Linens. Things.

The local Linens and Things store is closing. This is a bad thing because it’s the closest store to our house in the event of a linens or things emergency. Being gay men we must keep our house well decorated at all times. Linens and Things helps out with this.

Earl and I browsed through the store closing sale items, where the junk from other stores has been shipped here for quick sale. I’m sure the good stuff has been shipped to stores that aren’t closing. Nevertheless, we spent $250 on various items.

Because of our visit to Linens and Things I must admit that I’m overly excited about going to bed tonight. We bought a “pillow top” mattress cover for our bed. I’m hoping this improves conditions in our bed to the point that I can easily drift off to peaceful sleep. Our mattress gets flipped quarterly as we were instructed when we purchased it five years ago. Earl is the bigger of the two of us. Ironically, I have the deeper trench on my side of the bed. I don’t know why this is. We can flip the mattress up, down, left, right, north, south and no matter which way it ends up there I am sleeping in a ditch while Earl relaxes up on the mountain. I don’t know why this is. I’m hoping the new pillow top mattress cover remedies this. It has memory foam embedded into the pad. I don’t plan on drinking any red wine in bed though1.

We also purchased a new pillow for me. I think my current pillow was from 1986. Perhaps it was a graduation present from a relative or something. It was flat like a newspaper but it didn’t leave stains on my skin or anything like that. Now that I have a fluffy pillow again, I can wrap my arms around my old pillow. I have an odd way of sleeping: one leg must be outside the covers, the covers must be up to my shoulders and I bury myself into a little fort like area where I feel protected. Maybe I had an encounter with the boogieman some time in my past.

27 July 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 2

Midnight.

It’s a little after midnight and I am cuurently in the middle of a DJ gig. Pink’s “U + Ur Hand” is playing. The floor is moving well.

I have all the lights in the DJ booth turned off. The door is closed. I find solace in being alone im my own space in this public place. I’m behind glass silently watching the crowd. Few realize I am here. I like that. Yet if I were to leave the song would stop and the party would end.

In my own way I’m cleverly in control of the entire situation. I like that.

25 July 2008 by DJ 0

If It Ain’t Broke.

So today I trekked up to the family hardware store to work on their computerized accounting system. Now in this day and age it may seem odd to hear the phrase “computerized accounting system” but that’s the best phrase I can come up with to describe this situation.

Up until 1986 my grandmother handled the accounts receivable for the business. She posted invoices and credits to the customer accounts and then at the end of the month, working with my grandfather they would send out the statements to the customers that owed money. She did all this accounting on a mechanical NCR posting machine, which looked like a large adding machine from 1971 that had a typewriter style carriage on it; the adding machine would do the tallying in the appropriate columns, “Debit”, “Credit”, “Balance Due”, etc. It was the norm back in 1971. In 1986, computers were taking over the duties.

In 1986 my aunt took over (for the most part) the accounting responsibilities of the business from my grandfather. I handled the accounts receivable that summer and would work part time when I was in town through the early 1990s. I learned the whole process simply through observation. In 1989 I decided that they needed to computerize the whole ordeal. I had worked part time as a temp writing accounting programs for a cash register company near Boston, so I wrote an accounts receivable program that was a drop in replacement for the mechanical posting machine. They still used the same statement forms and ledger cards. The program ran on a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II that I picked up for 50 bucks.

The computer has been replaced twice since then but they are still using the same program today. It runs on a snappy 286. They’ve been having issues with the system over the past month or so so I drove up to do some maintenance on this ancient computer and software. They had also lost the capability of doing backups because the 5.25-inch floppy drive had died.

Rummaging around through the old computers I found a replacement floppy drive and after about an hour of work I had the system up and running once again. Talk of upgrading was minimal, because if it ain’t broke there’s no sense in fixing it. I think it’s ready to last another 15 years.

While hunting through files I found some of the old backup floppy disks from the first computer. I thought it’d be amusing to compare the size of the floppy disk with the size of a CD or DVD in use today. The first computer used the larger 8-inch floppy disks. They didn’t hold much information.

25 July 2008 by Geek 1

The Next Day.

I go through this every year when I start cycling again. The second day is the hardest day to get back on the bike, especially if it’s been a while since I’ve ridden. My muscles are complaining a little bit but my body is adjusting to my return to exercise.

When I ride familiar routes I go into autopilot and my mind goes into daydream mode. I think of so many different things. I’m instinctively aware of what’s going on around me but my mind is elsewhere, occasionally searching mundane subjects; I’m thinking of ways to improve the road I’m on or I’m thinking of ways to increase productivity at work. Sometimes I get creative and think of a topic for a blog entry or an idea for a series of video podcasts pops into my head. Before I know it I’m trudging up the hill to the house. The last mile is the hardest, it’s always uphill. Both ways. In the snow.

23 July 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

It’s Never Too Late.

He had been patiently waiting in the corner. There he sat, watching, knowing that his turn was coming. We were well acquainted. We’d spent many years together. This year would be no different, no matter how much I tried.

