Winter Frist Quarter Journal 2021 January-March President Biden's first year

 

JANUARY 2021

1 January 2021 Friday

I woke up when the last of the cascades of bombs in the neighborhood ceased. I found Buster trapped beneath a 4-legged stool by my bed, poor guy. I was hearing Buster whimpering and turning on the light I found him trapped so I got the little guy out. The “firework bombs” must have scared him. The fireworks, more like firefight explosions, were bad tonight but they did stop at 1 in the morning. It’s a crazy way to start off the New Year.

Then this morning, after I got up to make some coffee, I heard something like people talking. Curiously, I looked outside. No one there. Then it sounded like it was coming from downstairs. I took Kyle to airport yesterday, so I knew I was alone in the house.

Then I realized it was coming from the Casita downstairs. I heard these voices and not fully awake, I was nervous and slightly anxious. I knocked on the door slightly and slowly opened the door that was left unlocked. I had images of when I once found a drunken Native American standing in my hallway in the middle of the night.

Well, I am too old for this modern shit. His Alexis was playing NPR! The voices were discussing the hacking of Microsoft by the Russians. Happy New Year’s. Sheesh.

            Once I was up, I made potato pancakes, bacon, and eggs for breakfast then went and worked on the computer until 10 in the morning.

Later, because it was a fairly mild New Year’s Day, I took a chance and went to Best Buy, as that my Samsung Tablet charging cable is damaged. They weren’t opened so I went to the Glendale Smith’s, bought some snacks, and discounted meat for the pups. I also bought another bone-in ham and a corned beef to freeze for later in the year.

            The rest of the day was spent binge watching the sixth season of “Mom” and some of “Young Sheldon.” I think I enjoy “Mom” because of the 12 Step messages they use in the story lines.

I really didn’t see anyone today, although my neighbor Brittany Nash left a plate of cookies on my doorstep.

            Today is Kyle Daniels’ birthday. I sent him a sexy greeting, but I doubt whether we will ever be lovers again. It’s not my call.

Well, I finished writing in my journal for the year 2020. You would think with me being self-isolating for 9 months, I would not have much to write about, but I managed to get 206,636 words down on 331 pages. There were lots of observations of the Covid19 year, lots of political opinions, and reflections on people around me; lots of good times, bad times, happy times, and sad times.

I started keeping a journal in 1968. My loved ones, who are now gone, are kept safe for me in them. One of these years I will leave an unfinished one and someone else will have to write “The End” for me.

            So, here’s my inventory. I am nearly 70 years old. Wow. That sounds old. I am still residing at 1633 Fernleaf Street in Salt Lake City, Utah and have been since 1996. I am living semi-alone with Kyle Foote down in the studio apartment that replaced my downstairs bedroom, bathroom, and laundry room. He is gone so often, between his Build Team Company and his boyfriend Danny Montoya, that I really don’t interact much with him. I guess that is normal since I am nearly 30 years older than him.

            I am down to four pups, Maxx, TJ, Lulubelle, and Buster; however I am still taking care of Mike Romero’s pup Coco and Jim Dabakis’ pup Taco. Jim is down in Mexico again and will be for about two more weeks. The canine cuties give me purpose and comfort to my life in my old age.

            I am expecting some more changes to the house this year as my bathroom and kitchen are supposed to get remodeled, but I guess it will happen when it happens.

            Thank God we will have a new President this year if they can drag the old Orange Bastard out of the White House. I am really hoping that Georgia will send Two Democratic Senators to Congress to rid Mitch McConnell from being majority leader.

 The Covid19 Plague is said to become worse this month, from all the Christmas and New Year’s gathering and traveling, so the specter of death continues to hover over the nation. So far, I have dodged that bullet unless I am asymptomatic. I’ve not been tested but I feel fine for my age. I can still keep up the house, yard, and care for my critters on my own. For that I am truly grateful, but I can tell the old “bod” is wearing down. I’ve lived a long time on this Third Rock from the sun and on the most part been content, useful, and happy.

            I expect to be in Face Book jail several times between now and January 20 telling Trumpers to go fuck themselves and crawl back under the rocks they slimed out of. Ron Holmgren agreed and said, “I have noticed that many of the worse Trump followers are trolls. I wonder if Face Book is happy that thousands of their "customers" only use Face book to start fights and spread misinformation. Kind of not what Face book was designed to be.”

 

2 January 2021 Saturday

I went back to Best Buy and bought a charging cable for my Samsung Tablet and that is about all the excitement I had today. It was frosty out this morning, but it warmed to the high 30’s and still no snow.

            I fried up some okra, cooked a pot of black eye peas, a yam, and cornbread dressing for my supper. I used some of the cranberry jelly I had canned up too. That was my supper.

            I haven’t heard from anyone, so I imagine everyone is fine. In the news just more deaths from Covid19, more super spreader events, and Republicans in Congress trying to subvert the acceptance of the Electoral College win for Joe Biden.

 

3 January 2021 Sunday

Kyle Foote took an earlier flight back to Salt Lake and I went and picked him up at the airport this morning at 8:45. He said he was glad to be back home, and that Danny Montoya was called into work for part of the time he was in Nevada.

I didn’t see him much after he went to his apartment downstairs. I made 4 pints of New England clam chowder this morning as well as meatloaf for the pups. I made a meat loaf using ground turkey, beef, shredded carrots, shredded potatoes, blended garbanzo beans, peas, and two eggs... I guess if the pups won’t eat it I can. So, I am set for this wintry day. It snowed lightly when I was cooking.

I am glad Kyle had an earlier flight, so I didn’t have to drive to the airport in this mess. I had bought a bunch of canning jars a while back, not that I am canning but I like them better for containers; more than putting food in plastic. The glass keeps the flavors better, I think. I have a bunch of half pints also for leftovers. You also can see what’s in the frig better so less science experiments in the back.

Kyle said that Danny’s sister wanted my recipe for the Cherry 7 Up Cranberry bread I sent down with Kyle. So, I guess they enjoyed it.

I watched a lot of HBO shows today especially the 2019 mini-series on Chernobyl. I had no idea of how much of a catastrophe that could have devastated Europe if the Soviets had not thrown everything they had at it to contain the reactor. Still the toll it took on human and animal life was horrific. Gorbachev, the last head of the Soviet Union said that Chernobyl, as much as anything, caused the collapse of the USSR. All because politics was more important to the state than science. Sounds like a lot like how Trump is managing the Covid19 disaster.

I also watched The Maltese Falcon. I never get tired of that classic or of Casablanca. I watched The Witches of Eastwick which I hadn’t seen since the late 1980’s before going to bed.

Trump was recorded committing sedition by calling the attorney general of Georgia to pressure him to find enough votes to overturn the state’s presidential results.

 

4 January 2021 Monday

Kyle Foote came over about 9 this morning with three of his workers. I don’t know their names, nor will I likely know them, as well as I did Jimmy Adams and the crew from last summer, as they should only be here for about a week doing the upstairs bathroom make over. Kyle said they will start tomorrow at 8.

I had to take Lulubelle down to the Dog Grooming School at 10:30 and while she was gone, I cleared out the bathroom and stripped it down to the bare walls. I picked her back up at 1:30 and she was so excited to come back home looking like a pretty girl.

Later in the afternoon Kyle called with some sad news that Danny Montoya’s niece, who had brain cancer, died today. I think she was only about 11 years old. When Kyle came home at 6 this evening, he informed me that he was driving down to Vegas and will be there until Sunday to be with Danny and his family. I was surprised that he wasn’t flying but perhaps he wanted to have his own vehicle rather than be dependent on the Montoya during their grief. I sent all the mini breads I had in the freezer with Kyle to give to the family.

