan City.   Thankfully they did have a few bags of ice left so I bought 3 with my intention on giving Sandra one of the bags.   She wound up not needing it but she gave me a bottle of root beer and a mango drink.   Both of them were advertised as having zero sugar which was something neither Dom or I drink.    But I figured I would drop them at Church as someone would drink them.

Dom thankfully was still doing fine when I got back.  Dom made a discovery a couple nights back that if you soak macaroni noodles in water, it'll still get soft even without cooking it.   So we wound up having that with marinara sauce for dinner.   Sandra happened to give me some Harold's Chicken wings as well as fries so we had that as a side.

I decided on Sunday to go to Church.   Our Church decided to have a service even with the power out.  They also were planning to cook hamburgers and hot dogs afterwards.   I wanted Dom to go to but he needed to get his IV medication ready so opted to stay home.   

I arrived at Church and got to see other members some of which were blessed to not be affected by the outage.   Some had just gotten power back the night before.   The zero sugar drinks I bought in from Sandra were quickly gobbled up by another member just as I expected.   The burgers wound up being some cheap soy by-products that weren't particularly tasty but beggars can't be choosers.

I took Dom's phone with me to the Church in hopes of getting it charged since it was dead.   I talked to Wilma since she seemed to be in the know about different gadgets.   I wanted to see if she could charge it in her car.   I told her about my older car not having a USB port and she mentioned that I could get an AV charger with an attached USB port that could be used to charge it.   She told me where I could find them for the cheap at Menard's and used her's to charge his phone up to 62%.

I debated whether to go to Menard's to try and find one.  Dome was feeling good the last few days so I decided after eating to head to Menard's.   I didn't find what I wanted there but then decided to make a trip to the nearby Meijer's to pick up some more canned goods.

By the time I got home it was a little after 3pm.   Dom was in the bathroom and I didn't think anything further from it until he started crying out.   I asked if he was okay and he said he needed me to help him.   When I opened the door I found that he had pooped all over the toilet seat.   He was feeling unwell and said he needed me to help him wipe his ass.   I quickly ran to grab some wet wipes and proceeded to clean him up.

He was upset obviously because I didn't come back immediately and he was getting chills again.  I felt guilty because he was fine the last few days and seemed to have gotten a good routine going.   He didn't have his phone (which was useless anyway at that time because it had zero charge) to call emergency.  He had hoped he'd hear Sandra outside so he could shout to her.   He mentioned there were some workers that were nearby checking on power lines but they didn't hear him.

Seeing the situation had me flash back to July 30th when I came home from work to find he had pooped and was feeling lethargic.    I knew we had to go back to the hospital.   It took another half hour (needed time to clean the shit from the toilet that thankfully didn't hit the floor) but we finally made our way back to the ER.   This time the ER was busy and I had to wait a bit for an extra wheelchair to become available as Dom was barely able to move.

He eventually got to see the staff though one of the nurses was rude as she told me I had to wait back in the main ER area.    But eventually I had to return so we could register him once more.   They did more tests while we waited for a room.   I was annoyed briefly because a large family came into the ER for one person and it was already feeling tight in the space.   The patient wound up being an older lady which I'm guessing may have been the matriarch but it was ridiculous that they had ten people with her when one or two folks would've been enough with them then communicating with the rest of the family.  But Hemingway.   

It was getting dark again and Dom was telling me I needed to go home since I had to work the next day.  I hated leaving him especially with that large family looming nearby and I'm sure they couldn't wait to grab my seat.   I tried to subtly suggest I move Dom to a different part of the room away from them but he insisted on staying since he had direct view of the TV and his favorite show Big Bang Theory was playing.   I reluctantly left after 8pm and got home just when it was dark.   I believe I may have just snacked on some canned tuna.

