Winter First Quarter Journal 2022 January-March President Biden's 2nd Year

 

Journal 2022

January 2022

1 January 2022 Saturday

I slept well last night and only knew it was the new year from some of the loud fireworks going off, but it didn’t seem as bad as last year. Kyle Foote is home this year compared to the past. I only saw Kyle today because we went to get our Dr. Peppers at Exxon but that was the only interaction I had with anyone today at the beginning of a new year. Roy Zang and his husband, yesterday, said they might come over today but never did. I didn’t mind.

            The weather had cleared up and the skies were cobalt blue with puffy clouds and with all the snow on the trees and in the mountains, it was a gorgeous day; the little bit I was out in it. I watched television mostly after closing up my journal from 2021, not that it matters much as I doubt anyone will read it. Why should they I suppose.

            I watched a lot of Sue Ann Nivens episodes of Betty White’s character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show where she played a husband stealing, nympho with her own Cooking Show. Sue Ann was my favorite character on the show even though she was not introduced until Season Four when she has an affair with Lars the husband of the Cloris Leachman character.

2021 was the closing curtain call for so many of the Mary Tyler Moore Show alumni...Cloris Leachman, Gavin McLeod, Ed Asner, and Betty White.

I fell asleep in the lazy boy around 7 and thought I might as well try to go to bed which I did at 8 since all the pups were already sound asleep.

Well, I am still residing at 1633 Fernleaf Street in Salt Lake City and have been since October 1996, so it’s been a quarter of a century living at this address. There’s too many memories at this location for me to ever move, although the property is worth around $300,000 now, may be even more.

I have Kyle as my somewhat companion living in the basement, he redesigned it in 2020 as a self-contained unit so it’s like having a renter although he doesn’t pay rent. Having someone here in my senior years is comforting, someone who I know I can depend on if I have an emergency.

This past year the house had a makeover with a new bathroom shower installed, a washer and dryer moved upstairs, the hot tub moved, a cover for the new veranda, a new door put in the kitchen, and a tile patio laid in the back yard. The kitchen never got a makeover, but I did get a newer gas range and a new microwave installed.

So, my constant companions are Maxx, TJ, Lulubelle, and Buster while Taco spends more time with me than with Jim Dabakis which I don’t mind because I have grown so attached to him.

I have no idea what the future holds anymore, nor do I care to predict it either, except I am sure there will be more climate change disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Covid19 will stay with us in various mutations with thousands dying due to their clinging to falsehoods perpetuated by Fox News, the propaganda wing of the radical right. There will be more mass shootings, more attacks on the rights of women’s reproductive health, and denying people the right to vote.

As for me, I have detached myself from the Gay community I once knew, as that “nonbinary and Trans” issues have supplanted sexual orientation as the gist of the LGBTQ+ movement. The minority of the minority has become the majority when it comes to pushing the boundaries of freedom of being who you are. I suppose that is a good thing but as for me I will always just be a homosexual man with a Gay soul and world view.

So, 2022 let’s see what you will bring. It won’t matter much because I have more of my life behind me than in front of me. I just have simple wants and needs and as long as my health holds out everything else will be just fine.

2 January 2022 Sunday

For the second day of the year, I just worked all day on going through my past journals and saving them in my Yahoo Mail account as files so they are at least in the “ether” if my computer should crash. I have been editing them for spelling and grammar which takes time. I suppose the beginning of the New Year is a time to reminisce. Going through my 2013 journal it was a crazy year at the Utah Price Center: with the upheaval and removal of Valerie Larabee. It is also easy to see the transitioning of the influence of the Trans community as they began to come to the forefront of the movement. The highlight of the year of course was Gay Marriage.

            It was very cold today but no snow. In the morning it was only 9 degrees out this frigid second day of 2022. I posted this last year and I think it's true every year

Something to consider for the New Year

·         If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.

·         If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

·         If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

·         If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

·         If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

·         You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.

It's easy to forget our blessings when there's so much trouble in the world. I can't change big things, but I can have gratitude for what I do have when so many people lost homes, jobs, and loved ones last year.

In the news the death of Betty White is the main topic on all my friends’ Face Book pages. I think that it is amazing that Betty White was the oldest cast member in both the Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girl but her genuine enthusiasm for life made her seem much younger than her years. She was just a few months older than Bea Arthur both who served in WWII and who had more military experience than Trump or most of Fox "News" hosts.

3 January 2022 Monday

I started working on my Journal from 2012 which hardly seems like ten years ago. It was difficult to read because the hurt of Kyle Foote’s crimes and lies that were being revealed to me after I had access to his computer. I truly think today he’s a different person than that sociopathic personality who could hurt so many people by his own narcissistic behavior. It’s like I am reading about two different people.

            This morning I had intended to get a haircut but the Vietnamese salon I go to on Redwood next to the Post Office was not open so instead I drove to North Salt Lake and took the Honda FIT through the Quick Quack car wash, then to the Warm Springs Vet Clinic to get some more heart pills for Buster as he was all out.

            In the afternoon I took Mike Romero to his last neuropathy study test at 1 as his eyesight is kind of bad to be driving into the city. It’s his last visit and then he will be paid for the study. He’s certain he had the placebo as nothing seemed to help that they were giving him. He told me his neighbor has Covid19

            Kyle had to take the Nissan Rogue to the airport about the time I had to return to pick Mike up so after retrieving him and taking him home, I drove right to the airport to pick up Kyle. On the way home we stopped at Exxon’s Common Cents for our Dr. Pepper, and he bought us lunch at Hacienda Grill. I just had him buy me a tamale, which I didn’t eat but saved for later.

            I was weary from going through editing my journals and took a nap and then fed the pups their supper.

            I watched some news, and the weather is supposed to improve this week and then I watched some Perry Mason and a couple of episodes of the original Star Trek from 1966 just for fun.

            I must have fallen asleep in the Lazy Boy while watching the Simpsons as I was startled by someone knocking at the door and it was 9 at night. I went down and yelled through the door who is it not daring to open the door that late at night. Then Kyle called up from downstairs that it was for him so he must have had a trick come over who went to the wrong door.

            After that I just went to bed with my troop of pups.

The fascist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter and Face Book accounts have been suspended for spreading lies about Covid19.

4 January 2022 Tuesday

I have been editing past journals and trying to keep them safe by posting them to my Yahoo email account, so I know they are out there in the ether somewhere in case my computer ever crashes. I finished up the year 2012, which was ten years ago, and Kyle Foote was in prison, I was still teaching school, Charles Frost was my closest confidant and Bill Poore was beginning to become important in my life.

On New Year Eve, Bill Poore called me, and I suppose I need to call him sometime to go out to lunch but not sure what to say. I suppose I feel guilty as if I had done him a disservice last Spring after Kyle blew up at him and I didn’t more strongly deal with it.

I posted my Lambda Lore article I wrote for the QSL about Second South on different Face Book Pages for them who don’t read the Q.

            I wanted to get a haircut today, but the barbershop was still closed. I hope it has nothing to do with the Omicron Covid 19 variant. I would hate to have to go through long periods of not getting a haircut or beard trim like in 2020.

5 January 2022 Wednesday

            I spent much of the day going over my Journal from 2009 when I was still in a relationship with Mike Romero and Mark Andersen that was ending.

I went out a few times to help Kyle Foote deliver his vehicles and I went and finally got a haircut. The place was busy, and I had to wait about a half an hour to get into the barber chair. I noticed on my phone I had a message from Kimball Edwards, the boy I had a brief relationship with last summer, asking how I was. That gladden this old man’s heart.

            It rained for much of the day, and it was damp and cold out but at least it wasn’t snowing.

Kyle Foote came home from ubering about 8:30 this evening while I was watching the HBO’s 20^th Anniversary of Harry Potter. I thought we were just visiting, and I commented on how the superintendent of the Davis School District stated he was resigning at the end of this school year. He had been embattled because of a federal probe into racial discrimination in the district and the suicide of the little black girl last year from bullying at Foxborough Elementary. It struck a chord with me as I had been working on my 2009 Journal and had written about how mean and nasty some of the kids were that year to each other; calling racial epithet at each other.

I said that it was hard for schools to deal with behavior, tolerated and learned at home. It’s not like the schools didn’t have anti-bullying programs, assemblies, and such to try and stem that behavior but I said that racism is systemic in Utah and then Kyle argued that Utah wasn’t racist and that my observations were just anecdotal and not based on real data.

That made me upset as that he was belittling my opinion and it seemed to escalate from there as that he became emotionally abusive towards me with his vitriolic denunciation of my character saying that I “harbored” a hatred for anyone who has a different opinion from myself and said he could not understand where the bigotry came from.

            Kyle’s words wounded me to the heart, not that I accepted them, but that he actually said them and must therefore believe that about me. The way he said them and then acted like he should leave the house just made it worse.

No matter what I have said or espoused I’ve only said them as a pressure valve for the frustration of living in a society as a Gay man, that for years despised me and in which I had to hide and live in fear and yet somehow, I am supposed to be tolerant of those views that would harm me and the people I love.

            I had no idea where this volley of accusations came from and when he accused me of being no different in my positions than Marjorie Taylor Greene, which was just too much, and I just shut down. Something inside me died.

While later I know he tried to make up and said he tells people all the time that I am the most generous and kindhearted person he knows, the earlier comments left a mark on my soul. I could have retaliated and said how I may espouse some “extreme views,” but I have never physically attacked any one like he did Bill Poore last April, and I am not the only one who has extremist views as that he has an unbridled hatred of law officers.

            I was so weary from his tirade even after it ended and he wanted me to hug him, I just went to bed worn out. I fear something has been damaged that might not be repairable. I am heart broken and forlorn this rainy night.

6 January 2022 Thursday

I was still wounded and depressed from Kyle Foote’s harsh criticism of me last night, but I decided I would not let his words affect me to the point of demoralizing me. I finished compiling my journal from 2009 which was a hard year with Michael Romero and Mark Andersen’s antics and Mike’s leaving me behind so that I was truly on my own again.

 I survived that and the fear of losing my teaching job as the state required all teachers to be finger printed for relicensing and my arrest records finally jeopardized my career. It was a hard time. If I survived that, I know I can survive most anything and now that I am in the twilight of my years, I no longer fear the future of years with uncertainty.

            One way I decided life goes on was to finally clean the veranda on Buster’s poop. It was an unpleasant job but necessary, so I shoveled, scraped, took buckets of bleach water, and scrubbed the deck. The weather was in the 40’s and clear skies so it was a good day to do it. Poor Buster just can’t manage to go down the stairs into the yard so the best he can do is go outside and do his business on the deck.

            I did not initiate any interaction with Kyle but at 1:30 in the afternoon he called me and asked if it was time? Meaning time to go get a Dr. Pepper. I knew if I wanted to heal the rift I would have to say yes.

            In the car I learned that Kyle is sick again. His voice sounded really raspy, and he said he thinks he has strep again. So, I suppose that may explain why he acted out at me last night, which is not an excuse, but a reason.

            He did not apologize verbally but I knew he was sorry for what he said as he took the Sonoma truck down to get it registered and paid for it as well as taking the Honda FIT in the afternoon and filling the tank up. He took it to go to the clinic but said there was a two hour wait to see anyone and just did want to take the time there.

            The Omicron variant is flooding Utah’s hospitals and clinic with unvaccinated people and those without booster shots. There were 8,913 new cases reported today and “There are more people hospitalized than yesterday, 530. There are more people in the ICU than yesterday, 188,” and another 13 lives have been lost in the state to COVID-19, including a child. There have now been three Utah youths who died from the virus.”

            President Biden addressed the nation regarding the first anniversary of the Republican complicity in Trump’s Insurrection. He laid the blame squarely at the feet of Donald Trump the first president to ever try to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in this nation. Only two Republicans attended a remembrance in the capital, Liz Cheney and surprisingly her father Dick Cheney who stated he was disappointed in the Republican leadership of today.

            I watched a documentary called Betty White First Lady of Television that was filmed in 2018. I didn’t know she was such an animal lover. It was a sweet tribute especially since her passing on New Year Eve.

            Some critter wet the bed so I had to strip the bedding, put the sheets in the laundry to wash and dry and remake it all before we could all go to sleep.

            I remember my cousin Beverly Danforth saying, “When your over 70 you can live without sex but not your glasses.”         

7 January 2022 Friday

Today is the 45^th anniversary of when I married Fran Fuchs a life time ago. Jim Dabakis left a message that he had come by to pick Taco up this morning. He said he didn’t want to bother me, so I didn’t even hear him take the pup from the back yard. Later he called me and said he’s back in town for another funeral and will be here in Salt Lake until around the 17^th of the month.

I went with Kyle Foote to Farmington where Kyle got new license plates for the Nissan Rogue. He was getting rid of the old plates that said Build Team on them probably as a sad reminder of his failed dream. However, when I was in the car with him, Jim called and on the speaker phone he said how he admired Kyle’s entrepreneur spirit, not knowing Kyle was sitting next to me.

            I spent much of the day editing my journal from 2008 which might as well be called “the year of Ben Anderson” as I spent so much of the year dealing with him and Mattia Lumaca’s issues.

            There’s nearly 9500 cases of Covid19 in Utah today. At this rate it is probably just a matter of time before I get infected but at least I have had all my shots and booster and I generally wear a mask still out in public.

            I sat in the hot tub for the first time in weeks since it was so nice out today. The record here by the airport was 58 degrees although it was quite breezy today.

            I finally got around to taking down the rest of the holiday lights and decorations from outside since the weather was cooperating.

            Kyle and I have made up I suppose as much as we are going to do. Kimball Edwards would like me to come over this Sunday and I will if the weather is fine. I would like a bit of physical affection. Sidney Poitier died today at the age of 94. My favorite film of his was In the Heat of the Night   

8 January 2022 Saturday

After taking Kyle Foote down to retrieve the Sierra Truck at Sutherland’s I went to store there to buy a new mop as my old ones are pretty shot. I would have liked to have bought a squeeze bucket with a squeeze wringer on it, but they were $100, and I thought I can buy a lot of mops for that price. I did buy a pair of beige colored pants for $14 as I liked the color.

Kyle is really sick and finally went to the Redwood Road Clinic to be tested. He didn’t have strep but does have some type of viral infection. It may be just some influenza that is going around but he did get tested for Covid19 but won’t get his results for a couple of days. He’s wearing a mask in the car when he’s around me.

            We went to Little Caesar to get a pizza for him and also to the Mexican bakery next door to it at the strip mall on 700 North. I bought two cinnamon crispies that I enjoy which I hadn’t had in a long time.

            A mask mandate is in place again in Salt Lake City and County and businesses have signs up once more to please wear a mask instead just suggesting people wear one.

            I finished up editing my journal from 2008. I can tell when I am not having a very good time in my life when I skip so many days and write very little. That was the case of 2008, which I call the Year of Ben Anderson.

            I started to watch some television but fell asleep in the Lazy Boy around 7 in the evening and woke up at 9. I thought I might as well go to bed which I did at 9 even if I wake up early.

I don't feel old until I replace 1951 and 2021 with 1851 and 1921... no wonder I hardly feel relevant in the 2020s when my best years were the 1970s and 1980s. Oh well the world wags on.

9 January 2022 Sunday

Kyle Foote got the results of his Covid19 test, and he is positive so he will be isolating downstairs and when we are together, we will wear our masks. I canceled my date with Kimball Edwards letting him know that I have Covid19 in the house and may have been exposed to it although I feel fine and have no symptoms other than being old. I’ve had both shots and a booster so hopefully if I am positive, it won’t be life threatening. The lines for testing are incredibly long and a two hour wait or more so I will just access how I feel as time goes on.

I made some Chili Verde this morning while gathering up the Xmas décor and putting them away in boxes, storing them under the stairs until next year if there’s a next year. The weather was so pleasant outside that I went to the grocery store before I knew that Kyle tested positive, I needed to buy some chicken for the pup, and I bought veggies and stuff to make chicken and noodle soup for Kyle as I thought maybe he just had a flu virus.

In the afternoon while I was napping Jim Dabakis dropped Taco Bell off for a play date, so I called him and told him that Kyle has contracted Covid19, but I feel fine so far. I said I’d bring him home tomorrow.

This evening I watched “Sergeant York” the 1941 film from which Gary Cooper one an Oscar. It had a lot of good character actors in it. Since I was up so early this morning, I retired to bed around 8:30 this evening.

I saw this on Facebook, “Some people don’t understand that sitting in your own house in peace, eating snacks and minding your own business is priceless.”

Remembering John Cunningham on his 71^st birthday. He never grew old in my heart.

10 January 2022 Monday

Cooler today only in the 40’s but anything above freezing is pleasant. I edited my 2007 journal a lot today and I suppose I should get back to working on my Second South project that I took a break from.

            I didn’t interact with Kyle Foote any today as he is still quarantined down stairs although I went to the store and bought him some Dr. Peppers, some chamomile tea, and humus. I also made chicken soup for him.

            I was going to bring Taco back over to Jim Dabakis but as he wouldn’t be home until after 5 this late afternoon, I said I’d keep him, feed him, and bring him home tomorrow.

Utah’s governor Cox doesn’t have the balls to go against the radical right in the state that is fighting the city and county mayor’s masks mandates.