            I understood completely why he was leaving, and he asked for a hug. I held on to him as much as I could. I think I could embrace Kyle forever. Still, it made me a bit anxious when he said that the bathroom remodel would proceed without him. He said he had complete confidence in his workers so I guess I will have to have it also. It’s going to be a week on keeping the pups locked up behind the bedroom gate but at least I can let them out into the back yard from the bedroom.

            Kyle said he’s leaving the door to the Casita opened downstairs so I can use the bathroom and shower downstairs. He doesn’t know that I made my own key when he was gone this last weekend.

            We have a new governor for Utah, Spencer Cox, I hope he’s better than Herbert whose morality and world view was influenced by being from Utah County. At least Cox isn’t from Utah County or even the Wasatch Front.

            The recording of Trump trying to strong arm the Attorney General of Georgia to overturn the Georgia presidential vote is in the news, as well as the election of the Democratic Georgia Senators which will determine which political party will control the Senate. The fate of America hinges on whether McConnell maintains control of the Senate and blocks all of President Biden’s reforms of the travesties of the Trump reign.

            Utah has a 1304 Covid14 deaths as the new year begins.

 

5 January 2021 Tuesday

I had the strangest dream before waking up that I entered a mausoleum of some sort where on the walls were memorials to many people. I saw some of my family names on the wall but what was odd I was sitting with a man and talking about Steve and Meg Madsen, my friends and apartment managers when I lived in Provo Utah for the last time back in 1976. I told this man that I was sad that Steve had died and that he had given me my Priesthood lineage and I asked him where Meg was now. I wonder what that was all about in my subconsciousness

It rained some during the night because the outside was wet when I was up to fix some coffee. I was ready for the workers to come by at 8 this morning but they had a late start because they had to go to Lowes to get some items.

It was about 9:30 when this man named Juan  showed up with his helper named Angel to start the demotion. Juan spoke English but his helper only spoke Spanish, so I didn’t catch his name. I kept the pups in the bedroom behind the doggie gate all day although I could let them out the bedroom door onto the veranda to go outside. It was in the 40’s today so it was not bad for them to be outside.

It didn’t take as long as I thought it would take to strip out the bathroom. The washer and dryer are sitting in my front room, however. There’s no other place to put them. Later Brian Devereaux, who is kind of a crew chief supervising the remodeling, came over with another worker to help out and do some of the plumbing. He needed the main water valve shut off and I had to call Kyle Foote to locate it because I knew he had it hidden behind his bed downstairs.

It was a bitch getting the cast iron bathtub out of such a tight space. It was super heavy and it’s on my back deck veranda having been dragged out of the wider kitchen door. It will be there now until they can get a hand truck to haul it out as it is super heavy. Mike and I chose a cast iron tub instead of a plastic tub when the house was built 25 years ago; so goodbye old tub. I never actually used it for anything more than to take a shower anyway.

The guys went to lunch and then to Lowes near 1 this afternoon, giving me a chance to sweep up the sheetrock debris.

The workers worked until 4:30 in the afternoon so I had Michael Romero come and get Coco. I sent home a pint of clam chowder with him. So, on day one, on the bathroom remodel, all the deconstruction was done, the ceiling over the washer and dryer patched and the floor where the closet once was, patched also for new flooring. The shower pan is in, and they put the toilet back in for me to use but the commode will have to come up again when the floor goes down this week.

Brian said they would be back at 7 tomorrow morning to put in a new valve for the shower which he has to do before Juan  can tile the walls.

Kyle called me this evening to ask how I was treated, and I said they were all exceptionally good and I had thanked them all for their hard work. I told Kyle to keep the $1800 he borrowed to help pay wages for the men. I asked when the funeral for Emilee and he was said probably not for a week or so, which surprised me because I thought that was why he went down for the funeral. He was apologetic that he wasn’t here to make sure the remodeling was the way I wanted. To be truthful I was a little discouraged that he wasn’t here for this, but I understood he felt he needed to be there for Danny Montoya and his family. I saw a Go Fund me site for the family to help raise money for the funeral expenses, so I sent $25 to help.

Kyle asked, what were the different kinds of sweet breads that I had sent down with him, and I said I wasn’t sure. I just grabbed all that I had in the freezer that I made to send down with him. He said they loved them whatever they were.

Since I knew I wouldn’t be leaving the house while the workers are here tomorrow, I went out to Smith’s at 6:30 this evening which seemed like the middle of the night as it was so dark out with the cloud covering blocking any moonlight. I bought some items to finish making some taco soup with the pot of red beans I had been cooking all day.

I watched some more episodes of “MOM” to unwind a little before heading for bed around 10 tonight.

The Georgia Senate Races were all in the news nationally to determine who will control the Senate. It appears that Warnock is winning against the evil Eva Braun Loeffler snatch. The other race is in a dead heat 49.50 percent to 49.50 percent. Still Republican Perdue is trailing Democrat Jon Ossoff

 

6 January 2021 Wednesday

What an extremely bizarre day in a series of bizarre events since Donald Trump became President in 2016.

            I was up half the night having to pee, so I was grateful that the toilet was back in place, so I didn’t have to go downstairs or pee outside. Not sure what was causing that. Since the Build Team workers were coming at 7 this morning, I just got up at 4:30 to fix some breakfast, make coffee, and type some.

            Brian Devereaux came first to weld in a new valve for the shower and Juan  and his helper Angel came shortly after Brian did. I remained in my room locked in with the pups to keep them out of the way for much of the day, so I wasn’t sure all that was being done. Everyone left about 2:30 and there was not a lot to see that was done; just some new valves, a shower wall being waterproofed for tiling tomorrow, and putting in my outlet plug back into the wall after having been dangling since summer.

            While I was on face book, all at once there was a lot of excitable chatter about something happening in Washington. I knew that Congress was meeting to count and certify the Electoral College vote but when I turned on the news it seemed like all hell broke out at the Capitol as thousands of Trump thugs, in a deluded attempt to overturn the election of Joe Biden, were storming the capitol.

            I was riveted to the news for the rest of the day watching the incredible events unfold. I mainly watched Norah O’Connell’s CBS news and could tell that all of the news anchors were shocked, outraged, and disgusted that this was happening, and no one was prepared to stop it from happening except for a few Capitol Cops.

            Trump held a rally earlier in the morning where tens of thousands of a mob of MAGA cultists listened to Rudy Giuliani inflamed them with rhetoric of “trial by combat,” Trump Jr. even called for a punishment of Republicans not loyal to the president, and Trump actually urged the mob to go to the capitol and be “wild.”

            It was shocking to see Confederate battle flags, hundreds of Trump flags interspersed among hundreds of America flags as if these insurrectionists were anything but patriotic; chanting USA, USA while attacking the capitol police, scaling walls, breaking windows, and entering into the actual chambers of Congress.

            Federal agents were seen with guns drawn prepared to fire upon the mob pounding on the chamber doors as Congressional members, their aides, and reporters were evacuated to safety. Politicians were imploring Trump to speak to his supporters to tell them to just leave but he wasn’t listening. President Biden came on the air to decry what was going on at the capitol and addressed the nation.

            Trump finally taped a message that was aired, still saying that he had won the election, and everyone knows it. He then weakly told the mob to go home but added he “loved” them. His reaction to this inconceivable assault on the nation’s capital was the most shocking to me and that there was such a lukewarm response to rid the rioters from the building.

 Everyone knows that if Black Lives Matter folks would have been involved, they would have been beaten and shot down like dogs, but these crazy white thugs were allowed to break into Pelosi’s office and steal her podium, sit in the vice-presidential chair that presides over Congress, and other outrages.