I resigned myself to needing to bring my laptop again on Monday so I could get it charged.  I laid on the downstairs sofa and had a thought of what to do with the melted ice water from the two bags of ice.  I decided I would put both in a bucket along with a bit more of a bottle of distilled water and wanted to use it to flush the shit filled toilet downstairs.   I was able to do just that which provided me some small comfort.

I made my way to the sofa and tried to calm myself to sleep.  I prayed that Dom would at least get a temporary room in the back of the ER away from the main area.   I eventually drifted off to sleep.

Around 2:45 AM on Monday morning I was awakened to the sound of fans going and the lights turning on.   I was pleasantly shocked and I briefly shouted with joy.   I ran upstairs to turn off the lights there and then I adjusted the fridge so it would stop making noises that the fridge had a high temperature (that kind of happens when you don't have power for almost 6 days).

I briefly noted that it was quiet in the neighborhood and I could still hear the generator two houses down going.   I was surprised with all the windows we had opened that I didn't hear someone screaming "Alleluia" in the streets.   Granted it was almost 3am but still.   The only other thing missing was having Dom with me to celebrate.

I decided I would stay home and since I was home, I decided at 6:30 AM to make my way back to the hospital so I could let Dom know.     I was directed to the back where he was staying in Triage 14.   A nurse incorrectly directed me to 13 but luckily I knew how to count and went to the right one.   Imagine me walking into the wrong room and freaking out whoever was in there...*LOL*.   Dom was sleeping and I hated waking him.  I only stayed for a couple minutes but I let him know about the power.

At that time there were still tens of thousands of people that didn't have power.  Some Gary residents, in particular, were quite vocal about the situation which bought Gary, IN to the national spotlight.   I started feeling some survivor guilt with us having power while other areas still didn't.   The power went out again briefly after 1pm that Monday afternoon which had me cursing out.   But it came back again 45 minutes later.   We surmised that they may have put it out again so they could connect another section of the city together before turning it back on.    But having a taste of power again only to have it yanked yet again was too much to bear.

So in the aftermath we needed to get our garage repaired.  That happened Friday and it was done by a sexy Indian guy no less.   We still have branches that need to be removed.   I have to call a roofer to repair the section of roof that caused water to leak through our archways and I would like to have our trees trimmed back again.   I also am working on restocking food that was lost to not having power.   All of that requires money.

But on that front we've gotten a bit of a reprieve.  Dom officially received his first social security check deposited in the joint account.   That monthly check which depending on if disability pays more should help give me some breathing room finally so I can focus on paying down our debt.

We also went to court for the other matter and we agreed to a lower amount which we should be able to pay off in 5 monthly installments starting in October.   Will have to see what the damage is from Dom's recent hospital stay.   But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Either way it feels good to have power again.    You never realize how much you depend on it until it's taken away.   I am also looking into getting a solar generator or two so that we can save our food in the event it happens next time.

August Was A Bad Month

 Where do I begin?   Let me start with Tuesday, August 11, 2026, a day that will go in history as one of the wildest.   I decided to work from home since I've been seeing alerts about yet another imminent storm event that had the potential of flooding, high winds, and potential tornadoes.    These last few months have proven to be the craziest weather I've experienced living in Northwest Indiana.    It seemed like every week there was some crazy storm that was gearing up that was planning to wreak havoc on life as we see it.   The last couple storms I saw the damage that it caused to nearby towns.    Well Tuesday, August 11th was my turn to witness this right in my backyard.

So as I said earlier I decided to work from home that day.   Work was crazy as usual.   The Sev1's were "Sev-ing" and management was tossing them my way like candy.   Being at home allowed me to vent openly as opposed to keeping it inside (though at times it's getting harder to do that even in the office...LOL).   A lot of the issues have become more complex than I've been used to handling.  I was diligently working on one of those Sev1's and just came up with a solution.   I was quickly getting an email together (with the help of AI).  