11 January 2022 Tuesday

            I took the Honda FIT up to Quick Quack in North Salt Lake to run it through the car wash and to get some of the road dirt and salt off of it. The air was pretty smoggy today due to an inversion, but it was not freezing cold.

Alma Smith from California said he’s coming back to Salt Lake for a funeral and wanted to see and visit with me, but I had to let him know that Kyle Foote has Covid19, so I am self-quarantining as much as possible.

            I did take Taco Bell home to Jim Dabakis this morning in the city and also later took Maxx down to the groomers to have his nails trimmed as they were getting too long. Other than getting a drink I was home for most of the day although I did have to help Kyle with picking up and dropping off some of his vehicles. He wears a mask, and so do I whenever we are together in the car.

12 January 2022 Wednesday

I took TJ in to the groomers to get his nails clipped in the late afternoon and then went to the Northwest Senior Center to pick up some better masks that the county is giving out free to seniors there. I saw that they were serving lunches there again to Seniors, but the place was not very crowded.

            From there I went to Flores Bakery on 700 North because I wanted to buy some more Cinnamon Crispies, but they were out until Friday. The lady there said someone broke their display window and ruined all their bakery goods that were there the other day when Kyle Foote and I went there before getting a Little Caesar Pizza for him. I guess the windows in front of the Dollar Cut and Little Caesar were also smashed.

            From there I went to get a Dr. Pepper at Common Cents and then to the library to pick up a book I ordered called Brigham’s Boys, which I thought would give some historical context to the men used as “destroying angels” by Brigham Young but I was disappointed that it was just another “faith promoting” tome, glossing over the murders and killings in pioneer Utah.

            I contacted Richard Gordon, my Soakers hot tub repair guy, to come look at the water pump that seemed to have quit the other day. The water is still heating but the jets won’t activate. He said he would put me on his schedule but didn’t say when.

Alan Anderson posted in Michael Aaron’s comments that he was one of the over 10,000 people testing positive for Covid19 yesterday. So, I sent him a message, “Are you sick? Kyle Foote tested positive for Covid on Friday after being sick since that Tuesday with a cough and sore throat. He thought he might have had strep again, but his test came back Sunday for Covid. He’s quarantining downstairs, so far, I feel fine but haven’t tested because of the 3 hours wait when I have just been self-quarantining any way.

Alan replied that he had a small cough, was congested, and dizzy so I called him on the phone to see how he was. He said, like Kyle Foote, he was not really terrible sick enough to be hospitalized due to his having been fully vaccinated and having his booster. He said he tested positive yesterday and Kyle Daniels has been really sick, but his home test kit said he was negative. Sick or positive they are making him go to work at his high school due to staffing shortages. I am kind of glad I didn’t go down now when they invited me.

Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes had passed at the age of 78. The music makers of my youth are passing away... RIP

The anti-mask-holes showed up at the county council meeting yesterday demanding that the county wide mask mandate be overturned and some sociopath Utah law maker want’s to pass a law preventing businesses from requiring proof of vaccination of their Patrons.

The Republican Party's catering to the powerful right wing anti progressive conservatives as they are their base.

13 January 2022 Thursday

I went with Kyle Foote to retrieve the Sierra Truck and I followed in the GM Terrain to Quick Quack carwash, and we had both vehicles washed. I vacuumed out the GM Terrain by myself while Kyle did the truck. It was chilly out but not freezing.

            The Supreme Court overturned President Biden’s vaccination mandate for large companies. And Democratic Senators from Arizona and West Virginia refused to help end the filibuster so that the Voting Right Act could pass.

            I spent much of the day trying to reconstruct my journal from 2005 in which I barely wrote anything personal about my own life but mainly what was happening in the Gay community. I suppose I didn’t think my own life was that thrilling or interesting to record any of it. Not that it is now.

In 2005 I wrote an article about the 1990 Anne Frank Exhibition protest where the mention of Gays being part of the holocaust was eliminated by the state school superintendent. I received two scathing responses from his sons for calling their father a bigot.

One of them wrote " In the end, my father will continue to be remembered for his goodness, decency, integrity, character and all the good that he did in so many areas of his short 48 yr. life. You, on the other hand, will, more than likely, simply be remembered by a few gay friends as a man who tried to push his own little pet agenda. You may even get a few pink triangles on your coffin. "

Well, I fooled him, I am getting cremated when I'm gone. Who got the last word now, ha! Although I ordered a rainbow container to place my ashes in LOL Gay to the bitter in.

14 January 2022 Friday

I went to the Glendale Smith’s this morning with the purpose of getting some dog treats but ended up spending $100 on meats and other items that were discounted. That was the most I spent at one time at the store in ages. It wasn’t all inflation either but thought I would stock my freezer with food for the pups in case there is a supply chain shortage as everyone seems to be getting sick.

Utah’s GOP Death cultists won’t be satisfied until they have destroyed the economy, education, and health care systems.

I still don’t have any symptoms of Covid19 when the rest of the state has been running over 10,000 a day testing positive. In fact, the state is now telling people if they have symptoms to not get tested as they are running out of testing kits.

“Omicron’s mild. Let it rip.” One month later, “why isn’t my trash getting picked up? Where’s the produce at the grocery store? Why did the clinic cancel my biopsy appointment? Why hasn’t my kid’s teacher come back to school? I demand [cough] service.”

Actually, as the U.S. sets new COVID hospitalization record, it is now shown that Omicron could be less mild than experts hoped. I guess mild is a relative term because both Kyle and Alan don’t feel like it’s mild.

The anti-mask and anti-vaccine conservatives will not follow science to help end the pandemic but will take horse de-wormers, drink piss, and other crazy remedies until they end up in the overcrowded hospitals demanding that medical workers, educated by science, save them.

I finished watching the “Righteous Gemstones” about a dysfunctional megachurch evangelical family staring John Goodman and Danny McBride. I enjoyed it quite a lot as it’s a black comedy with some redemptive messages.

I took Kyle Foote down to drop off the GM Terrain at the Airport. He said he’s feeling better and that he will be done quarantining 5 days tomorrow. I have a doctor’s appointment on the 20^th next week with Dr. Stoneburner. I think when I go in to see him, I will ask to be tested.

My hot tub guy is scheduled to come out on the 31^st to look at why the water pump isn’t working. It won’t come on and yet is sputters like it is trying to.

It was really smoggy today and couldn’t see downtown.

15 January 2022 Saturday

Kyle Foote is recovering and came out of quarantine although still wearing his mask around me and when he’s out in public. It was a busy day for him with Turo. He had to take the GMC Sonoma to the airport early this morning around 5 and left it in parking there while he picked up the Chevy Trax that came back and then we went to get the Nissan Rogue around 3 this afternoon which he drove for Uber until having to deliver that back at the Airport near midnight when he retrieved the truck, so I didn’t have to get up early or stay up late today.

            It was a smoggy but fairly warm day for January as it was around 44 degrees. I went to the library to pick up Janet Evanovich’s latest Stephanie Plum novel “Game On” which was her 28^th book. I also stopped in at Flores Bakery and bought some Cinnamon Crispies that I like so much that we used to call “Elephant Ears” in California in my youth.

            I went with Kyle to clean the Trax at Quick Quack and while he was cleaning the interior at home, I took the time to sweep up all the leaves that had gathered in the side drive way where the Sonoma is usually parked.

            I haven’t worked on my old journals nor my research on Second South to give them both a breather. I am rather tired from getting up early and working on them all morning. In fact, I went back to bed and lounged around with the pups until almost 10 this morning. I haven’t done that in months.

            I watched My Fair Lady this evening. It’s still an enjoyable musical because of the costumes by Cecil Beaton who was a notorious homosexual LOL. Marni Nixon did all the singing for Audrey Hepburn and never received any credit for it on the film.

            The leader of the Oath Keeper was indicted for sedition the other day for his planning the January 6^th insurrection. He’s small potatoes compared to Trump and others.

The greatest threat to America is not from Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran rather it’s the white supremacist controlled Republican Party that is the greatest danger to democracy.

The Christian right that dominates the GOP fear diversity and equality and uses the straw man of socialism and abortion to divide and weaken this country like they used to do homosexuality.

The GOP has always found its base among those fascists wrapped up in the flag and carrying a Bible. The 1 percent oligarchy just sits back and let the money roll in and count their billions.

The Salt Lake Tribune printed the best editorial in a long time calling out how Utah leaders failed us during this epidemic and that the national guard should be deployed to keep the unvaccinated from public places.

16 January 2022 Sunday

Kyle Foote must be feeling better as he wanted to go to El Pollo Loco for lunch. I went with him just to get out of the house but only ordered a Dr. Pepper. All the vehicles are rented out, so he was able to stay home and rest.

I called Jim McMullin to see how they were and to tell  him how Alan Anderson, and Kyle Daniels were sick from Covid19. He said so far TJ Otaka and he were still okay and healthy.

Other than that, it was a quiet day, not much going on except writing, and watching some shows like the “Righteous Gemstones” and 1946’s movie “Dragonwyck” on the Criterion Channel. I also watched a few episodes of Netflix’s “The Dark Side of the ‘90s”. One episode was on the violent “talk shows’” like Jerry Springers and the other was on the Viper Club owned by Johnny Depp in Hollywood, where River Phoenix died.

Before going to bed Kyle came and said he shut down the hot tub as the water was cold. He said he’d look at it in the morning. I suppose I should drain it tomorrow.

Is it me or does it seem like every right-wing anti mask and vaccination nut case seems to be like a former participant on the Jerry Springer Show?

17 January 2022 Monday

Today is Martin Luther King’s Birthday as well as Betty White’s 100^th. She was born 7 years before Dr. King. It is also Michelle Obama’s birthday.

            Strange how some days are just uneventful, and others get filled. I learned from Mattia Lumaca today that Ben Anderson died on December 31^st at his place in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Mattia was grief stricken so I didn’t pry into how he died but actually I was surprised he lived this long, and I am sure he wouldn’t have without Mattia. Ben was cremated and had no funeral. His ashes were split, and some went to Lake Point where his mom is buried, and some are in an urn that Mattia says he will take back to Italy. I wonder if his son Jared Anderson even attended.

            I really didn’t feel much grief about the news except condolences for Mattia as that I had closed the door on Ben and my friendship over a decade ago and we hadn’t spoken since or kept in touch. I was so hurt by the way I was treated in 2010, after all I had done for them, that I knew it was time to let go. I felt the same way upon hearing of Charles Frost’s death last year.

            I knew Ben since the early 1990’s when he investigated the Sacred Faeries. He was a very troubled man, having been sexually abused as a child and as a teen. He told me all kinds of horror stories about being passed around as a play thing in Palm Springs but because of his split personality it was not always easy to accept everything he said as fact.

He was diagnosed having a dissociative identity disorder that manifested itself at times as a small boy named “Teddy.” Ben’s real name was Edward Ross and he said he witnessed his father murder his baby brother and that his father passed him around to a bikers’ gang. When Ben lived with me at times, I saw this personality emerge.

            He had severe health problems due to his service in the Coast Guard when he was exposed to toxic chemicals and for much of the time, I knew him he was on a medical disability from the Veteran Administration.

He had severe diabetes, was obese, and even had a Tracheostomy. He could not sleep without a C-Pap machine. All in all, he was a medical mess with stints in his heart. However, no one made me laugh at times as much as he did and for nearly 20 years, he was part of my history. He was born in August 1956, so he made it to 65 years old. Now he is gone and just another memory like so many others I have known.

            I also had a message from Kimball Edwards saying that it was a good thing that I hadn’t come over as that he has tested positive for Covid19. He said he doesn’t feel all that bad but had loss his sense of taste and smell.

            It isn’t surprising as that Utah is now the 4^th highest state per capital for infection. The Salt Lake Tribune is right on how state leadership has failed to protect us.

            Jim Dabakis dropped Taco Bell off this morning prior to his leaving for New York City tomorrow for a week. I am glad he’s the one traveling and not me. The East had been hit with a worse snow storm in decades on top of the epidemic. He said he’s coming back to stay for about two weeks before heading down to Mexico and South America. He said his husband Steven Justesen loves Columbia and wants Jim and him to sell their place in Mexico and move there. Jim just laughed that notion off.

            Kyle Foote and I went to China Delight to pick up some Chinese food for lunch and stopped at Exxon on the way back. It was the first time he’s gone in Common Cents since he was sick.

            So, Taco is back, Kimball is sick, Ben Anderson is dead, and I donated $5 to Hearts 4 Paws because it was Betty White’s 100^th Birthday as she was such an animal activist.

18 January 2022 Tuesday

I had strange dreams this morning. In one of them I was walking with Bruce Harmon and as we talked, I said I was so sorry to hear that Bruce Barton was dead. What was strange is that Bruce Harmon died almost 5 years before Bruce Barton did. I also went into some Gay Club and asked to see Michael Aaron to tell him that Ben Anderson had died.

            I was just waking up when Kyle Foote popped his head in and asked me to go with him to the airport to retrieve the Chevy GM Terrain. So, I got dressed and at 6 we went there. It was still very dark out and there was beautiful bright full moon, a glowing orb descending in the western sky. I think it’s the first full moon of 2022.

            Today was not nearly as eventful as yesterday. In the evening I did go out with Kyle to Chubby’s, but I just had a bite of one of the tostadas he ordered as my stomach was upset today. I get these stomach pains every so often I suppose from the bariatric surgery I had as my digestive system has been compromised. It isn’t extremely painful just mildly discomfortable with a lot of gas.

            In the news a Utah state Senate Majority leader legislator lied and said he tested negative when he actually tested positive twice and did not wear a mask at the opening of the session today. This at a time when the Senate voted to rescind Mayors from mandating masks. The extremely partisan vote was aimed at Salt Lake Democrats Jenny Wilson and Mendenhall.

19 January 2022 Wednesday

It was kind of a busy day as I helped Kyle Foote out a bit with his vehicles and then went to the Redwood Clinic to have blood drawn for labs for my appointment with Dr. Stoneburner.

I made beef stew for my supper and for the pups, they had chopped pork loin, chicken thighs, carrots, and egg noodles. They must have loved it because all the bowls are licked clean.          I watched a documentary on the Einsatzgruppen (“Deployment Groups”), special mobile killing units of 3000 Germans tasked with murdering Jews, Soviet commissars, and Gypsies. Nearly a million and a half Jews were slaughtered outside of those sent to concentration camps to be gassed. Only 24 men were ever tried at Nuremberg for the genocide.

While watching television tonight, someone was knocking on my door. I don’t care who you are or what you want but I don’t answer the door at 8 o’clock at night for anyone. Especially since I don’t have a screen door anymore. My parents were kidnapped in Palmdale California once by young thugs, because my dad answered the door late at night, so I am kind of paranoid being 70 years old and living mostly alone. If you want to visit me at night, call first and I will get out of my night shirt; or maybe not.

As that anti-vaxxers have turned the nations hospitals into triage units it’s time to exclude anyone not vaccinated. Perhaps that will get people vaccinated. Is that too harsh?

Today would have been my father’s 97^th birthday. It is my friend Richard Harmston’s birthday, and I think he’s about 73. It’s also Pete Buttigieg and Dolly Parton’s birthdays.

Michael Aaron announced that Stacy Jackson Roberts, the Trans person who replaced Robert Moolman, resigned at director of the Utah Pride Center after only having assumed the position last September. Officially she said to have resigned for health and family reasons, but I suspect there’s more to it than that. Another one bites the dust.

Roy Zang messaged me after I sent him the announcement about the resignation. “Of course, she did. She should have not excluded all the Gay men. Oh well sounds like they shouldn’t have tried to get rid of us gays who actually did the work. I have sent so many emails over there last month to them and her and it was crickets.”

I responded: “Well I am sure there is weeping and wailing in the Trans community. I am sure it over whelmed her as I doubt, she had any support from the Trans community as they had their own issues and could care less about the rest of us.”

Roy then said, “I am sure also of that, Andy [Dalrymple] and I have been relentless on making them all aware of how wrong it was not recognizing World AIDS Day, and the exclusion of Gay Men is not only tone deaf, but homophobic.”

I replied, “Homophobia gets trumped by Transphobia these days.” And Roy stated, “So sad, but true.”

            I am sure Stacy is a wonderful person, but I resent how they made Rob Moolman’s last year a living hell.

20 January 2022 Thursday

I went to see Dr. Stoneburner today who gave me a clean bill of health except for my weight. I have gained 16 pounds since July which now at 196 pounds I am borderline obese again and he wants me to lose at least 10 pounds by my next visit on May 20^th. In July last, I weighed 180 pounds. My A1c went up to from 5.8 to 6.1. He only gave me an A- because of my weight gain lol. He grades me because he knows I was a school teacher.

In the afternoon I went with Kyle Foote to Walmart for him to get an oil change for the Sierra Truck. While there I bought two pairs of Sweat pants because the ones, I have now are getting raggedy with small holes in them. I didn’t buy them because of the weight gain, but just because they are comfortable to lounge in. President Biden finished his first term in office and the media is piling on him for not accomplishing all that he hoped to do, primarily due to obstruction by the Anti-American GOP party.

21 January 2022 Friday

The state legislators voted to overturn the mask mandates in Salt Lake and Summit Counties. Once again Utah has proven it elects a lot of morons.

