Summer 3rd Quarter Journal 2020 July-September

 

JULY

1 July 2020 Wednesday

Well July is here and it seems a blur from March until now. I had usually looked forward to the month in which I was conceived but like the last four months, I will be mostly be home, trying not to go stir crazy. At least I have my vegetable garden and construction at the house to mark the passing of time.

The basement got sheet rocked and taped with lots of people working today. But still the fence is not up, nor is the debris taken away out on the street. So, the pups still haven't got back their yard but as long as they get their rides they are happy.

I have a small headache from all the construction noise. Jean Horan had her entire house, over in Orange, reconstructed by adding a second floor when she was about my age and she lived through it so I guess I will this too. It will be nice when finished. I hope I live to see it completed. I am having second thoughts however of having the kitchen remodeled. I wonder what is the point?

Mike Romero came by and took off with his Camper but not sure where he went for his holiday.

            Danny Montoya showed up this afternoon and I guess he will be here until the 5^th so I will not hear anything from Kyle Foote and will be left in the dark again about what is going on.

            A tile man came while Kyle was in the shower to talk about tiling the bathroom in the Casita. After that I made Kyle move his trailer so I could park the FIT in the garage. He was leaving with Danny and I know he would have left it there if I wouldn’t have asked him to move it. I need to park in the garage to be able to take the pups for a ride.

A student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design who did a case study on the queer built environment of Utah asked my permission to use the image I took of the old Radio City Lounge's front. I said certainly but it was kind of interesting the reach out into the cyber world of what we do.

Bill Poore messengered me asking whether I received a letter with some money in it that he sent me. I thought that was weird and wrote back what money. He said he sent me some money because of all the money Kyle is making me spend on remodeling the house. I said that was ridiculous and that I am fine and didn’t need any money but was concerned that it might have gotten lost in the mail because he sent cash. Later when I checked the mail there it was and opening it there was $200. That is crazy. But oh well. So, I told him that the money was safe and asked him to go for a ride tomorrow. He said okay.

A firework’s restriction was on my doorstep saying fireworks are prohibited west of Redwood Road. Some neighbors have been setting them off for the past couple of days. I hope the law abiding Mormons next door will stop with the bombardment.  

Is it too radical to pepper spray people without masks on or who won't stand 6 feet away as a danger to my health and safety? I wonder if I would be justified under Utah's "Stand Your Ground" law? Or does that law only apply to white people afraid of black people?

2 July 2020 Thursday

There's lots of activity here on Fernleaf. Jimmy Adams, Brandy Christensen, Dave Darden and two Mexican helpers showed up. Finally, the yard waste on the side of the street was cleaned up and while Kyle Foote took a load of yard debris to the dump, the fence people showed up to install the fence. I told them the best I could where it was going up and where to put in the gate.

Then Google Optical cable guy also shows up to start digging up the yard, as well as more sheet rocking going on downstairs in the area I call the Casita. It's a beehive of activity.

Brandy worked with the crew of Mexican kids to start cleaning up the northwest side of the yard. She completely cut down the flowering pear tree that had blocked the west sun and on which the squirrels used to jump onto the deck to eat their peanuts.

While all that was going on, I went and had the Fit washed and then over to Bill Poore’s place. He and I took a road trip all through Tooele Valley, out through Tooele to Stockton and Dugway and then back into Grantsville where I got lost. I lived there in 1978 and 1979 but with all the new development I had a Dickens of a time getting from Durfee out to Main Street.

Bill didn’t have his hearing aids in so was as deaf as a bat so we didn’t visit all that much but just let him talk. However, he kept criticizing Kyle saying he was conning me into spending my money on unnecessary projects.

When the day trip was over and had dropped Bill off, I came home and saw that my new fence finally was finished behind the concrete pad where Michael Romero will park his camper trailer. My yard is 12 feet smaller but I'm not going to miss it nor pulling the weeds that always grew next to the sidewalk.

When I had my original fence put in, the guy told us not to ever paint or stain it or we will always have to keep it up. He said just let it age natural and that is what we did. It’s lasted 22 years so far, so this one is just going to be left to age naturally too as its also cedar wood.

When I came home, Danny Montoya’s sister Alicia and their folks came to the house. I guess Kyle had been chauffeuring them around his job sites. Their granddaughter I guess only has less than a month to live from her cancer.

I had the Montoyas come in and we visited about New Mexico history and genealogy. Danny’s father wore a face mask but the rest of us just sat away from each other as we visited. I like Danny’s family but he’s kind of a dud as he never joined in on the conversation or looked up from his cell phone the entire time.

After they left, I spent some time water the yard as it’s going to get hot this weekend.

3 July 2020 Friday

            I worked in the backyard watering plants and then I started shoveling the mound of dirt that was piled near the entrance of the new side gate. I started to move it along the west fence line to create a new raised flower bed.  I made a dent in it but will take me more time.

It was another warm day in the house and 93 degrees outside. I have box fans going but they don’t do much more than circulate the warm 88 degrees inside the house. The kitchen and dining area really heats up in the late afternoon and early evening. I didn’t realize how much my poplar trees shaded the house from the western sun over the years.

My air conditioner is not working as it should either and its 88 degrees in the house. I had to take the pups for a long ride just to use the car's air conditioning. I am just worn out from the heat in the house. It's cooler outside than inside. Kyle Foote said that an air condition guy is coming out tomorrow to check on the new unit as that now that the entire basement is sealed off it shouldn’t be so warm in the house.

            Some of the “tapers and mudder” workers came in the evening to tape of the sheetrock downstairs. It’s really starting to look like a living space now that all the pipes and studs are covered up. I thought Kyle was going to put in a drop ceiling but it’s all enclosed now.

Danny Montoya said that the Barber Shop that I went to last month is closed down. I wonder if someone caught the virus. Donald Trump Jr's girlfriend tested positive for Coronavirus! Dance with the devil.

            People are setting off fireworks but at least they don’t last as long as last years” maybe a half an hour at the most instead of all night.

Jim Morrison the Lizard King died 49 years ago today. There will never be another like him. I was in Texas staying with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson on the farm when I heard the news.

I saw this list of words that are some of the Best words ever: Audacity, Balderdash, Baloney, Bamboozled, Berserk, Bodacious, Bogus,  Brouhaha, Camaraderie, Caterwauling, Cattawumpus, Codgers, Concoction,  Confuzzled, Decrepit, Discombobulated, Doohickey, Egads, Fiddle-dee-dee, Fiddle Faddle, Fiddlesticks, Flabbergasted, Flibberty, Flim-flam, Flummoxed, Fuddy-duddy, Gallivants, Gob smacked, Hoodwink, Hullabaloo, jib bit, Kerfuffle, Kibosh, Lambasted, Lollygag, Marlarky, Nincompoop, Knucklehead, Numbskull, Periwinkle, Persnickety, Poppycock, Pumpernickel, Rigmarole, Shenanigans, Skedaddle, Skullduggery, Thingamabob,  Thingamajig, Thunderation, Tomfoolery, Whatchamacallit, Whatsit, Wishy-washy, Willy-nilly

I miss saying words like  "groovy", "far out", "can you dig it", "keen", "crash", and "conscious raising" while rapping. I guess the vocabulary of my youth is as antiquated as “23 skid-doo”.

4 July 2020 Saturday Independence Day

I knew it was going to be hot today so did all my yard work before 9 this morning. I watered the garden then transplanted some day lilies and irises before starting in on shoveling a pile of dirt to level out the back yard planting bed. The pups love having their yard back and cool grass to lay on.

The furnace guy also came out and put in a new thermostat and checked out the furnace and heat pump. One of the major issue was the air filter was totally clogged from construction dust. So, I went to Smiths here in Rose Park and bought two new filters.

As soon as the sun went down, my Mormon neighbors started blowing up fireworks even though they are illegal this side of Redwood Road. Old man Reed Hall used to be an LDS Boy Scout leader too, so much for obeying the 12th Article of Faith.

“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” I call bullshit.

I think fireworks should be banned altogether as they can cause air pollution, frighten animals, cause stress for Veterans, and are the main source of fires at this time of year. Even if they were allowed for just the 4^th and 24^th, Utahns are too irresponsible to only set off fireworks on just 1 day “they don’t follow the law as it is now.

Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya were gone all day however Kyle did text me and asked if I wanted to come and bring the dogs down to Sandy so Danny’s folks could see them and have a picnic. I declined. I didn’t want to take the pups on such a long trip and I knew I would just be a 3^rd wheel there so I just as soon stayed home to calm the pups when the fireworks go off tonight.

They were much louder and worse than the other night and lasted for at least 3 hours. There were lots of huge booms, whistles, explosions.

Hugh Downs who hosted 20/20 for years died at the age of 99 the other day.

5 July 2020 Sunday

It was a busy productive morning. I was up at 6 and went out to water the garden and then shoveled the rest of the mound of dirt that was dumped in the backyard from digging out a door pathway in front of the house. It took me all morning at least 3 hours but it’s done and I feel like I accomplished something for an old man. Then I sat under the shade of the globe willow and watch the pups play and my garden grow. Life is good in my golden years

Now the pups are pooped from being outside all morning with me, them chasing birds and rolling around in the grass. Buster is so funny. If I get into heaven it will because of giving Buster a home in his old age when he was so scared and frightened by people.

Since I was alone for most of the day I listed to Pandora radio. It's a Gene Pitney, Bobby Vinton, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Frank Ifield, Eddy Arnold kind of afternoon.  I realize there are great singers out there today but it's kind of comforting to listen to these great performers from another era.

When Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya came back this late afternoon, Kyle wanted me to come downstairs and look at the flooring and tile that Danny and he picked out for the Casita. Everything downstairs is going to be shades of white and gray. It kind of annoyed me that he picked the scheme out with Danny and did not include me at all, when it’s my house and my money that is paying for it all. Oh well. When everything is finished and done I am going to charge them rent. Why shouldn’t I?

Roy Zang called me this afternoon and we bitched about Connell O’Donovan and straight people who say they are “gender nonconforming”. I said, “talk about your Cultural Appropriation”. Straight people using “They and Them” pronouns are really stupid.

Michael Romero came back from his vacation this evening and parked his Camper in the driveway. He came home so late that I didn’t even hear him come in.

There was an article on line about an old newspaper account of the University of Utah’s Huddle food court. I managed the Huddle from January 1977 until August 1977 when I worked at the University of Utah in their Food Service Department. I was promoted from being the manager of the sandwich department” I had recently been married so the salary was good but the place was pretty radical for the good Mormon boy I was trying to be. Looking back, it was a good time. I only quit because Fran wanted to leave Utah and we decided on Texas.

Florida has over 200,000 cases of Covid19. You vote Republican it's what you get. I feel sorry for the Democrats who are simply collateral damage. It is disgusting how many Utahns still support “Trumpid” I thought Utahns were supposed to be moral people.

6 July 2020 Monday

It was really hot again today 95 degrees but I worked in the backyard in the morning when it was cooler. I started hauling the old stepping stones that led a path from the south steps and hauled them over to the new south gate on a path I leveled. It took most of the morning and I lined the border of them with used bricks I had. I was pretty proud of how much I accomplished. I also dug up some of the irises that needed to be replanted to save them.

I finally watched “Hamilton” on the Disney Channel. I didn’t finish it though because I couldn’t understand what was being said half the time and none of the music was very memorable. The only person I liked at all was Jonathan Groff as King George III.

This evening, I watched “What we Do In the Shadows” more than anything which a comic mock documentary on 4 vampires who live in Staten Island. It’s something to amuse me while sitting home alone.

Jimmy Adams and Brandy Christensen were here for most of the day too finishing sheet rocking the Casita’s bathroom that I suppose will get tiled this week. I really don’t know what the schedule is for down there as Kyle Foote never takes the time to keep me informed.

When Mike Romero came to pick up Coco, he moved his trailer into its new home on the south side of the property. He said that the space should work out just fine.

In the news Covid19 outbreaks are increasing all throughout the South and here in the west. California, Florida, Texas, and Arizona are the worse hot spots. It’s increasing here in Utah also but the death rate here is much lower than other states.

It sounds like Cox won the Republican primary over Huntsman so he will most likely become out next governor. Well thank God he’s not a right wing ideologue like we could have had but still he has to pander to the worse elements in Utah who inhabit the Republican Party. I will be voting Democrat in the fall.

7 July 2020 Tuesday

Jimmy Adams showed up just to retrieve some tools because he had to go work on the South Jordan project as that Dave Darden had a golf cart accident and was all banged up so Jimmy had to take his place so no one was here working today except for me.

I've been working in the back yard for the past couple of days. First I had to remove a huge amount of dirt. That took several days. Then yesterday I hauled 24 stepping stones and 25 bricks to lay down a pathway in front of the smaller gate.

Today I finished hauling 130 tri-corner pavers that used to be where the fire pit was, to lay down another path way in front of the larger gate. I had to hand place and level it myself so it took hours.

After that I hauled 30 more castle bricks to make a retaining wall to hold up the dirt I had piled against the west fence. I could not find my level anywhere in the garage so I will have to redo it at some point. I mainly wanted to see if I had enough bricks.

Then the little flower garden I had below the south side of the deck, I also dug up and replanted all my irises to save them. The little tree that had blown in a few years ago and now is about 8 feet tall, producing little berries that the birdies love” I dug up also and replanted it against the west fence. My Honey Locust tree that the Pacific Islanders destroy while cutting down the poplars I decided will just be cut down. It was one of the first trees I planted 24 years ago. I think it’s way too damaged to be saved.

Tomorrow I’d like to rotor till dirt so I can start moving my flag stones. But right now, I am really pooped for a 69 year old man. I had been working in the yard from 7 in the morning until noon and also a little in the afternoon. I took plenty of breaks due to the heat from the past few days.

At one point Kyle Foote came to the house and I told him how Google had sent a man out to hook up some wires in the back yard. He said that they weren’t supposed to be out until tomorrow.  Anyway, I also showed him all the work I had done that I was proud of all and all he could say was that the castle bricks weren’t level. Then I showed him that I replanted the tree which was a lot of work and he just made some commented and I retorted that it didn’t just get up and walk over there. He didn’t even know where it had been before.  Oh well I am doing it for me not for him.

This evening, when Kyle came home, he must have known I was disappointed in his reaction to all my hard work because he actually sat down and visited while playing with the pups. Of course, he didn’t ask anything about me just told me what is going on with him.

He’s letting Danny Montoya’s sister use his Rogue while she’s in town and I guess he hired her to do some bookkeeping. I was surprised when he said he hired Zane Baum the kid who was in the kitchen work program with Kyle at Fortitude last year to do some construction work. He had told me he had seen Zane Sunday when he and Danny went to Robintino’s Italian Restaurant in Bountiful. Zane was working there as a waiter. But this was the first I heard of him being hired by Kyle. I guess Kyle is also hiring a guy who does concrete work as well and interviewing a gal who does over all job site management. He says he has now close to a million dollars in projects.

8 July 2020 Wednesday

I went out to work in the backyard early this morning while it was still cool out although it never got that hot all day” maybe 90 degrees. I started to rotor till the ground when the tiller got a chunk of wood stuck in its blades. It took a lot of effort and pounding to finally dislodge it before I could continue.

            Then I started moving the flag stones which about wore me out. I got a little more than a third of them moved over until my back started to hurt so I thought I better quit for a while.

A guy came out at noon to hook the internet to Google fiber today instead of Comcast/Xfinity. Everyone says it's better but as long as my internet works it makes no never mind to me. Kyle Foote signed us up without consulting me. However, it installed fast and everything is fine so I guess it is all right. My Wi-Fi name is Ben&Kyle and password is April1951 although the guy said I’d probably never need to use it. Now I need to contact Comcast and cancel their service.

I left the house at 2:30 to head down to the Utah Pride Center. To be let in you had to wear a mask and have your temperature taken. Mine was taken by Roy Zhang and it was 99.3.

Now I know the meaning of being an old poop because I am pooped from have spent two and half hours at the Utah Pride Center assembling boxes with Pride goodies to be handed out on July 17th from 3 to 6 or until they run out. I mainly put the boxes together and filled them with a booklet celebrating the 1st Pride March in 1990, some pride pillow cases, face masks, a water bottle while Roy Zhang filled them with other pride swag. SAGE and the Utah Queer Historical Society came out to put these together even if Pride Day was canceled. .

Roy Zhang created the booklet and he, Deb Hall and I did an assembly line but after doing 100 I had to bail. I was getting really tired. No one else volunteered to help out.

Becky Moss was supposed to have come down but she never did. Becky has always been flaky since I’ve known her. She’s done a lot of good but has to be the center of attention. However, it was good to see Robert Moolman again and he gave me a bottle of 5 Husbands hand sanitizers.

I heard from Rob and Deb that I guess the dissidents started stirring up shit again today. Rob seemed a little discouraged but was glad to see me. Deb said she was tired of being thrown under the bus by the disgruntled for still having a job at the Center. Tough times have fallen on the Center but pulling together we will get through these interesting times.

I was home by 5:30 and fed the dogs when Kyle breezed through long enough to ask about Google Fiber then headed to the bedroom to be on the phone with Danny Montoya where he shuts the door. I feel when he does that, he is shutting me out also.

So, I finally went into my bedroom and shut the door too. I opened the deck door so the pups could come and go but I fell asleep by 8 in the evening. I was really tired and discouraged that Kyle doesn’t care about visiting with me at all. Well deep down I know that Kyle is a narcissist so can’t expect a fish to climb a tree.  I just need to detach my emotions for him and move on as evidently he has.

In the news, over 700 people tested positive in Utah for the virus in one day and 7 more people have died in Utah making the total 201.  Still masks are not mandatory. TЯUMP is insisting that schools open in the fall or he will cut off federal funding.

9 July 2020 Thursday

I was up before 6 this morning and decided that I wanted donuts, so I drove down to Darla’s Donuts on 2300 South and Redwood Road only to find that they are closed until the 14^th.  Oh well. That was kind of disappointing.

            I spent much of the rest of the day rotor tilling and leveling the dirt in the back yard and researching what is the best way to reseed the yard. I will probably go with rye grass as it sprouts the soonest and is good for our climate.

Governor Gary Herbert says he hopes Utahns will do the right thing about wearing a mask without it being mandated. Does he even know Utahns? The majority think President Pussy Grabber should continue his regime for another 4 years. You can bet that the Cowboy caucus and the Eagle Forum will not be wearing masks. All of Herbert's decisions so far have done nothing to slow the virus spread.

Now TЯUMP and de-education minister Betsy Devos says schools will be safe for children and faculty in the fall but strange how prisons are unsafe for his cronies’ like Paul Manafort.

The Salt Lake tribune reported that the Salt Lake Acting company said that the 2019 Saturday’s Voyeur’ was its last season. An Era of Utah satire is over.

10 July 2020 Friday

I worked in the morning while it was still not so hot outside but it was still 75 degrees even at 7. I did some more rotor tilling, raking, and some yard clean up. The hose I just bought sprung a leak already so I need to replace that later sometime as it’s going to be super-hot this weekend.

            At noon I took TJ down to the Pet Grooming School on North Temple to get his nails trimmed again. He’s such a screamer.

            Jimmy Adams and Brandy Christensen were only here this morning to haul off debris to the dump. Kyle Foote said the remaining tree is supposed to come down on Monday. We will see.

While I was outside cleaning up some trash left behind on the Dale Ridge curb, I was talking to Peter and his wife Brittany Nash, some neighbors who bought Lynn and Norma Chaffins house. They were commenting on how nice the fence looks that faces their house. Then one of Hall’s kids who was recently married came out to talk to them from his yard and announced that he and his wife had Covid19 and were recovering.  I just saw all the Halls out on the 4th congregating setting off fireworks and I didn’t see any one of them wearing a mask.

My summer squash is really producing now but fortunately Jimmy and Brandy takes a lot of them off my hands. Haven’t really had any tomatoes yet except for the two I gave Mike Romero a while back.

Jim Dabakis brought Taco over in the afternoon and we sat in the backyard to visit. While we were, Mike dropped by to pick up Coco so he sat and visited with us too. Jim and I discussed Sim Gill’s findings on the police shooting of Bernardo Palacios. People rioted throwing red paint all over the District Attorney’s building after the police were found to have been justified for shooting him. I am sorry the young man made poor choices but when you go out to rob people at gun point, being killed by the police just might occur. Although shooting the kid 30 or more times was excessive for sure.  Herbert called for a state of emergency.

Jim also said he sold a bunch of Russian paintings to some Armenians and made a boodle of money from that. His husband is leaving for Mexico this Monday but Jim is wary about leaving the country at this time.

            There was reported 867 new cases of infection today in Utah but Governor Gary Herbert has great faith the people of Utah will do the right thing” ha ha ha “ These Morons will wear holy underwear for protection but not a face mask. Until Mormon leaders say wear the damn mask most Utahns will scream it's a Democrat hoax.

            Also, TЯUMP commuted the sentence of his ally Roger Stone today. Is there any doubt that Comrade Trump is a criminal?

11 July 2020 Saturday

TЯUMP says schools will be safe for children to attend in the fall while his Minister of Education Betsy Devos says a 2 percent death rate of children is acceptable to keep schools open. That's nearly 15,000 children! More than all the mass school shootings combined! Republicans are evil to the core

The Salt Lake School District made the hard decision of not sending kids back into the classroom. I know this is extremely hard on both parents and kids but what is even harder is people getting sick or even dying. School will not be the same.