Meanwhile just outside my window, it was getting darker and darker.   It wasn't long before I heard the thunder rumbling outside.   I knew another major event was coming my way.   It was around 10:30 AM when I decided to turn on the TV (well Roku streaming which is how we watch TV today...*LOL*) and turned to local programming.   As predicted the news was all about the inclement weather.   The reporters were talking about storm events taking place in the western burbs of Chicago as it was making it's way to Chicago and eventually Northwest Indiana.

Dom and I were keeping in communication.   He was doing much better after having some scary days where the fever kept coming back.    He was ready to come home and Tuesday was his get out of hospital D-day.    He was telling me that he could feel the hospital building shaking and he was told to move to the hallway to stay away from the windows.

The reporters were saying that Northwest Indiana was now in the eye of the storm.   The winds were definitely picking up and next thing I knew the rain was fiercely pouring.   I raced to close the kitchen windows as the wind was knocking off the condiments that was dustily chilling in the window sills.  It was just after 11 AM.   

The lights began flickering soon after as I was dreading the worst.   To my shock the archways between the dining room and downstairs bedroom and the kitchen and kitchen nook area began leaking water.   This has never happened before in the years we've been living in the house.   I panicked as I raced to find towels to catch the water.

I went back to my laptop to alert work about what was happening but the power went out just around 11:10 AM.   It then came back on briefly.   It went out again and teasingly came back yet again.   Then it went out again and never came back.    Until 5 days and almost 16 hours later.    But I'm jumping ahead of the story.

So the power was out.   I didn't properly charge my personal phone so I was currently only at 44% capacity.   My work phone was thankfully more charged.   I momentarily was in disbelief but didn't have time to really let it sink in yet.   I messaged Dom to let him know about the power outage.    He didn't get back to me immediately but he later let me know that the power was also out at the hospital.   He was still going stir crazy and wanted to come home.    

I wasn't certain being home was a great idea given the power outage.   But Dom insisted and in the back of my mind I thought maybe we'll get power back in another few hours.    That feeling changed when I made the journey to get to the hospital that afternoon (after letting management know of course about the outage via Android).

The first obstacle I faced was our own garage.   The garage has been a bit of an annoyance over the years with constantly battling to keep the door closed without reopening.    This time I manually unhooked the garage so I could open the door.     That went fine.   I backed my car out and then after turning off the car, I went back to close the door.   Only the door stopped short of closing completely and would not budge any further.    I struggled with it for a bit before I desperately (because I would never ask for help) reached out to my neighbor Sandra who happened to be outside near her car.   She and her husband who currently has dementia have lived in their home since 1999 and were one of the first neighbors we met when we moved to our home in 2016.

Hemingway I told Sandra about the situation and she was nice enough to try to help me.   She called her son while in the garage and he tried to guide the situation but it was to no avail.    Since I needed to get to the hospital, Sandra spied a couple of big boards that were against the wall of our garage and suggested I put those there to block the door so at least nothing could come in.    I was still not resigned to not having power and was trying to call the garage folks not realizing the extent of the storm damage.   However I didn't want to waste any more of Sandra's time as she had her own issues to deal with so with her help, I pushed the two boards over to block the door.    I later put a few tools and the garbage container behind the boards to supposedly act as a barrier in case anyone tried to break in.

I realized the gravity of the situation when our mysterious neighbor finally spoke as he was randomly weed whacking the lawn (maybe because Sandra was there).  Oddly enough I learned a little more about him when the post office accidentally delivered a piece of his mail to our box.   I learned that he either is paying or owe child support to a baby Mama.   I also learned his actual name which of course I won't divulge and with that info found out that he works as a welder trainer for a local business.

So MN mentioned that he wound up leaving work early due to the outage and traffic was horrific due to the downed power lines and tree branches.   Another neighbor that lives in the corner home diagonally from us shouted out to Sandra.   I waved too even though I know she wasn't talking to me.   She wanted to get gas but then Sandra pointed out that without power there may not be any gas available.