I had to stay up to Midnight to pick Kyle Foote up from the airport. I watched Star Trek the 1979 movie reboot and some of Judy Garland’s “A Star Is Born to help pass the time.

Singer Meatloaf died at age 74. He will always be spaghetti Eddie in Rocky Horror RIP. Comedian Louie Anderson also died. I think he was 68.

22 January 2022 Saturday

Coming back from Sutherlands this morning I saw that the road on 2200 West by 17th North was back up with a convoy of military vehicles turning into the Nation Guard station located there. Something is going on. Probably just drills but there sure was a lot of heavy armored vehicles.

            I decided it was time to get serious and start walking again to exercise so I took Lulubelle for a walk up to North Star Elementary. It wasn’t a long walk, but you have to start somewhere I suppose.

23 January 2022 Sunday

Kyle Foote took the Honda to meet some Chinese kid for coffee. He’s an mandarin emersion 3^rd Grade teacher at Stewart elementary in Davis.

I Went to the doctors the other day...said I was in perfect health except that I gained 16 lbs. since July. I guess being housebound and sedentary and living on snacks caught up with me... so I have to lose 10 lbs. by May and since I only eat a bite of food, I have to exercise... the horror... so I’ve been walking Lulubelle 20 minutes a day and I don’t know who's more pooped, me or her. Maybe I should just ask my doctor for a second opinion.

24 January 2022 Monday

This morning I went to pick up Kyle Foote who took the Nissan Rogue in to have the back-end fender repaired that was damaged by a driver a few weeks ago.

Michael Romero called today and asked if I would take him up to the U of U Medical Center this Thursday at 10:30 for a test they want to do on his kidneys. While waiting for Kyle Foote to finish a project, I took Lulubelle on a long walk over to the entrance of the Soccer Fields. While out walking I found a crow bar laying in the walkway so carried it home as it looked like a good one. Have no idea how it got there or who it belonged to, but I suppose “finders keepers.”

            I only went to the airport once to drop off the Sierra truck but all other times we just went down to Sutherlands.

            It was almost a Spring like day in the mid-40’s and most of the inversion we had is gone. Thank goodness it didn’t come with frigid temperatures as it usually does.

In the news 33 Utahans died over the past 3 days from Covid19 and over 22,000 tested positive. I feel sorry for health workers and teachers but the rest of the anti-mask- holes can go to hell. At this point, unless the person is a child or immuno-compromised, I have no more empathy for the sick, dying, or dead from Covid19 in Utah when it’s proven the shots and boosters reduces chance of hospitalization. They’d rather listen to right wing politicians and trolls than scientists and medical professional. If not vaccinated stay home if you get sick and suffer consequences of your choices rather than overwhelm the hospitals of which you refused to have followed their advice.

President Biden was caught on an open mic calling Fox douche bag Peter Doocy “an idiot son of a bitch.” Doocy is the spawn of Steve Doocy another Fox News commentator.

The tensions in the Ukraine is heating up with Russia poised to invade and America and allies are sending millions in defense weapons to the country and Biden has deployed 8500 troops on standby to go to Europe.

Putin controlled Trump for so long he thinks it’s a good time for Russia to interfere in geo-politics while America is so divided.

25 January 2022 Tuesday

I mainly worked on my journal from 2004. I am going through my blog site This Day in Gay Utah History to pull out anything from that year. I wrote so little of my personal life, mostly preserving Gay events.

I took Lulubelle on a long walk down to 7-11 on 13^th North which was a walk of about a mile and a half.

            Some stupid Utahns think that there’s a bill before the legislature that would give the Health Department the ability to call out the national guard to keep unvaccinated people at home.

            It is almost frightening how the radical right has completely dominated Utah’s politics with bills to make teachers post all their lessons on line for parents to examine, ban local governments from mandating masks, and to keep businesses from requiring masks or proof of vaccination.

            It’s like we are living in a dystopian future right now. Supreme Court Justice Breyer is retiring, and President Biden has promised to nominate a black woman which is making the GOP fascists head’s explode.

26 January 2022 Wednesday

I went to the donut shop that replaced the old Mr. Donut on Tenth North to see what they are like, but they nearly didn’t have the selection the old one had but I bought two chocolate glazed donuts to be supportive but don’t know if I’d go back.

            The weather was much cooler today and I didn’t go for a walk even though much of the haze is gone. Lulabelle acted like her legs were wobbly, so I wanted to give her a rest. Kyle Foote had company tonight.

27 January 2022 Thursday

I took Mike Romero up to the U of U hospital for his appointment about his kidneys. I guess he has too many white cells in them. I picked him up at 10:30 and because of all the construction going up at the medical complex up there it took nearly a half an hour to get there. I took Coco home then I went for a long walk down 17^th North over the freeway overpass to 2200 West then back again walking Lulubelle. That was nearly a 45-minute walk, and I was a bit tired but decided I should walk Maxx too. However, he is more of a stop every 5 feet sniff and pee kind of a walker, so we just went for a short walk.

            When we returned Kyle Foote said it was time to pick up the Nissan Rogue that had been dropped off for repairs. About then Mike called and said he was ready so after letting Kyle out at the repair shop, I went back to the house and picked up Coco and drove back up to the U of U Medical Center to retrieve Mike. He said he will have to do some more tests but at the Redwood Clinic.

            I had nothing to eat since this morning except a donut, so I stopped at Ranchitos on North Temple and bought some rolled tacos and guacamole for a late lunch. Jim Dabakis came by while I was out and gathered up Taco Bell. He called later and said he’s home for a week or ten days but had a good time in New York seeing shows although the weather was miserable much of the time. We made plans to meet for lunch next Tuesday.

            Kyle came home around 4 after doing a lot of shopping for cleaning supplies for his vehicles and doing an oil change at Walmart in Centerville. When he did, I went with him to America First located in Lee’s Market in North Salt Lake where he deposited $320 into my account which I put towards my Visa and Money Market accounts.

            At 7:30 we went to the airport to retrieve the Sierra Truck and I had to stay up until nearly 10:30 so I could pick him up from his dropping off the Nissan Rogue. I was really tired from the long walks I did today and had fallen asleep watching The Wizard of OZ trying to stay up.

            I posted several article on my Utah Stonewall Historical Site on the Gay Bars of the 1970s here in Salt Lake.

28 January 2022 Friday

Kyle Foote showed me where the new Turo “pick up and drive off” spot will be out by the airport. I guess Turo finally made an arrangement with the airport.

I am now working on reconstructing my journal from the year 2003. The early 2000’s were such an unhappy time in my personal life being in a failed relationship, that I recorded more of what was going on in the Gay community at that time than anything in my own life or professionally as an educator.

            Kyle said he had a date with the Chinese Mandarin immersion elementary teacher named Barry tonight and they went to the Hong Kong Tea House which is like the last remaining structure on block 63 from when it was Greek Town.        I want to finish up recovering my journals so I can go back to working on Second South.

I guess everyone is doing okay or I’d have heard something. I went for a short walk with Lulubelle until my calf started cramping up, so I returned back home. I probably over did it the other day. My stomach has been giving me fits also. I am feeling old and worn out today.

29 January 2022 Saturday

I woke up from a dream that I was in some foreign land, in the Middle East, and I couldn’t find the airport ticket agent to get a ticket back home and felt so lost. Prior to that I dreamed that Jim Dabakis had asked me to go camping with him. My dreams are so unusual lately.

            Kyle Foote’s date spent the night and I thought they might have gone out together for lunch at noon, so I went and got a drink at Exxon and two cinnamon crips from the bakery. However, when I came home Kyle came out of his room surprised that I went without him as he thought I had merely gone for a walk with Lulubelle. I rode with him so he could get his drink.

            I worked on compiling events from 2003 which really wasn’t much of a journal rather than emails and newspaper accounts when actually it was a very momentous year when Dad and my history collaborator Jay Bell both died in December within a week of one another.

At 4:30 Kyle suggested we go out to eat and we went to the Nachos House on Hwy 89 in North Salt Lake on the corner of Center Street. I always wanted to try it. It was okay but nothing I think we will go back to. Kyle was talkative about his date but not in a real positive way. He really didn’t want him to spend the night and he was tired for much of the day.

In the late afternoon I went with him on a little adventure as he filmed how to get to the Turo spot out at the airport. When we got there, he jury-rigged an old cell phone to the front of the Honda FIT and drove slowly around as if we were Google Maps lol. The Turo pick up and drop off spot is kind of out of the way, so he wanted to make a video for his website to guide people to the location.

I was tired for some reason and went to bed by 9. I think I was mentally exhausted from reliving how the Pride Center did me wrong, cheating the Utah Stonewall Historical Society out of thousands of dollars we were supposed to have received as being a partner at Pride Day in 2003 and having built all those Kiosks. It was mainly Erin Litvack the straight wife of David Litvack who was working for the center who because she didn’t know anything about me thought I was lying about having signed a contract that Jerry Rapier or someone at the center had loss.

Still pisses me off after all these years as we barely received a pittance enough to cover the cost of material but not for time or labor which kept us from having the funds to hold the Milestone Awards and bring author Eric Marcus to Utah as the featured speaker.

30 January 2022 Sunday

When I went to Smith’s this afternoon, I noticed that they were out of eggs except the high-priced organic ones. I thought that was odd.

Kyle had brought some trick over this evening that was moaning so hard from being fucked I could hear him upstairs while I was watching television. At first, I thought perhaps Kyle was simple watching porn but when I turned off the television, I could definitely hear Kyle giving it to him.

I know I am old and should not have lusty thoughts but the idea that Kyle was engaged in playful intercourse with a very submissive vocal male excited me as that my love and passion for Kyle has never abated. Not that I was jealous but rather kind of sad that Kyle and I would never be joined in that physical way of intimacy, but it is what it is.

There’s been 1438 deaths in Utah from Covid19 and the band played on.

31 January 2022 Monday

            I made a date with Kimball Edwards for tonight. I suppose I wanted, no, perhaps needed some intimacy at least physical touch. Listening to sexual antics downstairs made me horny. We were going to get together after 8 tonight after he came home from work, but he texted me later and said that a friend of his had just tested positive for Covid19 whom he has spent time with and thought we should wait as so I don’t get sick. We will try again next week. I wasn’t too disappointed actually, as I was tired.

            I had been up since 5:30 because I had to go with Kyle Foote to the airport by 6 this morning to retrieve the Chevy Traxx and later around 11 to deliver the Sierra truck. I then worked on my collection of recollections and memoirs from 2003. That’s what I’ve done for most of January, compiled my journals that were mostly incomplete and scattered in the early 2000’s in bits and pieces in various files.

            A little before 1 this afternoon Richard Gordon from Soakers finally came to look at the hot tub. Fortunately, it turned out to be a defective key pad he replaced, not the circuit board or anything thing else and the lines had never frozen. Still, it was $350 to fix it. Richard said new hot tubs are back ordered for two years because they can’t get chips for circuit boards from China. So now at least the hot tub is fixed until something else happens.

            In the late afternoon I went with Kyle in the Sonoma to get some metal drain parts he needed for some project. I didn’t need to go with him, but he asked and after yesterday “sexcapade” I suppose I just wanted to be near him. You don’t always get what you want but you get want you need. On the way back we stopped and picked up Chinese Food from China Delight because tomorrow is the Asian New Year. It’s the year of the Tiger.

            I stayed up for much of the evening waiting for Kimball’s call but around 7:30 he texted to cancel. I then watched Amistad about the trial of Africans who had an insurrection aboard a slave ship. I had never seen it before. I went to bed around 11:30.

            Trump said if reelected he would pardon all the January 6^th Insurrectionists and book censorship by school boards is the main topic on Facebook besides Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulling their music from Spotify over Joe Rogan’s lying about vaccines. I guess tension in the Ukraine his getting hotter and hotter. And the band played on.

Well, I made it through another January without dying. I would not care to die in that month but unless I decide to do myself in, I doubt whether I have little say in the matter.

 

February

1 February 2022 Tuesday

I had a very nice luncheon with Jim Dabakis at Chubby’s here in Rose Park. He had never eaten here before and it’s been around before I lived here 25 years ago. We had a nice visit and he’s heading back to Old Mexico Thursday, so Taco is coming back tomorrow. He ordered a large combination plate, and I ordered a small one. We talked about Kyle Foote and my relationship to him. He’s always concerned that Kyle will take advantage of me financially and put me in hard straights. I said I was doing fine right now.

It surprised me how much he wants to leave Utah altogether; completely fed up with the toxicity of the radical right in this state and the GOP totalitarian control of the legislature. We also talked somewhat of the Gay community and how unconnected we both feel to it any more.

            He told me something interesting about Stacy Jackson Roberts the trans who resigned from leadership of the Utah Pride Center. He said that shortly after she was hired, he went to the center to find a Gay therapist for a friend of his who was dealing with meth addiction and Jim met with her. He was surprised that she said she fired all the therapists at the center because she believed that the center wasn’t licensed to have therapists at the nonprofit. Jim thought if she was so wrong about that, because the Encircle Houses all have therapist, it may have been one of the contributing factors of why she left. Who knows?

            Anyway, Jim generously gave me $100 for taking care of Taco and I said it wasn’t necessary but took it anyway. I asked if he has it written down somewhere if something happens that I would have custody of Taco. He said he hadn’t written it, but everyone knows that Taco should go to me.

            Kyle worked on some project in the garage for most of the day. We had to go to the airport to retrieve the Nissan Rogue. He was in a talkative mood about his Chinese friend Barry and without him saying so I deduced it was him that was at the house on Sunday making so much noise being fucked. That made me smile. Kyle asked if I’d go back to Chubby’s to pick up some lunch he had ordered which I did and then I came home and took a nap.

            After feeding the pups Kyle called saying he had left some metal grates in the garage and asked if I would bring them to where he was down on Redwood Road near the Love Gas Station. I did and there Kyle seemed to be in a sour mood and even snapped at me which pissed me off. Have no clue what caused his bad temper, but I imagine it had something to do with delivering the project he had worked on all day.

            I was chilly to him after that because my feelings were hurt. I have never snapped at him and did not appreciate it at all. I went back home and later he called for me to pick him up down at Sutherland’s and I was silent the whole time. He must have known I was upset as when we went into the house, he wanted to hug me which he did, and I always melt in him arms. With all his faults I love him still.

            I spent the rest of the evening watching television and the second episode of The Gilded Age and a little bit of North by Northwest, Cary Grant’s film in the Hitchcock thriller.

It was a really chilly day only in the mid 30’s this first day of February. With the money Jim gave me I now have $900 in my cash box. It’s not a fortune but nice to have for a bit of security. I have over $2000 in the Credit Union right now after paying this month’s mortgage and I still will get a Social Security check of $1300 in the middle of the month, so I am okay hopefully with no surprises. My hot Tub was fixed yesterday so now I can go soak again.

Mike Romero asked me to take him down to Daybreak on the 10^th for an eye examination in preparation for his cataract surgery.

2 February 2022 Wednesday

I always liked Grand Hog’s Day for some reason, I suppose because, for me, it meant that the worst of winter is over. It won't be long until springs decide to wake from slumbering and begin to stir.

Candlemas, also known as St. Brigit Day or Imbolc, is a cross quarter day of the Eight Seasons on the Pagan Natural calendar which delineates the middle between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. We made it halfway through winter and there's now more light than darkness. In America, we call it Ground Hog's Day as a weather marker.

Back East, from Texas to Maine, they are having a fierce snow and ice storm with 5000 flights canceled. Here it mostly dry but I was surprised to wake up to a skiff of snow on the ground. As it was really cold, only in the low 30’s, much of it took all day to melt. I guess in January we only had less than an inch of snow for the whole month.

I made ravioli for dinner tonight and thought Kyle Foote might want some, but he didn’t.

            Housing prices in Utah are outrageous. I moved back to Salt Lake in 1985 partly because it was cheap to live here. In 1985 I rented a house with Fran and Sam and Toby for $400 a month and in 1986 rented a one bedroom apartment for $200 a month heat included at the Juel Apartment on Sixth East.

 In 1989 I splurged for a two-bedroom apartment for $340 a month at the Buckingham Apartments on A Street but in 1990 changed to a two bedroom for $280 a month at the Greek Church’s La France apartments on Broadway. In 1992 I moved to the Gay Riviera on 6^th South into a two bedroom for $360 a month where I lived with Mike Romero for the first time. We bought the Fernleaf house in 1996 for $118,000.

Now in 2022 these are the average rents in SLC, all so much more than my mortgage. Monthly rentals in Downtown Salt Lake City for a Studio: $1,345, 1 bedroom and 1 bath: $1,659

2 bedrooms and 1 bath: $2,000, 2 bedrooms and 2 baths: $2,185, and 3 bedrooms and 2 baths: $2,862. The overall average rent in Salt Lake City is $1,810. My mortgage for my house is under $1,100 just a third of my monthly income.

             Roy Zhang wrote, “My first apartment in 1991 in the 9th and 9^th area was about $300ish, the same apartment is now $1700.”

3 February 2022 Thursday

This morning my nephew James Clark called to make plans to come up and see me and was asking when was the best time to come, either in March or July. I suggested July because there would be a lot more things to do.