            One MAGA woman draped in a Trump flag was shot in the capitol, by whom is unknown, and later died.

            The capitol and grounds were finally cleared by tear gas and police in riot gear from DC, Virginia, and Maryland. I think finally the National Guard was called up. However, compared to the clearing of BLM protestors last summer so trump could have a photo op holding a Bible and the Homeland Security response to protest in Portland, the contrast was notable.

 

7 January 2021 Thursday

I spent much of the day watching the news and fallout over the white supremacist attack on the capitol. Pelosi and Schumer are so angry with trump that they are calling for the vice president to remove Trump by the 25th Amendment. Pence won’t return their calls and cabinet members are resigning so they won’t have to participate in any attempt to remove the president. Mitch McConnell’s snatch who was Secretary of Transportation and the evil snatch DeVos both resigned after fake outrage over Trump’s inciting rioters to attack the capitol.

            It was a very mild day here in Salt Lake and at noon I went outside into the backyard to stay with the pups so they could get out of the house. It was around 40 degrees.

            I never left the house until this evening to give the pups a ride and to get a Dr. Pepper from McDonalds. I made a Shepherd Pie and when Mike Romero came over to pick up Coco, I fed him and sent another pint of clam chowder and some of the pie casserole home with him.

            On day three of the bathroom remodel, the shower has been tiled and a light put in over the shower. The bathroom will probably not be finished until next week. Today is the anniversary of my marriage to Fran Fuchs back in 1977.

            A capitol police officer died from injuries during the riot and the woman shot was an ardent Trump wacko who was one of the first to break into the capitol. Three other participants died of causes unrelated probably because they were older obese wackos and out of shape MAGA worshippers.

The insurrectionist horned man who invaded the capitol is purported to be QAnon conspiracy theorist sometimes referred to as the “QAnon Shaman” although the radical right is trying to claim it was antifa infiltrators who attacked the capitol. Trump has been banned from Face Book and had been banned for 12 hours from Twitter.

When he finally came back on Twitter, he posted a video addressing the attack on the capitol. He acted so contrite and there’s no way Trump wrote the speech that condemned the assault. He said that those involved would be prosecuted to cover his own ass. So, the guys he said he “loved” yesterday he threw under the bus today.

 

8 January 2021 Friday

I am 3 miles north of the fire at the railroad bridge, south of power and light company where creosote-soaked material has been burning since this morning. It stinks here so I pity the folks that live near the fairgrounds on North Temple.

            Juan  and his helper Angel worked all day this 4th day of the bathroom remodel. The room was painted “caramel honey” and the dark laminate flooring was laid. Juan said the colors reminded him of the ones his daughter, who is kind of a hippie, would like. I said I was an aging hippie and color is important to me. He also said that my house was the first that Angel has seen since coming to the Utah that reminds him of Latin American colors. That pleased me.

Before leaving about 5 this afternoon, they put the washer and dryer back in the bathroom and Brian Devereaux came over to install the toilet back now that the flooring is down. Next week the bathroom cabinet will be put in and the shower door and all the hardware installed but I suppose I will be waiting on the sink and countertop.

Brian saw my Huntington Beach picture and we got to talking. He said he was born in 1981 in Cerritos, so we talked about Long Beach and that area where we both grew up. That was nice to visit with a non-Republican Southern Californian. He also commented about the Long beach Gay Pride parade which kind of amused me.

Kyle Foote called again to see how it was all coming along and said that he will probably drive back tomorrow rather than Sunday as he said Danny Montoya may have to go back to work.

Mike Romero came to pick up Coco, but I didn’t cook anything since the water was shut off for much of the day. I didn’t even take the pups for a ride, so I never left the house.

Trump announced he won’t be attending the inauguration and President Biden said good! Ha! I’ve been following the fallout over the Trump inspired Insurrection. I guess a capitol police officer died from his injuries from being attacked during the assault on the capitol. There’s more call for Trump’s resignation, the enforcement of Amendment 25 or an impeachment. Many Republicans are jumping ship and saying they support impeachment and I say fuck them. They had last year to do that.

Donald Trump’s Twitter account was finally suspended permanently. His access to stir up 90 million Regressives is finally ended. Also banned from Twitter was Michael Flynn as well as Trump’s lawyer sycophants  Sidney Powell and Lin Wood.

The fascist forum “Parler” was given a 24-hour ultimatum from an App Store to clean up their act or be banned. Apple said they were going to remove it from the App Store if they didn’t change their policies of letting terrorist threats and hate speech go unchecked.

Nancy Pelosi spoke to pentagon

generals to secure the nukes to keep Trump from doing something even more unhinged as the House of Representatives will introduce articles of impeachment on Monday.

Well President Andrew Johnson and President Donald Trump now have 4 things in common... 1. Both White Supremacists 2. Both impeached 3. Both 1 term presidents

4. Both refused to attend the inauguration of their successors

 

9 January 2021 Saturday

Happy Birthday John Cunningham wherever your stardust may be. I wonder if there’s anyone left to remember you besides me.

I was expecting Kyle Foote to come in this evening, but he never did so I guess he is spending another day in Nevada with Danny Montoya.

            Again, I am waking up way early to around 4:30 in the morning and just can’t get back to sleep. I spent much of the day cleaning. I had to mop the floors and stairs from all the pee and construction dust from last week. While downstairs to take a shower, I decided to straighten up Kyle’s space that we kind of disarranged trying to get to the water shut off valve behind his bed.

            While I was at that, I decided to do up a load of his laundry, make his bed up, take out his trash, and just generally tidy up so he can come home to a clean space.

            After that I went out into the garage and boxed up the Christmas décor I had taken down. As the weather was so nice, I went through all the crap that’s been piled up there. I organized all the wall painting items into a box, threw out trash, and just made it easier to locate things.

I didn’t have much thawed out for the pup’s supper, so I went to Lucky’s to buy a roasted chicken. My cousin Stephanie posted that she made chicken soup yesterday. That sounded good so I made me some chicken & noodle soup too for my supper.

The rest of the evening just watched my favorite shows and some of American Graffiti. It featured a lot of actors that later became big stars on TV and in the movies during the 1970’s.

The news seems so surreal with calls for the resignation of Trump and his enablers like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. I am not the only one who feels like America is finally waking up from a four-year nightmare.

Why are we so concerned about Radicalized Muslims when we have Radicalized Christians out to destroy America? These domestic terrorists were radicalized over the past years by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Fox, and Friends, QAnon, Franklin Graham, and Donald Trump. These are the true enemies of the Constitution of the United States and the American way of life.

Rush Limbaugh’s Twitter account was taken down as Twitter is finally cleaning house.

I wonder how many lives could have been saved if the Republican sycophants would not have blocked Trumps impeachment last year? Would the Covid19 have gotten so out of control if a psychopath had not been running the government? Only 1 Republican, Mitt Romney had the fortitude to vote for impeachment. Mitch McConnell and all the other Republican enablers brought us this constitutional crisis by being derelict in their duty to the American people.

I will say it again NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN. They don't give a damn about working people. Their God is Mammon, the entity that promises wealth, and the greedy pursuit of gain. Jesus Christ was adamant “You cannot serve both God and mammon."

 

10 January 2021 Sunday

I did extraordinarily little today but watch television and make some beef and vegetable soup. In the afternoon discovered that my hot tub was not working. After trying all the switches to the electrical panels, I could not get it to work.

            I texted Kyle Foote who was about four hours out to ask him whether I should just drain the hot tub and call Soakers when he said he’d look at it when he came home which he did.

Kyle came in around 5 and I could tell he was tired, but he looked at it anyway and determined there was a break somewhere in the connection and would have one of his electricians look at it.