Thankfully I still had 3/4 of a tank of gas in my car.  Dom was still wanting to come home so I left and what would normally be a 20 minute trip turned into a 2 hour adventure, dodging tree branches and slowly navigating through traffic that was backed up for miles.    It was scary and sad seeing the devastation.   It made my issues look minor seeing folks with trees on their cars and homes.    I realized how blessed we were that the old trees surrounding our home somehow stayed in place.

I got to the hospital and saw that the main lobby only had backup lights on.  I really needed to pee so I went to the restroom even though I knew the toilets wouldn't flush.    There was one elevator that was working so I was able to take it to the top floor and make my way to Dom's room. 

Dom and I were in communication briefly while I traveled so I was telling him about the extent of the storm damage.    One of the nurses was trying to help navigate as well and it was mentioned that the normal route may not be good.   So I wound up going a different way and it was a slow journey to get there.

Dom was happy to see me and was eating the last meal of his stay.    He offered me some of his dessert which I turned down (and shocked him since I tend to be a sweet tooth guy).   But I wanted him to enjoy the lemon cake.    We made our way home eventually and he got to see the extent of the damage.

I have so much more to say but I need to shower (my first shower since last Monday) and hopefully get the garage to close now that power is back and head to the hospital to see if Dom has a room.   Yeah sadly I had to take Dom back to the hospital yesterday afternoon after he experienced severe chills upon completing his daily dosage.    It made the power coming back on this morning around 2:45 AM bittersweet since I couldn't share the moment with him.    More later.

P.S.  Mariah Carey's Till The End of Time was the first song on my mind to play when I logged into my computer.

Unplanned Hospital Stay

 Dom has been in the hospital since July 30th.   He mentioned first feeling an itchy feeling in his urethra when wanting to pee back on July 18th.    At that time we were visiting his Mom and staying in Peru, Indiana for the Peru annual Circus City festival.   Technically we didn't go to the Circus but outside the circus there were displays of different food fare and various other items. 

Dom really wanted a pork tenderloin.   There was a place he wanted to go but it required purchasing tickets.   We purchased the tickets but held off on getting the tenderloins until we did a lap around the festival.    We were also wanting elephant ears and we purchased ice cream.   But by the time we got back, they apparently had no more pork tenderloins, which made Dom angry.   At first they were saying we were out of luck as far as getting our money back but thankfully the owner did give it back to us.   But I'm digressing.

The next time he complained about it was the following weekend.   He started feeling feverish late Friday into Saturday (July 24 - 25).   Then on Sunday he felt better but then the fever came back Monday.   He went back and forth again until finally on the 30th we knew we had to go to the hospital.

I went to work that morning and got busy with cases.   I messaged Dom that morning to let him know I made it to work safely but he didn't respond.   It wasn't unusual since when I left him, he was asleep and he is known to sleep in these days.    But he didn't message me at all during the day.   He would usually message around mid-day.   So when I was able to get a long break finally (which wasn't until 2:15 PM), I found a break area and called Dom.

When he answered he was very lethargic and was saying how he wasn't feeling well at all and that he needed to go to the Emergency Room.   I looked at the time and told him that I could catch the 3:15 PM train and get home before 4:30 PM.   After we hung up, I realized there was no 3:15 train.    The next train after that was 3:40 PM.   There was a 2:45 PM train but I wouldn't make it to the train station in time to catch it.    So I resigned myself to catch the 3:40 train.   Luckily work had slowed down and I was able to leave earlier.

I got home closer to 5PM.  I parked near the front steps of the house since the plan was to take him straight to emergency.   I ran up the stairs, unlocked the door, came into the house, and stopped in my tracks in the hallway.   From where I stood I could see the bathroom toilet.    To my shock there was a huge pile of shit laying on the back of the lower seat and bottom of the upper seat.