As a former elementary teacher, I know that the social interaction that parents will expect for their kids cannot happen. There will be no kindergarten hugs, smiles, and  shared items. Lunch rooms will be austere and how will kids social distance in fire drills, active shooter drills, and on the playground and in assemblies?

Parent teacher conferences, home room mothers, teacher aides, faculty meetings, in-service, all will be problematic.

Will custodians work day and night to disinfect the school?

Some children are special needs. Who will be hired to care for them? Parents often send their kids sick to school. Will temperatures be taken at the start of each day?  Will there be Nurses in schools? There’s none now.

Is the feds willing to part with some of the billions spent on the military to protect school children if they say schools must be opened.

If classroom sizes have to be reduced for social distancing where are these extra rooms and teachers coming from?  How many teachers will simply resign rather than put themselves and their own families at risk? Is there going to be hazard pay for faculty and staff?

There’s SO MUCH more to this than just sending a child simply back to school but Trump wants to look good for his re-election at the expense of the lives of educators and children.

12 July 2020 Sunday

I don’t think it broke 100 degrees here in SLC but it was pretty close. I may have to have my west facing windows tinted because without my shade trees the afternoon sun really heats up the house even with the air conditioning.

Jim Dabakis came and retrieved Taco right as I was getting ready to leave to go down south to Day Break. I had to get some gas first and went to Smith’s where with a 10 cent discount I paid $2.09.

I had a nice visit with T.J. Otaka and Jim McMullin out in Daybreak. I brought them some squash and mint from the garden and they ordered a pizza for lunch. It was good to get out of the house and visit with folks who I miss. We just caught up on some gossip about the Pride Center, people we know, and discussed how we felt about the movement to tear down statues to Confederate Generals and Christopher Columbus.

 T.J. Otaka later wrote me “It was nice catching up. Thanks for all the goodies. We just had your blueberry cream cheese pastry. How delicious that was! We enjoyed your visit. Stay cool and safe.”

After I left I stopped at Sutherland’s to buy two new hoses, some grass seeds, and few other things before heading back to the house. I spent over $100 which is probably the most money I had spent in a while. The yard and the plants were really thirsty and needed a good soaking.

I worked on typing up my January 1987 journal which I finished before going to bed. I will send it off to Daniel Cureton in the morning.

I hadn’t seen Kyle Foote all weekend as he didn’t spend his nights here.

The ancient Canaanites sacrificed their children to Moloch for prosperity “how is this any different than the GOP willingness to sacrifice American children to appease their god Mammon?

13 July 2020 Monday

It was not as hot as yesterday but still quite warm nearly 93 degrees. Everything is really starting to dry out from the summer heat. Except to do some watering, I didn’t work in the yard at all.

My stomach was still acting up with gas pains so didn’t feel like doing much. No tree removal today either so not sure when that is going to happen.

Jimmy Adams was the only one working today and he sand down my old solid wood 5 drawer dresser that I had bought from Deseret Industries at least 20 years or more ago. Kyle Foote had repurposed it to fit in the wall beneath the stairs down in the Casita. The dresser was solid wood so it came out looking nice. Jimmy also took down the leaf gutter along the back of the house in preparation of remodeling the veranda. Kyle said he wants to build a covering over it to help with the afternoon heat now that my huge poplars are gone.

            I continued to type up my journal from 1987 and I was such a mess back then, being crazy in love with Billy Bikowski. Out of curiosity I looked on Google to see if I could find his address and I was surprised to see that he’s living just down the street from the old Metropolitan Community Church on 600 East. He lives in an apartment on that street. Strange how he still continues to live just about a half a mile down the street from where I lived at the Juel Apartment when I was so enamored with him.

            I watched Netflix’s documentary on Walter Mercado called “Mucho Mucho Amore” which was quite interesting. I guess he was quite the phenomenon in the Hispanic World but I had never heard of him before.

            Mike Romero came and picked up Coco so I needed to take the pups for a ride. The pups and I like to get out and go for a drive in the evening. We went driving around downtown and I was surprised by how many places are gone now like the Mexican Café Su Casas that was on 2nd South. It had been there for at least 20 years and now it's a Japanese Restaurant. Where the Blue Mouse used to be, located on 100 South, there’s nothing left there to indicate where it once was. Interesting to see so many changes of places I used to know so well. I even drove by Billy Bikowski’s old apartment building the Scarsdale located at 125 South 9^th East for old times’ sake.

            In the evening Kyle called and said he was bringing a pizza home. I already had eaten a loaded baked potato so I wasn’t all that hungry at all but ate a tiny slice with him. He wants me to go with him tomorrow to pick out tile and flooring for my bathroom upstairs. I was pleasantly surprised when standing behind me he patted my hand.  A little affection now and then is all this old man really needs these days.

14 July 2020 Tuesday

            This morning a huge boom lift was delivered to be used to cutting down my last 40 foot poplar tree. Jimmy Adams and Brandy Christensen were working at the house for most of the day. Kyle Foote had Jimmy preparing the back of the house to install a cover for the veranda to help keep the house cooler now that my 40 foot poplars are gone.  Brandy straightened up my castle bricks along the west wall and hauled in sand to fill in the gaps of those rocks, pavers, bricks, and stones that I moved myself. I think they turned out nice.

            It was a busy morning as Kyle wanted me to go pick out tile and flooring for the upstairs bathroom remodel which won’t begin until downstairs in the Casita is finished. We went to the new Floor and Décor store. There they wouldn’t let you in without a mask. I picked out this Tile that is kind of a muted butterscotch color with a coco brown trim as a border. The flooring is a “waterproof roasted wooden color” laminates planking. I think it will look nice and warm. It cost about $500 for all the material. I told Kyle that his style is more Roman while mine is my Celtic.

Back at the house, I leveled the dirt in the back yard so I can reseed the grass when its gets cooler later this year. My vegetable garden is in full summer growth. I've been giving squash away to the Build Team Workers who are glad to have them.

Downstairs the work stalled as the sheet rocker got sick but someone new is coming out. So, there are lots of changes at the House of the Barking Dogs this summer for sure.

This afternoon around 3, the South Pacific Islander Tree cutter came but actually didn’t start working until nearly 6. Well goodbye old tree. I planted you as a twig, stuck in mud 24 years ago. Thanks for all the lovely shade over the years and I know the squirrels are going to miss you.

The tree guy worked until nearly 9 last night and is supposed to be back early in the morning to finish the job. I could hardly watch him work it made me so nervous. At least I won’t be raking tons of leaves this fall or have that mess from twigs and branches falling anymore or the cotton mess in the Spring.

Chad Anderson sent me an article that this fellow wrote as a review of the documentary Dog Valley which is about Gordon Church’s murder. Reading it I became so irritated that Connell O’Donovan was quoted in it and he made it all about him and his reaction upon hearing about the murder. It actually disgusted me. It’s just another article in which where Connell makes it all about himself.

I was called by a reporter back in 1988 right after the murder happened. I saved all the news accounts and posted them and wrote about Gordon and spoke about Gordon the whole time Connell was gone living in California. Chad even told me that it was my articles that were on Google about Gordon’s murder which were the only thing he could find out on Gordon until he started his own investigation. He’s kept me informed on all aspects of his research and even invited me last year to the first cut screening of the film for my opinion. And who gets interviewed? Connell” ugh. I was more interested in keeping Gordon’s story alive than making it all about me.

15 July 2020 Wednesday

It was cool this morning in the high 60’s so I went out to do my watering and watch the sunrise. The tree guy had worked until nearly 9 last night and was supposed to have been back early this morning to finish the job but he didn’t show up until nearly 9:30 without any helpers accept his two young adolescent boys.

My vegetable garden is in full summer growth. I've been giving yellow squash away to Brandy Christensen and Jimmy Adams, the Build Team Workers, who are glad to have them.

Kyle Foote is having his crew prepare the back of the house for a cover for the veranda. Both Dave Darden and Zane Baum in the afternoon were over helping Brandy Christensen and Jimmy Adams start to dismantle the decking. I guess Kyle wants to replace some of the Trax so it’s being removed too. The new cover will be installed to help keep the house cooler now that my 40 foot poplars are gone. At least I won’t be raking tons of leaves this fall or have that cotton mess anymore in the spring.

Loni the South Pacific Islander guy that Kyle contracted to cut the tree down worked basically all day in the heat at least 8 hours. He was up on a boom the entire time lopping off branches by himself when he should have had a helper using ropes to lower the limbs. Because he didn’t have a helper, some of tallest part of the tree he couldn’t reach, even on the boom extension, he just cut and it fell damaging the neighbor's fence behind me and even my own fence. When he did that I called Kyle and he was going to fire him until Kyle saw that Loni was talking to the neighbors and saying he’d repair everything.

I was inside for much of the day because it made me so nervous over what he was doing, hoping that my neighbor tool sheds weren’t damage. I am just frazzled. What an enterprise. I hope the guy doesn’t have heat stroke as he was out there all day without a hat and he was a really large man. I bet he weighed 300 pounds and it was over 90 degrees in the direct sun. 

Well, it was a mess all over the back yard but the tallest part of the tree is down and the trunk of the tree which is about 15 feet high still needs to be chopped down but that can be done without the boom which Jimmy said had cost about $800 to rent. At least none of the limbs fell onto my neighbors sheds.

16 July 2020 Thursday

The basement Casita is coming along. It was finished being mudded and textured this morning. The floor needs to be ground down to be leveled out before painting the walls and the flooring put in. Kyle is painting the walls gray. Oh well. He will be living there not me.

The bathroom has to have a vanity medicine cabinet and shower doors installed sometime. The space for a washer and dryer is ready and the built in chest of drawers has been sanded down to be painted. Perhaps by August it will be completed.

Kyle Foote picked up the Samsung Washer and Dryer today and they are now sitting in the garage with everything else he bought. He is furnishing a lot of the Casita with his own money. I am just paying for materials and he said he’s paying for labor out of his Build Team accounts.

            Jimmy Adams, Brandy Christensen and Zane Baum started working on a porch cover over the deck. The Build Team crew worked in the blistering afternoon sun as that my aluminum siding radiates the heat. It should be nice in the winter as it will keep the snow off the deck.

            The tree cutter and his boys took the day off I suppose to recover from yesterday’s major work cutting the majority of the poplar tree down.

            It’s becoming a routine in the evenings to take Maxx, TJ, and Lulubelle for a ride while I go through McDonald’s Drive-Thru to buy a large Dr. Pepper with extra ice for a buck.

            In the news a bunch of Utah idiots crowded into a Utah County Commissioner’s meeting to protest wearing masks and demanding that the public schools be opened without a mask mandate. The meeting was close down because no one would social distance themselves nor wear a mask. These people live in a bubble where they only hear each other talk, without listening to facts, nor caring about one another. It's hard to fathom their selfishness.

These conservatives are really ignorant people, confusing freedom with responsibility. They won’t change their minds until someone in their own family dies because they obviously don’t care about others and these are the same people Gov. Herbert trusts to use good judgment during a pandemic.

Arizona has more Covid19 positives than any nation in the world as well as GOP led states of Texas and Florida. California is bad too but all those stupid conservatives in that state account for the increase in cases there.

Wal-Mart is requiring facemasks to come into their stores. That should be interesting when Bubba claims his freedom is in jeopardy even though most Wal-Mart customers can’t even cover their butt cracks.   

17 July 2020 Friday

It was super-hot today at 101 degrees. I saw Kyle Foote briefly this morning when he said he was able to get a really great deal on the built in stove and new stove top at Lowes for my kitchen remodel. I was able to get a “built-in oven” and a gas range top, normally priced at $2800 for under $700 because Lowe was remodeling their appliance area and was selling off their display models. So, in my old age I will finally have a built in oven like mom had when I lived at home on Dale Street in Garden Grove. This old gas stove I have now I've had for 24 years and cooked a lot of meals over the decades.

Poor Coco had a real dirty butt this morning so that was my excitement for the day getting her cooter nice and clean. I bet she liked the cool down also from the bath. I told Mike Romero that when I take Lulubelle in to be groomed on Monday, I will make an appointment for Coco too.

Dave Darden and Zane Baum were here working on the deck cover for most of the day and Loni and his boys were over to clean up some of the tree debris when I left to go to the Pride Center. Dave punctured his hand on a nail so I got out my first aid kit and helped him with the bandaging.

            Roy Zhang asked for help putting the remaining carton boxes together this afternoon so I went down to the Utah Pride Center at 2 to help out with the Pride Day Swag boxes. I went through the car wash before that since I was over in that area and also stopped at Lowes to see what kind of bird houses they had. Actually, they will be bird and squirrel feeders since the trees were chopped down and the squirrels lost their homes.

But once at the Center, Deb Hall and her wife Angie Salot had it well under control and really didn’t need me. Roy Zhang, director of the Utah Queer Historical Society, was there too with helping with the distribution of the swag boxes to folks as people drove through to get theirs.

I said hi to Rob Moolman while I was in the building but only a few people seemed to be working. Roy and I were surprised to see what was once the Ancestor Room redesigned with all the portraits removed. The wall was painted gray and a large screen and movie projector had been installed. Actually, Roy and I were gleeful that Connell’s one claim to fame was taken down.

I guess the ancestor wall will be put back up somewhere else but actually none of those folks had anything to do with building this community unlike the display of Kristen Ries Award winners that is on the staircase wall. I talked with Angie about where she had the pictures done because two for last year’s recipients Pepper Presentte and Sue Robbins as well as this year’s recipient, Carrie Galloway, are not added to the display. She said that there should be additional frames still at the Center and that the printed material was done at Presto Printers.

There’s lots of remodeling going on at the Center. The reception desk has been moved out of the middle of the room and the bank vault has been sheet rocked, painted and tiled. So, lots of changes are happening, which was good to see, although the building is so quiet during this pandemic.

While I was there, only about 4 cars came to get the boxes of which 200 were put together. I had workers back at the house and James Dabakis had dropped Taco off also, so since they all had it under control and really didn’t need me I left at 3:30.

I came home about the time the Build Team was quitting for the day but Loni and his kids were still here cleaning up most of the debris from the tree.

The house was quite warm from the heat of the day for most of the evening. I went to bed at 9 just kind of tired. I think all my life I’ve been tired. LOL Kyle Foote spent the night somewhere else and in the news the Civil Rights champion John Lewis died at the age of 80.

Something must be going on in Portland, Oregon as that Facebook is lit up with comments about Trump’s secret police pulling people off the street in unmarked cars. Craig Hunter who lives in Oregon wrote, “If I lived in Portland Oregon and had an unmarked Federal police man shoot me in the face for a peaceful demonstration, I would certainly think I now lived in Russia or Iran. I would never guess in a million years I lived in the United States. Shame, shame.”

The Pentagon banned the flying of the Confederate Flag on Military bases by stating which flags could be flown. That eliminated also flying the Rainbow which I suppose is worth it.

18 July 2020 Saturday

It was a hot July day but not nearly as hot as yesterday’s 101 degrees. It was just in the mid 90’s which is hot enough. It’s going to be hot and dry for the next week.

Most of the debris from the poplar tree was cleared yesterday evening and part of the deck’s joices covering was completed until the Build Team’s quitting time. Work on the deck will commence again on Monday. The remainder of the poplar tree is supposed to come down today. We will see. Well as I suspected, Loni said he’d be back today but never came. I figured as much.

I spent the morning watering and laying down a brick border along the paving stones in the back yard. Then I hauled buckets of Rainbow pebbles from the north side of my yard to the other. I paid a lot of money for them 9 years ago so I might as well use them.

The only time I left the house today was to go to Deseret Industries at Welfare Square but I was surprised that they were closed. I guess they are shut down now on the weekends and have reduced hours throughout the week.

            So instead, I went to the Smith’s on 9^th West and 9^th South where I bought a lot of soda pop that was on sale. I noticed that the Islander kids helped themselves to all the drinks in the refrigerator downstairs. I didn’t mind but thought they could have asked first before raiding the icebox.

            The front room heated up again from the west heat coming through the windows. Even though I had a box fan going eventually I just retired to the bedroom which was cooler and I had a box fan going on in there too.

            I had tried to watch a couple of movies but didn’t have the attention span to finish them. I tried using the television that was just sitting unused in Kyle Foote’s bedroom but while I could get a picture, the sound was not connected so that was useless. So maybe I will buy a small television to put by my bed for when I don’t want to be out in the front room.

            The Governor of Georgia banned local authorities from mandating masks even though that is the only way this pandemic is going to end. Hospitals in Florida, Texas, and Arizona are starting to max out and Trump is trying to hide Covid19 statistics by having a private company compile them instead of the CDC.  There needs to be a Nuremberg Trial for the GOP governors and other collaborators of Donald Trump’s criminal regime.

Mask use in Salt Lake County seems to be working with the cases leveling off but in the rest of the state of Utah cases are increasing.

            The ACLU is suing the Trump Administration over the use of a Secret Police force in Portland to abduct protestors.

19 July 2020 Sunday

I went to Best Buy on 21^st South this morning looking for a small television for my bedroom. The smallest they had was 24 inches. The days of 13 inch TV's are over I suppose. I bought a Vizio Smart TV that had Hulu and Netflix already programmed into it. I figured out how to set it up but had to add my email address and pass words to all the apps I wanted. Sounds like a first world problem.

            It was hot but the house was fairly comfortable with the box fans going and the house being closed up for a change. I fixed a Shepherd pie and some summer squash from the garden for my supper. It’s the first time I’ve actually prepared a meal in weeks. I have mostly been snacking or going to Taco Bell for tostados.

            Kyle Foote came home at 7:30 this evening and we visited briefly before he retired to his room. He was tired.

Four years ago, at the Republican Convention a Norovirus was spreading like crazy among the delegates. The GOP is incapable of learning from its mistakes. It's a party of sociopaths

20 July 2020 Monday

I took Lulubelle down to the Dog Grooming School to get groomed at 8:30. Lulubelle she was ready by 1:30 and happy to home from the beauty parlor. She really needed a grooming as she was getting pretty shaggy. While at the Grooming school I made an appointment for Coco. She will go in on August 3rd also at 8:30 for a makeover. I need a makeover myself. My beard is starting to get shaggy again.

            I stopped at the Rose Park Smith’s on the way home after dropping Lulubelle off. I wanted to get some more soda pop for the workers. Brandy Christensen was in the Casita downstairs grinding down the concrete and that was a chore. It made concrete dust go everywhere.

Zane Baum, Dave Darden, and Jimmy Adams worked on the joices over the deck on which to install a roof so that is coming along. It will be nice to sit beneath it in the summer and not have to shovel snow on it, in the winter.

            It must have been a rough day at the House of the Barking Dogs. Every one of the pups was zonked out on my bed and it's only 6:30 in the evening. However, at 7, I decided to take them for a little ride and actually I went over to see where Billy Bikowski is said to be living at 839 South 600 East Apartment B so it ended up being a longer drive than usual.  Billy has been on my mind a lot, since I am typing up my journal from 1987.

            We went to the moon 51 years ago and now, nearly half of Americans don't trust science. What went wrong for Christ sake? On yeah, the Christian Right’s Moral Majority takeover of the Republican Party.

21 July 2020 Tuesday

I was up early this morning, a little after 6. I drove down to Darla’s Donuts on Redwood Road and about 23^rd South and bought an apple fritter and two buttermilk donuts. I had wanted them for a while.

Later at 10, I went to Deseret Industries for the first time since they reopened with all their social distancing requirements. Actually, I never saw the place so clean and orderly and they had twice as many workers stocking and cleaning.

I wanted to find some more summer shorts which I did. I bought 3 pairs” blue, white, and yellow as well as a sport shirt. I also bought some more small plates, a cooking pot with a lid, and a cute potted artificial plant. I don’t plan on going back, like I used to, for a while but I did need some more clothes.

            No one worked on the deck today as they were all down in the Casita painting the place. Kyle Foote wanted it gray which would not have been my choice. While everyone one was gone to lunch except Zane Baum, he and I had a brief visit about his time in the half way house at Fortitude. None of the others are supposed to know how I know Zane and that Kyle actually lives here at the house. Zane is this tall skinny guy probably about 35 who went to prison for DUI related reasons, I suppose. I must be horny as I am attracted to him or at least want to have sex with him but that won’t happen.

            About 3:30 Jimmy Adams woke me from a nap saying someone was at the door and it was Josh, the son of Reid Hall who lives behind me. He was concerned about the tree debris that Loni had left in their yard as that the Halls are putting their house up for sale in August.

That upset and concerned me that Loni’s crew hasn’t taken care of that.  Jimmy called Kyle who evidently got after them because by this evening the Polynesians were in the Hall’s backyard chain-sawing and hauling the debris away.

            The downstairs is really starting to look like a new space with the coat of paint and I guess the flooring is going in tomorrow. The air conditioning unit for downstairs was also installed today.

            I watered most of the backyard really well this evening as the grass was really drying out. We haven’t had any moisture to speak of in weeks.

22 July 2020 Wednesday

Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum were over working on the Casita’s flooring. It was a difficult pattern and it took them much of the day to figure it out and only got half done and I suppose they will finish it up tomorrow.

It was a much cooler day with a monsoon cloud cover and a bit of rain. We haven’t had rain in 21 days. We didn’t get more than a sprinkle here though but at least the yard wasn’t burning up.