He asked if I wanted to go to Lowe’s to look for countertop for the bathroom and of course I did. I drove since I knew he was tired from all his driving, and we went to Bountiful. They did not have in stock the right size 24 inches in the color I wanted. They just had white and that would have been too stark for the color scheme.

While there we bought an oval wall mirror and shower hanger that can be mounted. He also had a call from Juan saying he needed certain power tools, so Kyle bought those also while at Lowes.

Even though he was tired he wanted to go to Home Depot in Centerville but even there we could not find the right countertop in stock, so Kyle had to order it online. It won’t be available until after the 20^th, so I won’t have a sink and countertop until then.

Kyle shared some of his misadventures on his way down to Nevada. I guess he was distracted and ran out of gas on the freeway. A highway police officer spotted him and came to his rescue, calling for an emergency roadside assistant to bring him some gasoline. Noticing that Kyle hadn’t put on his new plates, Kyle was worried he’d be harassed but instead the office put the plates on for him., Kyle still has a phobia of law officials but at least one did do an act of kindness for him.

I think Kyle was really glad to be home as he implied that he viewed some of his time down there as wasted, but I said sometimes you just have to do what you have to do even when inconvenient. I know there are a few trivial things done in bathroom that he would have had done differently if he would have been here to supervise but nothing really major.

            I gave him some jars of soup and he went down to his studio apartment to finally get some rest and I just watched episodes of Young Sheldon.

A year ago, today I went with Kyle to the Mountain America Expo Center Home Show. That is where it all began; a new roof, solar panels, remodeled downstairs, a front entrance to the basement, poplar trees removed, a new fence and RV pad, a new concrete patio, a cover for the back deck veranda, new furnace and water heater, electrical panel inside the house and a washer and dryer in the upstairs bathroom.

While I did a lot of sitting at the expo, Kyle was a man with a vision and a mission LOL. I love, love having the washer and dryer upstairs and a cover over the back deck.

My bathroom remodel will be completed sometime this week with a step-in shower stall rather than a tub in my old age.

It is very evident to whom Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and other right-wing agitators appealed to, anarchists, racists, insurrectionists, and the mentally unstable. They were a ticking bomb that Rudy “trial by combat” Giuliani and Donald “Get Wild” Trump set off, egged on by GOP traitors like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz; joined by 6 other Senators and 139 members of the House.

            The right-wing news media and social media have convinced Trump loyalist that the “protest” was peaceful until infiltrated by Antifa elements. There’s no reasoning with irrational people but there should be consequences.

 

11 January 2021 Monday

I called and left a message for Richard Gordon the Soaker Hot Tub Guy after Kyle Foote’s electrician guy said that my breakers were fine so the short must be in the circuit panel in the hot tub itself. After not hearing back from him I called the office only to learn that they were closed on Mondays and that is why I probably didn’t hear anything from Soakers.

The cabinets in the bathroom and the baseboards were put in today, and when Juan left, he said that his part was through and someone else will be installing the shower door enclosure. When Kyle Foote came home about 5 and inspected the work, he was unhappy where the shower caddy was mounted and was upset saying it would interfere somewhat with the shower door which made me upset saying well, I didn’t know! Kyle was not here for almost all of the remodeling and had left me out of most of the decisions so how was I supposed to know.

 It pissed me off that he can spend hours talking to Danny Montoya and leaves me out of the loop until something goes away, he doesn’t like. It kind of sucked all the joy out of having the bathroom remodeled until he explained how he wanted my bathroom to be a model for the excellence that Build Team should be doing.

            He asked if I wanted to go to the Floor and Décor store to pick up some more flooring, I suppose to replace what was taken up in the downstairs closet. I said yes and I drove. We also returned some of the bathroom tile we didn’t use.

            On the way over we talked about his new offices where Build Team will be moving into at the end of the month. He said he’d like for me to make bakery treats for his office workers once in a while.

            At Floor and Décor, we bought what they had left of the same type of flooring and some more tile for a back splash for downstairs. It came to around $330, and I bought it since I did last time.

            We stopped at Loco Pollo for some supper on the way back home and I paid for dinner also.

            Over 30,000 people have died from Covid19 since the beginning of the year in America. In California 200 people a day are dying from the virus more than from all other causes combined. All this suffering, while a Constitutional crisis consumes this nation. The Fascist platform of Parler lost all its sponsors and is offline now. Corporations are withdrawing support for the Congress members who voted to overturn the electoral vote. The House of Representatives are initiating another impeachment of Trump and the Regressives are howling like stuck pigs for being held accountable for the attempted coup.

 

12 January 2021 Tuesday

Juan was back with Angel to tile the backsplash on the kitchenette downstairs and to paint the new bathroom door that Kyle Foote bought. He is switching out all the panel doors for a more contemporary look.

            Brian Devereaux installed the shower door today but said not to run water on it for at least a day.

            Kyle went and bought a space heater for the hot tub to keep the pipes from freezing until someone can look at it. Richard Gordon my Soaker guy called back today and said he might be able to come out today but wasn’t able after all. Soaker said that the soonest they could send someone out was February 4^th at 11!

            I didn’t cook today but just ate leftovers which I had plenty. I sent a $25 donation to KUTV Souper Bowl of Caring Donation that helps feed hungry children over the weekend when schools are closed.

            We are living in interesting times. The FBI warned that insurrectionists are planning anti-Biden rallies at all 50 state capitals disguised as pro-gun rallies. Funny how all this pro-gun rallies are attended by pro Trump cultists who support a tyrant rather than oppose one.

Vice President Pence refuses to invoke the 25^th amendment and Trump continues to refuse to take any responsibility for what his cult followers have done. Pence is obviously afraid of Trump’s power. White hair Republicans are a clear danger to America.

My cousin Chris Johnson wrote “I think it’s worth remembering that an attempted coup or insurrection that goes unpunished is essentially nothing more than a training exercise.”

 

13 January 2021 Wednesday

Donald Trump in a historic vote was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives; however, 197 Republicans chose treason over reason including all the representatives from Utah. If there was any question on how seditious the Republican Party is, listening to GOP Congress members speak on why Trump should not be impeached, removes all doubt.

            It was a warm day, 52 degrees today however a cold front will be coming in but at least the air is cleared from some of the inversion.

            Juan and Angel were done grouting downstairs and relaying the flooring beneath the stairwell about noon, so I took off to pick up a prescription from the Redwood Clinic. However, they said I’d have to have an appointment with Dr. Stoneburner before I could get a refill on some blood pressure medicine. I told them I don’t zoom but they said I could have a telephone appointment, so I scheduled one for 8:20 for this Friday. Since I was out that way, I finally went through the carwash on Redwood then to my Vietnamese barber for a haircut. I wasn’t all that shaggy, but I needed to be tidied up.

Kyle Foote and Brian Devereaux came to the house about 4:30 to install the sink countertop that came earlier than expected and they hung the new door.

Mike Romero came to pick up Coco again, so it was later around 7 that I gave the pups their ride. I fixed them a meat loaf of ground pork, ground beef, kidney beans, and rice. On the news 70 dogs have died from a dog food that had toxic mold so that is one of the reasons I prefer to make my pups their food.

I watched a lot of news today about the impeachment in the House. Even though it’s unlikely that he will be convicted in the Senate, still it’s a stain on his presidency that can never be removed.

This British writer Jamie Sheffield wrote something I think is spot on “Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour, and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So, for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty, or even faintly amusing - not once, ever.”

            In Utah 1450 people have died from Corvid19 now and it’s still going to get worse.