For Lunch Kyle suggested we go out to West Valley and try the new Chicken chain called Cane’s. Kyle had eaten there with Danny Montoya in Las Vegas, but I had never tried it and didn’t know what to expect. I ordered a chicken sandwich and Kyle just had the chicken fingers. It was about all they do. The sandwich wasn’t bad but wouldn’t order it again as it was just chicken strips in a hamburger bun, and it was kind of messy to eat.

Later in the afternoon I went to the vet to get more pills for Buster’s heart. That’s $25 for a month’s supplies. While in the neighborhood I walked two laps around Warm Springs Park, which was empty and very cold out. It was in the 20’s today. I hadn’t walked in a couple of days, and I like having to walk up the hills.

While on Third West I snapped a few pictures of an old log house at about 458 North which was I was curious about. I posted them on the Facebook Salt Lake History site asking if anyone knew about the history of the home. I got a lot of responses that it was a pioneer home from 1848 that had been torn down and reconstructed from original material.

I also went to First South and took some pictures of the construction going on in Block 64 at the site of the old Stockade and got a lot of comments about it too.

Afterwards I stopped at Smith’s to get some snacks for the pups as TJ was almost out of the kind he likes.

I made some baked macaroni and cheese from a recipe I saw on Facebook. It looked really tasty, but I was kind of disappointed in the end result.

I started watching “Dances with Wolves” when Kyle brought Barry home after going bowling to fuck. Barry is a moaner for sure as he’s loud enough to be heard upstairs. So, I just turned off the television and went to bed myself.

On my Utah Stonewall History Site, I wrote about the poet and artist James Charles Jensen born 1847, in Denmark. He emigrated to the U.S. with his mother in 1854. They lived in Utah briefly before settling in Council Bluffs, Nebraska, where he met David H. Smith, the youngest son of Joseph Smith. Smith and Jensen were missionary companions and may have had a sexual attraction towards one another leading to Smith’s mental collapse as he was assigned to an insane asylum. Jensen's possible sexual orientation was homosexual and died a bachelor in 1925.

4 February 2022 Friday

Kyle Foote had to take the Chevy Traxx into Precision glass in Centerville this afternoon to have the windshield replaced so I went and picked him up and later dropped him back there when it was installed.

This evening was the first time we had a drop off at the new Turo location at the airport. It a lot easier for us to access. Afterwards Kyle was all dressed up to go to a party downtown that he was invited to. He said he would find his own way home.

There was an article in the Tribune regarding the troubles the owners of The Sun Trapp are having which has caused the bar to be closed since January 11^th. I wonder if it will survive. It and the Try-Angle are the last of our bars.

The Republican Party censored two Republicans serving on the January 6^th Investigation committee. Calling an insurrection, a “legitimate political discourse” justifies all the bad things I have said or written about the Republican Party which truly is a cult now.

5 February 2022 Saturday

I asked Kyle Foote to take me up to the Marriott Library on campus this morning so I could read a chapter from Valeen Tippetts Avery’s biography of David Hyrum Smith called From Mission to Madness. I wanted to read up on the relationship of Smith and a man named Charles Jensen who evidently loved him. Smith was the youngest son of Joseph Smith.

            I was there for a couple of hours, and it was good to get out of the house and do some research. The college boys were cute, and I am glad I still have some intellectual curiosity as well. I had Kyle come and get me at noon and it was a pleasant day waiting for him outside. I had sweats on and that was enough for such a chilly day but not frigid.

            We stopped and got our drinks before heading back to the house where I started compiling my notes I had written from the book. After a while I decided to take Lulubelle for a walk which we hadn’t when it had been below freezing. We walked for about a half an hour.

            Kyle Went out to meet some friends for dinner this evening but I just stayed home, fed the pups, and took a late nap. I slept until 7 then got up and watched some television. I watched a series on the Curiosity Channel on the history of films that each part was about 9 minutes long before heading to bed around 11.

Six years ago, today I adopted Harleigh. He was sent to me by guardian angels to heal a broken heart from losing Lucky a week before. I had him just four years, but his senior years were well cared for.

The US Death Toll from COVID surpassed 900,000, which is more than the entire population of San Francisco. It will be over a million, I imagine by Spring due to anti-vaxxers and anti-mask ignorance and in some cases pure malignancy. The enemy within has crippled America more than any foreign power...unless you count Rupert Murdock owner of Fox Propaganda News.

6 February 2022 Sunday

            I worked on an article for the Q Salt Lake for my Lambda Lore column on David Hyrum Smith and Charles Jensen all morning. I sent it off to Michael Aaron saying it probably should be in two parts as its nearly 2500 words and my columns are only supposed to be around 1200 words.

            I didn’t spend much time with Kyle Foote today except to retrieve the GM Terrain from Sutherland’s and get a drink. He said he had a nice time going out with his friends last night for dinner and it sounds like he wants to cool his involvement with Barry as that the Chinese school teacher is already becoming kind of possessive and more into Kyle than Kyle wants him to be.

            He went Ubering for the rest of the day and I took a nap to be ready for an evening with Kimball Edwards at his place at 8.

            I had a nice time over at Kimball Edwards being held and making love. It still amazes me that he is so attracted to me with the huge age difference between us. It’s almost obscene but for whatever reason he needs my affection and I certainly do his. I feel almost guilty having a lover his age when I am well past my prime, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Kind of a Harold and Maude thing I suppose.

            We mainly Kiss, and spoon, and cuddle, and massage, and nibble rather than have penetrative sex which is perfectly fine with me. He’s on some medicine that keeps him from staying hard enough to enter me but there are so many ways of intimacy, more than an orgasm. We, however, picked right up as if it hadn’t been six months and the fact that he wants to be with me as much as I want to be with him is telling. I know he needs the physical touching and caressing as much as I do.

            He starts a new job tomorrow at his company so I left at ten so he could get some rest, but I know I could have stayed longer because he just wanted to hold me in his arms. I don’t know what kind of magick made this happen in my twilight years to be desired by a handsome athletic young man, but I am truly grateful. We are going to see each other more often now, he said.

            I love Kyle Foote, but I know he is incapable of giving me the intimate affection I so crave, just to be held and to hold him but that is okay. It is what it is. I know Kyle loves me as much as he is capable of loving anyone.

            Today is Bill Poore’s birthday. I thought about him for much of the day and I hope he is well, but I think the curtain has come down on our relationship and there will be no more curtain calls. People come together and come apart. Everything and everyone in its season and I will always hold Bill as a special part of my memories.

7 February 2022 Monday

Kyle Foote was up early to take the GM Terrain to the car wash then drop it off at Sutherland’s and I went down to retrieve him at 8 this morning. He asked me to keep the pups in the bedroom with me this morning as he hadn’t gotten to sleep until 3 a.m. and the pups barking out the bay window wouldn’t allow him to go back to sleep.

In the afternoon I went with him to drop the Sierra off at Sutherlands then went with him to look for a place to get some lunch. We first went to this Mexican place where he heard good things of, but it was closed so we then drove into the city and went to R & R Barbecue for some take out. I was disappointed however when I learned that they had taken fried Okra off their menu as that was what I really wanted. Oh well. Salt Lake is not an Okra eating town. We ordered pulled pork sandwiches instead and brought them home to eat.

            It was pretty out today, and the sky was only slightly hazy, but you could see all the way to the Ogden Mountains. I didn’t do much for the rest of the afternoon and just waited until 5 for Kyle to need me to pick him up at the Turo spot out at the airport.

            I sent a message to Kimball Edwards asking him how his first day on his new job went and I asked if he wanted to come over this Saturday for dinner and to use the hot tub, but he said he had other plans that day with a friend and perhaps the following Saturday. I was not that disappointed which is kind of telling.

            Same old stuff in the news, the Republicans are scummy and still defending Donald Trump’s attempt to overthrow the government, Putin is massing more troops and equipment on the Ukraine border, and masks mandates are being lifted in some states as the number of new infections decline. The Winter Olympics are going on and being held in Beijing China although many governments including ours have not sent officials only athletes to the games in protest of China’s human rights violations.

It’s been 20 years almost to the day that Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics and Mike Romero’s brother, and a friend came from Colorado and stayed with us so they could attend some of the venues. I could not have cared less but it was exciting to be downtown with so many visitors to the city back then.

            Kyle and I go to Common Cents, the Exxon convenience store, almost every day for a Dr. Pepper and go so often we are well known, and we know most of the cashiers by name. The manager named Brian, an older man probably in his late 50s or early 60’s, runs the store and often will just comp us our drinks. Another cashier we are really chummy with is a middle-aged woman named Rhonda who was gone all last week because she said she had tested positive for Covid and was sick with cold like symptoms. Everyone I know who had been vaccinated with a booster had cold and flu like symptoms, but none had to be hospitalized. The ones who are really sick or have died are the unvaccinated. Ignorance has consequences.

8 February 2022 Tuesday

I spent the morning cleaning up my 2003 journal which is going incredibly slow as it takes nearly a day to edit a month, but I finally finished April. Kyle Foote needed me to help him retrieve the Chevy Traxx from the airport and then I went to the America First Credit Union to deposit a $200 check Kyle gave me and I took $100 of it in cash to add to the funds I have at home. I now have a $1000 as emergency money, which is the first time ever I’ve had that kind of cash at home. I suppose it’s sort of a security blanket for me in my old age.

            Later in the late afternoon I had to go take him into downtown to retrieve the GM Terrain and while I was out, I went to the Rose Park Library and checked out two books, David Rosenfelt’s latest Andy Carpenter mystery and another I just checked out at random.

            I think Kyle had a “guest” over in the early evening before taking off to go ubering.

When rioting broke out over the death of George Floyd, I never heard Republicans call it legitimate political discourse... a new synonym for hypocrisy should be Republican.

            I shared this on my Face Book page, “Zuckerberg will probably put me in FB jail for this but...” I wish that the Republicans would go after Trump for his insurrection attempt to overthrow an election as much as they did regarding President Clinton getting a blow job in the White House.

Ken Starr spent 30 million dollars investigating the suicide death of Vince Foster and the Clintons involvement in Whitewater at the behalf of the GOP Congress... No matter how hard he tried he could find no illegalities...

Not to be undaunted he went after Bill Clintons private life and the BJ he got from Monica 'the narcissistic' Lewinsky and the dress she gave to super bitch GOP operative Linda Tripp that Monica kept as a trophy with some of the Presidents semen.

All in all, the Republicans spent 80 million dollars to humiliate the Clintons and impeached Bill Clinton for lying about an extra marital affair. Like what husband wouldn't to save their wife from humiliation and Which had absolutely nothing to do with good governance...

If you are a Republican still, either you are a sociopath, an idiot, or evil. Perhaps all three. You definitely have no scruples or decency to keep electing people who defend Trump.”

9 February 2022 Wednesday

I took Lulu Belle in at 10 for her grooming appointment and walked her first before taking her in. I was a spring like day. Other than that, it was a usual day however I did soak in the hot tub for a bit. The first time since had my guy come out last month. It seems to be working just fine now.

            Kyle Foote said he’s designing a curtain system to build a screen for the hot tub deck for privacy so that will be nice I suppose.

            I picked up Lulu Belle after 3 and with the $5 tip it came to around $55. Actually, she is my only pup that needs grooming and then only once in a while because she never gets shaggy and woolly like the Schnauzers did.

10 February 2022 Thursday

Michael Romero came over after 12 and brought Coco over while I then drove him down to Day Break where he had his eye examination at the Moran eye Clinic there. I had called T.J. Otaka and Jim McMullin to see if they were home and they were so I went and visited with them while Mike was in the clinic.

            They were well and we caught up with our lives although there was really nothing new. They haven’t been sick and neither have I, but I think TJ is way more hesitant about going out than I am.

            Mike’s examination was over by a little after 2 so after picking him up drove home via the Mountain Corridor expressway that now connects with the 201 highways so it’s quite fast now to go out to Daybreak. The Bangerter Highway will be nice once it’s completed. Should have been done years ago.

            Michael said his cataract surgery will be done the end of March on one eye and in mid-April for the other. Next week I told him I would take him back up to the U of U hospital where he has another appointment. I guess they are trying to figure out what kind of infection he has before they can treat it. I also have to take Kyle Foote in next week for his endoscopy.

            It was pretty hazy here in the valley compared to yesterday and we haven’t had any moisture here in weeks.

            I had to stay up until 11 tonight so I could retrieve Kyle from Sutherlands. I finished reading “Best in Snow” the latest in the Andy Carpenter series and it was fun. I miss the characters. It’s a fun read. Then I watched a show on the Gay serial killer in Toronto, Canada, and some of “30 Rock” to stay up.

11 February 2022 Friday

Nothing too exciting today except for go down to Sandy with Kyle Foote to have this huge curtain hemmed that he wants to drape across the lintel over the hot tub for privacy. It was so warm today in the 50’s that I raked some of the back yard into piles I will pick up later.

12 February 2022 Saturday

I did a lot of running around with Kyle Foote today as he wanted to go to the store to buy some strawberries, get some straws, and little cocktail drinks umbrellas and other items. We also had to go back down to 90^th South and Highland to pick up the curtain Kyle had hemmed. He was disappointed as he thought it would be done earlier in the day and it was after 5 when we returned home, and he wasn’t able to finish his project.

            I worked almost all day when I wasn’t with Kyle on editing the research, I did on John Williams Senior, my Virginia emigrant ancestor who came to America in 1666 from Bristol, England. A person on Ancestry.com who came from another son of his contacted me and as I could see he had a lot of misinformation I sent him what I had written through my research, which was extensive. That took all my time, and I didn’t read or watch television all day. I hope he appreciates it.

            It appears that any day now Russia is set to invade the Ukraine. Putin wants to be the new Czar I suppose.

            Today is my ex-wife’s 77^th birthday. I suppose Fran might out live me. I am guessing she is still living down in Utah County in Provo. I hope she has a network of friends.

13 February 2022 Sunday

Today is Super Bowl Sunday one of the least national events I could not care less about. I helped Kyle Foote for much of the afternoon with installing a curtain across the front of the hot tub deck that could be raised and lowered for privacy. It even has a crank to use to lift and lower. At one point when he was on the ladder, he asked me to push him from being to steady himself while he used torque to screw in the boards at the top of the curtain to the decking frame. I had no choice but to push on his butt and legs and I think it was the most intimate I will ever be with my guy. LOL

            It was a very warm day for winter in the mid 50’s and I raked out some of my vegetable garden and brought Buster down into the yard. I think it’s the first time he’s been down all winter. He was a little wobbly on his old legs, but I know he enjoyed exploring, smelling, and peeing everywhere. Maxx really enjoyed being outside and laid in the sun for most of the time.

            I saw a squirrel scamper across the railing of the veranda and then was surprised that he climbed up to the eve of the roof and then disappeared inside. Uh Oh. I don’t mind them being outside, but I don’t want them in my attic or walls.

            Kyle was finished with his project about 4:30 and then made himself a strawberry daiquiri foo-foo drink with an umbrella to take a picture of himself enjoying the labor of his work.

            Although I didn’t do much to assist Kyle I was tired for some reason and fell asleep in the lazy boy after feeding the pups. I think Kyle had a gentleman caller over as he was up and down making more daiquiris. Good for him.       

14 February 2022 Monday

Today is Valentine’s Day. I made a pot of Corn Chowder for supper although Kyle Foote and I went to Taco Bell because he wanted some Nacho Grande. It was quite the warm day, but I was inside most of the time editing the research I did on John Williams the Younger of Bertie County, North Carolina who I believe was the great grandfather of Britton Williams the great grandfather of Edgar Lewis Williams, my great grandfather.

            After taking Kyle to the airport, I went and got some gas at Smith’s for $3.23 a gallon. It’s up a dollar a gallon from last year so oil companies are making huge profits. I heard that in California some gas stations are charging $6 a gallon. My Honda FIT only holds around 10 gallons and I usually only have to fill it up by 8.

            Mike Romero called to remind me of taking him to his kidney specialist tomorrow at 2 up at the U of U Medical Center.

Kyle said he’s going to give up his storage unit in North Salt Lake and sell most of what is still there and bring his tools to the house to store in the garage.

15 February 2022 Tuesday

Kyle Foote lost the key to the GM Terrain in his hustle this morning as they may have fallen out of his tote, he keeps his cleaning supplies in, so he was pretty frustrated this morning.

            I took Mike Romero up to the University of Utah for his kidney specialist appointment. He was only there for about an hour so we were back home by 4:30 so I could start fixing the pups some supper.

I think Chuck Whyte might be back in the hospital and I tried calling but no one answered. I have a luncheon engagement with Steve Brackenbury tomorrow at 1. He’s been back in Salt Lake for about a month now having to take care of a brother who needed to go into a long-term care facility, and he had to close down and sell his home. I don’t think I’ve seen Steve for 35 years, not since most of my friends from the 1980s left for California. He started “Gay Fathers” back then and was part of my circle of friends. I think he views me fondly for helping him come out as a Gay man back then when it was so scary.

Kyle came upstairs around 7:30 and said that the Nissan Rogue needed to be picked up at the airport as it had been returned early. It was sprinkling slightly on the way back to the house.