            I asked Bill Poore to go for a ride this Saturday. I am sure he needs to get out of his place. Not sure where we will go. It depends on the weather I suppose.

            I haven’t heard from anyone really, except for what I read on Face Book. All that is in the news is the 10 deaths today from Covid19 in Utah which is nothing compared to other states like Florida, Texas, and Arizona. California spiked as the highest number of new infections but I imagine that most are in Southern California where the crazy conservative anti-mask idiots are.

            I finished typing up my March 1987 Journal and I had forgotten so many people and events from 33 years ago. I know most of it is only relevant to me but it is a little glimpse into Gay life in Salt Lake City from 3 decades ago.

            Mainly I watched some television this evening even though Kyle Foote was home at 7 which is early for him. I am watching a series called Barkskin about the conflict between the French, English, and Iroquois in Colonial Canada. It’s pretty intense so I can only watch about one episode at a time and cannot binge watch it.  I also am watching “Ghost Hunters”, because I like the paranormal, and for something light and mindless I watched Dobie Gillis which was one of my favorite shows as a boy in the early 60’s.

23 July 2020 Thursday

I did some yard work this morning, mowing the front lawn and cleaning the gutter and sidewalk on the south side of the house of dirt and debris. I had to find three extension cords that were long enough to mow the south side parking strip. It was pretty trashed from what the tree and cement people did and left behind.

I used a leaf blower to clean the street even, where the entire tree saw dust and bark were left over. I need to figure out what to do with that parking strip area. I had to bring buckets of water over for the trees as there is no sprinkler system there anymore.

            Only Zane Baum and Jimmy Adams of the Build Team crew worked here today and they laid more of the flooring but ran out of laminate about a foot and a half from the front door. So, they will finish tomorrow when Kyle Foote gets some more.

A couch was delivered for downstairs and I suppose some of the cabinets are ready to go in. The baseboards will be a white trim against the gray walls.

Jim Dabakis brought Taco over for the Pioneer Day Holiday this weekend. He said it had down poured in Bountiful but we were missed. We only got a few drops out of the Monsoon.

In the late afternoon and the South Pacific islanders were in the backyard taking down more of the last tree trunk so everything is progressing along. He just had his two wild kids helping him. The chain saw noise had all the pups glued to me on the bed.

The tree is slowly coming down but at this rate it will be August before it's completely removed and the stump ground down so concrete can be poured.

When I look at all the construction going on at the House of the Barking Dogs, I wonder if it’s worth it as old as I am, but Jim Dabakis thinks it’s great that I am engaged in the remodel instead of just sitting and watching television.

Sill I think of this old song that was popular when I was a child in the 1950’s. “This ole house is gettin' feeble This old house is needin' paint Just like me it's tuckered out But I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints Ain't got time to fix the shingles Ain't got time to fix the floor Ain't got time to oil the hinges Nor to mend no windowpane Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer She's a-gettin' ready to meet the saints”

            There’s no Pioneer Day Parade tomorrow and I didn’t hear any fireworks go off today or night. It was really breezy out so that may have dampened people’s craziness.

24 July 2020 Friday Pioneer Day

I went with Kyle Foote this morning to Lancers to pick up the Sonoma Truck. Kyle had the air conditioner fixed and had the clutch pedal adjusted. He paid for it so I don’t know how much all that was. He needed me to transfer $2500 into his account for more materials and now there’s only $14,500 left from the payout from the refinancing.

            Jimmy Adams, Zane Baum, Brandy Christensen and Stan Williams were over early this morning to work in the basement. Stan was hired as a concrete guy just on the 20^th . He worked installing the cabinets.

I guess Kyle fired Dave Darden because he was always missing work. He was kind of accident prone. He was kind of strange also, a big bear of a man with a grizzly red beard and complained about everything. For a guy in his 40’s he had a lot of issues and behavior problems. However, with the way construction is booming here in Utah he will find work again in no time.

Stan and Jimmy worked on putting in the kitchenette cabinets together while Zane worked painting the base boards that will go in later. They left at 3 in the afternoon after having started work at 7 this morning. The Casita is starting to look like a studio apartment.

            Earlier Stan asked me how much I was going to rent the space out and I said probably $600 a month and both Jimmy and he said, “Do you have tenants yet?” both knowing that in this economy it was a steal. I couldn’t tell them that Kyle was going to stay there so I just said I had a friend I’d probably rent to.

            Loni and his boys were over in the late afternoon cutting down the remaining tree trunk. All that is left now is the stump and a lot of huge tree trunk chunks. So, it’s finally getting done.

            I was kind of surprised to see Kyle show up with Danny Montoya as I wasn’t expecting him back until August. Kyle was quite thrilled to have him back. Danny is a good guy, just someone I cannot relate to at all nor does he relate to me, I suppose, as I am even much older than his parents.

            In the evening Kyle asked me to go with him and Danny out to McDonalds for a milk shake. I was way too full for a shake but did have a small ice cream cone. I was happy they asked me along because that is all I ever wanted was to be included once in a while.

 It hardly seemed like Pioneer Day today. A lot of businesses are closed anyway because of the Covid19 or what I like to call the Trumpvirus. Republican presidents ignored AIDS and now Covid19 until it has killed nearly 150,000 Americans this year. The GOP has always promoted wealth over health. It’s so stupid as no one spends gold from  the grave.

No Pioneer Day parade this year which hasn’t happened since World War II. However, the neighborhood made up for it by blasting as many bombs and infernal machinations as they could. It went on for hours and hours and constantly like we were being bombarded.

Trump sure let out the evil in some people's nature. However, now we can identify who these people are and shun them and when they act on their malevolence, we can fine or jail them or both especially when they are in law enforcement.

It is being speculated that Erik Prince, Betsy Devos’ bother, is providing mercenaries for the Homeland Security Department. What is known is that the goon squads are dressed as camo-clad agents so they are perceived as soldiers but carry no identification. The abduct civilians, and tear gassed a line of moms.

 Whether the goon squads work for Homeland Security or, as has been speculated, are members of Erik Prince’s Academi, they are not serving their country but only protecting the agenda of trump's regime. Where is the Republican outage?

25 July 2020 Saturday

            I went to the Mister Car Wash on 3^rd West and 15^th South before picking Bill Poore up to get him out of the house. He first wanted to go over to his sister Janice’s house in Olympus Cove area to give some insulin to his other sister Jeannie who is staying as she is going to have surgery on her foot for complications from her diabetes. I just sat in the car while he delivered the insulin. My stomach was upset some so didn’t want to visit at all. Besides I don’t think they knew Bill was coming over.

            Then I took Bill back to the house to show him what is being down in the Casita and the back yard. We didn’t go upstairs because Bill can hardly walk without being winded anymore. He didn’t bring his hearing aids either so conversing with him was a challenge.

            He does not like any of the changes I made not because of any of the changes but just because he doesn’t like change. Such a curmudgeon. I think however he mostly doesn’t like that I have done a lot of the improvements because he thinks I’ve let Kyle talk me into them.

            I asked him if he was hungry and he was so we went to get a bite to eat. Since he didn’t care where we went I went to Arby’s at the Love Gas Station on Redwood. He had a bacon and chicken sandwich and I had a Greek Yeero. He wanted to pay for lunch but I insisted because he only had cash and places don’t want you to use cash any more.

            I took him to Jordan Park where we sat in the car beneath a shady tree and ate lunch. I enjoyed just the peacefulness of the park. Hardly anyone was there. We talked about old time sexual escapades. I suppose that is what old Gay men do. Bill is such a mess, no hearing aids, didn’t have his teeth in, needs oxygen, and I certainly can tell that he is more and more forgetful. I think dementia is starting to affect him.

            I took him home then because I said I needed to take a nap. Last night I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep until almost 3:30. I only slept in until 6:30 so I was tired and sleepy.

            Jim Dabakis came and picked Taco up shortly after I came back to the house. He told me some gossip about the Pride Center. He is friends with these wealthy LDS family named McCarthy who donates around $25,000 a year to the Pride Center. However, some of the dissidents actually contacted them to complain about malfeasance at the Center and for the McCarthys to withhold their money. Jim had to explain to them the real situation and pleaded with them to continue to support the center. Jim was worried about how many others the dissidents may have contacted. It’s like,  after these people get their pound of flesh what do they intend to do?

            I took a nap for a couple of hours and then this evening Kyle asked if I wanted to go with him and Danny Montoya out for dinner at Chile Amor in North Salt Lake. While I really wasn’t all that hungry I agreed because I thought if I decline these gestures I might not get invited again that often.

            Chile Amore is on Highway 89 that I had passed by so many times when I worked at Orchard Elementary but never took any notice of it. We wore our masks and they had inside seating. I just had a small chili Verde enchilada which was good while Kyle and Danny ordered a chicken quesadilla and a pork tostada. The place was good and I would have like it probably even better if I had an appetite. The waiter was awfully cute.

            After eating, Kyle drove us to Baskin Robbins in Bountiful where he bought me a rocky road ice cream cone. So, it was a nice evening to be out and about all though my stomach said I had eaten too much.

How can there be any doubt that trump is beholden to Putin and is a traitor to this nation? He's constantly in communication with Putin, has not condemned Russia putting a bounty on American soldiers, has allowed a plague of epic proportion to kill nearly 150,000 American so far, has racially and economically divided Americans, and has deployed the Homeland Security forces as his own private army to invade American cities, all without the request of state governors in order to initiate martial law and keep himself from going to jail.  Putin could not have picked a more useful idiot to destroy America from within.

26 July 2020 Sunday

I went down to Daybreak in South Jordan to visit with TJ Otaka and Jim McMullin this afternoon. I had a nice visit with them. I brought to them some summer squash, tomatoes, mint, basil, thyme, and rosemary from the garden. Everyone seems to be well just getting older. They fixed a brunch yummy waffles and we had an enjoyable time discussing everything from how the Covid19 is changing our lives, to the changes in the Gay community that we once knew that is more trans-centric than Gay-Centric and how little we have in common except for oppression.

I told them how I am worried that Bill Poore is getting more decrepit and I fear a bit of dementia which I think is at the root of his cantankerousness’.  It was nice visit and I stayed for about 3 hours. When I came home I took a nap. At my age as in Kindergarten, it’s required.

Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya were out for most of the day but in the evening they were in the front room binge watching the reboot of Dynasty, the old 1980’s show about the dysfunctional Carringtons ha!. I watched a little of it with them and even though they were many episodes already into it, it wasn’t hard to catch up with the sexual and financial betrayals, the robberies, the murders, and the family scrabbles. It’s pure fun, gay oriented trash about the glamorous lives of billionaires. My whole thought was where was the revolutionary tribunal and the guillotine for these psychopaths? LOL

Actress Olivia DeHavilland died yesterday in her sleep in her home in Paris France. She was 104 years old. She was the last of an era of great classic Hollywood Stars.

27 July 2020 Monday

Jimmy Adams was the only one who came to work in the Casita today although Zane Baum and Brandy Christensen was here this morning before being sent to other locations to work. While water the front yard this morning I notice that the water pressure through the garden hose was way down from what it had been. That was disconcerting to me as that since I have no sprinkler system any more, hand water is all I can do.

            I was in my room for much of the day finishing typing and proofreading my April 1987 Journal which I then sent off to Daniel Cureton. Other than going to Lucky’s to buy some ice and dishwashing soap I never left the house until I took Coco home so that Michael Romero didn’t need to come over.

            Looking out the front room bay window I noticed that Kyle Foote was gesturing and being really animated at Danny Montoya. It looked like he was yelling at him. I know that body language for when Kyle lost his temper with me a few times, and I was concerned, he was having another episode for some reason. I couldn’t hear what it was all about although when I took a garbage bag out to the trash can Kyle acted like everything was fine.

He even said that Danny had made an appointment with the same barbers that cut my hair last time, to cut theirs and mine tomorrow at their new location in West Valley. Later they took off again and I didn’t hear from them until after I went to bed about 9.

            In the news the little old lady who just happened to be on her back porch when that small plane crashed into her house in West Jordan died. So sad. Life is so unpredictable how one minute you’re enjoying being out side on your porch and the next minute a plane crashes into your house. She was 74 years old and probably was home self-isolating.

28 July 2020 Tuesday

I was up and down all night and didn’t get much sleep. First Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya kind of woke me up by turning on and off the bathroom light, and then I was bit by some damn mosquito that kept me up, itching my hand. I found it nearly impossible to sleep when all I could feel was the burning sensation of the mosquito bites on my hands. So, I eventually just got up and started typing up my entries from the month of May from my 1987 journal. It thundered a bit during the night when I finally tried going back to sleep which made TJ and Lulubelle shiver.

            When I got up after 6 this morning I saw that it had rained some last night but not a soaking rain but rain never the less and I was grateful for that.

Other than getting a haircut and beard trim it was an uneventful day with just Jimmy Adams working downstairs although Zane Baum came during the last hour I think. Now is all the detail work that takes more time.

            Kyle Foote asked if I wanted to go get a haircut yesterday and I said sure so he made an appointment at the Throwback Barber Company for 12:30. The shop moved from their location near the Pride Center down to West Jordan off of Redwood Road and about 87^th South. Danny Montoya went with us and actually I think he paid for my hair cut this time. A man named Chayse Munguia, who I suppose owns the barber shop, cut my beard and hair this time, while Kyle and Danny had other barbers do theirs. The shop is like an upscale old fashion barber shop with just men barbers who still use a razor to trim around the ears. I like that. I have no Idea how much it costs but I doubt whether was under $30 and that is without tipping.

            After coming back to the house, I just watched a few more episodes of Ghost Hunters while everyone was a way. I was tired from lack of sleep last night but didn’t take a nap so that when I went to bed finally around 9 I wanted to be able to sleep through the night.

            July is quickly coming to a close and this is about the hottest time of the year. It’s going to be in the high 90’s all week and may hit 100 a few times. It’s the dog days of summer for real now.

29 July 2020 Wednesday

Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum were here working in the basement today doing more detail work. The glass for the shower was installed today but other than that it was hard to see any major work.

            I went to Deseret Industries this morning, mainly just to get out of the house but I did find what I was kind of looking for and that is two bird feeders. One is a four sided metal one with decorative sun emblems on it and the other is more of a wooden bird house in the form of a County Store. I also bought a couple of small serving bowls, a shirt and a pair of pink shorts.

When I came home Zane said that TJ had come down to visit them in the basement. That little shit can never be alone. He has to be with people. I suppose while I was at the store he opened the upstairs gate and went into the basement where Zane and Jimmy were working. He could have just walked out the garage but no, he's got to be with people. Plus, he's nosy.

Kyle Foote asked me to transfer $3,000 into his account for more material and that leaves about $9,500 left from the refinancing. I am not sure how much he will need for the bathroom and kitchen remodel.

            I made some limeade today and that was refreshing rather than the soda pop I have been drinking.

            I took Coco home over to Mike’s and fed the dogs some baked chicken but they didn’t seem to be very hungry. I had been snacking more than eating for much of the day but did make a bean tostado for my supper.

I watched “Aguirre The Wrath of God” on the Criterion Channel. It sure is an intense film. Afterwards I cleaned the kitchen and around 8:30 this evening I went into the back yard to water. It’s been hot and dry and supposed to get up into the 100’s by this weekend.

            Kyle and Danny Montoya came home about then and they sat out in the backyard in chairs beneath the Ash tree for a while. I knew they wanted to be alone so I went to bed. They came in and started watching another episode of Dynasty while the pups and I went to our room to go to bed.

I’m not sure what went on after I went to bed tonight but I was woken by the commotion of Kyle and Danny stomping up and down the stairs and it sounded like they were having a fight or quarrel. I stayed out of it until I heard the garage door being opened and I wasn’t sure what that was all about.

So, at 11:30 I look out the front bay window as they drove off in the Rogue with Danny driving and Kyle getting in the passenger seat.

            They had left the television set on so I turned off everything they had left on and tried to go back to bed. I guess I will know something more tomorrow.

I've seen a lot of bad U.S. Attorney Generals in my life time and thought none were as criminal as John Mitchell until Bill Barr. We get corrupt Attorney Generals under despotic conservative presidents a lesson most Americans have forgotten

30 July 2020 Thursday

It was 101 degrees today and supposed to be just as hot tomorrow. Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya spent the night here but left the house at 7 this morning. I was up by 6:30 and out in the front yard watering before Mike Romero brings Coco by.

I have not seen the pair of them all day. I know something went on last night because downstairs it looked like melted ice-cream had been splattered on the door leading into the casita like it had been thrown. There was a bit of a mess on the concrete floor but that had been kind of cleaned up.

            I took some Windex and cleaned the doors and walls of any of the mess that had splattered. Jimmy Adams noticed the mess of course and I just said that I had tripped last night and made the mess but was too tired to clean it up. I didn’t know what else to tell him since he doesn’t know that Kyle and Danny sleep here.

            Jimmy wasn’t here long as he said Kyle pulled him off working in the basement to go work at another site so I was home alone all day. Later in the afternoon Jim Dabakis dropped Taco off for his weekend visit. He and Michael are the only people I interacted with all day.

            In the evening as I was watching some television either Kyle or Danny came in as I heard them slamming about but whoever it was took off again and I went to bed by 10.

            In the news Utah now has 300 deaths from Covid19 and the governor said that when schools reopen parents will have the option of sending their kids to school if they have had been exposed to the virus instead of quarantining them. The Gross National Product dropped a third of its value since April making it the worse collapse since records have been kept.

            Then Herman Cain, who was once the CEO of Godfather Pizza and had run for President on the Republican ticket died of Covid19 after having attended Trumps Tulsa Oklahoma rally not wearing a mask. As far as I am concerned Herman Cain committed suicide by stupidity. Of these two men John Lewis and Herman Cain, which one led the most useful life? Pretty self-evident.

Then there’s the hateful Texas Republican Louie Gohmert, who refusing to wear a mask while in Congress, has tested positive for coronavirus. It will serve him right if he dies too.

31 July 2020 Friday

It was 104 degrees today and it is expected to be in the 100’s all this weekend. I was out watering at 6:30 this morning to try and keep things from drying out in this extreme heat. Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya took off without saying 2 words to me and I haven’t heard nor seen them all day. They never came back to the house.

            I wasn’t sure that anyone was going to show up to do any work at the house but about 10 Jimmy Adams showed up and did some painting trim in the basement. At noon I went down and visited with him during his lunch break. Except for Michael Romero, he was the only person I interacted with all day.

I wish Kyle would tell me more what is going on with him but I just keep my mouth shut so not to set him off. He is probably under a lot of pressure from his Build Team Business and his relationship with Danny Montoya.

            All my huge poplar trees have been chopped down but the stumps still haven’t been removed and there are huge tree trunks still left in the north side yard. The south fence and RV pad turned out nice as did the downstairs entrance beneath the bay window. However, everything else is still a mess. Half of my garage is filled with a washer and dryer, and kitchen stuff, tiles for the upstairs bathroom remodel and lots of tools but at least I can park on my side of the garage so I can get the pups into the FIT to give them rides. But still, I feel like my house is just so unsettled but this is 2020 and what isn’t?

            So, this is the end of Covid19 July. Over 150,000 Americans are dead, 300 of them here in Utah, financial AID to the unemployed expired without Congress coming up with a plan to renew it as well as the moratorium on eviction of renters expired also.

            I myself am in a relatively comfortable position as long as my pension and social security continues. My physical health seems to be holding however I have some bouts of depression from self-isolating. Keeping up the house and yard and taking care of my four pups, as well as Coco and Taco at time keeps me active. But sometimes I think why bother with the house when no one comes to visit and for the same reason why keep up the yard except that I am too responsible not to keep it up.

            So, life goes on and on.

AUGUST

1 August 2020 Saturday

I could not sleep without knowing where Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya were so I stayed up until nearly 2:30 in the morning reviewing the month of July in my journal. The moon is almost full and while standing on the veranda it was a clear warm night at 85 degrees.

            When I did get up at 6:30 this morning the first day of Lammas I water the front and back yard as it was going to be in the 100’s today. I think it did top out at 102. I picked my first big zucchini today and now what to do with it. Probably will take some bread but it’s too hot right now.

I then went to Darla’s Donuts down on Redwood Road and bought a lemon filled Bismarck, a buttermilk donut, and an apple fritter. On the way back I stopped at Lucky’s where I wanted to buy a roasted chicken and perhaps some BBQ ribs for the pups they didn’t have any out so early in the morning.

            Those were the only excursions I did today. I spent hours finishing up typing my 1987 Journal from May and proofing it before sending it off to Daniel Cureton.

I never heard a word from Kyle. I suppose I really didn’t expect to. I wonder if Danny went back to Phoenix as he said he was supposed to be back there by the 1^st of August.

            Jim Dabakis came and got Taco this afternoon when I was typing so I didn’t even know it until he messengered me that he had the little wart.

When I'm on my death bed and my life flashes before my eyes I will say don’t bother because I've gotten it all written down in my journals” I'm typing them up for a Historical record of the times of what it was like being a Gay activist in SLC 33 years ago. I am still friends on face book with some of the people I wrote about in 1987 like Michael Anderson, Chip Prince, and Curtis Jensen.