 

14 January 2021 Thursday

It was another warm day for January. It was in the mid 40’s. Juan and Angel were over early at 7:30 to fix the bathroom door, which was about 1/8 of an inch from closing completely. They also installed some of the hardware like towel racks and put up the light fixture. They came back at 5 to rehang the door that had to be touched up with paint.

            I made some Chili Rellenos for supper tonight. Kyle Foote said they are one of his favorite dishes. I also made some Spanish Rice and pinto beans. He said that he’s flying down to Las Vegas for Danny Montoya’s niece’s funeral this Saturday and coming back Sunday morning. I will take him to the airport of course.

I hear that many of the insurrectionists and right-wing hecklers are being booted from flying and being placed on “no fly lists.”

            Kyle said he heard that Lone Peak at the prison was shut down and everyone removed to the main prison compound due to a Corvid19 quarantine. They are under lockdown for two weeks. Craig Crawford was moved to where I first had to visit Kyle before he was transferred to Lone Peak two years ago. I am so thankful that Kyle is not in prison during this time. I’ve heard that 15 prisoners have died from Corvid19, but I am sure convicts will be the last if ever vaccinated in Utah.

            President Biden addressed the nation to explain his plan for relief for Americans during this epidemic. He sounded more Presidential in the 15 minutes he spoke than trump ever did in his 4 years.

 

15 January 2021 Friday

This morning I made four mini loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread for Kyle Foote to take to a Danny Montoya’s niece’s funeral this weekend in Las Vegas. She was a little 11-year-old girl who battled brain cancer.

It was so frustrating just trying to get a prescription refill as I have to see my doctor, who wanted to do it over “zoom.” I don’t know how to access zoom and all the links the doctor office sent me didn’t work. My cell phone said all the ways that I was trying to access zoom were blocked.

My appointment was supposed to have been at 8:40 and it was nearly 10 before I was able to Zoom by finally using my Samsung tablet. I was able to get through to Dr. Stoneburner but what an ordeal, but Stoneburner said I am now a “zoomer.”  So, my very first ever use of Zoom was today with my doctor.

It was a wellness visit and I had to fill out these questions about my mental health as well as physical health. All in all, I feel fine and healthy, and I told Dr. Stoneburner that I thought it was natural to be somewhat depressed during these times of ‘lock down’ but it was not enough to keep me from doing what needs to be done.

I went on My Chart and made another appointment for April 12^th. It might or might not be by zoom. If I get a second Covid19 vaccine by then, it could be in person. Dr. Stoneburner seemed to think that by March people my age would be allowed to get the vaccine. Right now, it’s just for health workers, essential workers, teachers, and people 70 and older and I won’t be 70 until April, if I make it.

In the afternoon I went shopping for new Bathroom rugs, towels, and other bathroom items at Kohl’s and Target in Centerville. I wanted brown and tan colors to go with the new bathroom color scheme. I also bought a toilet brush holder that is bronze colored like all my faucets and handles and a bathroom scale

When Kyle came home, he brought some screws to finish up the hardware for the bathroom and also bought me a bathroom clock to match the new décor. He ate the left-over Chili Rellenos, and we gave Mike Romero the rest when he came to get Coco. He said he’d come over since he was going to pick up his groceries from Smith’s in Bountiful anyway.

Strange that while looking in the Newspaper Archives, I think I saw a picture of John Cunningham from an article dated in 1990. I wasn’t sure it was him because he looked so different from the image in my mind, that I have of him from 1970 but then he would have been 20 years older. Also, I saw that Kent Larson posted a picture of himself on his 70^th birthday which was on the 13^th. John’s birthday was the 9^th and these two old friends from my youth seemed to have reached out to me today.

 

16 January 2021 Saturday

I took Kyle Foote to the airport this morning so he could attend 11-year-old Emilee Giamanco’s funeral in Las Vegas. He’s returning tomorrow morning, but he said that He and Danny Montoya may go somewhere for Danny’s birthday which is next week.

            I did a lot of deep cleaning of the front room and kitchen all day. I spent almost 8 hours doing laundry mostly of all the dog bedding and lap blankets, then sweeping, mopping vacuuming, dusting, and polishing. I did a lot of scrubbing and got rid of the carpet in the front room and replaced it with the one I bought at Target yesterday. It was a lot of work but needed to be done to get a layer of dust and grime that accumulates especially with pooches running in and out of the house.

            I was so busy with housework that I didn’t get a chance to post much on Face Book which is unusual.

            For my supper I drove up to Culver’s in Bountiful and bought some onion rings and a Dr. Pepper drink. It was the only time I left the house.

            This is the last Weekend that America has to suffer through the Trump travesty in the White House. There’s been nearly 400,000 deaths from Covid19 in the United States and 1,486 in Utah all due to the ineptitude of Trump downplaying the virus as not to hurt his reelection chances.

 

17 January 2021 Sunday

Kyle Foote called about 8:45 this morning saying he was ready to be picked up at the airport. He told me all about how his plane yesterday was delayed and he barely made it on time for the funeral service that was at 11 in the morning but all’s well that ended well. He said he’s been up since 4 this morning so I just let him rest.

            I made some split pea soup and the only other time I saw him was when he came up for a bowl of it for his lunch.

            He said that he and Danny Montoya will probably be going down to Mexico next weekend for Danny’s birthday.

            I was kind of worn out from cleaning house yesterday, so I just took it easy for most of the day, watching television although I did change the sheets on the bed and did some more laundry.

            There was supposed to have been mass protests at state capitals today by armed militants, but it was a dud by most accounts. Only about a dozen people showed up for the armed protest at Utah’s state capitol. It lasted about an hour and people then went home after spouting off to reporters and looking like fools, not patriots. The National Guard and media far outnumbered the protestors who were there.

            So many idiots are being arrested for trespassing in the Capitol. Cuba's Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp seems to me the perfect place for the hundreds of white domestic terrorists to be held until their trials and then sent back there to serve out their sentence for sedition and insurrection. Let's send Ted Cruz back to his homeland Cuba.

My friend Michael Aaron West posted this that I think is spot on and shows who deluded Trump's cultists are men and women, "So confusing... White men, the "forgotten man" are UPSET that a child of a blue collar family who took the train to work every day, who had a son in military and who served his nation for decades REPLACED a failed businessman, failed husband, failed father, failed TV show host, failed president who was born with a million dollar silver spoon stuck up his ‘never worked a day in his life’ ass."

            Today is Betty White’s 99^th Birthday. She is truly an American Treasure.

Utah’s death toll from Covid19 is now 1,493. America’s death toll is expected to be near 500,000 by February and Arizona is the worse place in the world for infections per capital right now. The virus doesn’t recognize just Trump supporters but is killing the good people who never voted for this criminal in the White House.

 

18 January 2021 Monday

It's a biscuits and gravy kind of Good Morning. Today is Martin Luther King’s holiday so no Coco and no mail. In fact, I didn’t see Kyle Foote all day until he came up to see me in the late, late afternoon around 5:30.

Alan Anderson asked if I’d watch Corky and Bhanni over Valentine’s Day and I said I would. He said Kyle Daniels still hasn’t gotten his Covid19 vaccination. He said perhaps this week.

I made Betty White's Applesauce Raisin bread as a Bundt cake. It was her 99th birthday yesterday. I thought it needed white vanilla icing to make it really “Betty White,” but it looked like cum all over the cake Lol. I told Kyle that he could take it to work tomorrow to feed his office personnel.

            I was horny today and just needed to get out of the house. I had this fantasy of finding a cute homeless person to whom I could give $20 to in exchange for sucking his dick. I said it was a fantasy.