I freaked out and went to check on Dom who appeared confused for a bit.   He was not well and expressed needing to go to the hospital.     He was so weak though that he couldn't move.   Dom is a bigger guy too so me trying to move him was impossible.

In the meantime while he was trying to gather his strength, I decided that I needed to clean the toilet.  I took some wipes and was able to remove the majority of the poop from the seat and dumped it in the toilet.   I then cleaned it the best I could though some poop was stuck in the crevices.

It was a good thing I cleaned it up since Dom mentioned needing to go again.   Dom was slow to get up and was barely able to move.   I teared up and expressed remorse for going to the office though in all honestly we should've went to the ER last weekend.

We eventually made our way to the hospital though not before putting a chucks pad in the passenger seat.   Dom smelled of poop since he wasn't able to clean himself very well.    We made it to the ER just before 5:30 and thankfully before there was a larger crowd of folks waiting.    He was able to get seen relatively quickly in less than 30 minutes.

They took a lot of blood to test it with some cultures.   They also took a urine sample.   After some time it was determined that he had a yeast blood infection.   The suspicion was that the Jardiance that he's taking now for diabetes was a likely cause.   Based on the infection it was determined that he would need to check in at the hospital.

His court date was the next morning on July 31st.   But there was no way he would be able to attend.   I wound up going to the court house that morning and letting the clerk know that Dom had a medical emergency.   I also ran into the plaintiff's attorney and explained the situation.   He mentioned that he would let the judge know and put in a request for a continuance.   We will get something in the mail for a future court date which will hopefully be in September or October.

Dom was feeling terrible still on the 31st and August 1st and didn't have any appetite.   They put him on an antibiotic called Eraxis, which is an antifungal medication for fighting infections caused by fungus.  By Sunday he was doing much better and when I visited him, he mentioned being able to wolf down his lunch.   His infectious specialist was cautiously optimistic that he could be released in 48 hours which was Tuesday.    There was some issue with dinner on Sunday and he was hungry so the staff wound up giving him a lot of snacks to tide him over.   Monday he was still feeling great.    

However, sometime during Monday night things turned for the worse again.    His body temps rose to 103, his heart rate was over 130, and he was extremely feverish and the staff said he even was confused momentarily about his whereabouts.   I didn't realize all this until this afternoon.   I did message Dom this morning but he didn't respond.   I tried calling during the early afternoon but didn't get an answer.  I called again after arriving at the train station.   He didn't answer but he called me moments later and gave me the details.

His nurse aide mentioned that they have him on two new stronger antibiotics - Vancomycin and Cefepime.   Reading all the side effects of these antibiotics have been scary to say the least.   But I'm hoping it does help.  Unfortunately Dom was not doing well during my visit earlier this evening and was still relatively out.   

Since he hasn't been eating again, his blood sugar fell to 80 something.   We tried to get him to eat dinner but he just wasn't hungry at all.    I do pray that he gets some relief by tomorrow and hopefully this infection gets knocked out.   I plan to work from home tomorrow so I should be around if needed.   Prayers needed.

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.

Obama Presidential Center

Having two posts in a row about politics is a first for me.    But I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the historical event that took place in the Southside of Chicago.   Former President Barack Obama's Presidential Library had their official opening ceremony this past Thursday, June 18th at 10:30 AM CST and had their first full open day in time for Juneteenth.

The timing of the official opening couldn't have been more perfect.   A lot of folks are choosing it as the real 250th Anniversary celebration.   Speaking of which, it was quite the contrast to see the number of celebrities and political figures that came out in support of the Obama Presidential Center from all the celebrities that were running away from any association with Orange's event.

All the former living presidents and their spouses were there - The Bush's, The Clinton's, and the Biden's.    They were behind a glass shield because sadly there are evil people that might try something.   But I imagine the security for the event was pretty tight.

The center itself has been in the works for several years.   I got to see it constructed over the years as I commuted back and forth to Chicago for work.   It seemed it would never open but in the last year the powers that be confirmed they were targeting this past Juneteenth for the center to be open.