I finally came to his corner and extended my hand. I literally carried him up the stairs, where we would get reacquainted this year. We reminisced a little bit as I dressed to do the deed: “Remember when we helped those kids?” “How about the time they stared at us at Northern Lights Circle?” I spruced him up and he stood tall. I sat on his saddle and clamped myself in.

It was time to go for a ride.

As we danced on the pavement together, he softly reminded me that as Agnes Moorehead said several times during the series she’s most remembered for, “We are quicksilver, a flash of color, a fleeting sound. Our home has no boundaries beyond which we can not pass.” My body reveled and I could feel his smile beneath me. Tears streamed down my face.

In May 2000, at 221 pounds I rode six miles. I thought I would die.

In July 2008, at 189 pounds I rode sixteen miles. And I reveled in life.

It’s good to be a cyclist once again.

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22 July 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 0

The Taste Test.

Have a drink with me. Apparently I can’t speak English this early in the morning. No one believes me when I tell them that.

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22 July 2008 by Video. 0

Look Out Pittsburgh.

Earl and I are in from our evening on the town on Pittsburgh. We went back to Station Square (“Anything but Square”) where we enjoyed a nice dinner at Buca di Beppo. It’s a hodge podge of rooms on multiple floors where you enjoy Italian food family style. The server’s name was Connie. She was very friendly and I enjoyed her demeanor very much. She looked like a Connie though. Big hands. A hearty woman. Perhaps she enjoys what she serves.

There is a body-building convention going on. At first I thought there was some sort of transexual convention going because I saw a guys dressed up as women but lo and behold, they are body building women. They could wipe the deck with me in about two seconds. Huge guns. Huge legs. And not a feminine trait to be found. If they didn’t have thick layers of makeup on I wouldn’t have known they were women. I guess it’s whatever supplements they use to enhance their body building performance. I don’t get it, but hey, to each their own.

After dinner we went down to the main square where we enjoyed a performance of the dancing fountains. We had done the same thing five years ago, it was fun to see it again.

Here’s a quick video I made while we were walking around.

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After the dancing fountains we walked up and down this “strip” a couple of times, where we stumbled across Karaoke Night at the bar in front of the comedy club. There were quite a few people in there doing their thing. We stopped by to hear some of the performances. A couple of beers later, I was on the stage performing “It’s A Miracle” by Barry Manilow.

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No one threw anything at the stage and I had some applause so I guess I didn’t do too badly. I didn’t show Earl how to use the Flip Camera on purpose, so there’s no video, but behind door Number 2 Anitra Ford is pleased to show you the complete eight minutes of the dancing fountain performance we watched. It won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t watch the whole thing.

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19 July 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Video. 1

Pittsburgh, Pa.

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This morning Earl and I awoke in suburban Cleveland, Ohio and took a look at the weather forecast. There was a chance of showers if we headed north, but if we headed south it looked like clear sailing. We were originally going to head to Indianapolis, Indiana, but the drive home tomorrow would have been about 11 hours, plus we wouldn’t have arrived in Indy until mid afternoon.

We opted for Pittsburgh instead.

I’ve been to Pittsburgh a couple of times over the years. Back in 2003 we meandered through Pennsylvania on a ride and ended up here for the fourth of July. I distinctly remember the trip because I got a little tipsy at dinner and was enthralled with the fountains on Station Square as they danced to “Love Hangover” by Diana Ross. The fireworks in the background made me misty. The fountains are still there. This afternoon they danced to some heavier rock stuff. I remained sober.

We’ve been scouting around the city doing the tourist thing. We rode up the Duquesne Incline, walked around Mt. Washington a little bit and then rode back down on the Monongahela Incline. I think I like the first one better for the simple fact that it has open air cars in the summer and it is wicked hot here today.

We also milled about the festival atmosphere of Station Square and did some walking around downtown. We are taking a brief respite from the heat before heading out tonight for a night out on the town. I’m looking forward to the experience.

There’s a few random pictures in my shiny new MobileMe gallery. You can find that by clicking here.

Oh, I’ve also been getting tips from folks on Twitter as I update our location from time to time. This is why I love technology.

19 July 2008 by Fun and Games Dept 3

Willoughby, Ohio.



Navigator., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Earl and I are settled into the Days Inn in Willoughby, Ohio tonight. Earlier this week he proclaimed to me that it had been entirely too long since we went on a weekend long road trip so when he got home early from work today, we hopped into the Jeep and headed west.

I was originally going to head us into Michigan so that we could meet up with blogger friend Terry, but Terry is out of town on work so we are going to save that trip for the fall. Therefore, I have no idea where we are going tomorrow. The only constraint is that we have to keep the ride home on Sunday under 12 hours.

Earl is the principal navigator and has been wired with GPS. As you can see in the photo, he is very attentive to road signs and other important markings.

18 July 2008 by Fun and Games Dept 3

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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