I drove around places I thought people would be cruising. Perhaps just to look as much as anything. I went to Wasatch Springs Park and got out to walk around. I haven’t done that in years, and remembered when there used to be a hot springs pool there that was magical and fun to soak in. I only saw some hobos down in the bulrushes but no one cruising in the parking lot.

            I then drove around 200 South to see the progress going on there on 2^nd South and finally to the McDonalds on North Temple and 10^th West where I knew homeless guys hung out next to the 7-Eleven. I was soon approached by this young guy who said he had all his stuff stolen and wanted to call his grandma for money for a bus ticket home. He said he only needed $11 for a bus ticket. He seemed genuine and desperate and since Martin Luther King Day is supposed to be for doing service, I gave him the $20 I had on me. I know he was shocked and surprised. So, that’s my one good deed for the day, even if he blows it on drugs and alcohol. I didn’t ask for anything in return. The Universe has been kind to me so far.

            When Kyle came up in the afternoon to see the pups and install the light fixture above the shower, he also was looking at the old movie room. We began discussing what to do with the space. He said we could restore it to a movie room or turn it back into two bedrooms which were how the house was designed in the first place.

            I had to think about the two-bedroom option because I know the rooms would be small, but I also said the days of entertaining people in a movie room is over for me also. I said I made my peace with that period being over when I took all the furniture out of it last spring to accommodate the bedroom furniture from the basement.

            I finally realize that making a guest room and a small office would be the best option for the house and that I really did not care all that much anymore. When Kyle and Michael Romero inherit the house, it will be more practical for it to be turned back into bedrooms. The real concern I had was, when the house gets new flooring, how much disruption there will be for me and the pups. I basically said to Kyle to do what he thinks is best and I will be okay with it.

            Jim Dabakis is back from Mexico but texted asking if he could get Taco tomorrow instead of today and I said certainly.

            I watched the 1933 King Kong tonight. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies since I was a child when I first saw it on television.

Conservative Mormons have historical amnesia when it comes to Martin Luther King...their Prophet Ezra Taft Benson called him a Communist and complained that LBJ made April 7, 1968, a day of mourning.

Then the Republican Mormon legislature refused to honor Dr. King when his birthday became a National Holiday. Instead in 1986 they passed a bill naming the holiday "Human Rights Day" kind of an "all lives matter" response as a cover for their racism.

Only in the year 2000 did Utah renamed the holiday Martin Luther King Day, the next to last state to do so. Shortly after Utah, South Carolina, the cradle of the Confederacy, became the last state to officially make Martin Luther King Day a state holiday.

Even then, the Utah State Legislature convened on that day until 2008 when the starting date was moved from Martin Luther King's Birthday.

Now Conservative Mormons are bitching about removing the name “Dixie" from the state University in St. George. I think it would be appropriate to rename the school Mountain Meadow Massacre University if they want to keep their heritage.

We can all thank the Republican Party for turning Washington DC into a militarized zone in order to defend the inauguration of a Democratic President.

Utah is not guilt free in this travesty and shameful period in American history as all its Congressional Representatives supported Trump's delusions that the election was stolen from him, and that President Biden's 306 electoral college victory was corrupt.

 

19 January 2021 Tuesday

Today would have been dad’s 96^th birthday had he lived. I found an old picture of me from my sophomore year at Rancho Alamitos in Garden Grove from a yearbook posted on Ancestry.Com. I was 15 years old and known then as "Edgar" in a world of Garys, Barrys, Carys, Larrys, Jerrys, Perrys, and Terrys. My name kind of stigmatized me as being odd when I was desperate to just blend in. I also saw pictures of old boyhood friends like Jerry Smith and Loyd Davis and also a picture of a young John Cunningham who I wished I could just hold in my arms.

            Kyle Foote forgot the Bundt cake this morning. I knew he would, so I said I’d run it up to Bountiful for him. I actually visited his office twice when at 4 this afternoon he asked me to drive him to his banks because his own vehicle was being serviced.

When I went to McDonalds on North Temple, this cute young homeless guy came up to my car and asked if I could spare him some money for smokes... I appreciated his honesty and gave him the $3 I had on me...I usually don’t carry cash on me. Did I mention he was young and cute?

            I made a peach cobbler for lunch today. I wrote sarcastically that I’m trying to eat healthy and get my daily serving of fruit in my diet. The doctor said I was low on calcium, so I had some vanilla bean ice cream with it. Is a Vanilla bean a vegetable? If so, I got my veggie in also... a bean is a bean, right?

I actually made bean burritos for my supper. It’s a recipe that mom made when we lived on Dale Street in Garden Grove, and I have made it for myself ever since. It’s just ground hamburger, refried beans, chopped onions, and chopped canned Anaheim peppers served with grated cheese and green taco sauce.

Jim Dabakis came over to retrieve Taco Belle around 10:30 this morning and we visited some about his stay in Mexico. He said that Puerto Vallarta is a hot bed of Covid19 and is like a Mexican San Francisco. Three or four of his friends who went there were infected with the virus and Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya are going there for Danny’s birthday. I hope they stay safe.

            Jim said that this weekend he’s leaving again for two weeks for Orlando Florida where he’s meeting his friends from Argentina again. So, Taco will be back again in a few days.

I started watching the Queen’s Gambit after all the fuss and Jim Dabakis said it was good. I am not too sure however because I am not into chess, and I don’t find the main character compelling.

Nearly 200,000 flags have been placed on the National Mall representing people from around the world who would have gathered for the inauguration of President Biden & Vice President Harris if not for the threat of insurrection and Covid19 restrictions. The field of flags is illuminated by 56 pillars of light representing America’s states & territories.

 

20 January 2021 Wednesday

The Day of Jubilation is here as that at 12 o’clock Eastern Time the former twice impeached president was gone into the dust bin of history. I spent much of the day watching the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46^th President of the United States except when twice Kyle Foote asked me to loan him some money and I left the house to go with him into Bountiful.

            He was applying for a loan for his business which was approved, except he had a negative balance in his Wells Fargo Business account. So, I went with him to pull $2000 out of my savings account at First America so he could put it in his bank. Later in the afternoon he came up from downstairs to say that the loan people required a larger balance on his books, so I loaned him another $1200. The money wasn’t doing anyone any good just sitting in the Credit Union I suppose, and my wants and needs are taken care of. For better or worse Kyle is my son.

I was glued to the TV watching the inauguration and all the former First Ladies and Dr. Jill Biden were dressed so beautifully yet I miss Aretha Franklin's hat.

Kamala Harris was sworn in first by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Harris is the first woman and first black and Asian Indian person to be the Vice President of the United States and Justice Sotomayor was the first Latina on the Supreme Court. Vice President Harris is an extremely good position to become the President of the United States in 2024.

I just love saying President Biden. I feel like after 4 years I can stop holding my breath and now breathe again. Lady Gaga, singing the National Anthem, gave me goose bumps. Country singer Garth Brookes sang Amazing Grace. 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the youngest Poet Laureate was astonishing and renewed my faith in the younger generation. just wow...America’s Redemption can now begin.

All my friends on Face Book are thrilled and overjoyed. I am grateful I lived long enough to see the tyranny of Trump end and my faith in America restored.

 

21 January 2021 Thursday

I took Danny Montoya and Kyle Foote to the airport for their trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for Danny’s birthday this morning at 9:30 then Kyle had me drop off a check to his office as he didn’t have time to do it.

            I don’t know whether I have cabin fever or am lonesome for interaction with people or just plain horny as I went out cruising again. Perhaps just be out of the house. I went to Wasatch Springs again and walking the trail there I discovered that another pool was constructed to soak in; kind of hidden by the reeds. So, the warm springs waters are doing some good again now for the indigent. At my age I don’t dare bath there but it’s nice to know that it still there.