Museum tickets are already sold out through November.   Dom is definitely excited about checking it out so we're hoping to do so sometime next summer.   I'll just have to be on the lookout for tickets when they become available.

The official opening ceremony itself was quite spectacular.   I happen to be working from home that day so I got to watch a little bit of it as it aired.   It was a reminder of what America took for granted when Obama was in office.    I knew it was going to be hilarious when I saw Martin Nesbitt, the Obama Foundation Board Chair, coming out in a tan suit as he gave the opening remarks.    "How ya'll like my tan suit?"  (LOL too funny)  There were several other celebrities who chose to put on tan suits as well.    Hard to believe that some of Obama's opposition was attacking his wardrobe.    But then again they couldn't find anything else to attack him on.

But the highlight of the ceremony had to be when Michelle Obama spoke in dedication to her husband.   It was sweet seeing how emotional Barack was getting as she listed all of his accomplishments.   She reminded us of how under the microscope Obama was as the first black president.   She also got quite a few digs on Orange and his administration without saying the Orange name.  Obama rightfully earned his Nobel Peace Prize.   It was a delight to hear and she is indeed a powerful speaker.   I do wish she would consider running for President but I completely don't blame her for not doing so.

Of course Barack Obama spoke as well.    He also got in a few digs at Orange without mentioning his name.   I didn't get to watch it in entirety but I plan to.   

What a contrast having an intelligent president that can speak complete sentences.   America definitely took him for granted.   Sally did remind me that she faced her toughest years during the Obama presidency.   2007 was when she lost her IT job and it was a long seven year struggle.  But she also found her way out of it during the latter part of the Obama presidency.    It does go to show that we all have our individual crosses to bear regardless of who the president is.   But having someone that has intelligence, charisma, and common sense goes a long way.   

I don't know if we can recover from Orange's tyranny.    It's going to take many years I imagine.   But for one day at least it was nice to see common sense win for a moment again.

Skewing Vance

 The state of the U.S. current administration is depressing to think about.   You can't get away from hearing or thinking about it whether via the news, social media, or being out and about.   I'm tired and grateful for my current employment and know while I do gripe about my finances from time to time, things could be a whole lot worse.    The ways things are politically doesn't make things any better.

This past weekend was Orange's 80th birthday.   For several weeks Orange was talking about celebrating the days following that dreaded day with a patriotic concert that many celebs when they found out they were on the list, quickly distanced themselves from.    Even Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli fame (and actually a potential family cousin) dropped out.   He's thankfully redeemed himself years back from a situation that wasn't his fault.   He wisely distanced himself from the concert series.

So this past weekend, Orange held a UFC event after further desecrating the White House.   The event was a disaster with the "winner" wrestler chose to end his rant with a sophomoric insult to Michelle Obama not worth repeating.   

The UFC Boss tried to renounce it but didn't do anything beyond lip service.   He had the nerve to say the event was intended to be patriotic and not political.   

But in an even crazier move, the Vice President thought it was a good idea to go promote his book on The View.   I knew he was delusional but didn't realize how much he is.   Or maybe his team thought it was a good idea.   Also he has time to write a book while holding the 2nd highest position in the country.   That says all I need to know.

The ladies on the View minus the current conservative panelist Alyssa Griffin skewered him as expected.   They actually could've been worse (Sunny in particular was quite restrained) but I'm sure they were told to hold back some.   Vance failed miserably in winning over any new folks or anyone that was on the fence.

Vance apparently is making the rounds in talk show and podcast land.   I saw that he did an interview with a podcaster.   The headline is very clickbait.  The White House is trying to make people deny what they can see with their own eyes.   Unfortunately mainstream media isn't doing enough to hold the current administration to the fire.   Hemingway I probably won't watch the whole thing as I find Vance repulsive but I may check out snippets of it.