I thought about all the after-Valentine treats that went on sale today but was good and refrained from buying any. I still have two bags of mini candy bars in the freezer from last year’s Halloween sale.

I have stopped revising my 2003 journal for a couple of days while I edited my family histories for this man who requested it on Ancestry.com. I am amazed at the thorough research I did back then but just needed to do come editing of grammar and spelling.

            The Russians have massed 150,000 troops on the Ukraine border and tensions are really high that war will break out in Eastern Europe if Russia invades. So far, we just have sent support troops to Poland and Romania but said severe sanctions would be imposed if Russia does invade. How that will affect our economy, who knows but they say it would raise gas prices substantially.

16 February 2022 Wednesday

I woke up to a skiff of snow on the ground and it snowed lightly all morning into the afternoon. We sure can use the moisture. It snowed continuously, so the ground was covered but the streets were clear because it had been so warm earlier in the week.

I was up cleaning house really well this morning as I had expected Steve Brackenbury over at 1 this after to go out to lunch. I even made four mini loaves of Zucchini Bread; however, he had an accident stepping on something sharp and had to go to the emergency room.

I didn’t know he had cancelled because I inadvertently gave him the wrong prefix to my phone number; when at 1, when he still hadn’t shown up, I message him with the correct phone number and that is when he called me. I felt bad for him but if I would have gotten the message earlier, I doubt whether I would have cleaned the house so well.

            We visited on the phone some and said we would try for lunch again soon. I then, because I was all set for Charlie Chows Chinese, I called China Delight and ordered some Sesame Chicken for a late lunch. Kyle Foote had already gone Ubering by then.

            I spent the evening in a clean house watching “The Righteous Gemstones” and the “Gilded Age” and a few episodes of “Perry Mason” and “30 Rock” before calling it a day.

17 February 2022 Thursday

I can clean my house in 3 hours better than in 3 weeks if I am expecting company and then say, “sorry for the mess”, otherwise the pups have free range

Today was kind of a hectic day with lots of driving around. Kyle Foote made the mistake of not blocking out the time for the Chevy Trax and someone rented it for 1 this afternoon when he would be at the Redwood Clinic for his endoscopy. He was frantic and asked if I would take it to the airport and get Mike Romero to pick me up.

            So, I called Mike to see if he was available and as he was, I went over to his place to take him out to the airport to show him where the Turo pick up and drop off was located as he had never been to the airport before. However, when I reached Mike’s place, Kyle called and said the people came in early and he said we didn’t need Mike after all that Kyle would drop off the Nissan Rogue and I could pick him up.

            Since I was at Mike’s already, I asked if he wanted to go out to the airport just to see how it has changed and where the Turo pick up spot was because it would be rather tricky if you didn’t know.

            So, Mike, Coco and I drove out to the airport, showed him where the Turo site was and then we drove twice around the airport to show him where Arrivals and Departures were on separate levels.

            I was on the freeway going back into the city when Kyle called and said he was heading towards to the airport after cleaning the Trax, so I turned around and went back. Kyle was just in front of us, so it was perfect timing.

            I took Kyle back to the house and Mike back to his home. He said that at Dr. Stoneburner’s it was discovered he has a kidney stone and that may be what is causing an infection in his kidneys and bladder. He will need me to take him back down to South Jordan when an operation to remove it is scheduled.

            At 12:30 I dropped Kyle off at the Redwood Clinic for his procedure and then on the way home stopped at Lucky’s to get some groceries before going back to the house. I wanted to get some buttermilk to try a biscuit recipe:

At 2, the nurse called to come get Kyle which I did, and he was still a bit groggy from the anesthesia, but he was hungry and wanted to go to the Mexican joint on Redwood to get two El Pastor y Pina tacos that he likes so much.

            In the evening, the Nissan Rogue was to go out, so I went with Kyle at 6:30 to go through the car wash and later he drove the Sonoma to the Airport’s short term parking lot, and I followed behind him. The Nissan Rogue was going out at midnight so this way Kyle could just drop it off and take the Sonoma home without me having to stay up late.

            It was much colder today than yesterday.

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter 1 stick

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 ¾ cup buttermilk

Cook Mode

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

In a microwave-safe bowl (or you can use the baking dish that you'll be baking these in if it's microwave-safe), melt stick of butter in the microwave.

Put melted butter into an 8x8 baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Pour in the buttermilk. Stir until a loose dough forms. Batter will be a bit sticky.

Pour biscuit dough into baking dish (right on top of the melted butter.) Some of the butter will run over the top of the dough, that's perfectly okay.

Cut the dough into 9 squares. This will help with cutting later when they are done too.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotating dish once during baking.

Eat within two days. Make sure to cover leftovers. If stored in the refrigerator, they will last for a week. These biscuits can also be frozen. Wrap well in freezer-safe plastic wrap and then store in a freezer-safe bag or container. Will freeze for up to 3 months.

18 February 2022 Friday

Putin has the dogs of war ready to pounce on Ukraine so this is the worse incident since the cold war ended 30 years ago and if he attacks it will be the worse invasion in Europe since World War II.

            I spent much of the day re-editing my story of Joe Sullivan and the shooting of police officer Charles Ford at the intersection of Sixth West and Second South in 1907. I must say I did an incredible amount of work research all the characters of that period and when I finished editing, I sent a copy off to Steve Brackenbury.

            The GM Terrain came back today so Kyle was out Ubering this evening. He went to get a haircut today, but he thinks it’s too short.

19 February 2022 Saturday

            I’ve decided to compile all the sordid stories from Second South from 1900 to 1920 in one place separate from the history of the property there.

While Kyle Foote was out, I decided to go to the car wash myself and do some grocery shopping before having to meet up with him to delivery vehicles.

Just as I got home, Kyle asked if I was hungry as he was at the Black Bear Restaurant in Woods Cross already. I wasn’t all that much but I drove up to meet him for lunch. It was almost an eating out experience again, lots of mask-less people and the place was filled. But I have come to the conclusion I don’t care for the food there. Kyle didn’t enjoy his breakfast either and my patty melt was kind of tasteless.

When we got back to the house, I decided to take Lulubelle out for a walk. It turned out to be an hour walk along the Jordan River Trail north of the Northwest Middle School. I know we walked at least a mile in one direction before turning back. I think we walked too far before turning back as I think Lulubelle is as exhausted as I am, but it was nice being out in nature.

I took a nap around 3 and I was woken by the pups barking and I noticed the Kyle was outside in the back yard showing some cute guy the curtain shield for the hot tub. When I got up, they were gone.

After waking from my nap, I took the pups outside, especially Buster so he could wobble around in the yard sniffing and peeing on everything.

Kyle was gone all night having taken the Honda FIT out because all his vehicles were in use. I watched shows in the evening, first Star Trek Discovery then 1939 Five Came Back with Lucille Ball, and finally In the Heat of the Night. It was after midnight before I went to bed.

20 February 2022 Sunday

Kyle Foote was in his room for much of the day except when he came up and took some meatloaf and scalloped potatoes downstairs to eat. All the vehicles are away so he took mine when he went out for the day, leaving me alone.

            It was a nice enough day that I took Taco and Maxx separately for walks. It was kind of brisk out but not enough so as not to go walking. Both boys are horrible walkers as they have to stop and pee on everything. Lulubelle is a much better walker for getting exercise.

            I saw this meme on Face Book, “One day you’ll find someone that’s obsessed with you. It’s probably going to be a dog. But it is what it is.”

So much of my history here in Salt Lake City is gone now. I heard that the Carlton Hotel on South Temple burned down this morning and it was slated for demolition tomorrow. The hotel was nearly a hundred years old and when I first moved back to Salt Lake in August 1985, I stayed there my first night after leaving the airport. The Carlton Hotel wasn’t fancy even then but nice and affordable. It burned down this morning.

Many places of my memories are gone now. The Juel Apartments, Utah Title, Washington Elementary, the LaFrance Apartments are vacated and all the Gay bars from the 1980s are history. Change and decay. It’s not my Salt Lake any more. Maybe that’s why I enjoy living in the past.

21 February 2022 Monday

I was really depressed for much of the day. I am not sure what set it off. Chemical imbalance, nutrition, or simply loneliness. My mood really shifted when I took Kyle to the airport, and he said something innocuous, but it struck me in a sour way.

When I parked at the end of the Turo spot waiting for the Trax to return he said that he wanted me to park near the front like that would make any difference except it seemed to me that he didn’t want to be seen with me.

 I obsessed over that all day and how he never really spends any time with me. Never comes up to visit and sit with me to inquire how I might be feeling. I am feeling so unloved by anyone meaningful in my life, like what is the point of going on anymore.

All my friends and acquaintances are gone, I really don’t have any family to talk to with whom I could share how I am feeling, and I don’t really want to share with Kyle because he would just get mad at me for feeling this way.

            Putin has recognized parts of Ukraine as independent, and President Biden is preparing for economic sanctions. But someone is going to make billions. They always do or there wouldn’t be war. I don’t like the 2020’s very much.

22 February 2022 Tuesday

I decided to turn my mood around. I could remain moody and upset with Kyle Foote or I could be more grateful for what I do have at this time in my life.

            I worked a little more on the murder of Wilford Vermillion in 1904, the young promising man in his drug store at 511 West Second South.

I later called Chuck Whyte to see how he was doing. He had spent several days in a care facility when he had cellulitis on one of legs but he’s back home now. Chuck is 5 years younger than me but is in far worse shape health wise and his mental facilities have really deteriorated when it comes to recalling things.

            At 11 I took Maxx down to the groomers to have his nails clipped this morning and made an appointment for Taco to have his nails down at 10 on this coming Thursday. I couldn’t do it  tomorrow because Steve Brackenbury and I are going to try and meet for lunch again at noon.

When I came home, I took Maxx for a walk around the block as it was a beautiful day. The air was cleared out and the sky a bright blue with some puffy clouds. Taco was so excited that he didn’t get to go, so I took him for a little walk also. While waiting on Kyle to finish being on the phone so we could go get our Dr. Pepper, I took Taco for a walk. Buster is too old to go for walks and TJ’s ideal of walking is for me to carry him while I am the one walking. The boys are not as good walkers as Lulubelle as they have to sniff everything.

            Every time Kyle asked me to go with him today, I did go rather than sulk. After getting our drinks he wanted me to go with him to wash the Nissan Rogue and he talked about his ambition of using a ‘park and go’ lot on 2200 West as a place to keep the vehicles for his Turo business. He may fuck these other guys, but I think he only has me with whom to share his dreams.

            After dropping the Nissan Rogue off at Sutherlands Kyle ordered some Chinese food from China Delight for lunch. He ordered white rice for us but instead they gave us ham fried rice. I think it’s the first time they ever messed up our order. First World Problems.

            I noticed that Kimball Edwards had left me a message last Friday about getting together last Saturday. I hadn’t checked my messages, so I missed it. I texted him back and said I was sorry and that if he still wants to get together, I would be available to him.

It kind of gladdens this old heart that someone still desires me in that way. Call me a dirty old man but the need for affection never goes away. “The grave’s a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace.” Maybe this Saturday we will embrace.

            In the late afternoon I had to go pick Kyle up from down at Sutherlands after his dropping off the Chevy Traxx. The weather had turned quite chilly, but he wanted a chocolate ice cream cone, so we drove into Bountiful to go through Dairy Queen there. I didn’t care for anything myself because my stomach was a bit unsettled.

Kyle said he ordered himself a new phone and that he would give me his old one, which actually is better than the one I have now. So, I know in Kyle’s own peculiar way he does love me.

            I baked a chicken for the pup’s dinner, and I just nibbled on some of the Sweet and Sour pork that I had left over and then settled in to watch television. I am pretty sure Kyle had company downstairs.

            Yesterday I watched the “Righteous Gemstones,” the “Gilded Age,” and the cheesy “Time Machine” movie from 1960 and tonight I watched some “Perry Mason” episodes and finished watching Hitchcock’s “North by North West” and “Casablanca”. I started watching Citizen Kane but was tired,  so I retired a little after nine.

23 February 2022 Wednesday

I cleaned the house really well this morning in consideration that Steve Brackenbury was coming over however about 10:30 looking on Facebook I saw that Steve had posted that his brother Blake had died last night after we had made arrangements earlier that day to go to lunch. Of course, I contacted him and said we ought to really postpone again because of it and how sorry I was. He had come to Utah to close up his brother’s house to put him in a care facility.

            So, it was Deja Vue all over again. So, I had a clean house and the afternoon free. I made some chicken soup from the broth I had from yesterday and just ate left over Sweet and Sour pork. I only saw Kyle at 1 when we went for our Dr. Pepper. He had a doctor’s appointment earlier to renew his Prep, his HIV prevention medicine and went out ubering in the evening when it was snowing down here, just lightly. It’s been so cold lately that it’s sticking to the ground.

            I saw that HBO carried the 1990’s prison series OZ. I watched it back then for the amount of male nudity although it was really dark and brutal. I watched a few episodes tonight then had to watch something light and mindless like 30 Rock.

            A man came to the house twice looking for Kyle, I think a warrant processor, once at night around 7:30. Something about Build Team, I think. As long as it doesn’t involve me, I am good.

            Tyler Ferguson my financial guy called me late to return a call about questions about how to file on the money I withdrew last year on my taxes. I will have to claim the money as income although I had already paid the taxes on it. In 2023 if I am alive or if there is a world, I will have to start withdrawing money from the savings by law after I am 72. Tyler said he is busier than ever as so many teachers are seeking to retire if there is any way possible due to how incredibly difficult it is to teach any more.

            Kimball Edwards texted me about getting together this Saturday.

            Putin has sent troops into the eastern parts of the Ukraine so in fact the invasion has begun. President Biden says American troops will not enter the Ukraine, but heavy sanctions will be imposed instead. So far Putin has ignored any sanctions imposed. Monday Trump called Putin a genius and members of the Republican Party are rooting for Russia as is Fox News. How evident that they are Russian operatives.

            Some think this may be the beginning of World War III. Only time will tell.

24 February 2022 Thursday

Russia invaded the Ukraine today bombing the country and captured Chernobyl. They are expecting the Russians to be in the capital tomorrow to dispose the democratic government and impose a puppet regime. There are anti-Russian demonstrations and protests all over the world.

Where is they UN resolution calling Putin a war criminal? Did we learn nothing from WWII?

            It seems surreal that people are fleeing while bombs are falling half a world away while we just go on with our everyday lives. But life must go on.

            Steve Brackenbury and I are going to try and meet for lunch tomorrow once again. We will see how it goes. I took Taco down to the groomers to get his nails clipped and it was really chilly today, never getting above freezing

            President Biden gave an address to the nation and a news conference about the crisis in Russia. He had cut off four main Russian banks, funds of several oligarchies to Putin and disrupted gas supplies coming from Russia. The American Oil companies are poised to make huge profits.

            This evening I helped Kyle Foote delivering his vehicles to the airport and he borrowed $300 so he could pay his storage unit so he can start selling off everything in it. I think he finally has come to terms with the notion that Build Team and his dreams of being a successful contractor are over.

25 February 2022 Friday

I woke up from a strange dream that I was trying to find my way back into Salt Lake seeking Charles Frost. I finally caught up with him and wanted to know his new address and when we went there, I apologized for all the things I might had said to hurt him and that we should try to be friends again. It was only after the pups woke me up that I realize that Charles was dead, and it was actually just a dream.

I clean the house some before going to lunch at Charlie Chows with an old friend Steve Brackenbury who I haven’t seen in almost 35 years when we were both young men. He had to return to Utah to take care of affairs of his brother who had just recently passed. He founded Gay Fathers back in the day before moving away to California. It’s like we switched. I was raised in California but spent most of my life in Utah and he was raised in Utah and spent most of his life in California.

He came over a little before 1 and I had to show him how to get around Salt Lake since it had been decades since he lived here. Charlie Chows was almost deserted, which surprised me. I just ordered a cup of Hot and Sour soup and some spring rolls.

It was good to visit with Steve and I guess he follows me quite extensively on Face Book. He told me some things about Ken Francis as he and Steve were close before Ken died of AIDS. Steve said that Ken’s partner at the time was awful to Ken even insisting they go to Hawaii when Ken was so sick, and Ken couldn’t even leave the room. We laughed over how ditzy Ken was but so sweet also.

Then Steve asked me about Charles Frost, which really amazed me as I had just had a dream about him last night. Steve knew Charles when he taught drama in high school in Spanish Fork, and he had his own issues with Charles.

So, we talked about old friends that we knew who have passed away like Charles Frost and Ken Sugartush Francis and stayed at the restaurant until nearly two hours.

Salt Lake does not even resemble what it did in 1986 when I knew Steve back then, but it’s swell to see people who once knew you in the prime of life. There are so few left.

I had him come in for a bit back at the house and there he met all the pups and Kyle Foote who had been busy with dealing with the storage unit in North Salt Lake.

When Steve left, he said he had no reason to ever come back to Utah as all his siblings are gone and he has no real family here anymore. I told him that I felt the same way about California. I also doubt whether I will ever go to Arizona or Nevada ever again.

This evening Kyle informed me he decided to go to San Diego for the weekend to see his friend Nick Dayle from Seattle. He said that he made arrangements with some of his friends to deal with the cars tomorrow at the airport. All he needs me to do if help out Sunday morning and to take Kyle to the airport tomorrow.