            I went to Arby’s on Redwood and North Temple to get a fish sandwich for my lunch around 2 this afternoon. I had one yesterday when ‘out and about’ with Kyle, but up in Woods Cross. I was really disappointed in it compared to the one I had yesterday. I don’t know why they were so different, but they were.

            I took Coco home at 4:30 and fed the pups their supper and then stayed in for the rest of the evening.

            Kyle called me from Mexico saying that their flight had been delayed several times and didn’t even leave Salt Lake City until 1:30 but he said they are at a nice place and enjoying a margarita. I hope Danny enjoys the Rush bottle of poppers I gave him as a present.

I finished watching Sally Field’s Places in the Heart and The Towering Inferno. I really love Places in the Heart and truly captured a time and place during the depression in Texas. It touches a part of me that is still a west Texan.

            The Towering Inferno was just a diversion for me. I hadn’t seen it in years and forgot how kind of smarmy it was but still one of the better Allen Irwin’s disaster flicks that came out of the 1970’s.

            Some people have been contacting me on Silver Daddies lately. The one that appealed to me the most was from San Antonio Texas LOL. Typical. Too bad I can’t find another Brad Hart who is close by.

            President Biden has done more for people in the past 24 hours than Trump ever had done in his 4 years.

 

22 January 2021 Friday

How wonderful it is to wake up knowing that Joe Biden is in the White House and Rhyme and Reason has returned to the Presidency. I went to the Wasatch Springs animal clinic to make an appointment to have Lulu Belle’s rabies shots renewed. Her appointment is for this Monday at 9:30. While over there I walked around the concourse at the Wasatch Springs Park for the exercise. Since it’s on a side of a mountain it gives me a little bit of a workout. While out, I bought gas at Smith’s. The price went up since my last fill up to $2.25 but since I had a 10-cent discount it was about the same as last time. I can fill the tank for less than $20.

            Jim Dabakis came over at 4 this afternoon to bring Taco Belle. He sounded a little hesitant about traveling to Florida due to the Covid19 plague however he said he’s going to be in the Everglades and not in Orlando per se.

            When I took Coco home at 4:30 it began to drizzle over near Mike Romero’s place but nothing to speak of here. It is Supposed to maybe snow tonight and tomorrow.

            Kyle Foote sent me several pictures and videos from Puerto Vallarta of the condo they are staying at and of them going wind sailing over the Pacific. It’s Danny Montoya’s 29^th birthday today. They said they saw a whale while out on the boat. Kyle also filmed Danny opening the gift I gave him. I know he was surprised to see the poppers but pleased. He said he had just run out of his.

            So, there you go; another January 22^nd. The craze on Face Book right now is everyone posting memes of Bernie Sanders sitting in his chair at the inauguration bundled up and wearing mittens. The memes place him sitting in all types of locations and situations.

            We have the first black Secretary of Defense now, even though Senators Mike Lee and Josh Hawley were the only two who voted against his appointment. The article of Impeachment will be sent to the Senate from the House of Representatives this Monday.

 

23 January 2021 Saturday

We had a good and much needed soaking rain this morning. It's the last week in January and we haven't had any real snow down here in the valley this winter. The mountain snowpacks are really low this year also. I bet we will be on a water restriction this summer if things don't change.

            I want to pull up the grass on the parking strip in front of the house this spring and plant a ground cover of thyme. My yard is mostly drought resistant anyway with the grass down to a minimum. I still have lots of trees in my yard for my carbon footprint and 40 solar panels on my roof. My Face Book friend Russell Pack who has a beautiful yard, sent me suggestions on types of thyme.

 “I have at least 6 varieties of thyme in our park strip and elsewhere. Each variety blooms at slightly different times, so the color season is extended. Our favorite is elfin thyme because it is extremely low growing and compact. However, it is slow to fill in. We also like Mother of Thyme as it is a rapid grower. Woodley thyme is great as well with its silver-gray foliage. All are excellent for pollinators, especially native bees. After the first year we only water every week or so and sometimes less. The first year does take watering.”

I did my house cleaning chores this morning. I waxed and dusted the furniture, swept, and mopped the floor while having several loads of Laundry going.

I made cabbage and spinach soup this morning also using up what I had in the house. It had onions, carrots, celery, V-8 juice, field beans, macaroni, red wine, and beef broth in it as well. I enjoyed my cabbage and spinach vegetable soup. It was pretty tasty and when I relaxed, I watch some shows on this overcast day.

My bamboo stool for the shower came today and it was easy to put it together. I wanted something I could sit on when washing my feet, so I don’t fall or when I just don’t feel well.

I am really getting cabin fever so badly. I think that is why I have been going out and prowling the homeless who are always gathered together on North Temple chatting away with each other. I fantasize that some young one would let me blow him, an old Gay man’s last lustful thought.

The Snow is really coming down now here out by the airport this evening. It’s a good time to snuggle in with Taco and TJ and watch some True Blood shows on the tube.

 

24 January 2021 Sunday

I woke up to the first real snowfall of the season. There were several inches, and everything was heavily frosted. It had been so warm this month that the ground never really froze so my sidewalks and driveway melted by noon. I think someone plowed my sidewalk because when I did go out to shovel the front steps, it looked like they had been cleared.

            It’s wonderful that a roof was put over the back deck, so I didn’t have to shovel snow for the pups to go outside, however I know they think it’s a pee inside day.

Michael Romero called this afternoon letting me know that Coco was not doing well with walking this weekend. I know he scared that she might not be able to walk from her hips going out. I know he will be devastated if she doesn’t and has to be put down. I don’t want to think about it either.

This handsome man named Michael Clunkie or (Michael Robson) contacted me on Messenger and we texted back and forth for much of the day. The good news is that he was really into me, but the bad news was that he’s from New Castle on the Tyne in the United Kingdom. That was a surprise as I barely know him from face Book. We flirted and talked about our lives. Kind of like Gay pen pals but I think he liked conversing with me.

There’s a seven-hour time zones between New Castle and Salt Lake City. I was very insecure about the age differences as he looked like he was in his mid to late 30’s. But he wrote me “I don't really have an age that I particularly go for. Although if I had to choose, I'm attracted more to older than younger. You say all the right things. I'm very flattered too.” He said that he corresponds with Mike Anderson, and I told him that Mike and I were best friends ages ago when Mike lived in Salt Lake.

I know nothing will come of this but still it was a nice diversion for a snowy winter day.

            Kyle Foote called at 8 this evening saying their flight had come in after a 2-hour layover in Los Angeles. It was snowing lightly when I went to pick them up but at least the roads hadn’t turn to ice yet. They were just wet. We visited at the house some and I know Kyle was glad to be back home after such a whirlwind trip that must now seem like a dream.

            The Utah death toll from the Corona Virus is now at 1,595 and because of a new even more contagious strain is on the loose it’s suggested now that people wear two masks.

 

25 January 2021 Monday

This is the last full week in January. That seems strange, but it’s good waking up knowing Trump is gone and President Biden is quickly overturning all of Trumps evil executive orders. We have rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, stopped the Keystone Pipeline, and rescinded the ban of Transgenders from serving in the military to name a few.

I was up early to meet Michael Romero so I could carry Coco upstairs as she was not feeling well today. She wouldn’t eat but I was able to squirt water into her mouth with a syringe so she wouldn’t be dehydrated. I think her large bump on her rear is affecting her. She has a hard time going up stairs and not eating and drinking. Hate to see the critters hurting. She’s close to 12 years old now.