Typing up the hand written pages gives me something to do while self-isolating and mostly living alone with Kyle gone most of the time, so I don’t go stir crazy . I wrote so much about friends back then but now I write mostly about my pups “it’s different being 69 years old instead of 36”

I watched West Side Story until the intermission and then went to bed at night. TJ woke me up and I thought it was in the middle of the night but it wasn’t even midnight. My sleep schedule is way off.

2 August 2020 Sunday

It was another hot dry day. It was at least 100 degrees maybe more. I was out in the front yard at 6 this morning pruning and watering until 8 when it started to warm up. I cut back all the irises on the north side of the porch steps and went out into the wild garden and cut back all the dead Oriental poppies and also some other spring time plants that had died in the summer heat.

            I baked four mini loaves of Zucchini bread this morning with chocolate chips, Mormon style. It wouldn't be Lammas without baking bread with zucchini from my garden.

At noon I have 3 pups in the recliners with me. Buster likes his safe spot in the bedroom closet where he has a doggie bed. He refuses to come out of the closet but we all know he's big old sissy. I miss socializing with human type critters who converse and not just bark but am grateful for their companionship and love.

I had Black eye peas for lunch. Yes I am that kind of Texan. It needs cornbread, however. lol. My cousin Stephanie wrote Grandma Anne used to make the best black-eyed peas.

Didn’t leave the house today and just typed and tried to find something to watch that wouldn’t be too involved. The house still heats up in the late afternoon from the western sun and the flies are back but not nearly as bad as they were a few years ago. I just swat away at them.  My house needs a really good cleaning but what’s the point with all the construction dust going and a quarter of my south back yard is dirt that gets tracked in. Oh well. Someday I will be just dirt and ashes too.

I went to bed about 9:30 tonight as my bedroom is cooler than the front room that is warmer because of the kitchen and dining room heat. The dogs woke me up sometime later as Kyle Foote must have come home.

3 August 2020 Monday

Its 7 in the morning and it's already 80 degrees outside. I've been out since 630 watering. My Lammas yard is still blooming in the summer heat. My gladiolas however need staking. My hollyhocks are still blooming majestically, and l enjoy my lavender Tansy that blooms in the heat of summer and of course the sunflowers and roses are thriving. I should clean up some of the beds but it's too damn hot.

So, I get into my time machine and travel back to 1987 via my journals. The plague we were dealing with back then was AIDS but no one gave a shit because it was a Gay disease except for the "innocent victims" who weren't Gay.

I took Coco in to be groomed at 8:30 this morning at the pet grooming school. They were done by 12:30 so that’s not bad. They did a nice job on her and even with a $5 tip it was under $50. I made another appointment for her on Billy Bikowski’s birthday September 28 at 9:30.

Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum were over today and worked a little on the back porch cover until it became way to hot because of the radiant heat off of the aluminum siding. It was around 102 degrees today. When they were through I sent them home with squash from my garden and a zucchini bread mini loaf each.

I made a pot of Pinto Beans this morning and bought a package of Monterey Jack Tamale at  Lucky’s. I had them for my supper.

I'm In Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine today researching the history of 579 West 200 South. I was shocked how out of touch I am that a new club had opened called Bottoms Up at that location and even more shocked that they were victims of the Corvid19 shut down and they closed up shop in early June. The building is vacant now but I have been researching the building itself that dates back into the 19th Century. I've found a number of suicides, a series of deaths, miscegenation, and orgies that occurred on the location and that's just between 1890 and 1920s. I will write up my findings for my Lambda Lore column as that the building has been the location of a Gay bar and clubs since 1986.

I have got to do something to keep from being just a recluse” and besides I like the research “Salt Lake City was so naughty in old Greek Town. No wonder Gays were so attracted to that area “ 200 South could have been named Gay Town as well as Greek Town lol.

I talked to Alan Anderson today who said that Roseman Dental University is back taking patients so I called them and was surprised that they could get me in this Friday at 10.

Loni the South Pacific guy came over about 7 this evening with his two boys and he cut the stump of my poplar tree way down. He worked until around 9 when it was dark. The days are starting to get shorter with twilight coming sooner in the evening.

Some astronauts came home safely from the Space Station by means of a space capsule built by Space X and splashed down in the ocean. It’s the first in 45 years.

So, this pandemic isn't my first rodeo and I will muddle through the best I can. Thank God I am a retired school teacher. What a nightmare for those who aren't retired. They are just cannon fodder for the GOP.

4 August 2020 Tuesday

I was out watering at 6:30 this morning and Kyle Foote left a bit before 7. He actually came over and visited a bit with me and gave me a hug. All is forgiven.

I am so out of touch that when I drove down State Street I saw that the Reams Grocery Store was all closed up. That certainly was a surprised. I first shopped at Reams in Provo when I attended BYU. I had shopped several times at the one on State Street as I liked the produce section and it was fairly inexpensive even if then always added on 10 percent at the end.

No one was here this morning when I left to go see Bill Poore today. I picked him up at 11:30 and we went to Arctic Circle where I had a Raspberry Shake but he just wanted a coke. We think about doing lunch these days but we never do it anymore. Although we are both hungry for hot and sour soup there is not a Chinese place around anymore that is open for a sit down.

We came back to the house and sat in chairs beneath the Globe Willow in the backyard. Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum were at the house when I came with Bill Poore. They had just gotten a late start for some reason so they worked downstairs where it is cooler. They said tomorrow they will put up the covering over the veranda.

I gave Bill a mini loaf of zucchini bread I made the other day. I've given them all away so I hope they were good. I gave my last one to Mike Romero when I took Coco home in the late afternoon. He said the NAPA main warehouse was shut down again because of employees testing positive for the virus. He also said he dropped Costco and is going to go with Sam’s Club because the membership is cheaper and he mainly uses his card for gasoline.

I worked mainly on finding information about the Albany Hotel that stood where the In-Between, Bricks, Club Sound, and Bottoms Up were all located at 579 West 200 South. I am going through old newspapers that have been digitalized and copying them. It’s laborious but interesting.

I called my sister Donna Jones in the late afternoon. She had been trying to get a hold of me. Nothing new, she just wanted to visit.

            Kyle Foote asked me to go with him to Sutherlands to pick out some electrical stuff he needs for the down stairs Casita. The toilet was put in today finally. That’s a milestone of a sorts. He said that his company made $100,000 this week, his most profitable. He also hired a woman named Rachel Rogue as a project manager for his company.

5 August 2020 Wednesday

I didn’t leave the house today and Mike Romero had to come get Coco as the taper and mudder guy was in the garage doing his thing.

            Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum worked some on covering the deck so as to keep the western afternoon sun from baking my kitchen and dining room.

            I spent most of the day looking at Digital Utah Newspapers research the Albany Hotel that was once on the corner of 200 South and 600 West.

            Another scorcher today over 100 degrees.

6 August 2020 Thursday

I've been researching the history of the old building at 579 West 200 South for the past couple of days and have 22 pages of material that I condensed down to 1200 words for my Lambda Lore column that I finished today.

That corner saw a lot of events come and go since the first building, the Albany Hotel, was built there in 1890. The western portion of 200 South between 500 West and 600 West had to have been the most racially and ethnically diverse area of anywhere in the city but eventually lapsed into a derelict stretch in the 1950s through the 1990s.

It is so interesting to read about the arrests, the suicides, the robberies, the sex scandals that occurred on that little corner of Salt Lake. There has even been a saloon or bar on that corner for over 130 years. I find it fascinating to read about past events of the phantoms that once thrived there in a place where so much Gay history took place too.

And long before the development of the area Native Americans buried their dead near the spot as skeletons were found when the Rio Grande put their depot there in the 1880s” I love Salt Lake City the Crossroads of the West.

Jimmy Adams was the only one working at the house today so he mostly did odds and ends in the Casita as that he couldn’t do much by himself on the deck.

I went to Lucky’s to get some food for the pups and specifically a roasted chicken, however when I came home I found that I must have left it in the bagging carousel at the store. That was frustrating but it was too hot for me to bother going back to try and retrieve it.

I took Coco home and gave the pups their ride. I stopped at McDonalds to get a large Dr. Pepper with extra ice as I usually do. Brad Hart lives just a couple of house up the street from McDonalds and I sometimes I get a little melancholy over him but I guess it was not meant to be. I guess it’s for the best as we really were quite different.

Jim Dabakis came and dropped off Taco today so he could spend time with the pups. It’s almost like we share joint custody. Ha!

Kyle Foote was home early to work on some of the electrical switches downstairs and I went with him to China Delight where he ordered an Orange Chicken Rice bowl. I didn’t want anything as I was still full from eating some ice cream.

The news is full of coverage of the blast that went off in Beirut, Lebanon when over 2500 tons of ammonium Nitrate fertilizer exploded killing people and wrecking much of the city. The explosion of up to 2.4 million pounds of TNT was almost like a small atomic bomb.

7 August 2020 Friday

Early this morning I was out in the front yard cleaning up some of my flower beds from plants that had dried up over have gone to seed. It’s full summer flowers now so all the plants from last spring needed cleaning up.

I went to my Roseman Dental appointment this morning at 10 and was there until 11:30 doing an examination. My blood pressure was way too high to do any actual work but I do have a bunch of cavities that will need being taken care of. I made another appointment for August 19^th at 10 in the morning again. All the students and teachers wore Personal Protection equipment including face shields, so I felt pretty confident being there.

            Only Jimmy Adams worked in the basement today and I spent much of the day on the computer looking at the Utah Digital Newspaper Archives.

            Congress couldn’t reach an agreement on a relief package because the GOP was not willing to compromise.

            Someone wrote on Face book “If the school can't control the spread of lice, the flu, pink eye, chicken pox, how can they control Covid19?” So true. Over 160,000 dead in America and here in Utah we are about 350 dead. 100s of thousands of motorcyclists are descending on Sturgis this weekend almost all not wearing masks or social distancing. People are referring to them as the walking dead.          

8 August 2020 Saturday

The only time I left the house today was to take Taco Bell home over to Jim Dabakis’ place on B Street above the Cathedral of the Madeleine. The pups needed a ride and it was late in the day so I called Jim and said I would just take the boy home. Besides I needed to get out of the house after being on the computer all day.

            My stomach was really gassy today, not sure why but I was uncomfortable and couldn’t eat much at all. The South Pacific Islanders were over this afternoon sawing the poplar tree logs down into smaller chunks that they said would be hauled away on Monday.

            It was only in the 90’s today instead of the 100’s but everything is so parched

9 August 2020 Sunday

I worked all morning on researching and writing up what I found on Belle London aka Dora Topham, and the stockade that corralled all the prostitution in Salt Lake in the area of 200 South and 600 West north of the old In-Between. It was a social experiment that only last about 3 years. That took most of my day and I posted it on my Utah Stonewall Lecture Face Book page.

            Kyle Foote came home early about 5 this afternoon and we visited some. He said he may have hired two new guys for his Build Team construction business. I had him finally open the package that Craig Crawford had sent as it had my name on it but I knew it was for Kyle. In it was two rainbow-knitted face masks. ha! They are Colorful but not practical for preventing the virus getting to you. We took a picture of us wearing them anyway to send to Craig.

            In the evening Kyle was hungry for pizza so I went with him to Woods cross to this place in the plaza where the old K-Mart parking lot used to be and is now anchored by Smith’s Food King. The place was called “MOD” and Kyle likes it because it has a fire brick oven in which they bake their pizzas. I just had one slice. It was not bad.

            The weather was down in the mid-nineties so I did do some yard clean up in the late afternoon.

            Trumpenstein is trying to destroy Social Security by eliminating the Payroll Tax that funds it.

10 August 2020 Monday

I had the weirdest dreams about the pups last night. I suppose because TJ was uncomfortable and would yelp at times. I think he has arthritis in that one leg that I took him to the vet last year when he was taking shots. The strangest dream was about Buddy who in my dream was Sam. I was taking a bath in Jean Horan’s house [it was a dream] and suddenly Buddy appeared alive with his foot was in the water before jumping out.

I was so surprised and amaze that he had come back to life and even carried him home across the street for mom to see the miracle. It felt wonderful to be carrying him in my arms and having him look up at me with those endearing eyes of his.

Later my dreams were about the pups getting out of the yard on Fernleaf because those removing the logs from the backyard kept leaving gates open. A strange night for dreams about Michael Romero’s trailer stuck in the mud in the front yard and clearing out all my wooden furniture from the house to take to the dump.

            I spent the entire day researching the phantoms of 200 South.

11 August 2020 Tuesday

I woke up at 5 this morning craving donuts so I drove down to 2300 South and Redwood to Darla’s donuts. It was still pitch-black out when I driving down. They opened at 5 and I was down there 15 minutes after they opened. I bought a Cinnamon Twist, an Apple Fritter, and two Old Fashions but only had the cinnamon twist with my coffee this morning.

            I spent most of the day still researching and writing up information on the history of the corner of 600 West and 200 South. In 1907 a police officer was shot and killed at that intersection when the saloon at the Albany Hotel was robbed. The old hotel never recovered its reputation after that.

            Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum worked downstairs in the Casita doing finishing work, getting faucets working, the microwave in place and the cabinets reconfigured. They were out of water so I bought two cases for them while I was at Lucky’s supermarket.

            Chuck Whyte called me in the afternoon. I hadn’t heard from him in quite a while. He is doing some physical therapy on his leg and I guess on his left arm that he can hardly use. He said he thinks he might have had a small stroke. That won’t kept him from attending a Royal Court monthly meeting tonight at St. Anne’s on 21^st South. I guess he’s donating some of his own items for a fundraiser for the People With AIDS fund.

            He mainly called to tell me some shocking news about Greg Allen. I guess he is in jail and will be there for 200 days! Chuck has a hard time speaking much anymore but from what I could gather is that Greg got involved with doing drugs and he was on a chat line with someone he thought was a 15 year old boy who was actually a police decoy. He was arrested and sentenced. That is so sad that his life has gone to crap ever since he and Jay broke up.

I took a little day trip to Logan this afternoon with Kyle Foote so he could buy another vehicle for his company. He hired another woman who will do design and will use the car I suppose. He paid $9000 for a white GMC Terrain.

Sardine canyon was gorgeous but the traffic going through Ogden and Clearfield was brutal for about a 10 mile stretch of 5 to 10 mph traffic. I was used to that in California but can’t handle it in my golden years. Remind me not to head north or south for a while until all the construction is done but I do love the Ogden Mountain Range just north of Ogden, however.

Back home by 6:15 in the evening, I fed the dogs and when Kyle came in he wanted to go to the Spaghetti Factory as he hadn’t eaten anything all day. I really wasn’t hungry at all and it was late but wanted to spend time with Kyle and hear how his business is expanding. We walked around Trolley Square while waiting for a table. The place is just a shell of what it was in its hay-day in the 1970s and 80’s.

It was after 7:30 before we were seated. Lots of social distancing, and we were seated way back in a part of the restaurant I had never been before. We split a meal or rather I had the minestrone soup and some buttered bread while Kyle ordered the Manager’s special which is half Mizithra cheese and half red spaghetti sauce. 

Kyle said that he thinks that by this time next year he might have 20 people employed in his Build Team Business with a fleet of company vehicles.

The big news of the day is that Joe Biden finally announced his Vice-President pick. She is Senator Kamala Harris and is half Jamaican and half Asian Indian so besides being a woman she’s making history as a black Asian woman. 

12 August 2020 Wednesday

No one was here to work at the house today because they had been pulled off to work on another site. So, I went down to Day Break at noon for a visit with T.J. Otaka and Jim McMullin. TJ fixed a nice lunch and I brought them loaves of zucchini bread but I forgot the bag of brown rice which was my main reason to go down besides telling them gossip about Greg Allen. We visited for nearly 3 hours and I think they appreciate the company before they just don’t go out anywhere. I guess we are all doing well.

Trini Lopez the singer from the 1960’s died of the coronavirus. He was 83 years old.

13 August 2020 Thursday

I am a compulsive addict when it comes to Salt Lake City, especially researching the underbelly that you don’t hear much about like scandalous Second South. I have been on the computer since 7 this morning reaching newspaper accounts, directories, and censuses about the long dead scalawags law breakers who frequented 200 South and 600 West.  

There’s so much forgotten drama at the Albany Hotel that anchored 600 West and 2^nd South that burned down in 1919 and where a series of Gay clubs existed since 1986 like the In-between, Bricks, Club Sound, The Venue, and Bottoms Up.

When the hotel burned the only fatality was a 40 year old woman of color named Lulu Johnson. I've spent much of the day trying to find out who she was and how she ended up in a derelict flop house. I am sure she was buried in a pauper grave.

It’s been really fascinating to read the news accounts, how the Albany Hotel, in its 30 years, went from a premier hostelry for train passenger from the Denver and Rio Grande depot to a "disorderly house" used for prostitution and a flop house”

            Zane Baum and Jimmy Adams were back doing finishing work in the basement but the unfinished wiring is hold them up.

14 August 2020 Friday

The downstairs basement studio apartment, I call the Casita, is almost done “the electrical work needs to be wired up so the washer and dryer can go in and the mini refrigerator. There’s not much more that can be done down there until the outlets are hooked up. The next project is to finish roofing my veranda.

            The Islands were over in the evening removing the tree logs from the old poplar and getting the ground ready to pour concrete next week. I will believe it when I see it.

I am glad I refinanced when I did because Trumpenstein is tacking on $1500 to all refinancing in October. Now tell me again how both political parties are the same

15 August 2020 Saturday

My handicap sticker that Bill Poore gave me last year has expired so I guess until he gives me a new one-if he gives me a new one- I will go back to being normal.

            Kyle Foote showed up in the late afternoon with Danny Montoya so I know he won’t get to doing anything downstairs. I hope he gets an electrician in to do it if he won’t.

In the news there’s most stories how Trump’s pick for Postmaster General is doing everything he can to sabotage mail delivery because Trump doesn’t want people voting by mail. Fortunately, Utah has been extremely progressive in this area and has allowed voting by mail in voting for years “they even eliminated being able to vote all Democrat or Republican so you have to actually vote for people” I vote for all them who have a Big D by their names because voting Democrat means never having to say you're sorry.

16 August 2020 Sunday

Roy Zang called me this morning to see what was up about the Go Fund Me Page for Joe Redburn. We are both skeptical about it because Joe is a veteran and if would not go homeless and they would help him.

I made a quick trip to Daybreak at 11 to deliver some summer squash and a big zucchini, some tomatoes, a couple of cucumbers and a bundle of basil and mint herbs from by garden to T.J. Otaka and Jim McMullin. I also brought out a 20 pound bag of brown rice that Kyle and Danny bought last March at Costco when they were panic buying. I know I will never use it and T.J. will. I only stayed an hour because I had just had a nice visit earlier in the week

Then I came home and took a nap as I had been up since 3:30 this morning researching the phantoms of 200 South.

I made some Sugar cookies some frosted, some rolled in cinnamon sugar this afternoon. I still bake to remind me how, even if no one is here to eat them” I miss baking cookies and bringing them to my history lecture group” I miss my friends and the good times we shared as a group “but to everything there is a season” I still have my pups to cook for “tonight sautéed pork and chicken breasts.

I cooked up a roast beef the other day for the pups “they were kind enough to let me make a few trays of roast, potatoes and gravy, and green beans for supper so I don’t have to heat up the house or end up eating crackers and cheese like I usually do”

I think I discovered two World War II vets, one who operated the Three Aces Café at 375 West on 200 South from 1957-1959. After these men met in the early 1960's they moved to Jackson Hole Wyoming and ran the Wrangler Café there from 1966 to 1972 and several motels and campgrounds there before retiring and moving to Mesa Arizona. They returned to Utah where they died one in 1991 at the age of 70 and the other in 1993 at 74.

One of the obituaries said "survived by business partner and friend" while naming the man who died in 1993. The other's obituary from 1993 said "he loved, traveling, cooking, bargain shopping, dancing and singing” and especially his “family and dogs.”

I would hate to presume but my gaydar went off big time.

That little corner of Salt Lake City is like a gold mine of history. even James Dabakis proposing to his husband there. So much happened there in eras long past and forgotten.

            It was a year ago today that I met Taco Belle when Jim Dabakis brought him over to see how he’d get along with my gang as Jim was going to go to Mexico for about a month” and the rest is history

17 August 2020 Monday

No one worked at the house today. So, all alone am I. When I took Coco home the car temp said it was 104 outside. I’m not sure it was that hot but it’s hot enough.

Roy Zang called and asked if he could borrow the Sonoma for Saturday because he’s moving to downtown. I said certainly.

At 6:30 this evening it was still 99 degrees. The Democratic Convention began totally different from in the past almost all like in conference videos…no crowds of boisterous delegates. I was so impressed with Michelle Obama’s take down of the Trump administration saying that he was way over his head as president. A gal in Arizona gave a speech saying that her father died of Covid19 and his only pre-condition was trusting Donald Trump.

While looking up information on the 200 South block during the 1940’s I found something I found interesting. The street had a lot of Japanese living there and this Ben and his brother Kay Terashima lived on the block between 500 West and 600 West. They were Americans born in Weber Utah in 1915 and 1917. However, Ben was arrested for owning 4 cameras in violation of a wartime act that prevented Japanese from owning cameras. Still in 1988 Ben was awarded a lifetime membership with the Professional Photographers of America and owned the Terashima Photography Studios in downtown SLC for years

18 August 2020 Tuesday

Jimmy Adams didn’t come today so I bet he finally found a place and took the time off to get situated. It was record breaking heat today at 101 degrees but I am sure it was hotter than that in at various times. They measure the official temperature out here by the airport. I heard that it’s going to be in the high 90’s and even some hundreds for the rest of the month.  The house has been nice and cool though so the pups and I are comfortable.