Another extremely cold day as it never got even to thirty degrees but next week is March and spring is not that far behind that.

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine is all over the news. Also, President Biden nominated an African American woman to replace Justice Breyer on the Supreme Court.

26 February 2022 Saturday

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and just stayed up as I had to take Kyle Foote to the airport at 6:30. The crescent moon was high in the sky and really bright and beautiful. He’s going to spend the weekend in San Diego, and he made arrangements for his friend Mario to deliver and pick up vehicles tomorrow.

I washed all my bedding this morning so I will have a nice clean bed for tonight. I also did more research on the murder of Wilford Vermillion and am almost ready to write it up.

In the afternoon I went to be with Kimball Edwards at 3 and stayed for about two hours. We kissed and cuddled, and I massage him and then I let him penetrate me as we spooned. For whatever reason he’s attracted to me for that I am grateful. I have joy just holding him and him holding me. I know we will never become more than “fuck buddies” actually more like cuddle buddies but that is okay. He has his own life with work and school, and I have mine with the pups and Kyle. It is enough as my life is winding down.

            I stayed up until 9 tonight watching several episodes of OZ but I can only take so much of the toxic masculinity displayed in the show.

More countries are sanctioning Russia’s airlines, sport teams, financial institutions and going after Putin’s wealth also.

27 February 2022 Sunday

I had to go pick up this friend of Kyle Foote’s named Mario who lives off of 700 North and Morton Drive at 6:30 to take him to the airport to retrieve the Chevy Traxx. Kyle made arrangements with him and his partner to retrieve the other vehicles at noon, so I was done helping him for the day.

            I worked on the murder of Wilford Vermillion for much of the morning then in the afternoon went to get a drink at Exxon. Rhonda the nice middle-aged woman who works there and with whom we are so friendly with, gave me a free drink. The people there occasionally do as that we are steady if not good customers.

            In the afternoon when it warmed up a little, I took Buster out into the back yard so he could get some exercise and while there I decided to reconfigure by garden area as I know I won’t be gardening as much anymore. Maybe one squash plant and a couple of tomatoes. I took down the railings and moved all most of the cinder blocks to make the area half it size surrounding the Apricot and Nectarine trees. I replanted two raspberry bushes also. It was kind of strenuous work for someone as inactive as I have been all winter. There’s a lot more to do getting the back yard into shape but a little at a time I suppose.

            Kyle called me a quarter to 10 saying he was back in Salt Lake City, so I went to pick him up. The airport was really crowded tonight. Kyle said he had a good time with his friend Nick Dayle and spent much of the day at the San Diego Zoo. I think the last time I had visited the zoo was with John Cunningham the summer of 1969.

            Speaking of airports, I heard that 20 nations have refused Russian airplanes from their air space due to Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine. Putin has put Russia’s nuclear weapons on high alert. What a mad man.

28 February 2022 Monday

I sat down and did my taxes for 2021 something I had been putting off because I had to claim the $63,950, I withdrew from my IRA that Kyle Foote needed for his build team payroll and to pay off Lowe’s. I had to pay $9,950 in taxes to the feds and another $1,750 to Utah.

I made about $19,914 in social security and the fed’s withheld $2,720 of that for taxes, and another $1782.00 for Medicare. That left me $15,411 and that is not counting what Utah taxed me on which at a 5 percent flat tax was probably another $700. I received $31,192 from my pension and paid $3,070 to the feds and $1497 to Utah.

So, on paper my income last year was $115,056 of which I paid $21,469 in taxes to the feds and state. I paid $3,947 to the state and on top of that I owe “$2300 more. So, I am paying nearly $6,200 to the state; so, talk about gouging old people.

I was supposed to have gotten $6983 as a refund from the fed’s however as I had the $2305 deducted to pay the state taxes, I will still get $4678 back that I can use to pay down my America First Visa Credit Card.

            Part of me wants to be angry with Kyle Foote for the $63,000 but I actually need to be angry at myself for not having much to show for the money. I know I will never see it again but then I wasn’t using it anyway and I am still more well off than so many people. My health is good, I have a roof over my head, reliable transportation, clean water, heat, and food and the ability to take care of my critters.

            Someday I will be dead and all the things I value now will be trash or forgotten so if I was able to help Kyle, who I love with all my being, what more is there to life. The universe will play out as it will and eventually none of this will matter.

            Next year 2023, if I am around, I will have to withdraw money from my IRA anyway.

Kyle gave me his old phone as he bought a new one. He talks about his friend Nick Dayle from Seattle with whom he spent the weekend with in San Diego. I think Kyle is smitten with him although Nick has a husband.

            Governor Cox ordered the state capitol lit up in blue and yellow the color of the Ukrainian Flag, only the second time the capitol had been lit up. The last time was 20 years ago for the Olympics.

            So, this is the end of February and it’s supposed to warm up into the 50’s by the end of the week and I am sure it will be time for me to be out in the yard again. All in all, February has been a mild month weather wise.

 

March

1 March 2022 Tuesday

It was a warm day for the end of Winter, in the mid 50’s but still not much snow, so we will be in drought again this summer, I fear.

When Kyle Foote and I went to get our drinks, we stopped at Wells Fargo, and he gave me back the $300 he borrowed. So, I have $1000 again in cash in the house. That used to seem like a lot of money, and it is, but not like it used to be.

I don’t know what I did to my left ankle, but it was so sore today I could hardly walk on it. I should have taken some Tylenol, but I didn’t. I made chicken fried pork patties for supper tonight with au gratin potatoes and corn. I couldn’t eat all of mine, so TJ and Lulubelle shared some of it.

President Biden gave his State of the Union address although I didn’t listen to any of it because I support him 100 percent; however there seems to be a real disconnect in America. He has guided us through the Trump Covid19 pandemic, has restored the economy and put Americans back to work, and is dealing with Russia without us being involved in a hot war, and yet more than half the country disapprove of his presidency.

In April, the 1950 census will be released and I missed being on it by 1 year. Every 72 years the federal census is released to the public. Soon the 1950 census will be available for research. I missed being included because I wasn't conceived until July 1950. It should show my mom and dad with my two older sisters living in Lamb County, Texas at Hart Camp where my dad was farming.

I will have to wait until 2032 to see me show up in census records. I will be an 11-year-old 5th grader living in Garden Grove, Orange County, California. In 1972 I was a 21-year-old college student living in Placentia, Orange County, California.

 In 1982 I was a married 31-year-old dormitory Cook for the University of Irvine living in Santa Ana, Orange County, California.

In 1992 I was a 41-year-old elementary school teacher living in Salt Lake City, Utah

in 2002 I was a 51-year-old elementary school teacher living in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 2012, I was 61 years old and still an elementary school teacher living in Salt Lake City, Utah.

in 2022 I am or will be 71 years old a retired elementary school teacher living in Salt Lake City.

Censuses are useful but do not tell all the living and changes that occur within those 10 years. Between 1972 and 1982 I became a Mormon, graduated from BYU, married, lived in Utah from 1973 to 1981.

Between 1982 and 1992, I moved back to Utah, divorced my wife, became a Gay activist, and became a school teacher.

Between 1992 and 2002 I was in a Gay relationship and bought a house.

So much living in between the decades one would never know simply looking at a census record.

2 March 2022 Wednesday

In the afternoon Kyle Foote asked me to go with him to his storage unit to start cleaning it out. We filled the Honda FIT up with stuff to take to the D.I. I also got rid of my old Microwave and the coffee maker that Kent Scadlock had given me years ago when I was still entertaining. It was just sitting in the garage collecting dust so hopefully someone will get the benefit of it. Tomorrow Kyle wants to do a dump run of stuff that is not needed anymore. The unit has to be cleared out towards the end of the month.

            It was a nice 60 degrees day, and I should have walked the pups, but I didn’t, however my ankle seems a lot better.

            More and more companies are cutting off ties to Russia and supporting Ukraine. It seems almost surreal that Putin did this. The Russian Oligarchs are on the run trying to hide their assets. Germany confiscated a 500-million-dollar yacht. 2000 civilians are said to have been killed in Ukraine from Russian missiles.

3 March 2022 Thursday

It was over 70 degrees today and felt more like May than March which so far isn’t coming in like a lion. I went with Kyle Foote to his storage unit to start cleaning out building samples and other items to take to the landfill. So much for his dream of Build Team. The school teacher in me wanted to repurpose as much as I possibly could but the more practical side said let it go.

At the landfill pit there was so many things being thrown away and I thought you can tell how wealthy a country is from what it discards. I noticed Gas prices are rising due to the war in Europe. It’s up to around $3.60 a gallon now.

I know people are going to be inconvenience or even hurt by rising gas prices but be grateful you are not carrying everything you own in a suit case with your children and pets while walking to safety as missiles reign down on your homes.

Trump scrapped Obamas plans for a pandemic response and withheld military aid to the Ukraine as a form of extortion. If pissed off that gas is going to be expensive direct your ire at Trump and his enablers who supported, his love affair with dictator Putin.

4 March 2022 Friday

It actually rained a bit this afternoon. When I took Lulubelle and Taco Bell for a walk the sky looked like a storm may be brewing. In the afternoon Michael Romero called and wanted to know what the payoff was for the money he owned my IRA. I called Tyler Ferguson, and it was $16,164. Michael is going to buy a larger trailer and asked if I wanted to go with him to look at it. The RV dealer was just up the street on Redwood Road near the I-215 interchange. It was raining on us going there but cleared up afterwards.

The trailer he is looking at is called the “Ember” that is much larger with a queen size bed and a sitting couch. He was all excited but it’s not really my thing. I prefer my life. He wants to pay me off from his folk’s so he doesn’t have the $500 a month payment to me and the new trailer would only be about $300 a month. It’s always been his goal when he retired to go camping.

            Back at the house, Kyle Foote asked me to go to the storage unit to retrieve this coffin size tool chest that he sold to someone down in Provo. I helped him lift it into the Sonoma but didn’t go with him down to Utah County. It would have been during rush hour, and I didn’t want to sit in traffic.

I watched a couple of episodes of Mrs. Maisel on Prime Amazon, which parts of it I really like but sometimes she is simply annoying, and I fast forward through those parts.

Kyle Foote had a trick over this evening which is what most Gay guys do to relax and I went to bed by 9:30 as I had been up since 5:00.

Dictator Putin has captured a nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. Lindsey Graham spoke on Fox News stating that someone in Russia should assassinate Putin. Lindsey Graham is such a fool and ass licker of Donald Trump who called Putin a genius. You can’t have it both ways, love Trump and hate Putin whose machinations put Trump in the Presidency in the first place.

5 March 2022 Saturday

This evening it began to rain and then turned to snow. Kyle had one of his vehicles back, so he was able to go Ubering for much of the night and only came home to sell some monitors he retrieved the other day from his storage.

Two days ago, it was 70 degrees, tomorrow I will shoveling snow...it must be March in Utah

The Pride Center is advertising a 30th Anniversary Celebration on April 2^nd. I Hate to break it to them, but the Utah Stonewall Centers Grand opening was 31 years ago June 1st 1991. I know I was there.

The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah opened in October 1998 a year after the USC closed... I know as I was there. There’s no institutional memory at the Pride Center... but I guess it’s too hard to pick up the phone and call someone who might know...like me.

Seven years ago, I was Chillin' at the Equality Utah Forum at the State Capitol annex giving my 2-minute talk and testimony... It was really good seeing Kristin Ries and Maggie Snyder out and about.... Sitting in the back, quiet and sweet

 Some people like the limelight Not me...I like to watch and observe like an old fox... I Remarked that once we Gays were hardly tolerated on the Capitol steps but now, we are in the hall of power.... I said that at my first Gay Pride Day in 1986 I didn't think there was as many people there as there were in the room. Wanted them to know this didn't all happen in a vacuum.

The new LGBTQ paradigm seems to have forgotten that but what do I know? I am old.

6 March 2022 Sunday

We had at least six inches or more of snow overnight and it’s still snowing here by the north Jordan River. It’s more snow than we had in all of February. I will need to keep a mop handy because it’s a peek inside day for old Buster; well actually almost every day is a pee day for him.

            I cooked a pot of pinto beans this morning and later made some Taco Soup to use up some of the left overs in the refrigerator. Most of the time I researched the life of Peter George Paul Attias the great grifter and grafter who tried to organize the Greeks in Utah at the turn of the century.

            Kyle had to drop the Sierra truck off at the airport so after going to get a Dr. Pepper, we drove to the Turo Location. It turned out that there was such a hold up in the airport that we had to wait almost 2 hours for the people who were a group of cute guys. At one point, at 1, Kyle left me so he could go back to the house to meet someone who was buying the drone he was selling but he was back before the guys arrived. Kyle was tipped $20 by one of them for waiting so long for them. That was nice. He said that yesterday while out ubering in the storm he made $320.

            Later in the late afternoon, he had me go with him to Lowe’s in Bountiful where he bought 5 sheets of peg board that he wants to put on the wall in the garage for organizing his tools.

            That was about all the excitement I had today. Kyle shoveled the driveway and walks. It was a wet heavy snow with the weatherman saying the water content was about 1 inch. We sure can use it.

7 March 2022 Monday

I took Lulubelle and Taco for a walk this morning for us both to get some exercise. We didn’t go that long because of Taco. It was beautiful out, azure skies with a fresh frosting of snow on everything. I did see a lot of tree branches broken due to the wet heavy snow.

            I then took TJ down to get his nails trimmed so he got a ride today. Other than taking Kyle to retrieve the Nissan Rogue from Sutherland’s after getting our Dr. Pepper, I mainly was home the rest of the evening. Kimball Edwards wanted to reschedule for next week as he was studying for some of his Chemistry courses he is taking for an advanced degree.

Kyle Foote was gone helping this 24-year-old Puerto Rican kid with his first car buying experience. Kyle said the guy bought a brand-new car as that used one’s were outrageously overpriced and that the new one was the only one on the lot.

I wrote a $35 check to some collection agency for a bill for Verizon which Kyle hadn’t paid and that was the first time I’ve written a check in years. It seemed so antiquated.

In the evening I watch some television in order to relax until 9 when Kyle had me follow him in the Sonoma to the Airport short time parking lot. He’s going to take the Nissan Rogue to the Turo drop off after 11 and that way I didn’t have to stay up late to retrieve him. He’ll just come home in the Sonoma.

The stock market dropped some in value as gas prices soar to $4.00 while oil companies are raking in billions in profit. President Biden is considering cutting all gas purchases from Russia even though it makes up only 3 percent of our import. It’s the symbolism I think just as much as anything. Russian Rockets are killing civilians trying to flee the country. They say over 1.5 million Ukrainians are refugees.

Over 6 million people have died worldwide from Covid19, a million of them Americans. I spend a lot of my time in the past as that the future looks grim now with an autocrat mad man at the control of nuclear weapons.

8 March 2022 Tuesday

I didn’t interact with Kyle Foote much today as he was gone most of the day retrieving some office partitions to sell from Ogden and helping his Puerto Rican friend buy his car. The only time I left the house today was to go get a drink at Exxon and when I was out, I saw that gas prices jumped 30 cents over night to $4.19 over here on Redwood Road in Westpointe...it’s sure to go higher...but let’s blame President Biden instead of dictator Putin. The “Trump rot” on Face Book conveniently forgets that in 2008 under President Bush gas prices where over $4.00 a gallon also.

            Posted some information of the Vermillion Family and on Peter Attias on a Face Book page People of Utah and especially on sisters Henrietta and Margaret as they were two of 3 first female pharmacists in Utah.

            The weatherman says a snow storm is supposed to come in tonight.          

9 March 2022 Wednesday

I spent much of the day going with Kyle Foote while doing chores. After picking up the Chevy Traxx and GM Terrain, He had me drive the Traxx while he took the GM Terrain up to Centerville to have the oil change on the vehicles. While there we walked over to Chili’s to have some lunch while we waited. I just had a bowl of baked potato soup and Kyle had a chicken salad. We both ordered Dr. Peppers and it was $35 with the tip.

            After the oil change was done, we took the vehicles to Quick Quack and had them washed and we cleaned them. Kyle then went out ubering until ne needed me to deliver one of the vehicles at the airport.

            Checking First American Credit Union I was surprised that my federal tax return had come in. So, I paid off the balance on my line of credit and paid down my Visa account but not completely off although I could have.

The Russians bombed a maternity ward and the power to Chernobyl that would keep it from overheating has been compromised by Putin’s army. It’s a fine game to keep Putin from declaring war on the west and using nuclear weapons.

10 March 2022 Thursday

I spent much of the day researching a newspaper man named Frank Mulock [1869-1936] who was only in Salt Lake City a brief time in 1904 and who spent weeks tracking down a suspect in the murder of Wilford Vermillion. He led a colorful and adventurous life, going to the Alaska for the Gold Rush reporting on Poncho Villa in Mexico, meeting prominent sport figures of the time and President FDR but died basically penniless in a government indigent camp during the Great Depression with no one to remember him now except perhaps me.

I hardly recognize Salt Lake anymore. I call it the “New Salt Lake City.” Over a hundred years ago a local newspaper wrote: "The old Salt Lake is going. Slowly but surely the landmarks that bind the Salt Lake of history to the growing metropolis of the intermountain west are being torn down to the ground, and on the nude earth where they once stood are being erected modern structures, beautiful enough in design, but bare of historical interest."

I feel the same today, but you can't stop progress or evolution.

I heard there was a fire on Delmar Court at the Greek apartments that are closed and scheduled to be demolished. Lots of good memories in the early 1990s there when so many gays and lesbians lived on Delmar court with eclectic artists ... soon to be just memories of a Salt Lake I once knew.

11 March 2022 Friday

I went with Kyle Foote to the airport this morning and when we came home, we took out the small tree that was on the parking strip on Dale Ridge so Michael Romero will easier access to park his new trailer, then we stop at Exxon for a Dr. Pepper. Gas is now at $4.29, and the oil companies are making huge profits from the crisis in Ukraine. It’s not like we are out of oil like when OPEC cut off our supply. We have plenty of supply it’s just gouging and profiteering.

            Michael Romero came over around 1 to clean out his old camper and he asked me to go with him to Bish RVs the dealer where he is buying his new camping trailer. I don’t know why he wanted me along, but I went. I just sat and looked at my phone for two hours while he did all the paper work needed to do the transaction. There was this cute twenty something guy named Christian from Texas that was helping Mike inspect the trailer. That was a plus.

            Mike took me home at 4 and he then went to spend the night at the RV park next to the Bish dealership on Redwood Road near the I 215 interchanges.

            I made some chili Verde today which Kyle had instead of the meatloaf. He had it with corn chips instead of flour tortillas now that he’s gluten intolerant.

            Kyle was out ubering this evening and I just watched about 3 episodes of OZ. I watch it for the male nudity and fast forward through the extreme violence parts. There’s enough of that in the real world now.

            Texas passed a law charging parents with child abuse if they help with medical procedures for their trans kids and the CEO of Disney did a reversal and now says they condemn Florida’s don’t say Gay law. It seems that every extremely anti progressive law now comes out of the old Confederacy.

12 March 2022 Saturday

I spent the morning cleaning house, scrubbing the floors that were pretty dirty from all the mud tracked in over last week plus pee spots. I washed all the throw blankets from the front room and vacuumed what I could before I ran out of steam.

            Kyle Foote wanted to go to Smiths to see what kind of Lactose free milk and Gluten free items they might have. They didn’t have much nor any lactose free whole milk so later in the day I went to Lee’s Market on Redwood Road in North Salt Lake to buy Kyle some Lactose Free milk as that earlier when we went to Smith’s they didn’t have the kind he wanted. I also went to Quick Quack to go through the car wash.

            Mike Romero was over when I came home parking his new trailer on the pad, we had put in for him on the south side of the yard. I guess he is really enjoying his new toy.

I watched several more episodes of OZ, turned the clocks forward and went to bed by 9 as I have to get up early in the morning tomorrow

A friend posted on Face Book he saw 7/7/77, 8/8/88, 9/9/99, 10/10/10, 11/11/11, 12/12/12 and now 2/22/22 and said, "damn I'm old."  So, I must be ancient having seen 5/5/55 and 6/6/66 as well.

13 March 2022 Sunday

Kyle Foote needed me to take him to the airport to retrieve the Chevy Traxx at 4:30 this morning which of course was actually 3:30 because of the Daylight Savings Time switch. I tried to go back to bed but instead just stayed up and worked at the computer.

            It rained this morning, but I wasn’t aware of it until I went to the grocery store to the Smith’s in Glendale to buy some Ken-o-ration dog food for Taco. He likes to snack on that during the day and I was out of it. I also looked in their reduced meat section and while normally full, was empty now. I did buy a filter for the furnace while out.

            The skies cleared up when I was done, and Kyle asked to go get or Dr. Pepper. He canceled a Turo rental for the Traxx because the guy was being a Republican jerk so instead Kyle had a vehicle in which to go ubering.

            I was kind of tired all day from getting up so early but in the late afternoon Kyle wanted to know if I wanted to go to Chubby’s. I had already fixed myself a hamburger earlier, so I wasn’t hungry but went with him to keep him company. I did order some Spanish rice to go for later and Kyle let me have his left-over cheese enchilada that I also took back to the house.

Actor William Hurt has passed away at the age of 71. In another month I will be 71. My favorite films of his were Body Heat and Kiss of the Spider Woman RIP

14 March 2022 Monday

Not much going on today. Still getting used to Daylight Savings. I took Taco Bell and Lulubelle for walks but not far. The back of my right calf is really sore almost like a charley horse in the muscle. Kyle Foote was gone most of the day ubering and I just worked on finishing up my research on Frank Mulock the reporter and actually found a newspaper photo of him. Now I can start on Peter Attias the confidence man.

In the news, Russia has asked China for military aid for the war in the Ukraine. If it all blows up this daily journal will be of little use to anyone.

15 March 2022 Tuesday

Michael Romero said that his refinancing of his townhouse will probably go through, which is good for him. I have to take him for his coloscopy appointment this Friday. I was surprised that it rained some this morning, but it cleared up in the afternoon.

            The Senate passed a bill to keep the United States on Daylight Savings instead of Standard Time. It still needs to pass the House and be signed by Biden.

            More and more people have stopped wearing masks as the cases of Covid19 drops. I only wear mine occasionally usually still when I go grocery shopping and not always then. I know we are all quickly going back to life before isolating, social distancing, hand washing, and mask wearing. They are recommending a fourth shot now and I will get it.

Why is it that it’s mostly forgotten that during the 2016 campaign, the Republican Party removed a plank supporting Ukraine from the platform at the behest of the Trump campaign? That Trumps campaign manager Paul Manafort was a lobbyist for the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine before Yanukovych's overthrow in 2014. That in 2019 Trump said it was Ukraine not Russia that meddled in the 2016 election because Putin told him so.

Why did all the Republicans, except Mitt Romney, vote not to impeach Trump for withholding $400 million in military aid to Ukraine; for not finding dirt on the Bidens? If you are a Republican don’t claim thoughts and prayers for Ukraine.

16 March 2022 Wednesday

Nothing to report just writing up the travels of “Dr. Attias” the charlatan, watching television, and going with Kyle Foote to the airport this morning. His gluten and lactose free regimen sure have put a cramp in the types of food he can eat.

            I finally went and had a haircut and beard trim. I was getting pretty scruffy. Then I went to Lucky’s to get some meat for the pup’s. I also bought Kyle a roasted chicken, avocados, limes and black beans, things he likes and can eat.

            My calf has such a cramp in it as I walk and is really sore. I wonder what is causing that?

            The President of Ukraine addressed Congress today via Zoom pleading for help. President Biden called Putin a war criminal. I am still waiting for Trump’s acolytes to explain why that loser hasn’t condemned Putin for invading Ukraine as much as he has attacked President Biden for not preventing Putin's crime against humanity.

While the price of crude oil has dropped below $100 a barrel prices remain over $4.35 a gallon nearly a dollar more than last time oil was below $100.

17 March 2022 Thursday

My deep genetic history from 1600 years ago says my paternal ancestor was an Irish chieftain/king named Niall of the Nine Hostages and 1600 years before that my ancestors lived in the Cornish area of Great Britain and 1600 years before that northern Spain and 3200 years before that in  an area of Europe  called Scythian or today Ukraine, and  3200 years before that  in Canaan or today Israel, and 3200 years before that in northeast Africa...my family had gypsy feet. DNA doesn’t lie so after all that traveling, I am happy to stay home with my pups and celebrate St Patrick’s Day here in Salt Lake City.

I am a product of my great grandpa Niall and about 64 horny men back in distant time. If it wasn’t for my grandpappy who kidnapped St Patrick, we would not be having corned beef and cabbage today lol. I am Irish so once a year and am going to get my corned beef and cabbage on like today, but no green beer. Kyle Foote said he only likes corned beef about once a year so this will probably be the only one I will cook this year.

Gas is not coming down and is $4.29 at Exxon and is just about the same everywhere a few pennies more or less. Diesel, however, is over $5.00 which means everything transported by trucks is going to cost more than before. Avarice is the cause not any shortage.

I remember waiting in gas lines in the early 1970’s during the OPEC crisis. You could only fill up on even or odd days according to the last number on your California license plate. Or driving 55 miles per hour on freeways or only making a $1.65 an hour and gas jumping to 75 cents from 30 cents. That is like gas being $6.75 a gallon if making $15 an hour today. Plus, hamburger meat becoming too expensive to eat without adding soy or oatmeal to a pound of it to make it stretch for days. Some people have never been inconvenienced in their life and it is fucking shows.

Not one House of Representatives Republican bastards in 2019 voted to impeach Trump when he extorted Ukraine and only Mitt Romney had the integrity in the Senate to vote to convict him. Now they are all talking tough about standing with Ukraine. Where was their outrage when the GOP removed aid to Ukraine from their plank in 2016? Lindsey Graham who ass licked Putin's huge asset for four years is now suddenly calling for Putin's assassination.

So glad adults are in the room now. Heaven help us if Russia's useful idiots get back in power.

18 March 2022 Friday

The full moon, low in the western sky, was beautiful at 7 this morning almost a golden orb in a teal-colored sky before dawn.

I got a noticed that Face Book removed a post of mine from July 2017 worried that it was suicidal lol; 5 years later they are now worried. I guess they didn’t want to lose a profile they could economically exploit. I have no idea what their algorithm parameters thought was self-destructive, but I am less concerned that they care whether I live or die than I am that they scan all past posts back to the beginning of time.

            Mike Romero called and said he canceled his colonoscopy as the laxatives he took didn’t do the job, so he is rescheduling. Before going to get a drink, I had Kyle Foote go with me as we walked Taco, Lulubelle, and Maxx around the block. My right calf is still sore like in a knot.

I noticed that the trash cans hadn’t been emptied. I must have put them out too later after the garbage truck had already come. Oh Well.

Kyle worked much of the day in the garage prepping the north wall for the pegboards he is mounting there. He asked me to go with him as he did some running around like to Harbor Freight on State Street and to his storage unit and Lowe’s in Bountiful

            We stopped at the Cane Chicken strips eatery that opened on State Street in front of WinCo. Kyle just ordered a four-strip combo and I just had one strip and the coleslaw and the fries he didn’t want. The fries weren’t fresh and kind of limp and while the chicken strip was tasty, it would not be my go-to place for chicken. The entrance into the drive through was a joke and like a maze. I hope they figure it out as I wouldn’t go back for that reason alone.

            It was such nice day out that I decided to clean the veranda and deck off of Buster’s messes and I also raked up some of the back yard debris. I transplanted a tree and a rose bush, and the ground was really wet and soft for digging so I hope they survive.

In the evening Kyle needed my help in screwing the pegboards to the wall. He is also putting in more outlets on that side of the garage.

Two years ago, my house went a rocking and a rolling, first real earthquake I had felt since leaving California 40 years ago.

President Biden told Xi of China that there would be consequences if he provided any aid to Russia which is bombing more and more civilians. They say a new variant of Covid19 is emerging and we should get a fourth shot.

19 March 2022 Saturday

At a certain age something always goes wrong. My right calf has been sore for several days but thought I would tough it out but while out walking Taco and Lulubelle I felt something in my calf just go pop; like my leg was going out from under me.

I hobbled home and it just feels sore almost like a mild Charly horse. I went to the store after taking Kyle Foote to retrieve the Nissan Rogue from the airport and refilled by cholesterol and blood pressure medicine as well as bought some yogurt and bananas. I ate a banana thinking I am just perhaps low on potassium and calcium. I hope that helps. I don’t want to become an invalid with a gimpy leg. Oh, the joy of living past your Prime; me and Buster, on our last legs.

Kyle said the GM Terrain will be out of commission when it’s returned as that Turo won’t let it go out when it has a factory recall on it. He said he’d probably make as much or more just ubering with it as renting it.

This evening he called me while out,4 asking if I mind if he fosters a cat for friends of his for a couple of months. I said I didn’t care. I’ve never said no to Kyle or to an animal in need, but it will be different having a cat here instead of just dogs. I haven’t had a cat since Billy Cat died over 20 years ago.

It was cool and windy today, but I did work a bit in the back yard raking up yard debris. It’s time for Spring Yard cleaning.

I’ve been watching the HBO series OZ and Rome primarily for the male nudity. Kyle said I could always look at porn but somehow, it’s not quite the same. However, I am getting fatigues from the excessive brutality in both series and need to take a break from them, I think. There’ enough violence on television right now just watching Putin kill innocents in the Ukraine.

20 March 2022 Sunday

Funny how things can remain vivid in your mind that will come out in dreams. I dreamt I was hired back at Orchard Elementary and so clearly, I was walking the hallways and climbing the steps from the lower floor where I taught to the work room upstairs. I knew no one there as they were all new teachers but then I saw Susan McAdams, the mother of Ben McAdams, coming down the hall as clear as day. I said to a male teacher, that I was surprised to see her because she had been dead so many years. The teacher said his name was Basil and I said mine was Edgar two good old fashion English names. It was the first day of school and already I was comforting a student who was being bullied. I don’t miss teaching at all, but the experience must be firmly imprinted into my sense of being and reality. Sometimes a dream feels like reality.

Welcome Ostara; the Cross-quarter day of the Spring Equinox and another turn of the wheel. Springtime in the Rockies arrived at 9:33 this morning. Kyle Foote needed me to take him to the airport to drop off the Nissan Rogue and while there he had a small argument with an ignorant airport enforcer who said we couldn’t use the Turo spot, so Kyle told him he didn’t know what he was talking about.

It was raining this morning and later it turned to sleet here in Westpointe across the River Jordan. Around noon it was a blizzard the first day of spring.

Michael Romero picked me up at 1:30 to take me out for lunch at Chubby’s on 10^th North. We had a very good visit with our old next-door neighbors, Randy, and Kimberlee Gile, on this wintry spring day. We stayed and visited for nearly two hours. When you are like family you just pick up where you left off. They said that Kimberlee’s mom Gay Elder is responding well to her cancer treatment. She is 76 years old. Elyse is taking her baby Shirley to Disneyland next week and Kayla is still at home dealing with anxiety attacks. Kayla was just a baby when the Giles moved in next door in 1997.

            Around 5, Kyles friends, Fernando and Josh came to the house. Kyle and I are fostering their four-year-old pussycat cat named Persephone for about three months. I haven’t had a cat here for 20 years, not since Billy died. She is downstairs with Kyle until she acclimatizes. Taco is used to cats as that Jim Dabakis has two kitties but none of the other pups that I know of have been around a feline. So, I guess it will be a learning curve.

            Kyle is going to try and sell or give away the old movie room projector, sound equipment and movie screen and he built a small space beneath the stairs for the kitty litter tray, so I think he is planning on keeping the cat longer than three months.

            He took the Honda FIT out this evening to go see a “friend” more likely a bootie call.

            So, things have just gotten more interesting here at the House of the Barking Dogs. How can you not do all the good you can?

21 March 2022 Monday

Such a prettier day than yesterday. I helped Kyle Foote retrieve the Sierra truck and the Chevy Traxx from Sutherland’s this morning and walked Taco, Lulubelle, and Maxx all at the same time. That was an adventure. My calf has not completely healed but the pain is subsiding and that is about all one can hope for.

            I had to take Michael Romero him to the medical clinic in South Jordan this afternoon for his kidney stone examination. While he was at the doctor’s I went over to TJ Otaka and Jim McMullin who only live a block away in Daybreak. We had a nice visit catching up but as all of us have been so isolated there was not much to talk about except chit-chat. I brought them Zucchini bread and oatmeal cookies.

            Michael called about 4 to come get him. They had him wearing a catheter as that the doctor rained 3 liters of fluid from his bladder when only about 12 ounces us normal. He has to have it for a month before they do another procedure to check out his bladder and prostate for infection. I guess you can have a “bladder stone” as well as a kidney stone.

            I will be down in South Jordan a lot this week as on Wednesday I have a dental appointment at Roseman, and Michael goes back down to the same clinic on Thursday for his first cataract surgery.

            While we were out Kyle hooked up two electrical outlets in the garage and one on the back hot tub deck. We went to KFC on North Temple for supper. He wanted a chicken bowl, and I just ordered some onion rings. That was enough for me.

            Kyle went out ubering the rest of the evening and I watched several episodes of 30 Rock and the Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers before calling it a night.

22 March 2022 Tuesday

As bad a shape I think I am in, sometimes I am amazed how healthy I am compared to many of my friends. For example, Mike Romero was really sick today.

            I walked TJ and Taco together around the block and then came back and walked Lulubelle and Maxx. It was kind of cool out with a breeze but not really terrible this morning.

After going to get drinks Kyle Foote and I went down to Sutherland’s as I wanted to get some grass seeds and he wanted to buy some light fixtures for the garage.

            Afterwards I took the Honda FIT to get gas at Smith’s, which I paid $4.16 with a 10-cent discount. Then Mike called and asked if I’d take him to go pick up his groceries. He said he was having a hard time seeing. So, I drove to his place, and he seemed really weak and said that the sun glare was so bright he could only see “white light” and didn’t dare drive. After doing the pick up at Smith’s in Woods Cross, he needed to pick up a prescription at the Redwood Clinic, so I took him down there. I went into get them because he said he still couldn’t see well and didn’t think he could walk far.