            I’ve been getting up around 5 in the morning. It’s what old people do I suppose. I type on the computer the research I am doing on 2^nd South for a bit then go out and water some before Coco is dropped off. We have not had a drop of rain in over 19 days so the land is bone dry especially with all this heat. My grass is about gone in the back yard without any sprinkler system.

            Researching the Polk City Directories, the Utah Newspaper Archives, and Ancestry.com pretty much occupies my day. I saw Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya briefly when they dropped by at 6 this evening. The South Pacific Islanders came by this evening too and did little work but I still have huge logs between my neighbor and my house. Oh well.

            Today marked the 100^th anniversary of women’s right to vote.

19 August 2020 Wednesday

It was hot again, with 100 officially breaking a record but I think it was hotter than when driving around. I took a break from working on researching 2^nd South but I was up early at 5:30 to water the front yard and clean up some of the flower beds. 

I went to the Roseman Dentist School this morning at 10 but couldn’t get anything done because my blood pressure readings were too high. It has to be under 160 before they are allowed to work on you. I had been taking pills faithfully for nearly 3 weeks to get my blood pressure down so I was disappointed. When I came back home I checked my prescription bottles and I guess I had only been taking Lisinopril and Lipitor when I should have also been taking Amlodipine which I was out of. So, I ordered a refill so hopefully my blood pressure will be under 160 by next Thursday.  I have another appointment for the 27^th at 9 in the morning for a cleaning.

            I like my new student who is a Japanese woman but I don’t know her name yet. She went over a dental plan with me that requires a tooth extraction of a back molar and a whole bunch of cavity fillings.

            Jimmy Adams was here today building a cabinet shelf for the downstairs bathroom out of real wood that will be stained to look nice. When I went out to pick up my prescription I also stopped at Lucky’s because they had Power Ade sport drinks on sale for 49 cents so I bought 20 of them to keep in the refrig in the garage for the guys.

            The South Pacific Islanders came over at 4:30 and were here until 8:30 this evening grinding down the poplar stump and getting the backyard behind the house prepared for concrete sometime soon I imagine.

            I had a message from Connell O’Donovan that I ignored wanting some information for some woman who contacted him. she thinks her grandfather had a Gay bar on 2^nd South in the 1980’s. I doubt it as she said his name was Jim Thorne. Anyway, I have no intention of helping him as he only deals with me when he wants something and also he said she was a “Mormon Republican” but nice… that’s an oxymoron.

            Michael Aaron message me also that Bob Henline died. I suppose today. He didn’t say when or why but checking face Book it sounds like he had a heart attack a couple of days ago. He was an ally and wrote for the QSalt Lake several years ago before moving off to Montana. After that I lost track of him. He certainly was a pit bull who went after Valerie Larabee, John Netto, and Steve Ha at the pride center on 4^th South.

            In the news Kamala Harris was officially nominated as Joe Biden’s vice president running mate.  President Obama and Madam Secretary Clinton gave speeches tonight.

20 August 2020 Thursday

I made an appointment to see Dr. Stoneburner for this Monday at 8:40. I had a notice that they were seeing patients inside the clinic again so I went on line to see what times were available and I was surprised to see that there was an early appointment opening for Monday so I grabbed it.

It’s kind of dizzying seeing so much change happening at the house. Just last spring I had, in the backyard, a tool shed, three 40 foot poplar trees and a fire pit with a paving stone patio, a flowering pear tree, a redbud tree and a castor tree but now all are gone”  so as to have concrete poured to move my hot tub into the Northwest corner.

My south side yard is under stress too, without a sprinkler system this summer.  The grass is about shot, but I have a new fence, my veggie garden and fruit trees are doing well.

I have a new patio area where I moved the paving stones and flag stones and now I have my little table there beneath my Ash tree. Gone are my 40 foot silver poplar tree and my two 40 foot poplars that shaded the house. It seems so weird to see into neighbors’ backyards after all these years.

Oh yes, I am also having a cover put over the veranda that runs the length of the house. That should be nice when all is said and done and the weather cools off enough to work in the yard again. So, there’s big changes at the House of the Barking Dog.

            The South Islanders came over with a truck load of fill dirt to spread out in the back yard where they are going to pour concrete. Backing the truck in, they almost hit the corner of my garage. It was so nerve wracking and also their truck was so overload that the engine was burning up. The smell of burnt engine fuel was everywhere.

 I can hardly bare to watch. I was glad that Jimmy Adams was here to keep an eye on them as they dumped the truck’s load in the back.

Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya came home at 6:30 and Jim Dabakis was here having dropped Taco Belle off for the weekend. I had Jim come in and we visited a spell about my research on 2^nd South. He also had some questions for Danny about a private jet company and with Kyle about some prison reform.

            Jim told me an antidotal story about his friend John Prince, who when he was married bought his daughter a pony. But when neighbors complained and said his property was too small for it, he had to find a new home for the critter. He offered he put an ad in the paper offering it free to a good home.  Jim said a bunch of Tongans came to get the pony, and then took a sludge hammer and killed the pony right in from of John and his daughter. They just wanted the pony for the meat. Jim says whenever he thinks of Tongans he is reminded of that story.

            I don’t know if these Islanders are Tongans, Samoans, or Micronesians. It doesn’t’ matter as long as they get the job done. I am happy with the cement pad they laid on the Dale Ridge side of my property but not too happy with them cutting down the trees.

I watched some of the last day of the Democratic Convention. I mean I don’t have to be convinced or inspired because I know what my convictions are but I think I really like watching the virtual convention more than watching it live. You actually get to hear the addresses without all the commentators yammering and competing with the racket from boisterous delegates. I mean nominations for the Presidency are sewed up weeks before the convention, so we know who the nominee is going to be. Besides I would think this year it's clear who will lead us in to authoritarianism and who will keep us a democratic republic.

I loved Mike Bloomberg giving Trump Hell and Pete Buttigieg was as cute as a button too. Joe Biden gave one of the best speeches I heard in a long time and if elected I think will make a great president.

21 August 2020 Friday

I work up at 1 in the morning, wide awake so I just got out of bed and went and worked on the computer until 3 in the morning. I slept in until 7:15 which was unusual and they did some watering in the back yard and give the pups their morning treats.

            Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya didn’t even leave the house until after 8:30 when Jimmy Adams had already showed up for work. That was awkward for Kyle because he doesn’t want his crew to know he is living here.

            The Islanders were here by 9 this morning prepping to pour cement. Well finally the Northwest back of my house had the cement poured and it's all done now except some clean up. No more falling leaves for me to clean up in the fall and twigs and other tree debris. Eventually the hot tub deck will be dismantled and placed snug in the corner and my yard will be open again instead of divided in to two sections. At the very least I will have to reseed the grass if not put down sod this fall. A little here a little there and it's coming together. I looked on line for some drought resistant flowing shrubs for the west fence of the yard. I think I will buy Double Flowering Japanese Rose which have bright yellow flowers and Blue Mist that have a blue kind of flower.

            Rich Butler came over this afternoon to visit and tell me all about his 6 week road trip that he and Brenda took across America to see their married daughter in Virginia. I guess they had a wonder time but Rich has to tell me in minutiae every stop they made. Well, he’s been a good friend and probably doesn’t have a lot of people with whom he can share.   I am just glad I wasn’t asked to watch his pups this time.

            Hopefully my Casita downstairs will be finished by the first of September. Jimmy Adams was here by himself most of the day until the late afternoon when Zane Baum came over for a bit. Mike Romero came about 3:30 to pick up Coco because work was slow so I didn’t have to take her home.

            I went with Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya into Bountiful so I could retrieve the Sonoma so Roy Zang can borrow it tomorrow

I got a call in the evening from the Redwood Clinic saying that Dr. Stoneburner was only seeing people via Zoom still so I canceled my appointment for Monday. I needed to have my blood pressure check but otherwise I am feeling fine.

In the evening, I went outside and cleaned up some of the mess the Islanders left behind. It was still quite warm out but I wanted to be doing something. It's been a long hot summer for sure and it's not over yet

Steve Bannon was arrested for duping people to donate to a go fund me account to build a wall along the Mexican Border. Ever get the feeling that the Republican Party is depending on people being either racist, stupid, or sociopathic? Among Trump loyalist I think they’re a trifecta.

The Post Master General has slowed down Seniors access to mail prescription drugs but since when have Republicans ever care about people's health? They poisoned Flint Michigan’s children to save a few bucks, they are refusing to give funding to school districts that don’t hold in school classes, the Republicans only care about unborn fetuses and not the living and breathing.

22 August 2020 Saturday

I wish we could get a good rain like we had 2 years ago on this day. Everything is bone dry even with watering and the ground is parched

Roy Zang came over this morning around 8 to borrow the Sonoma and had it for most of the day. He moved a lot of things into a storage unit because he’s moving from a two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom down on West Temple and about 8th South. Jimmy Adams worked today in the Casita to make up some hours he lost when he took some time off to move earlier this week.

Jimmy Adams made a closet shelf and cabinet for the down stairs bathroom “the bottom pulls out as a hamper. Except for light switches the new bathroom is done.

            I took Taco Belle home to Jim Dabakis around now and he told me some news. I have been researching the 200 South block between 500 West and 600 West for much of the summer and especially 579 West. I now just heard from Jim Dabakis  that Tom Taylor who had owned the property for 27 years has just very recently sold it. The building is to be razed and apartments put up there. I found it coincidental that I have been obsessed with saving that corners bit of history. Just as most people who parties at Club Sound did not know they were dancing in the remains of the old Albany hotel, future apartment dwellers will not know they are living on the spot where Gay folks partied for 34 years” and so it goes the march of time.

23 August 2020 Sunday

I got up in the middle of the night and noticed that both Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya were asleep in the lazy boys in the front room. That was kind of something new for them. It was another hot and dry August day.

After posting some histories of 200 South on my Stonewall History Face book Page I decided to do some clean up under the deck. I worked outside cleaning up debris and lumber, sweeping, and watering until it got too hot. It was quite a mess and so I took down all the orange plastic barriers that kept the pups safe during the tree removals and cement pours. Then I cleaned all the leaves and debris and trash that accumulated over the summer under the hot tub deck. Well, I certainly won’t have that many leaves to clean anymore this fall. That is for sure. It quite warm but I only worked until noon. The day really heats up in the late afternoons.

            Danny Montoya left for Phoenix in the afternoon. I am sure it’s hell there but at least it’s not on fire like California and Colorado. Now they say two hurricanes will hit Louisiana at the same time one from the Atlantic and one from the Gulf. That has never happened before. It’s like God is saying to America get rid of the anti-Christ in the White House now.

            Kyle asked me to go with him tomorrow morning to take his Rogue in to have detailed as he’s going to let one of the gal’s he hired use it as part of her compensation package.

I guess the Whore of Babylon has destroyed Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden at the White House and my Face Book is lit up with comments about that.  The Narcissist in the White House is going to use the White House as a prop while he speaks during the four days of the Gawd awful GOP Convention. 

Deaths in Utah from Covid19 have reached nearly 500 and a national poll revealed that 57 percent of Republicans said that the 170,000 deaths is an acceptable amount while only 10 percent of Democrats do.  It confirms to me that Republicans are sociopathic.

24 August 2020 Monday

I went over to Sugar House to help Kyle Foote drop off his Rogue to be detailed this morning at 8. Sugar House is basically unrecognizable with all the 5 and 6 stories complexes going up over there. I took Kyle back over in the late afternoon and the detail place really did a nice job on it.

I wrote up a history on James Hegney the man that really developed 200 South in the 1800’s and posted in my Stonewall History page. I don’t know whether anyone will read it or even care but I enjoy it.

            I don’t plan on listening to the news for the next 4 days as I can’t stand to hear the incessant lies of the GOP and the narcissistic blathering of the liar in chief nor any of his henchmen and sycophants

Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum worked laying down the laminate floor in the walkway from the garage into the house and rehung the cabinets in the garage over the refrigerator so I have more room to park the FIT.

I learned from the Curiosity Stream channel that a new discovery in Pompeii suggest that the date of August 24 79 AD for the eruption is wrong for when  Pompeii was destroyed. It was more likely in October after the wine harvest.

25 August 2020 Tuesday

Who needs television soap operas when you have history? I have been so absorbed with researching the lost history of 200 South and one story connection will lead to another. In 1893 two men robbed a Chinese laundry at 565 West on the block and they were arrested at the Albany Hotel on 577 West. The two men were found in bed with Lena Carter the daughter of "General Carter" who led Utah’s contingency of unemployed men called the Industrial Army who were joining thousands of others to March on Washington for government relief. Then Lena Carter and her two paramours were arrested for fornication. Later Lena changed her name to “Mamie Evans” and became a prostitute in SLC and in Ogden. She was an associate of Belle London who in 1910, Salt Lake City had London manage prostitution in SLC by moving it to 200 South in the Stockade. However today I found out that Lena was shot and killed at the Union Pacific Depot in Ogden in 1897 by a jealous lover who then committed suicide”  so much forgotten passion.

            Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum laid a floor within the space beneath the stairs in that closet space.  It looks really nice. The logs that were piled in my neighbor’s side yard finally are gone. Jimmy said they came and took them yesterday but I guess I didn’t notice.

It showered this evening, with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning. I think it was the first rain we have had since July or the beginning of the month. Lulubelle is frightened by the noise and just shakes, kind of like Miss Priscilla used to do.

Kyle had me transfer $5000 into his account so there’s just about $4500 left of the equity from refinancing my mortgage.

In the news Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s enabler, resigned from the White House because her family is in shambles. Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned from Liberty University over a sex scandal involving his wife and a pool boy, and people are saying Trump Jr appeared to be on drugs when he talked at the GOP convention.

I need to remember this Password April@1951

26 August 2020 Wednesday

The power just to the bedroom was completely off this morning while the rest of the house was fine. That was weird but now that the power box is in the house I just had to go downstairs to see what got tripped.

27 August 2020 Thursday

I was concerned going to the Roseman Dental Clinic for a cleaning this morning that my blood pressure would be too high again but I guess all the pills I am taking is doing the trick as it was at 136. It cost $51 and I am going back this Monday at 9 again for either fillings or an extraction.

Afterwards I stopped at Lowes on the way home to look at paint chips. I am undecided on what shade of yellow I want, either butter, butterscotch, or a soft muted yellow” decisions, decisions.

Jimmy Adams and Zach Baum were working with three others of Kyle Foote’s Build Team working on finishing covering over the veranda. I suppose it will be shingled tomorrow. The electricians were here today to finally connect all the light switches and plugs downstairs.

The Crepe Myrtle that I ordered from Home Depot came today and it seemed in good condition so I may consider buying more plants that way, of the varieties I can’t find in the nurseries. I planted it near the south west corner of the side yard.

Afterwards I was inside for most of the day but worked little on my 2^nd South research even though I found more juicy details on the tragic murder of Lena Carter in 1897, alias Mamie Evans. She was a prostitute with ties to 2^nd South who was shot by a jealous lover in the Ogden Union Pacific Depot.

Jim Dabakis brought Taco over this afternoon and he said that he wants to find someone to do some research on the feud between rivals Millionaires Alfred McCune and Thomas Kearns for Utah’s Congressional Senate Seat. I suggested that he contact Daniel Cureton as someone who could do the research on the pair. 

One of my daily rituals this summer, when taking Coco home is to stop at McDonalds to get a large Dr. Pepper with extra ice. Well, this time I thought I'd also get something to eat. I hadn't had a Big Mac probably in 40 years when they were 99 cents and now they are almost $5. Well, it will be another 40 years before I eat another one. That is for sure.

I called my sister Donna Jones this afternoon, Today is her son Kenny’s birthday. I guess her grandkids are in a Charter school rather than risk being back in public school.

When Kyle came home I showed him the samples I had of paint colors and we decided on a main color and an accent color but it will be a while before anything is done I think. He said that he bought a refrigerator and freezer for the garage to replace the old refrigerator we got from Leanne way back in 1998. She died in 1999 so the refrigerator has outlasted her by 21 years and when we took it she said that she wanted to get rid of it because she thought it was going out on her. The freezer I bought from Rich Butler.

28 August 2020 Friday

I met Kyle Foote at the Queen Car Wrap place on 27^th South off of 3^rd West to give him a ride back and forth to his office in Bountiful. I didn’t know that he had two vehicles now for his company. That took most of my morning. In the afternoon I went with him and this gal Kristin who works for him back to pick up the two vehicles and after dropping the FIT off, for me to drive the Sonoma home from Bountiful

The Casita downstairs is 90 percent done, the power to the kitchenette needs to be finished, light switch and outlet covers, the bed put together but not a whole lot more. The washer and dryer finally went into the Casita and people shingled the cover over the deck so lots of work going on here.

I have working outlets again in the front of the house but I don’t know how to take the plastic covers off to access the plugs. It’s been a long hot summer.

            I worked a bit in the front yard pruning back the hollyhocks and tansy plants…they were about shot for the summer.

            I notice in the afternoon that the upstairs seemed to be warming up gain as it was 83 degrees so I checked on my furnace filter and it was clogged again. I put a clean one but by the evening it was 88 degrees in the house so I really thought something was wrong again. The floor vents were blowing in air but it wasn’t cool air. Changing the filter didn’t help as the house never cooled down even with my two fans going and opening up the house as it was cooler outside than inside.

            It was way too warm to try and go to sleep so I stayed up and wrote up the research I did on Utah’s General Carter and the Industrial Army and the sad short life of general Carter’s daughter Lena Carter who was a demimonde prostitute consort of Belle London who met her untimely death at the hands of an insane lover.

            Because I had the doors open I was bitten several times by mosquitoes so I had a very rough and miserable night. I didn’t even try to go to bed until 3:30. Kyle was away again so he wasn’t here to help me find out what was wrong with the air conditioning.

            Face Book is full of comments about the 17 year old Trump militia kid who shot and killed two protestor in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

29 August 2020 Saturday

I couldn’t sleep in pass 6:30 so I got out of bed and when I checked the thermostat it said the house had cooled to 76 so I thought maybe it was working but by 8 the temperature began to rise and by 9 it was 80 in the house so I knew the air-conditioning was off. I messengered Kyle Foote and told him what was wrong and he made an appointment for Whipple to come out but the soonest they were able was after 4 this afternoon.

            Roy Zang came over around 9 this morning to borrow the Sonoma to move furniture into his new apartment. He said he’s thrilled now to be back in the city and see so many rainbow flags in his neighborhood.

            Jim Dabakis came and retrieved Taco Belle at 1 this afternoon and I told him that I’d be babysitting Alan Anderson’s pups next weekend. Since Kyle said that no one would be working here at the house again for about 2 weeks as that they are needed on another project, I let Alan know that I would pup sit Corky and Bhanni over Labor Day weekend. He and his Kyle needed to get away.

            To pass the time I watched a really good movie directed by Robert Redford called Conspirator about the trial of Mary Surratt who was hung because she was convicted of collaborating with John Wilkes Booth and others over the assignation of Abraham Lincoln. I was really impressed how right they got the fashions of the period as that was really impressive.

            At 5 the Whipple guy showed up and tried to determine the issue.  Since the air vents were flowing he said that was good. He looked at how the filter was and that was good. He checked the heat pump but there wasn’t any power to it. He went and looked at the control panel and while the switch marked A/C was on he noticed that one marked Oven was off. On a hunch that it was missed marked he switched it on and the Heat Pump came back on and started blowing in cold air. Why it had gotten switched off I don’t know but on Friday the cabinet space where the electrical panel is located was taped and mudded and I did notice that the panel cover had been removed and it was on Friday that the house was heating up. Well, it cost $70 for Whipple to come out so that was an expensive lesson but now I know what to check.

            I took the pups for a ride this evening and went to Arby’s where I bought a French Dip sandwich. So much better than the Big Mac and It was too much for me but the pups were happy to help me out.

            I started to watch a series on Netflix that Jim recommended called “Occupied” a near future series about Russia occupying Norway to control its oil production. It was good but I was too tired to binge watch.

            The house began to cool off and when I went to bed at 9 it was down to 80 degrees and with the fan blowing I could live with that. Considering all the people whose homes were destroyed in Louisiana by Hurricane Louise and the fires ranging in Colorado and California my problems are insignificant.

Hitler and the Nazis burned down the Reichstag and blamed it on the Jews to take control of Germany” Benedict Donald and the GOP are burning down America and blaming Black Lives Matter” see a pattern?

30 August 2020 Sunday

Got my baking done this morning - 7 mini loaves of zucchini bread with Chocolate chips Utah style. I am watching a Norwegian mini-series called  "Occupied" about Russia taking over Norway’s oil fields because the country wanted to go green and end the production of fossil fuels due to climate change. It has subtitles but if you know Norwegian you don’t need them. So, I basically binged watch that for most of the afternoon and into the evening.

When Foote call came home we went down stairs to look at the Casita and talked about future plans for the house. It is amazing the transformation that took place in the basement. I hardly recognize my house anymore. He said that he wants to remove the aluminum siding and replace it with vinyl eventually. He asked what color and I said I didn’t care as that I had the color I wanted for nearly 25 years. I said as long as it’s not gray I don’t care. We both kind of thought blue might be nice.