            Back at his place he nearly fell walking through his garage as he was dizzy and weak. I asked if he wanted to go to the ER, but he didn’t. He just wanted to rest. I brought in all his groceries, and he said he would put them away later as he just wanted to lay down.

            It was after three in the afternoon when I finally was through running around him and then I came back home where Kyle was still paneling the garage wall with peg boards and putting in some electrical outlets. He stopped long enough to have a late lunch of my meat loaf, which actually was his supper before needing me to help a bit in the garage. It turned chillier as the afternoon got later.

            Around 7, I called Mike to see how he was doing, and he said he was really weak but hungry and Coco was wanting to go out, so I said I’d come over which I did. He was in his recliner in the front room, and I fixed him what he wanted which was coleslaw with ranch dressing and a can of tuna. I took Coco out but she didn’t want to walk but just chewed on some grass so she might have had an upset tummy also.

While over there I saw that Mike had a sink full of dishes, probably a week’s worth, so I stayed and washed all his dishes and containers, then dried and put them away for him, so he’d have clean plates, bowls, and utensils. He said he felt a bit better having eaten and may have been dizzy from low blood sugars.

            I left for home afterwards and was back at the house by 8:30. So I watched a little television and fixed some ravioli that I needed to eat up. After watching a few episodes of Perry Mason, I went to bed about 9:30 tuckered out. I noticed that the bottom of my heel had a sharp pain. It’s always something.

            In the news the Republican bastards are grilling Jackson the black woman Supreme Court nominee who is far superior in intellect than either Senators Cruz, Hawley, Lee, and Lindsey combined.

In my lifetime I've seen the Republican Party deteriorate from Eisenhower to Trump and where one percent of Americans control more than 50 per cent of the wealth.

I never thought we would have a worst criminal president than Richard Nixon, with his invasion of Cambodia, Enemy List, and Southern Strategy, then along came movie star, union busting, middle class destroying, AIDS enabling, Ronald Reagan.

Next comes George W Bush whose brother stole the election for him in Florida, used 9/11 to have a false war against Iraq, allow financial institutions to crash causing the housing marking to burst, creating a nation of homelessness.

Then the Republican Party, out of 20 candidates, chose television personality, real estate grifter, amoral Donald Trump who divided the country exploiting immigration insecurities, stacking the judicial system with rabid conservatives, allowing the Covid19 pandemic to crash the economy again at the same time giving aid and comfort to our enemies.

How did the Republicans manage this over the last 50 years? By catering to the religion right and the racist bigots, denigrating Gay people, fear mongering, and pandering to the notion that America was greater in the past...

And it was, before Nixon and  the Neo-Conservatives set out to create a fascist theocracy.

23 March 2022 Wednesday

I had my dental appointment at Roseman this morning for a periodontal cleaning and I was told by a dentist instructor there that I had 8 more cavities and that I had dry mouth which kept me from producing enough saliva to help keep the plaque at bay which causes the cavities. He said that if I don’t do better with oral hygiene, I will lose my bottom front teeth.

            I have an appointment on April 6^th for my cavities to be filled.

I am thinking of my oldest sister Charline today. She passed away on this date two years ago. At least she didn’t have to go through the Covid19 pandemic.

Some reporter wanted to ask me about Tony Adams' murder from 1978 which is still an active but cold case, but I just don’t have the energy to rehash all that...Ive written so much about it they can research it themself by googling it or go on my history website... I feel bad but I’m getting too old to be trotted out when someone needs some information...Besides his murder will never be solved and most of them who knew him are old men or dead ourselves.

Madeleine Albright, diplomat and the first female U.S. Secretary of State, died at age 84.

24 March 2022 Thursday

Today took a turn that was unexpected as that Michael Romero was hospitalized. I woke up at 4 this morning and laid in bed until around 5 before getting up to get ready to take Mike down to South Jordan for his cataract surgery which was scheduled for 7:30 in the morning. I said I would pick him up at 6:15 because we had to go back to the house to drop Coco off and it takes at least 30 minutes to get to Daybreak. Also, since I had no idea where to go to park down there or where the surgery room was located, I wanted to us to have plenty of time.

            Mike said he felt a bit better but still seemed weak to me and at the South Jordan Clinic he grew weaker and weaker as we walked down the long corridor to the check in area. I got him checked in and they took him back, so went and I sat in the waiting area. A short time later a woman came out and said they were taking Mike downstairs to the emergency room because he had passed out.

            Fortunately, we were right above the ER, and they were not busy at all, and Mike did not have to wait to put in a room to be seen like I was a few years ago up at the U. They checked all his vitals, gave him a Covid19 test and placed several IVs in him to hydrate him. Evidently it was his low blood pressure that caused him to faint.

            I sat with him in his room while they ran tests and only left about 10 to go to the clinic’s cafeteria to get something to eat while they took him out for a CAT scan. I had a breakfast type egg muffin that wasn’t very good, but it was something. Mike was really hungry and thirsty as he hadn’t eaten or drank anything in preparation for his surgery that now has to be rescheduled.

            Mike started to feel better but as his Kidneys were still not fully normal as a precaution, they decided to transport him to the U of U hospital. Since the clinic and the hospital are in the same health network it wasn’t going to cost Michael anything. They had to keep him in the ER however until the hospital could find a bed for him, so about 1 this afternoon I decided to go home as there was really nothing more I could do.

            Back at the house, I called Mike’s brother John to let him know what was going on and how to contact the hospital. I was exhausted and Kyle was out ubering.

            At 2:30 I finally laid down to take a nap when Jim McMullin called to find out how Mike was as I had texted TJ earlier about Mike’s condition. I told him about the ER and the changing of the day for Mike’s eye surgery but then Mike called me from the hospital, so I switched over to talk to him. He said they had stabilized him, and he was feeling better, but the doctors were keeping him over night.

            I knew I couldn’t go back to taking a nap, so I just watched a little television and fed the pups. I left the house about 5:30 to go up to the medical center to see Mike. It takes as long to go the 4 miles from Redwood Road to the U of U hospital, a half an hour, as it does to drive down to South Jordan that is about 16 miles from the house because of all the stop lights and traffic between here and the hospital.

            Mike had a room up on the fifth floor and he was surprised to see me, but I had told his brother that I would check in on him. He was actually standing up when I came into the room, and he looked and sounded much stronger. He said he finally had some dinner and that his urine was almost back to being normal color without blood in it. I guess they are trying to flush out what ever infection he has by all the IV’s.

We visited until 7 but then left as I wanted to drive home before it got dark because of all the road construction and traffic. He gave me a hug when I left, which I think is the first time in years he had. The drive home was difficult as the glaring western sun was in my eyes nearly all the way home at that time of day.

            At the house I texted John Romero to let him know that Michael looked better.

            So, it was a completely different day from the one we planned but better than the one two men had this morning on Redwood Road and Eight South who were killed in a head on collision with a garbage truck.

            I didn’t see Kyle Foote all day as he was out ubering while I was with Mike.

            It was a warm spring day around 70 degrees and they say it will be up into the 80s by this weekend. President Biden is in Europe meeting with NATO leaders and a Russian naval ship was blown up in the Black Sea. The fear is that we are on the verge of World War III, and some say we are already in it without a formal declaration and the use of nuclear bombs yet.    

25 March 2022 Friday

Mike Romero called me this morning saying that he should be released around 2 and he was, so I drove up to the U to retrieve him. It was such a spring like day with temperatures in the high 70’s that many of the boys at the U were shirtless. Ah, the good old college days.

            The doctors told Mike that he had a potassium overdose from pills he was taking that had been subscribed to him that made his kidneys go out of whack when they drained him last Monday. That was one of the reasons he was so dizzy and passed out. He sounded back to his old self, however.

            Back at the house to pick up Coco, Kyle Foote went with us to take Mike home as he wanted to stop at Little Caesars and pick up a pizza. His doctor’s conference this morning wanted him to eat some gluten so they can run a test on him in two weeks to see if that is the main source of his issues.

            I walked Taco and TJ together then Maxx and Lulubelle. My calf muscle is still sore but not as painful as before that I could hardly walk on it. I did work in the afternoon in the back yard replanting some irises that I’d like to save. Most of these I brought back from Palmdale, California from Mom, and Dad’s old place some 20 years ago.

            Kyle went out ubering and I watched some episodes of Perry Mason and OZ before calling it a day and went to bed at 9 although really not to sleep until 10.

            I saw that Alan Anderson’s pup Bhanni was found and Alan posted she was back home again.

In the news the state legislature over turned Gov Cox’ veto of the bill to ban trans from women sports. Oh, like the state legislators give two hoots for girls sports. It will be litigated in the courts with taxpayers picking up the tab. Utah’s legislators always do what they want, the public purse strings be damned. I remember the Cable Television Programming Decency Act that cost millions to defend and was lost.

26 March 2022 Saturday

It was such a warm day that I felt like doing some yard work by cleaning out the flower beds in the front yard. I did that until Kyle Foote needed me to go get the Nissan Rogue and then go with him to Quick Quack to wash and vacuum it.

            Later in the afternoon we went out to the storage unit in North Salt Lake and retrieved the Wheel barrel and other items to bring back to the house. Then we went to Arctic Circle in Bountiful for some lunch.

            I was still kind of worn out from the hectic week, so I took a nap in the afternoon and watched some television before going back out in the evening to clean out flower beds some more and rake. Nothing has really bloomed yet of my Spring bulbs and the forsythia is just now starting to pop.

27 March 2022 Sunday

It was a warm day, but I hear it will cool down later. I took all the pups for a walk and in the afternoon took Mike Romero’s battery charger over to him that Kyle Foote and I found in the storage unit. I didn’t work in the yard any as I was kind of tired from yesterday. Kyle was gone for most of the day ubering and working in the garage sorting his tools to hang on his peg board wall.

The Oscars were tonight and while I didn’t watch a bit of it Face Book was lit up with comments about actor Will Smith smacking comedian Chris Rock for making a joke at the expense of Will’s wife. Moments later Smith won best actor award. I guess the most touching moment was when Lady Gaga assisted a frail Liza Minnelli saying to her “I got you,” when she had difficulties opening an envelope.

28 March 2022 Monday

It was a much cooler day and it looked like rain, but I don’t think we got any. I went with Kyle Foote to Wal-Mart in Centerville so he could buy his Lactaid Lactose free milk, but they were out, so we went then to the Smith’s in Woods Cross, and they were also out. Later in the day I went to Lucky’s to buy some treats and more chicken for the dogs and bought some Dari-Gold Lactose Free milk, but Kyle still said it was the wrong kind. He’s so picky about it that it’s the last time I will try to buy milk for him.

            He paid me $300 today which was deposited into my checking account and filled the Honda FIT with gasoline. Gas prices still haven’t come down any.

I worked some more cleaning out flower beds in the front yard. The forsythias are blooming just now and none of the bulbs. Maybe it’s just me but they seem late this year.

            Kyle had someone over this evening to use the hot tub while I finished watching the last of HBO’s OZ. It lasted six seasons.

            Tomorrow Kyle wants me to help with clearing out his storage unit. He only has three days left to empty it.

            I paid off both my Line of Credit and Visa Card today that I used to pay to get all of Kyle’s vehicles current last fall. I am still going to ask him for $300 a month, $100 of it is the phone bill that is under my name as I suppose he couldn’t get one on his own poor credit.

            President Biden is purposing a tax on American Oligarchy Billionaires saying that school teachers shouldn’t be taxed at a higher rate than they are. Of course, the Republicans all say reduce spending on social programs rather than the uber rich.

29 March 2022 Tuesday

It was a long and tiresome day as I had to help Kyle Foote start to clear out the storage unit. First, we went down to 114^th South to have the Chevy Traxx looked at because the heater and air conditioning flap was broken. They quoted $800 to fix it.

            Then we went out to North Salt Lake with both the Sierra and Sonoma to start loading them. It was around 1 then so we went had got our Dr. Pepper and I was feeling peckish as I didn’t have much to eat this morning, so I bought a hot dog at Exxon. I think it was the first time I ever ate grilled food at a convenient store so, afterwards we then went back to the unit again to gather stuff that was taken out to the landfill. It was kind of a spotty rain shower with some places getting drenched and others not.

            We went to the storage a third time to gather items going to Deseret Industries but since we didn’t get to the drop off until after they already closed at 5, we had to take it all back to the garage.

            So, we made one last trip for the early evening with both trucks to gather the three aluminum ladders, and all of the rolling shelving carts.

            I was pretty well exhausted by 7 but I did go with Kyle to wash the Sierra that goes out tomorrow at 7 in the morning so we will only have the Sonoma to use tomorrow.

            I watched episodes of “the Simpsons,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and “Abbott Elementary” on Hulu  before I went to bed at 9. Tomorrow will be another long day.

30 March 2022 Wednesday

I woke up at 2 this morning and forced myself back to sleep. All the pups were sleeping with me too as they seemed tired out. I dreamed that I was upset with Kyle Foote as he took down the deck and buried the hot tub without telling me and later, I dreamed I had moved from the house back downtown to a small space similar to the Juel Apartment I had back in the 80’s. Weird.

            At 7 this morning had to go out to airport to pick up Kyle. Then around 10 we went down to South Jordan to retrieve the Chevy Traxx and at 11 we went to Deseret Industries to donate what we tried yesterday. After that we then went back out to North Salt Lake and made two loads to fill the Sonoma before calling it quits around 4. I was so tired that I took a nap until 5:30 before getting up to feed the pups.           Kyle was gone so he must have spent the evening and night ubering.

            Alan Anderson called this evening to visit, and we talked about Mike Romero’s adventures last week and of Bhanni’s. I guess the scamp got out through a back gate never used when some people cut trees down behind their place. Someone found her and took her to the vet where her chip was read, and Alan was contacted. I know that was a major relief for him. I told him that Kyle Foote wants to take me to dinner for my birthday on the tenth, which is also Alan’s birthday. He is going out with friends to the Salt Lake Acting Company that evening but said he and Kyle Daniels might join us for drinks if we go to the Long Horn Steak house in Midvale.

            I watched a few more episodes of Rome before calling it a day. Tomorrow is Mike’s cataract surgery appointment at 9:15 in the morning.

31 March 2022 Thursday

The last day of the month and it was a long busy one for me. I woke up at 2 a.m. and stayed up until 3 because I couldn’t sleep but I was up by 6:30 to fix some coffee and the pups their morning breakfast snack. I left the house at 8 to pick Mike Romero and Coco and bring her back to the house while I took Mike down to the South Jordan clinic for his cataract surgery. He was feeling much better and has his potassium back under control and the surgery went well. I sat in the waiting room until after the procedure than was allowed to go back and sit with him post op while they checked him out. He will need to go back on April 11^th for a checkup and again for surgery on his left eye April 14^th.

            It had rained most of the morning and rained on us coming back into Salt Lake City. After taking him and Coco back to his place, it was about 12:30 and still sprinkling. It looks like Mikes neighbors to the north have put their townhouse up for sale and Mike said his refinance will be finalized on Monday.

            Back at the house Kyle Foote and I went to get our drinks at Exxon’s Common Cents before heading back to the storage unit in North Salt Lake. Today it took four trips and a lot of heavy lifting. We first moved a bunch of office partitions and a full-size bed that was left by one of Kyle’s workers last year to the house and moved it upstairs into the old movie room. I thought it was a twin size but actually it was a full size, and the foam mattress was really heavy hauling it up stairs. I was amazed that Kyle and I managed it although I was pretty winded.

            We stopped for some lunch before heading back to the unit and it had cleared up by then. What was left was these two huge office desks which we had to take in two loads. For the first load Kyle and I had a quarrel mainly because he was exhausted, I was exhausted, and he was critical of how I was lifting and helping. I was also afraid that Kyle would hurt himself. If he would have then I would have been left with a garage full of building and office equipment that it would be my responsibility to get rid of. However, going back to get the second load we set our feelings aside knowing it was mostly exhaustion talking.

            Actually, the loading and unloading the second desk went a lot smoother. I bet the two wooden desks weight two hundred pounds or more between them.

            After that, our last load was clearing out the storage unit of garbage and items going to the dump, and we were completely finished by 6:00 this evening. My back was sore from heavy lifting, but Tylenol seemed to help. It is amazing that a middle-aged man and a senior was able to upload and unload a huge storage unit that had many younger men filling it last year. But it is done, and Kyle won’t have to pay $250 a month on rent and it forced him to deal with the residue of his failed business.

            I know there are several thousands of dollars of office equipment now in my garage and that Kyle’s next challenge is finding buyers for it. He did make a pathway through the garage so we can still access the refrigerators and open the garage door. I suppose I will be parking the Honda FIT in the driveway for the time being but at least it’s spring.

            So much of the news in March was regarding the ongoing Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Kyle thinks Putin’s real motive is to control the Black Sea where huge oil fields have been discovered to keep them out of the hands of the West to keep them depended on Russia’s oil and gas.

            It was a rough time on Mike Romero who said he had never been so sick, and it truly made him appreciate his health. So far, I have been pretty healthy except for a sore calf muscle which seems to be getting better.