            I notice that Reid and Eileen Hall finally have a for sale sign in the yard. They have been the longest neighbors I’ve had and like me an original owner. 

31 August 2020 Monday

I am so glad to see the oppressive heat of August finally leave and it was downright kind of chilly this morning when I did some watering before Coco showed. It was about 60 degrees. It didn’t get up to 80 all day but it’s been a long hot summer

I went to the Roseman Dental School again this morning at 9 to have a cavity filled. It’s not much fun but better than a tooth ache or paying a fortune as I don’t have insurance anymore and Medicare doesn’t really have a dental plan that helps seniors. I only paid $88. I made an appointment to go back in Thursday on the 3^rd for another filling again at 9 and then for a tooth extraction on September 15^th at 9 in the morning. I will then make an appointment for another cavity filling.

After I was out by 10, I went over to see T.J Otaka and Jim McMullin to bring them some yellow squash, a zucchini, some tomatoes, some more basil, and two loaves of Zucchini bread. As it turned out today was T.J.’s birthday so I am glad that I popped by.

I didn’t stay long because I wanted to be home to work in the garage. T.J. later wrote me “Ben, thank you for stopping by. However short, it was nice catching up. Hope your tooth won't bother much after numbness is gone.  Last but not least, thank you the fresh veggies and delicious zucchini breads. Your thoughtfulness is always appreciated.”

On the way home Kyle Foote sent me a message asking “Can you transfer the remaining balance. About $5000?” So, when I came home I went on line and transferred the remaining balance was $4400 that was all that was left from the refinancing. So, I took $600 from my savings so the two transfers equaled $5000. He wrote back “I didn't need the extra money. I just knew it was somewhere around $5,000. The $4400 would have been plenty. I'm sorry for the confusion” I wrote back “It's okay it's a nice round number” have a productive day.”

Then I worked out in the garage for about two hours because Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum dropped by with a trailer to haul off a lot of the trash and debris so I could actually get to things. I threw out things and organized what I could and I made a good effort finding a place for a lot of stuff that had been under the stairs or in the garage.  I know I will have to do more but I was really tired.

After taking Coco home, I came back and cooked some pork for the pups’ supper when Kyle came in again to borrow my key to the Sonoma. He couldn’t find mine and Jimmy needed to borrow it because the diesel truck needed some work done.

I spent the rest of the evening watch several episodes of Occupied.

Well, it’s the end of August and soon to be the end of a long hot summer. I have been busy between keeping up the gardens, having so much work down in the back yard with a new RV pad, fence, four poplar trees removed, a roof put over veranda and concrete poured behind the house.

SEPTEMBER

1 September 2020 Tuesday

Early this morning I went to plant the blue mist shrub I ordered on line  but when I opened the container, I was really disappointed to see how small it was and that it was mostly dead. I planted it anyway but if it doesn’t thrive I will have to return it to home depot.

I went down to Sutherlands this morning to replace some garden tools that were broken this summer by the Islanders. I was able to buy another pitchfork at $35, but they hadn’t any hoes at all. The counter gal said everyone is planting gardens this year because of the Covid19 and that is why they even ran out of seeds. So, I went back home and kind repaired the hoe I have, but I still need to replace it eventually.

Then I worked on the computer some more on incidents that happened at the Albany Hotel back in the 1890’s for the rest of the afternoon.

Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum were here only to take some tools that were in the garage to the site Kyle Foote has them working at now. Otherwise, I was here at home alone all day. So, this afternoon I made some chicken pot pies, one for me and one to take over to Michael Romero. It's that kind of weather today with cooler temperature finally. I even made a peach cobbler from frozen peaches that Kyle and Danny Montoya bought at Costco last March. I needed to start clearing out the freezer in the garage anyway.

I weighed myself today and I am at 174.6 lbs. down from my top weight of 270 about 7 years ago so I think it's okay to have a little dessert for my supper. I couldn’t wait for the cobbler to cool down so I had a bowl with vanilla ice cream.  The pups had stewed chicken for their supper.

I continued watching a couple more episodes of “Occupied” before heading to bed at 10 tonight. The full moon was beautiful tonight.

Well, we all made it to September. It was 50 degrees out this morning when last week it was 80 in the morning but it is supposed to warm back up” so kind of a roller coaster week. We need rain desperately. We never had the monsoon we usually get in July and August..

Its 65 days until the Presidential election and hopefully America is not so damaged that we can’t get rid of the Russian backed crime syndicate which occupies the White House and prevent pseudo-Christian, white supremacist fascists from destroying the Constitution and our Democracy. This scares me more, that there are too many Trumpists in this nation, than the Covid19 plague.

Benedict Donald went to Kenosha, Wisconsin to stoke up his fascist base, condemned Democrats, and protestors but he had not one mention of condemnation for the 17 year old outside agitator who killed two people with an assault weapon which he obtained illegally. Sure, Benedict Donald is the Law and Order candidate.

2 September 2020 Wednesday

I was really surprised when Lowes delivered the two refrigerators at 8 this morning as I thought they weren’t coming until after 9. I was also surprised, when I unwrapped them, that they were identical refrigerators when I thought one was going to be a freezer. They are nice Whirlpools. I unpacked them and discarded the Styrofoam in the recycling bin.

            I then went grocery shopping early, about 9 this morning, at Smith’s and Lucky’s for items they had on sale. However, I think I went mainly  as an excuse  just to get out of the house.

            Later I went down to the garden shop at NPS store on 13^th South off of Redwood Road. They didn’t have any yard tools but I was lucky to find the last 3 Blue Mist shrubs for $15 each” marked down from $20. They were exactly what I was looking for, so it was a productive day after all.

I planted the 3 Blue Mists shrubs, that flower in late summer and are drought resistance, along the west southwest fence. I also replanted my yellow rose bush that I had in a container on the veranda deck. I will need to lay down some mulch eventually but that may be a spring activity.

So, I did some yard work today in the backyard and cleaned out front by doing some pruning and weeding, now that we aren't in the 100s anymore.

When Kyle Foote came home this evening we finished installing the refrigerators in the garage. They look really nice and they sure dress up the garage.

3 September 2020 Thursday

I went back down to Roseman Dental this morning at 9 for another cavity filling. I had a woman dentist this time and I liked her work. I was done by 10 and made another appointment for tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning to have my 3^rd cavity taken care of before my extraction on the 15^th.  

Later in the day I took off to return the dead shrub I had ordered on line from Home Depot.  It was $17 so didn’t want to just throw the money away. Besides I thought I’d look for a gardening hoe while there.

I went to the Centerville Home Depot but they didn’t have any hoes either! While going through the garden section I saw they had a sale on perennial plants in 2 1/2 quart containers for 3 for $10. I bought 3 yellow Tickseeds and some blue Plumbago plants. The lady at the checkout was so nice. She said that actually the Plumbago plants were misplaced in the 3 for 10 sections as they were regularly $7 but she gave them to me at the sale price. So, I spent $20 to get 6 plants after returning the one dead one that cost $17.

As that I was in Centerville I went over to Wal-Mart. They now only have one entrance and exit, way towards the east part and the garden shop was way down to the west, so I got my walking in. But leave it to Wal-Mart,  they still had a few holes left so I finally bought one for $22 and also a garden rake that either was mismarked or on sale at it was only $1.98!.

Jim Dabakis brought Taco Belle over about 6 this evening and I watched a few episodes of “Occupied” before heading for bed.  

Businessman Trump is bankrupting America. Our national debt now is as great as it was at the end of WWII and our debt now equals the entire the US economy. Covid19 is now the 3rd cause of deaths in America” Benedict Donald says it is what it is and the GOP collaborators are his supporters.

4 September 2020 Friday

I went back to the Roseman University at 8:30 this morning and still another student dentist worked on me. I didn’t like him personally as well as the woman I had yesterday but he did a good job and I suppose that is all that counts.

            Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum came to the house about noon to build the bed frame for Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya’s king size bed.

I worked in the backyard some this afternoon, finally mowing for the first time since last Spring, but since it was never watered much, it was not all that overgrown. So that's what I did for the rest of the afternoon” mow and rake. Oh, and also I picked some summer squash that I gave to Jimmy Adams. I’ve given more away to Jimmy than anyone else.

            In the late afternoon at 3, I decided to go up to Kyle Foote’s office in Wood Cross to take care of the Sonoma’s flat tire. I had Kyle call Triple A and then I waited for the guy to tow the truck to Discount Tires. There I had them put on 4 new tires as the old ones were ten years old, even if they weren’t all the worn. I went ahead and paid for them myself, around $350, since Kyle has spent a lot of his own money on fixing the truck’s clutch and air conditioning. 

Discount Tires called at 6:30 and said the Sonoma was ready so I drove back to Woods Cross and picked up Kyle who was surprised that I had paid for the tires as he was expecting to do so. He drove the pick-up back to his office and I went on home.

5 September 2020 Saturday

I've been up since 5 this morning typing up more information on 2nd South. It keeps my mind active.

Alan Anderson and Kyle Daniels dropped Corky and Bhani off this morning at 9. They said they were going down to Torrey, Utah for the weekend. I know it’s going to be super-hot down there because it’s going to be near 100 here in Salt Lake City.

 Kyle Daniels said that there are 13 cases of Covid19 at Cypress High School and at 15 they will have to shut down. He said that the Granite District is not being honest with the amount of cases in the district only reporting a daily count instead of an accumulative one.

The pups and I were all out in the backyard early this morning with the pups chasing each other, peeing on the same spots, and sniffing butts. I got my watering done and I even transplanted a red rose bush to the backyard. I hope it makes it but it wasn’t doing well where it was in the front being choked by the Bishop Weed.

So, I have lots of doggy house guests today. I will have Corky and Bhani for the Labor Day weekend and Taco has been visiting since Thursday but he went home about noon when Jim Dabakis came over.

Jim came into the Casita, because Kyle Foote was here, to see the improvements. He was really impressed. I guess he’s going up to Idaho to see an old friend for the weekend. Everyone is going somewhere but me” and I am okay with that.

I was hungry for something sweet as I had finished the peach cobbler so I made me a batch of shortening bread cookies. “Mama's little baby loves shortening, shortening Mama's little baby loves shortening bread.”

Danny Montoya came in this afternoon from Phoenix so I didn’t see Kyle Foote much today until he said for me to come down and see the king size bed. He still wants to raise the frame up another foot so the mattress is just down on the carpet. It gave me a twinge of regret knowing that he and Danny will be living there, so it will seem like I am living alone again. Oh well I am used to that.

I was really tired today for some reason and was napping for much of the day. I just didn’t have much energy. I finished watching “Occupied.” It was really good but the writers sure didn’t mind killing off most of the main characters who over time you became invested in their stories.

Well, its Five Dog Night “unless Buster wants to join us, but I think he was smart to just stay in his bed in the closet “I’d make my bed but what's the point? It was 99 degrees today. Lots of smoke in the air.

In the news the Atlantic Magazine reported that Trump had refused to attend a ceremony to honor the dead of WWI in France in 2018 and had told his aides that the dead were losers and that only suckers join the military.  The only suckers and losers in the military are those who still support Benedict Donald.

Maybe I missed it but has Trump condemned Putin for the poisoning of his political rival in Russia? You'd think that is something a real president would do

6 September 2020 Sunday

I told Corky if he doesn’t quit splashing all the water out of the water dish with his dirty paws, I am going to spank his butt. That's all I did yesterday was refill the bowl with clean water and mop and I had to do so several times today.

 I know someone jumped on my chair by my computer desk this morning and stole the bacon and French toast there, while I showered. I know it wasn’t my dogs and Bhanni doesn’t jump up into my chairs. Corky is like rock and rollers who trash their hotel room when their away from home.

Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya spent the night down in the Casita for the first time and when they left in the afternoon, they locked it up so I couldn’t access it. It kind of upset me that I was being locked out of a part of my own house but I then remembered the code that Jimmy Adams had programmed the front door with, so I could get in if I needed to do so. The water shut off for the entire house is down there so it’s not like I might not someday need to enter.

            I spent some of the day writing up incidents on Second South from the 19^th Century and also working out in the backyard, cleaning up some and hauling stones from the other side of the backyard to put around where I laid the paving stones.

            In the evening Kyle treated Danny and I to a meal at Sakura Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi in China Town plaza this evening. The place was opened for sit down dining where a chef cooked the meal in front of you as part of the show.

I had a shrimp and salmon entrée and vegetables which was delicious but it was a lot for me to eat these days. In fact, even Danny couldn’t finish his shrimp and chicken so I didn’t feel bad how much I left on my plate. It was $20 a plate and all you can eat which is truly wasted on me these days. However, I appreciated being included even if I feel somewhat like a third wheel.

7 September 2020 Monday Labor Day

Today marks the unofficial end of summer although technically fall begins September 21st. Time to put away my whites and start cleaning up the garden which I did for hours today.

Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya left the house without saying goodbye and I didn’t see them or interact with them all day. I don’t know why it should bother me but it does. I know Kyle cares for me in his own way and I don’t think I require that much maintenance” just a hug once in a while and a visit to let me know what’s going on in his life. Oh well I need to just get used to it” that essentially I live alone now. People have it far worse than me for sure. I just get melancholy and lonely at times and miss the association of others.

All morning, I worked in the backyard digging a border for the flower bed on the south side of the house. I repurposed some of the 4 X4 supporting posts that were cut from the veranda that I used for the border after trenching it. I think it looks nice and I also cleaned out the weeds and old day lilies leaves next to the south wall of the house to make it look nicer. I know no one but me will know the amount of work I put into the yard.

Alan Anderson and Kyle Daniels finally came to get Corky and Bhani at 12:30 this afternoon. They were the only people I interacted with all day. I showed them what was done in the backyard with the poplar trees gone and the cement poured. I don’t think Alan actually remembers much of how it was before” but I do.

I was glad to see Corky and Bhani go. They are a lot of work for me due to their energy levels. I am just not up to taking care of them anymore now that I am so much older.

I made some homemade Chicken and Noodle soup for my supper but I really didn’t eat much all day. I hate eating alone. I don’t think I get much out of eating anymore.

Finally, around 6:30 this evening, I needed to get away so I took the pups for a long ride. I went down to Arctic Circle on 17^th and 5^th East to get a chocolate covered ice cream. It was so warm out still about 95 degrees. Lulubelle helped me finish what I couldn’t.

I went driving around just because I didn’t want to be home when Kyle came back so that he would wonder where I was at” but even when I came home at 8, Danny and he still weren’t at the house. Crazy I know, like Kyle would even notice I was gone with Danny here.

I hear that winter is happening tomorrow here in Utah with a cold front bringing snow to the higher elevations and dropping the temperature here in the valley to the 50’s. Wow. I guess Salt Lake has some of the worse air pollution right now from all the fires surrounding us and blowing in from California.

8 September 2020 Tuesday

The winds blew all night, and it was raining this morning when I woke up. About 7, the winds really picked up and I noticed that Mike’s truck and camper were out front but I didn’t see him in the cab. I guess he spent the night in the camper rather than trying to park it on the parking strip as he didn’t get in until 10 last night. When I called him to see if he was okay, he said that there were blizzard conditions in Wyoming. I later heard on the news that I-80 between Evanston and Rock Springs was closed now. Mike parked his camper out front of the house rather than try to move it to the pad. He had the day off so he went home with Coco.

Looking out into the backyard, I saw that a large branch of the globe willow was broken off, that must have fallen during the night. I don’t doubt that branches of the poplar trees would have fallen also, so I am so glad they were removed.

There were hurricane winds in all of Northern Utah and in Salt Lake City today. The University of Utah clocked a burst of wind there at 112 miles per hour and there were lots of 90 mph gusts up and down the Wasatch front. School and campuses were shut down because of the winds and the loss of power.

I only had a branch of my globe Willow come down but then I noticed that the 23 year old tree across the street on Daleridge was uprooted and had come down into the street.

I went out to pick up my trash cans up and the debris that blown all over my neighbor’s yard, especially the Styrofoam that wasn’t picked up last week. Then I saw that the curb side tree of my neighbor, the Halls was uprooted as were many others up and down Daleridge. These trees were all planted in 1996 and 1997.  After seeing that mess, I was so glad that I had my poplars removed this summer for I know they would have crashed down.

It was really cold here this morning, about 45 degrees, but with the wind chill it felt much colder than that. I wore my warm beach combing Hoodie and sweat pants all day. This just after it being 95 yesterday.  At least we got some rain also out of this storm this morning and some of the bench areas even got snow! It's been in the 40s all day but at least I have power unlike so many others

I made a big pot of chili and beans this morning. It was really too much for me so I guess I will freeze it in small batches. It was a Cornbread with chili and beans kind of day as it was so blustery.

I laid down to take a nap in the afternoon, since I had been up so early, and the dogs laid down with me. When I went outside later to see if there was any more damage, I saw that my new side gate had blown wide open even though I had an open lock on the latch. Thank goodness the pups were all accounted for. So glad I didn’t have Corky and Bhani or Corky would have taken off. So, I shut it, latched it, and put a heavy paving rock up against it as I had heard that the winds will be strong again tonight.

Danny Montoya and Kyle Foote came home at 6:30 and it was the first I had seen of them since Sunday. Kyle said that Woods Cross was without power all day at his office. I was surprised when he asked me to come down and see the new blackout curtains, he installed across the front of the space. It looked really nice, better than what I thought it would be. I thought it was interesting that he calls the space “The Casita” after I had told him last Saturday that it was what I called the little living area. He has programmed one of those Alexis devices to turn things on and off using the term Casita. So, I guess some of my house is in the 21^st Century. I saw that they had really moved in, doing laundry there and showering down there now.

In the evening, I decided to take the rest of the chili over to Mike Romero because I knew no one here was going to eat any more of it. So, I gave the pups a ride. I also wanted to see some of the wind damage in Rose Park.

 I was not prepared for what saw. So many large trees uprooted at the Rose Park golf course and at the apartment complex on Redwood Road by Seven-11, and not just branches but whole trees blown over, uprooted. Driving down 1000 North, many of the towering shade trees that lined the curb, and also some of the pine trees, were fallen, all the way to Ninth West.

On 9th it was worse, with trees still lying partially in the street, making traffic difficult. All the traffic lights were out and I swear Utah drivers have no idea how to use traffic lights, which are out, as a 4 way stop.

Mike came out to retrieve the chili and I didn’t stay long as it was still gusty out and too cold for him to be standing outside. I drove home down North Temple where the traffic lights were working to avoid going back up 9^th West.

Back in my neighborhood, on my little block on Fernleaf, Daleridge, Newton Park, and Niles streets, I counted 5 curb trees uprooted. Carlos my neighbor to the north had a tree fall down onto his fence and sections of it that Randy Gile had built so many years ago were blown down exposing his yard. I know they keep a little dog so hope he’s okay.

Fortunately, it looked like almost all the downed trees fell into the street or yards. I didn’t see any hitting houses” however pictures of cars being smashed under the weight of trees were shown on the news. Freeways were a mess with over 45 semi-trucks blown over and Traxx and Front Runner were not running because of debris and down power lines. Liberty Park, one of the Crown Jewels of Salt Lake, is now a disaster zone with massive tree damage. I just drove by it yesterday going to Arctic Circle for an ice cream. That’s heart breaking seeing so many of the giant pines down.

What a day in Northern Utah. First a deadly plague, then an earthquake in March, a fierce summer heat wave, and now hurricane winds in September. I wonder what winter will bring? An arctic deep freeze?  2020 in Salt Lake City, it's been a wild ride  in the City of the Saints so far this year.

9 September 2020 Wednesday

I went to bed fairly early yesterday falling asleep at 9 but I woke up at 1:30 this morning with a bad stomach ache. I get them periodically and there’s no sense trying to sleep when I do. So, I just got up and typed for two hours on my research on 2^nd South until nearly 4 in the morning. I didn’t get much sleep after that either as I was up at 6:30 to make sure Coco made it into the house safely.  I made my coffee and fixed some waffles for breakfast and tried to listen to the news but I heard most of it the night before.

            I was kind of a mess all day but this morning I raked up debris off the driveway and in the yard.  I wanted to what damage was done at Jordan Park from yesterday’s hurricane winds. I could see only had minimal damage with broken branches but no uprooted trees.  However, my friend Jon Michael took his pups for a walk in the International Peace Gardens there and he said there were “lots of uprooted evergreens and flag poles. Sad to see these magnificent trees demise.”

I also went to the Smith's Grocery Store on 9th West and 9th South and they had reduced lights and looked like they were operating on generator. It was kind of dismal so I went back to the Rose Park Smith's and it was the same thing. I wonder what is up with them.

When I came home I saw that I had a notice on my door from the city saying to trim  back my shrubs that were encroaching on the side walk. Well, I would trim lots of stuff back if the city wouldn't skip picking up my yard waste bin. They did it twice now so I went on line and bitched at them. I also ordered a temporary extra waste bin so I can do some heavy yard clean up.

This evening, I went and spent about 2 hours pruning back the Russian Sage and Devils beards from my corner sidewalk. Then I took the leaf blower and clean the sidewalk all up spic and span. I am a credit to homosexuals everywhere. I noticed however that my mongo plants I think are dead from the lack of water this year and it being so hot. That’s another thing I will have to do, cut them down.

My friend Ron Holmgren commented, “The whole city is a massive mess of tree limbs, and they leave a note because you have a few over grown plants. Great job, Erin. Glad the city is getting its priorities straight.” Amy Barry confirmed what I thought “Someone had to file a complaint in order for enforcement to come out. I wish neighbors would try the talking to each other approach first and then the city could focus on other things.”

            This morning, I was on the phone with Comcast trying to get them to disconnect my service with them. It took nearly a half an hour and I have to return the modem so I made an appointment to return the Xfinity modem for this Friday at 1 downtown on 4^th South.

10 September 2020 Thursday

I couldn’t sleep past 6 this morning due to the pains in my stomach so just decided to get up and type up my article for the Utah Stonewall Historical Society on Second Sound during the first decade of the 1900’s. I finished that around 10 and posted it. I get no feedback so really not sure if anyone is reading them but me.

This morning, I cleaned up all the limbs and branches that broke off the Globe Willow in the backyard and dragged them to the curb next to the Hall’s pile from their tree that had been blown over. I noticed yesterday while cleaning up the corner sidewalk that my  16 foot pine tree that I planted 24 years ago, when I thought it was a mongo pine, was dead. This year’s summer heat and drought finally killed it as well as the real mongo pine next to it. Mongo Pines only grow about 3 feet at the most so the one I planted in the middle of the three I planted in 1996 must have been mismarked because over the years it grew and grew into a tree and not a bush. I took out one of them a few years ago that had died so now they are all gone.

            I couldn’t find my tree saw so I went to Sutherlands and bought a new one for $25, some punning shears that were on sale for $10, another garden hose for $20 and an oscillating sprinkler for $10. The hose I have now never reached as far as the south side of the yard and I think that is why things had died from lack of water since my sprinkler system never was fixed and I had to water by hand this year.

            Since I hadn’t eaten any breakfast while out I thought I’d stop at Taco Bell there on North Temple. Well, there’s no sense ever going back to Taco Bell again. The only thing of theirs that I liked was their bean tostadas and they discontinued selling them. About the only thing they have still on their original menu from when I worked there are tacos and bean burritos. Sad indeed, so I ordered a red bean burrito which I hardly ate. Funny that it cost $1.50 and for that amount when I worked at Taco Bell in the 1970’s I could have had a taco, a burrito, a Tostado, and a medium drink and paid the tax all for $1.

            Anyway, back at the house I went to town on the corner of my front yard sawing and pruning the pine tree and mongo bush as well as a forsythia bush that had completely overgrown. I dragged all of the debris over to the curb where the Hall’s tree was put out in the street for pick up. I hope the city is going to come through with a yard waste truck. I worked for at least 3 hours in the front yard in this afternoon and my 2 trash bins, recycling bin, and yard waste bin are filled to overflowing. .but it's all cleaned up now. It’s going to back in the 90s on Monday they say so today was a good day to be outside since it was only in the 60’s. I am as exhausted as an old boy can be.

I haven't been feeling well lately at all with miserable stomach ache in my bowels and not sleeping at all at night but if I croak at least  the yard will be done and my funeral is already paid for so no fuss and no muss for anyone.

When I was done and came back into the house I was greeted by Taco. I have no idea when Jim Dabakis had dropped the little fellow off. He was being so sweet to me wanting to be held and see me. He’s the only Taco Belle I love anymore.

About 4:30 Kyle called and asked if I wanted to go to dinner with him and Danny and to go change over the Verizon phones. He seemed in a happy mood so I said sure. He said they would swing by around 6:45 to pick me up but then at 6:30 he calls me and said they were running late and it would be closer to 7:30. At that point I just texted him back and said to go ahead to dinner without me. I didn’t feel all that well anyway I just wanted to be with them but I felt like such a low priority that I knew it would be closer to 8 or 8:30 before we ate even if we made it to Verizon. Besides I knew I would just be a 3^rd wheel sitting in the back and not hearing any of their conversation which never includes me anyway. So, I thought I’d rather just stay home with my pups.

The news is full of outrage over Bob Woodward’s revelations that Trump knew that Covid19 was deadlier than the flu back in February but said he had purposely down played it. There’s over 190,000 dead Americans now.

11 September 2020 Friday

I was surprised by how quickly the city brought out 2 more temporary yard waste trash bins this morning that I had ordered when I bitched at them for not taking my yard waste last week after I received a notice to trim my bushes along the sidewalk.

            So, I spent the morning cleaning up the mess on the side driveway so Mike Romero can park there tomorrow and I pruned back the tree and wild rose bush on that side of the yard.  Then I went and started raking out the dead and dried yard material in the front yard. While I working moving some stones and rocks in corner yard this dad walked by with his 3 young kids and each one said they liked my garden. The last little boy said also “I like your rainbow flag.” I am sure he just liked how colorful it was because he was way too young to know what it stands for.

            Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya showed up briefly to gather up Danny’s things to fly back to Phoenix. I asked that he use an ash tray when he smokes outside rather than leave his cigarette butts on the ground. I didn’t say it to him but that is trashy.  Anyway, I hugged him goodbye when he left and even Kyle wanted a hug and he said he loves me. I suppose he does as much as he can.

I was looking up information on the internet about Washington Elementary and found this from a former student. I think my life was well lived being a teacher.

“Who was your favorite teacher growing up in Bountiful? I went to both Bountiful elementary and Washington and was fortunate in both schools to have a wonderful principal named Ms. Beck! I think her first name was Elizabeth? There was also a councilor that I felt like I could go to every time I was bullied at Washington named Ms. Fairy who was probably one of the most kind people! Last, but certainly not least, Mr. William's of Washington Elementary! He was so amazing and always put on little shows for the school and we would go around to classes and perform. It was spectacular!”

Remembering a Gay Hero Mark Bingham from Flight 93”less we forget

So, Rudy Giuliani, Trumps personal lawyer used a Russian Agent to find dirt on Joe Biden in the Ukraine” he’s forever lost any decency he displayed during 9/11

12 September 2020 Saturday

I started working on the Greeks of Second South this morning after having just a bran muffin and coffee for the breakfast. Kyle Foote didn’t come back to the house last night. I worked on compiling the information I had until 10 when I went outside to take a break and do some watering. I was surprised to see Mike Romero so early but he came to take care of his camper. I went with him to a dump site so he could empty his sewage tanks. After putting the camper in the side driveway as that the pad was still blocked by all the tree debris on the curb. We then loaded up the old freezer I gave him and took it back to his place. He had really let his yard go this summer with high weeds, leaves, and trash accumulating.  Well, I wasn’t there to help him any and he certainly has never liked yard work.

            He wanted to stop at McDonald’s before taking me home to get some drinks. It was really busy as now it was lunch time and I would not have gone but he did and it was like 15 minutes just to wait in line with the other cars. I have so little patience with that anymore however both Kyle and Mike don’t seem to mind it at all but it drives me crazy. I just want to be moving.

            Jim Dabakis came over in the afternoon to retrieve Taco Belle. I told him that Taco needs his nails trimmed and suggested the doggy grooming school. Coco goes for her grooming on the 28^th but she isn’t nearly as shaggy as she was last time.

            So that’s what I did for most of the day. I made a baked potato for my supper and feed the pups baked chicken and then went back to doing research on Second South. I made a cool discovery that there was once a “Negro Men’s Club” on 600  West just around the corner from the Albany Hotel. That was really fascinating. I must have spent at least 8 hours researching today.

13 September 2020 Sunday

I was home alone all day and didn’t interact with anyone. I am feeling lonely, wondering where Kyle Foote is and not seeing anybody anymore. So, I hole up in my room and research the ghosts of Second South. That’s about all I did today. I am not interested in cooking or cleaning and I am done for a while working in the yard. It won’t be long before I put my vegetable garden to rest also however I still have two watermelons that are still growing.

14 September 2020 Monday

Summer is fading fast as it's dark even at 630 in the morning” as that the sun just peaks over the mountains at 7 now. .I was moody most of the day especially when I saw that Danny Montoya was back again, after not hearing a word from Kyle Foote for 3 days. I don’t know what is going on with the house anymore or when things are going to be completed. He’s still has not wired the downstairs for the mini-refrigerator, microwave and stove top and if he doesn’t it will be really expensive to have an electrician come in to do it.

At the bottom of the stairs where the electrical panel is now, it still needs to be finished and painted as well as the top of the stairs were the hall closet once was. There’s still stacks of roof shingles sitting on the hot tub deck and the garage is filled with his Build Team equipment. I feel like he’s abandoned these projects to concentrate on his other Build Team jobs.

            I didn’t hear from him until around 7 this evening when he popped in my room to ask if I wanted some Chinese food. I said no I had already eaten but mostly I just didn’t want to interact with him” like he can ignore me and how I am feeling all weekend then expect me to jump. He’s taken a third of the house from me that I no longer have access to. It wouldn’t kill him to talk to me once in a while, except when he needs something or when I am a third wheel with Danny.

A year ago, for six months every day I took the time to retrieve him from the Fortitude half way house just to be with him, refinanced my home so he could make over the basement, and now it’s like I am just being a dope, to still care so much.

            I finally finished writing up my research on 2^nd South during the 1910’s up until the fire at the Albany Hotel in 1919. I posted it to my History Face Book page but need to do some minor revision, mostly grammar. It took all day but now I can take a bit of a break.

15 September 2020 Tuesday

Had a tooth extracted this morning at the Roseman Dental University. I am always worried about my blood pressure when I go to the dentist but it was 131. The tooth was a back upper right molar that wasn’t worth saving” as that it didn’t have a bottom tooth for it to impact upon. I had tried to save it before because it did have a crown on it.

My appointment was at 9 and I was out of there by 9:45 and they did a relatively painless job if you can ever call having a tooth pulled painless. It only cost me $130 compared to the hundreds I paid before in Centerville, and I think they did a better job.

I came home exhausted and I took a half of a pain pill that I still had left over from having a tooth pulled in Centerville. Then I just went back to bed and slept until noon. I am glad I still had pain pills from 2 years ago left. Having a tooth pulled is traumatic to the old body but at least the pups are here to look after me.

I was feeling well enough in the afternoon, that I decided to clean up the movie room and remove all of Kyle Foote’s clothes and items he still had up there cluttering the room. I know he and Danny Montoya will never do it themselves. I was amazed how many clothes Kyle had acquired just since he moved in here last December. I doubt whether he even knows all that he has and he only wears Build Team logo clothes anymore.

 Perhaps all those years of his only being able to wear white prison outfits made him obsess with civilian clothes. Anyway, I hauled three large boxes of clothes and other things of his as well as all the shirts and pants he had hanging in the closet to the closet beneath the stairs.

Since I was cleaning, I decided also that I might as well remove all the movie room equipment also, the speakers, sub-woofer, the CD player, the volume player, and the projector. The hardest thing was unscrewing the mounts for the projector that had butterfly bolts placed in the wall. That was a struggle but since I had a tapestry that still hung on the wall I knew it would cover any damage to the wall.

It was kind of a melancholy day then as I took down the movie room. I had it for over for 10 years ever since Mike Romero moved out in 2009 and actually we had it years before that. He left it all here as he had no room for it at his new townhouse.

Over the years I had a lot of good friends here for dinner and a movie, starting with Michael Ferguson and Seth Anderson when I showed them old Gay movies as part of what Michael called his Ed-u-Gay-tion. Then I started having monthly movie nights for my friends with anywhere from 5 to 10 people. I had plenty of seating back then but everything has a season and that season is past.

I may rent out the room because it's pretty big once everything is cleared out  except for the poster bed. I need to put in a new carpet as this one is 25 years old but I won’t paint. I am too old for that.

I made some chicken and noodle soup for supper as I didn’t feel like eating much and I had to only have soft food for a while. Then I was surprised that Kyle and Danny Montoya came home at 6:30 which is early for them. Kyle came up stairs even to visit with me which really surprised me. He asked how my day was and I said crummy and he said it was for him too. I told him that I had a tooth pulled. He said his was just from stress at work.

I asked him when things were going to start happening again here at the house and he said he was waiting on the shower door glass and medicine cabinet for my bathroom. He said he’s waiting for a “lull” in his other projects and then he will have a team finishing up projects in the house. That is all I really wanted from Kyle” some communication. When I don’t see him and he doesn’t communicate with me I get kind of paranoid but then parts of me says “I am old so what does it matter?”

When Danny was done showering, he came upstairs too and this was the first time in weeks that they both were with me in the front room instead of locking themselves in down in the Casita. Kyle even ate some of the chicken soup which is the first time in months he ate here at the house something I made.

Even though we were both tired I was just happy to be with him. Why is that enough I wonder? When Danny and he finally were ready to retire, Kyle came over and hugged me and said he loved me. Earlier he said we were family. That is all I really want I suppose.

It was hot again today in the 90’s but I didn’t spend anytime outside nor on the computer as I was too wiped out. Oregon and California are on fire but trump denies it has anything to do with Climate change” saying that Scientists don’t know what they are talking about.

16 September 2020 Wednesday

I decided it was time to really deep clean my bedroom this morning by moving the computer desk and my chest of drawers. I swept and mopped, did a load of laundry and threw out a lot of things I never use. I feel better about my space now that it’s cleaner but now I will have to tackle the closets in my room and the spare bedroom. I guess I can’t call it the movie room any more.

            I heard that they were tearing down old In-Between but when I drove down there to take pictures, they hadn’t started the demolition yet but I saw that they have the building fenced off so it’s only a matter of time. 

While out I deposited a $53 check that I got back from Horace Mann for cancelling the insurance on the Sonoma. I almost threw the envelope away until I decided to open it so that was a surprise.

            I had a letter in the mail from the city saying that I was in violation of the city’s sidewalk encroachment. It must have been sent after I had already cut back and trimmed it all. It kind of ticked me off.

I never saw Kyle Foote or Danny Montoya today but my tooth extraction seems to be getting better.

It’s not as hot today only in the 80’s. Fires on the West Coast. Hurricanes in the South East. It’s almost like America is being punished for letting anti-science politicians run the country.

17 September 2020 Thursday

I went down to my Vietnamese barber shop next to the Post Office to make an appointment” but I was able to get right in, so had a haircut and beard trim that I desperate needed. $17.50 for both plus I left the guy who cuts my hair $5 as a tip.

Then I went down to D.I. to see how to make an appointment to drop things off I want to get rid of, clothes, dishes, and other things I just don’t need or want any more. They said you have to go on line, so I did a little grocery shopping at the Glendale Smith’s then came back to the house and I made an appointment to drop of stuff at Deseret Industries tomorrow at 10 in the morning. You have to make appointments now to donate.

            I am cleaning out the old movie room and emptying out closets of things I just don’t need any more. It’s warm again today in the low 90s. I know it won’t be long until winter gets here and we will look back to these days of shorts and sandals. 

            Jim Dabakis dropped Taco Belle off while I was out running around shopping. When I checked my balance in First America Credit Union I was shocked that I only had $79 in my checking account, I transferred a $1000 into it then looked to see what would have cause my balance to go so low and noticed that there was an automatic withdrawal for $500 to Lowes.

I called Kyle Foote for an explanation and he said he had accidently set up a withdrawal from my account instead of his and he would fix it. That’s all I heard from him all day.

            I went and worked pruning back the Mongo Pine and other bushes along the driveway this afternoon as I supposed I wanted to do some yard maintenance while I have all these extra yard waste bins.

While outside I notice this snotty looking Latina teenagers taking pictures of my curb. It made me think it was she who turned me into the city or why would she just be taking a picture of my Russian Sage?

            The City finally came out and took away the tree debris that was out on the curb but left a mess of leaves and twigs. I suppose they will have a street sweeper come out or otherwise I will.

            I really didn’t eat much today. I just have so little of an appetite anymore. In fact, I went through the kitchen and pulled out some cooking ware, and other kitchen stuff that I only used for hosting big dinners and those days are over.

            In the news there’s been over 900 new Covid 19 cases in Utah just today with primarily the greatest increase in Utah County and among young people.

18 September 2020 Friday

I took a car load of clothes, blankets, kitchen ware and sundry items to Deseret Industries this morning at 10. Rich Butler came over with a pile of clothes that his wife wanted to get rid of also, about 8:30. We sat and visited for so long that before I knew , it was 9:30 and I had to get going.

While at D.I., I bought a used chest of drawers for the spare bedroom. It was in decent enough shape and I managed to haul it upstairs by myself with some effort. After that I stated throwing out old electronics and stuff I had stored for years up in the closet. It was much easier to let go of stuff after knowing about all the disasters on the west coast and east coasts from fire and rain and people losing everything. So, I am freeing myself from stuff. It kind of feels liberating.

            I went into the backyard and cut down the sunflowers in the garden that were overgrown and also cleaned up the hot tub deck to prepare it to reuse.

Such sad news today as that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died today at the age of 87. Kyle Foote called me with the news about 6 this evening which was the only time I spoke to him today. I know he wanted to share the news with someone who had similar feelings about it. I doubt whether Danny Montoya even knows who she is. He said his day was rather frustrating as that one of the girls at work was in an accident with one of Build Teams company cars.

This evening, I made some potato soup with some ham I had in the freezer but it must of gone bad or something in the soup because after eating some of it  I became nauseous and even threw up which I rarely do. I don’t know what it was.

Over 1000 new Covid19 cases were reported in Utah today spread by people who won’t wear a mask or keep their social distance. A lot of the cases are in Utah County and in public schools.

19 September 2020 Saturday

It’s been a year ago that Buddy left me. I sure do miss the old boy. He was my big baby. We loved each other for nearly 14 years. I woke up at about 2:30 this morning and just couldn’t not get back to sleep so I just got up and wrote some on the computer, thinking I’d go back to bed but I never did.

I am so glad for the soaking rain today. There was lots of rain here for most of the morning. We haven't had any moisture since the 1st of August. I was kind of surprised by the amount of the steady drizzle. It must have been localized for us near the airport and Davis County as my friends said there was nothing in West Valley or on the East Bench. At noon there was a big lightning strike and thunderclap by Bountiful airport at noon.

            I was surprised when Danny Montoya and Kyle Foote finally got up around 11:30 and came up and asked if I wanted to go with them out for breakfast. At first I declined because I had already eaten but when Kyle said to just come and have coffee I so I reconsidered and said I would.

He was looking for a pair of socks so I showed him where I had cleaned out all his clothes and things from the spare bedroom and had put them all in boxes beneath the stairs. So, he and Danny finally saw that I had moved them out of upstairs.

The new Infinity car, I thought was Kyle’s, is actually Danny’s new car that he bought I guess last Monday. He drove while Kyle sat in the passenger front seat and I rode in the back. It was a real observation to me that they really are a couple, holding hands, making small talk like couples do. I miss that.

We first went to Black Bear Diner in Woods Cross but the wait was really too long and Kyle was hungry now. We went to the Village Inn and saw that they had permanently closed. That was surprising. So, Danny looked for a place on his phone apps and found a breakfast place in North Salt Lake.

We had brunch at Our Kitchen Café in on Redwood Road about 1 this afternoon. I wasn’t all that hungry because I had breakfast around 8 this morning so I just had a biscuit and gravy that was delicious. The food looked amazing. Kyle and Danny enjoyed their Mexican breakfast I think. The place is only open from 7 to 2 in the afternoon.

 They wanted to do some shopping so I had them take me back home because I was tired of just being a third wheel, and not really part of the conversation. I knew I’d just be an afterthought for most of the day.

It rained some more off and on the entire afternoon and I roasted a chicken for the pups and Jim Dabakis came and picked up Taco while I was away. I made some chicken and rice soup with the broth from the chicken and watched “Body Heat” one of my favorite movies. I also ordered from this movie place “Fortune and Men’s Eyes” on DVD. I only had it on VHS and I don’t have a tape player anymore.

I didn’t do any more work on the computer but in the spare room I did clean the closet out entirely. I just now need to find a place to put it all. I think I am going to just toss all my Christmas stuff. I don’t need all of it anymore.

Kyle and Danny came back to the house around 6 so I am glad I didn’t go with them. I watched a really good series on Curiosity Stream about the period of 1918-1926 after World War I. It was completely colorized and sure made the period seem more real.

I heard sawing in the evening so I think Kyle may have started work on finishing the frame for Danny and his love bed. I didn’t go down to see.

20 September 2020 Sunday

I should have rested this Sabbath because I am now all tuckered out. I hauled all the stuff I had in the spare room closet down to the garage where I went through all my Xmas decorations, Halloween decorations, and fall decorations. That was a chore and I filled a large garbage bin with ghosts of Christmas past. I am downsizing like crazy but at least it's all organized and marked so it’s not all mixed up anymore.

            Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya worked all day building a wooden frame for their king size mattress for the Casita. That took them nearly all day. The final result is nice but I don’t know if Kyle expected it to be so high when the mattress was put on it. It’s at least as tall as my captain bed was or even higher.

            I worked in the backyard cleaning out my vegetable garden, getting rid of my squash plants that have stopped producing or won’t mature before the weather turns. I didn’t clear out everything, I still have some squash plants, tomatoes, and two watermelons but I wanted to tidy it up the garden since I have these extra yard waste bins. I also cut back the wild rose bush next to my pink one that I will probably dig up as it’s kind of a mess.

            I also refilled the hot tub and was grateful that the pumps and heater kicked on so having it shut down all that time didn’t hurt it.

I have no appetite anymore. I had a cup of coffee, a cupcake and a half of a bologna & cheese sandwich all day, oh and a diet A & W root beer until about 6:30 when I went to Del Taco in North Salt Lake and bought 2 tacos, a tostado, and some fries for my supper. After eating the two tacos I was full and did not finish the fries or tostados.

I’ve been watching the Curiosity Stream channel a lot the past couple of days. I watched a program on the use of bombs on civilian populations during World War II. The use of the Atomic Bombs on Japan over shadows the hundreds of thousands killed by regular explosives.

It was kind of warm for this late in the season. In the high 80’s but it will cool off soon enough.

21 September 2020 Monday

Today is the last full day of summer “it’s been an unusually hot Lammas so I am ready for cooler weather “I even filled my hot tub back up in anticipation of cooler days. The Fall Equinox begins tomorrow at 730 in the morning and the cross quarter day of Mabon begins the Last Harvest. I baked my Mabon Apple Scone this morning. I usually make to celebrate the end of summer. yummy. Then this morning I took a dip in the hot tub “boy did my old bones loved the soak.

All this haze from the smoke coming from the west coast makes me realize why I left California. Back then the skies were just as hazy white, and one never could see even the Camelback Mountains that surrounded Orange County. Today really made me think of California where I spent my youth.

I took Pedro hanging Parrot decoration finally out of the spare bedroom closet and hung him from the beam over the back veranda. Mike Romero and I bought it 20 years ago.

The porch is like having another room but it sure looks different without all my towering Poplar trees but glad I had them removed. They were so messy in the fall.  I had these Mexican blankets from years ago that I put over the railings but I need to get more,  to kind of give a little sense of privacy while sitting on the veranda.  I also re-hung my chili ristra that Rich Butler brought me from New Mexico a few years back. I love my little hacienda even if it does not quite fit in with Mormondom's gray houses.

So, I spent the last evening of summer 2020 and the end of Lammas sitting in a rocking chair watching the sun go down. TJ is in my lap and Maxx and Lulubelle are irritating a squirrel who just wants to eat his sunflower seeds and peanuts in peace” I am having a bowl of orange sherbet “nothing else sounds good” I wonder if medicinal marijuana would restore my appetite?

22 September 2020 Tuesday

The first official day of Autumn and it still feels like summer as the temperature is in the mid-80 degrees. I worked all day in writing up about the Albany Hotel fire of 1919 that occurred 101 years ago early in the morning on the 23^rd of September. I was up again early around 3:00 with a belly pain so I just got up and researched some on the computer until 4:30 this morning and tried to sleep in a little more. Not sure what is making my stomach so gassy and achy. I sure don’t like to eat at all when my stomach pains me like this. It’s not a sharp pain just kind of a dull pain one lives with.

            This late afternoon at 5:30 I met Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya at the Verizon store in Bountiful where we finally canceled all three phone numbers that were in my name closing out that account. Then Kyle bought me a new LG smart phone for $200 and then put me on his business account for $35 a month which he said he’d pay so after all these years I finally don’t have a phone bill. I also dropped my old phone number of 801 505 3459 and have a new number 801 850 1805 for my new phone.

            They wanted to go out for dinner as it was after 6:30 when we finished with Verizon, and Danny suggested Kitty Pappas Steakhouse there in Woods Cross. It’s been there since 1947 and kind of an institution. I’ve driven past it for years but never stopped to eat there as that I am not really a steakhouse kind of guy and I knew that they only accepted cash.

            The place probably hadn’t changed in 30 years and Kitty’s son was running the place when we went” kind of as a one man operation. The place was empty except for another old couple who looked like they had been coming for years. The atmosphere of the place reminded me of an old VFW beer joint with tired booths and red vinyl counter tops. The son who was probably in his late 50s, obese, wearing a tie dyed tee shirt and sporting a beard was quite the character. He reminded me of Jerry Garcia. He took our order as well as cooked it.

            I really wasn’t all that hungry but Kyle wanted me to be there for company so I ordered a pastrami sandwich which came with just potato chips. Kyle ordered a steak and Danny had the salmon. The food was filling but I didn’t think great but we were supporting an institution I suppose.

            It was after 8 before I came back to the house and I was in bed by 9.

The disgusting Republicans are acting like hyenas waiting to scavenge the corpse of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. They are repulsive and hypocritical with Trump announcing a candidate even before her funeral.

23 September 2020 Wednesday

Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum were over this afternoon working on Kyle Foote’s king size bed trying to mount the head board. I asked Zane to come over this Saturday to see about a bid to do some yard work for Mike Romero and me.

            I didn’t do much today except let people know about my new phone number and tried to clean the front room up. I dusted and polished and mopped the floor which really needed it.

Rich Butler came over about 10 this morning because he had a roll of weed block he said I could have. I want to dig up the south side parking strip and lay down bark. He stayed until 11:30 and we sat on the veranda and visited for a while. If I let him he would have stayed into the afternoon just gabbing away but I wanted to finish cleaning the house while I was in the mood.

Then in the afternoon Jim Dabakis dropped off Taco Belle who will be here for a couple of weeks as that Jim is heading down to Mexico to be with Steve. He gave me $100 which he never has to do but feels like he ought to I guess. He says for food LOL.

We are just gut punched with the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and now the Republican are diabolical scheming to stack the Supreme Court with Religious radicals to roll back all the progress we have made in the last 50 years. Trump is already talking like a dictator like he might not accept the results of the November election if he doesn’t win.

This morning, I had a message from Michael Aaron saying he heard that Joe Redburn had died in a homeless shelter but he never confirmed it to me.

Another unseasonably warm day for this time of year.

24 September 2020 Thursday

Michael Aaron posted a Q Salt Lake article on Face book about Joe Redburn having died on Tuesday at a homeless shelter here in Salt Lake. He was 82 years old. There will never be another like him and every Gay person in  Utah whether they know it or not benefit from his legacy.

People are being critical about the community not helping him. But even Joe's closest friends lost track of him when he went homeless. If you ever knew Joe you would have known that. If he would have reached out there would have been hundreds who would have assisted him. He was a vet and could have used the V.A. services if he and chose to do so. The last I talked to him a few years ago I could tell he was getting dementia.

            Jimmy Adams and Zane Baum was over here again with another guy still working on putting Kyle Foote’s bed and head board together. I mostly just typed and researched 2^nd South during the Roaring Twenties when the Greeks were bootlegging.

            Michael Romero said he was dizzy yesterday so I brought over the blood pressure apparatus so he could check his.  Before heading over there I cleaned up some of the yard waste debris the city left in the gutter between the Hall’s and my place. It filled an entire waste yard bin. I am not sure why the city left it.

            This evening when I went to soak in the hot tub I was alarmed that the water level had dropped about 9 inches since I refilled it the other day. I am certain now that I have a significant leak. I am not sure whether it can be repaired. Things do wear out.

            Before heading to bed, I heard Kyle talking loudly from downstairs through his closed room so he must have been shouting. It sounded like he was having an argument with Danny Montoya.

            I went to bed at 10:30 after I sent myself an email of containing my 2020 journal so that it’s in cyber space and not just on my computer. When I had restarted it, the login was giving me trouble wanting a pass word that only Mike would know since this was his old desk top. It happens once in a while which makes me anxious that one day it won’t allow me to access my computer and files at all. I have a backup of most everything except my journal from this year.

25 September 2020 Friday

Jimmy Adams, Zack Baum and Dave Devereaux came over to work a half day in the Casita mainly finishing upholstering the king size bed downstairs. It’s basically all done except for the wiring that Kyle has to do for the kitchenette appliances like the microwave, the stove top and the little refrigerator, after a long hot summer of construction. Those who remember how my old bedroom, laundry room, and bathroom used to be, it's like it's a whole different house. It seems a bit surreal to me after 23 years.

            The guys unloaded the bathroom cabinets into the garage so I guess now everything is here to remodel the bathroom whenever Kyle Foote can get around to it.

            Kyle’s design team came out at 10 to take measurements for the design of the kitchen. I know I wasn’t much help because I really didn’t care. Not to be morbid but not sure how many years I have left to be using the kitchen and the days of big dinner parties are way over. Besides I had the kitchen I wanted for nearly 25 years so what does it matter now?

            I only left the house to take Coco home. I made Shepherd pie for my supper but just ate a bit of it. I cut one of the watermelons from my garden today. It was still not ripe enough. I guess need to read up on how long they take to mature.

            I watched a series on Stalin on the Curiosity Stream Channel. What a monster he was with absolutely a narcissistic personality. Who would have thought to warped individuals like Hitler and Stalin would rise to power at the same time?

            Speaking of a narcissistic personality, Demon Trump is going to nominate a religious conservative woman to the Supreme Court who is certain to be the vote needed to overturn Roe vs. Wade and possibly marriage equality.

There’s no justice for the family of Breanna Taylor. I am Just wondering how many whites get murdered in their beds by police using a no knock warrant at night? I'd like the Kentucky Attorney General to answer that?

26 September 2020 Saturday

Kyle Foote had a trick over last night all though he tried to hide it from me. A corvette was parked in front of the house all morning and when I was mowing and working in the front yard he pretended he wanted to look at my hot tub in order for me to go into the back yard. When I went back into the front yard the corvette was gone. Either he didn’t want me to see a trick coming out of the Casita or he didn’t want him to see me. Not that I care who fucks Kyle but I mind the illusive nature of his hiding it from me.

            Zack Baum was over early about 10 this morning so I showed him what I needed help with by putting down bark in the parking strip. I said I’d pay him $100 to help with removing the weeds and dirt and laying down bark. We also went over to Mike Romero’s place where he’s going to have some yard work done there.

            I mowed the front and back yards and also finally put down some rye grass seeds where it is now just dirt from where my paving stones used to be. I watered for an hour giving the ground a good soaking. It was cooler today in the mid 70’s so it was a good time to do it. The summer had been so blistering hot that the grass seeds would have burnt up.

            It seems strange that it’s almost October and it still feels like August.

Demon Trump -his minions care more about fetuses than the 200,000 Americans who have died from his incompetence. He thinks a conservative court will throw a disputed election to him just like the Supreme Court chose Bush over Gore.

If trump is reelected take me home Jesus.

We Americans have our work cut out to elect Democratic Presidents and Senators to replace Thomas and Alito who are in their 70s”when a progressive  court is 5 to 4 they can reverse any damages that the Trump justices are going to inflict on America” you know Putin is smiling in the Kremlin with his stooges Moscow Mitch and Benedict Donald  dividing America” divide and conquer ”Putin wasn’t a KGB officer for nothing”

 

27 September 2020 Sunday

I am giving away for free my old garage refrigerator to anyone who wants it. It still works well but old and not energy efficient. It’s an old GE that we got from Leanne back in 1999 who worked with Mike Romero and Rich Butler at Big A auto parts back then. I cleaned it up really good getting the years of grime off of it as it had set in the garage for over 20 years.

            While I was outside I decided to get my fall groove on and I took out the fall leaves decorations and put them on the front step railing. I also strung some orange and yellow lights but I will wait until October 1st before bringing out the Halloween paraphernalia but I like having the fall décor out now.  It was much cooler today only in the mid-Seventies.

            I made a batch of banana nut bread rather than waste a couple of over ripe bananas but that’s about all the cooking I did today.

            In the early evening, I took the pups for a ride and went down to 600 West and 200 South to see if the demolition had started on the old In-Between and I was surprised to see the building had already been torn down to its foundation. I parked on Eccles Street behind the site and took some last pictures of the building that had been there since 1890. I was even able to grab a few bricks that look old enough to have been part of the Albany Hotel” When Joe Redburn owned the bar he called it Bricks after the In Between closed.

I am writing up information on personalities who lived on Second South after the hotel burned in 1919. A Greek named Alex Geros ran the Salt Lake Café on this corner where he was nearly murdered by his partner in 1918 and in 1923 shot in the back by police on suspicion of bootlegging. The Utah Supreme Court got involved in that shooting .Phantoms everywhere if you know where to look. 579 West 200 South is just a memory now. All we are” are dust in the wind.

            I watched this series on Curiosity Stream called Apocalypse that has colorized old black and white images of World War II that is mesmerizing to actually see these scenes as real people. I have already watched the Apocalypse series on World War I that was excellent and on the Battle of Verdun, and on Stalin. So many needless deaths and cruelty.

            The New York Times was able to get a hold of 20 years of Tyrant Trump’s tax returns and for the first two years in office he only paid $750 in taxes and in the years before that nothing.

No matter what Republicans say, they own Trump “he is their creation and the death of 200,000 can be attributed to this death cult that is bringing fascism to government “ if you still are a Republican knowing all that has transpired over the past 4 years you are guilty and I question your morality and decency no matter how much you may protest.

28 September 2020 Monday

Today is Billy Bikowski’s 59^th birthday. He used to mean the world to me, 30 years ago. It was chilly out today in the 40’s and only warmed up to 70 at the most today. I am sure my plants are happy after the beating they took from the heat this summer.

I took Lulubelle for a walk this morning as I thought Coco’s appointment was at 9:30 but Mike Romero called and said they contacted him and it was really at 8:30. Since it was already 9 I rushed her down to the Dog Grooming School there on North Temple so she was there for most of the day. I had them do the deluxe on her as that I was late and with a $5 time it was $70. However, that was only .001 the amount that Trump wrote off on his taxes for his hair cuts.

            I had several inquiries about Leanne’s Refrigerator this morning but only in the afternoon did I get a message from someone who wanted to come and get it. I had scrubbed and cleaned it really well yesterday and had it plugged in to show that it was working. Two young gals came with a butch truck and said they wanted it. They lifted it into their pickup and hauled it away. I hope they were Lesbians..

Well, the old GE fridge is gone” I had it since 1999 and it wasn’t new then lol” so that's great. Merrill Cook commented, “It will run forever. New high efficiency refrigerators stop working the day after the 36 month warranty expires. I have gone through 4 refrigerators since I have an old GE from the 1980s that still works fine but makes my electric meter spin real fast.”

            I made spinach ravioli in an Alfredo sauce with red peppers and sautéed summer squash for supper. I had it with garlic toast. I had a bite of it but will give the rest to Mike tomorrow. I love to cook but I hate eating alone ”oh well “at least there's food in the house even if there’s no company to share it with.

            Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya came home about 6:30 and came upstairs. Kyle acted like he wanted to visit some but I didn’t. I was kind of aloof to both him and Danny. I am not really a part of their lives and don’t want to get sucked into thinking that I am. I only get bits and pieces of Kyle’s life, leaving me unsatisfied. “Well, I've been 'fraid of changin' 'Cause I've built my life around you But time makes you bolder Even children get older And I'm gettin' older, too.”

            I’ve been on Silver Daddies again, I am not sure why. I know I won’t find love there but maybe some temporary companionship. I am feeling lonely as we head into fall. Perhaps it’s just nesting time I am feeling.

            I watched the end of Apocalypse World War II.  What a tragic waste of 50 million people and here fascism is rearing its ugly head again.

29 September 2020 Tuesday

Poor Maxx, it’s been a really rough day for him. He has something wrong with his left eye which appears swollen. I called the Dog Park Vet but they couldn’t see him so I called around and made a 4 o'clock appoint at the Wasatch Springs Animal hospital to see what that is all about whether its infected or it's been scratched.

I took him down at 11 to have his nail trim and then down to the Wasatch Springs Animal Clinic on Beck Street to have his eye looked at. I liked the staff and doctor and after examining Maxx’s eye, he saw that Maxx has a scratch across his cornea. He had to have surgery to repair it. I also had Maxx get all his shots while he was there. The bill for all that was $590, ouch, but Maxx certainly is worth it..

 I had him near me in the lazy boy to keep TJ away from pestering him. He's still groggy from the anesthesia and need the rest. Well at least I still have him. On October 1st it will have been a year since I lost Harleigh. I paid $600 for Harleigh and all I got was a box with his name on it. I'd had rather paid $600 and have the sweet boy home”that's for sure.

I did not watch the Presidential debate tonight instead I watched “O Brother Where Art Thou.” I don’t care how well Biden performed or didn’t perform. I know that Biden is a decent, moral, and compassionate human being. There was nothing Trump could have said to erase 4 years of being anti Muslim, anti-Mexican, supportive of white supremacists, pulling us out of the climate agreement, bankrupting thousands of soy bean farmers, lying thousands of times to the American people, calling Covid19 a hoax when 200,000 Americans are now dead, nominating a right wing theocrat to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, placing Betsy DeVoss as Secretary of Education, allowing Stephen Miller to cage children, and colluding with the Russians.

If you think you had to listen to the debate to decide who you will vote for then your moral compass is broken. Let's make it simple. Are you going to vote for change or for a constant liar?

I told Kyle Foote that he needed to replace the $500 he “accidently” took out of my account two weeks ago to pay the Lowe’s bill. That will help with Maxx’s emergency. I was really feeling neglected by him today. He took off with Danny Montoya and his sister without even speaking to me. I never know what is going on in his life anymore or even feel a part of it anymore. Neglected is the way I am feeling, and alone.

It’s to the point that it really doesn’t matter whether he lives here or not as I rarely see him nor interact with him. When he comes to the house, and the times he does come upstairs, it’s just briefly and then he says he wants to unwind and he disappears. It makes me realize that he really doesn’t want to engage with me anymore. My usefulness to him is probably over which is not to say, in his capacity, he’s probably fond of me but after all we have been through, it’s not enough.

Helen Ready the I am Woman Hear Me Roar singer has died at the age of 78 years. She certainly was the sound of the early 1970’s.

30 September 2020 Wednesday

I couldn’t sleep pass 2:30 this morning so I just got up rather than have my mind race. I sent Kyle Foote a message saying “BTW I think now that you are on your feet that you and Danny need to start paying rent for living downstairs. I think $500 a month between the two of you seems fair don't you? If that seems too much we can discuss it.  I think October would be a good time to start as I have some bills to pay that come due in October.”

            He agreed and wrote back that he put the $500 back in my account, paid me $500 for October rent, and he surprised me by also transferring $590 to pay for Maxx surgery which he didn’t need to do.

            He ordered 3 cubic feet of wood mulch for the south side parking strip which surprised me too. I guess he knew that Zane was coming over this Sunday to help clear out the weeds from the parking strip.

            When I was outside, I noticed another notice taped to the door of a complaint from the city saying that Mike’s RV needed to be screened behind a six foot fence off of the side driveway. I was furious “I felt like I am being targeted “I got a complaint a month ago about my sidewalk and now this about Mike's RV that has been parked on my side driveway for years.

I tried contacting someone but there’s no one in the city offices who I can get an answer from. I called Kyle and he also called the city enforcer to find out what was the deal with me getting a notice so that calmed my ruffled feathers down.  The enforcer said not to worry much about” it as that she was following up on some disgruntled person who probably had his own RV complained about so went driving around the neighborhood looking for others.

It’s so stupid that it is legal in the city to park in on the street but not up in the 3^rd driveway where it’s partially hidden by a tree. It’s getting to the point I feel like I am living in a Home Owners Association community telling me what I can do and not do. I’ve always tried to keep a nice yard. I am half way to 70 years old so it doesn’t take much to ruffle my feathers

When I get frustrated, mad, or upset I go work it off in the garden. I spent 2 hours rotor tilling the 50 by 4 feet parking strip on the Daleridge side of my yard in order to dig it out and lay down mulch and bark that Kyle had delivered today.

I finally wrote Bill Poore today to see how he’s doing. After Kyle agreed to pay rent I let Bill know it because for some reason that was a really sore point with him that he was living here for free.

I wrote to him” “Kyle is paying $500 a month for Danny and him to live down stairs he also paid to have Maxx surgery which was $590” I have been researching stories of people who lived on Second South for the past couple of months and posting what I can find out on the history site” that and taking care of the yard is about all I do “now that I have no work going on at the house I don’t see anyone anymore not even Kyle and Danny, who just retreat to their love nest in the Casita downstairs “I haven't seen TJ and Jim in 3 weeks and it's hard to believe tomorrow is October 1st with the weather still being so warm” I don’t watch any politics anymore” don’t need my blood pressure to get any higher than it is already” I know who I am voting for and no one is changing their minds so why bother?  I miss having hot and sour soup with you “ maybe someday” hope you are staying well” Maxx seems to be in less discomfort but his eye sure looks a mess poor boy” a year ago tomorrow I put old Harleigh down” I am glad I still have my pups or I'd be lonelier than I am” I miss people but at least I am not one of the 200,000 who died from a hoax. Stay safe.”

He wrote back and asked to go to lunch tomorrow. Charlie Chows is back open so maybe there.

I put out the remainder of the Halloween décor out, the jack o lanterns on the outside light fixtures and other stuff. Not a whole lot, just enough to be festive.

When Kyle came home, he came upstairs to see the dogs and fix himself something to eat. My attitude towards him has mellowed again but still trying to contain my infatuation with him. He said that Danny Montoya has been reassigned from Phoenix to Laughlin, Nevada which is just more than an hour away from Las Vegas where his folks live. I guess he’s coming back to Salt Lake City tonight.

My back must be drying out because it’s been real itchy again. Ugh I hate that. So here it is, another September has come and gone.

Mac Davis the singer and song writer from the 70’s died.