 I took Lulubelle down to the Wasatch Animal Hospital for her rabies shots and her other vaccinations. That was $110. I also made an appointment this Thursday to have her teeth cleaned. When we were through, I took her for a walk in the Warm Springs Park because she was so antsy. It was cold out but not frigid but still you could see the steam vapor coming off of the warm springs.

            I didn’t do much else today but watch True Blood episodes mostly for the male nudity and Gay story lines.

Danny Montoya was down in the Casita all day until Kyle Foote came home about 4 this afternoon to take him to the airport to fly back to Nevada. I visited a bit with Kyle this evening when he came up and fixed himself some of the cabbage soup I made.

            I texted my Yorkshire boyfriend this evening LOL. Talk about the ultimate safe sex. Brad Hart lives just about two miles from me and now I am conversing with a bloke who lives 4,655 miles away.

            The House of Representatives sent an article of Impeachment over to the Senate accusing the two-time loser of high crimes and misdemeanors.

            The snow is melting and now is just in patches.

 

26 January 2021 Tuesday

I bought a Papa Murphy’s Cowboy pizza for supper tonight. I hadn’t had a pizza in a long time. It will take me days to eat it and still I know I will still be giving half to Michael Romero. I asked Kyle Foote if he wanted any, but he said he was not hungry. He was holed up downstairs all day and I didn’t interact with him at all. He’s probably exhausted from the quick trip to Mexico.

            Coco was doing better today but still not up to snuff. I haven’t heard from anyone in so long that I don’t have a clue how everyone is doing. I suppose I could pick up a phone myself.

 27 January 2021 Wednesday

Kyle Foote came up from downstairs at 3 this afternoon and I could tell he was troubled. He finally confided that he had spent all day yesterday trying to figure out a way to meet his payroll for this week as some of his cash flow wouldn’t come in from his projects until next week. He asked if there was any way I could lend him money from my retirement fund. It was a lot of money around $28,000 as that he has nearly 28 employees now.

            I am probably crazy, but I said I would. I have never said no to him, and I have to believe that he is trying to do right this time and I want him to be successful. I loaned Michael Romero $30,000 a couple of years ago and Michael and Kyle are the closest I have as family.

            I called Tyler Ferguson my financial guy and when he finally returned my call, we figured out a way to take money out of my account.

Tyler said he was working from home as he had been infected with Covid19 and had been pretty sick with it but did not have to be hospitalized. He said he’s been able to work from home, but his head feels fuzzy so he’s not up to speed. Fortunately, his wife tested negative and so did his kids.

I said I was so glad he suggested I retire when I did, and he said so many teachers he has spoken too are just completely discouraged and beaten down by having to teach online and in person.

            Anyway, I couldn’t take out another loan as long as I still had the one from Michael still outstanding, unless I paid it back, but I could do a withdrawal but would have to pay taxes on it. So, we set up a bank wire transfer for $35,000 to America First so that after paying 17 percent in taxes we should clear $29,000. However still the money wouldn’t be sent until Friday, and it would be Monday before the money was ready to be used. The dilemma for Kyle was that he needed money in his account by Thursday afternoon so his employees who have direct deposit could be paid on Friday.

            Tyler suggested that we go to America First and see if we could get a stop-gap loan, so I had Michael Romero pick up Coco and Kyle and I headed into Bountiful.

            On the drive there Kyle opened up to me saying that he did not enjoy his weekend trip to Mexico with Danny Montoya as that he and Danny had fought a lot over Danny being jealous and possessive and being so clingy. So, I guess there was trouble in paradise and Kyle said he was distracted also by feeling guilty being away from work.

            Kyle also told me some news about Zane Baum. He had been arrested and in jail for a DUI. Kyle only found out about it later and he added $50 to Zane’s prison account. He’s out now and has gone to California where some of his family lives so he can attend a rehabilitation place to deal with his alcoholism. I guess he had a rough Christmas, with losing visitation of his daughters, his girlfriend broke up with him, and finally being off parole he did not do well with his new freedom.

            At America First I applied for a loan but won’t hear back until tomorrow and Kyle is trying to get $20,000 on two of his work vehicles. If he does that, I have $10,000 I can use from my Credit Card and line of Credit.

            We stopped at Culvers for supper on the way home and I paid for dinner, I ordered onion rings and Kyle had a roast beef dinner.

            I absolutely hate dealing with financial matters. It scares me to death, but I just have to trust that all will be okay. I still have lots of money in my IRA and 401K and I do get $3500 a month from a pension and social security to live on.

Sad news Cloris Leachman died at the age of 94. Bill Poore said, “My friend Charles Lago was her Press Agent for years. They finally got tired of each other, and he moved on. He had some funny stories about her.... ego big old ego. I spent a couple of weeks with her ex-husband who had just written a biography of Marlin Brando and was our guest in the bookstore in Palm Springs. They had a son together. We talked about his son’s drug problem a lot. He seemed to listen to me. The kid died of an overdose about two weeks later. Charles told me it destroyed Cloris. She talked about it later in interviews. Her ex was Marlins best friend and had so many stories. I asked him details about Marlin’s acting training. He told me about Marlin’s reaction to his own son’s death from drugs. It really almost killed him.”

 

28 January 2021 Thursday

Little Lulubelle is kind of out of it tonight. I took her down at 8:30 this morning for her teeth cleaning but she ended up having to have 9 teeth extracted. That was a $600 expense that I wasn’t counting on, but she is worth it. At least I am not putting her through college. Between her Rabies shots and this I spent over $700 on her this week.

            When Kyle Foote and I contacted America First            , I was denied the loan applications, as I had too much debt they said for my income. Kyle contacted his payroll to figure out how much he needed to just cover those who had automatic deposits and withdrawals and that was $13,000. So, I maxxed out my Visa Credit Card for $7,000 and my line of credit for $5,000 and added a $1000 from my savings so he could meet his obligations.

            He sent me an agreement with the following repayment plan for the loan I had given him. “Here is what you have provided so far: $1,800 + $2,500 + $13,000 = 17,300 to date in funding. An additional $29,000 (which cost you $35,000 from your retirement account in taxes) is forthcoming when you get that wire. So, the total you will have lent me (including the $6,000 in taxes) will be $52,300. I propose the following repayment schedule over a period of 36 months at 6.37% interest. That would equal 36 payments of $1,600. The first payment would be due on March 5th and the 5th of every month thereafter. In summary, I'll pay you back $1,600 per month on the 5th of every month for 36 months.”

            So today turned out to be pretty expensive to help Kyle with his Build Team Business. I am almost like a silent partner LOL.

            The actress Cicely Tyson died today she was 96 years old.

 

29 January 2021 Friday

I was up early to carry Coco upstairs as that Michael Romero said she had not eaten or had drunk water yesterday but after I squirted some water into her mouth, she acted hungry, so I fed her and Lulubelle some moist canned dog food. Coco ate at least a third of the can and Lulubelle the rest, so I was relieved.

            I noticed while feeding Coco looking out the Bay window that Kyle Foote had a gentleman “caller” leave his apartment this morning at 8. He was a cute man, so I suppose Kyle relieved some stress of his own last night.

            It was such a warm day over 50 degrees, so I went to the car wash on 3^rd West and 15 South and for some reason there was a huge back up after I was already in line. I waited 15 minutes or more just idling waiting for the line to move. No one was there to say what the probably was. I ought to cancel my membership or at least just go to the Mister Wash in Bountiful.

            While waiting in the car, I called Tyler Ferguson as Kyle wanted me to see what status of the funds were. I know he’s stressed because it was payroll for his employees today. Tyler said he submitted the request to Security Benefit yesterday and the funds should be available by Monday and Tuesday at the latest.

            I went for a walk at the Wasatch Warm Springs Park which was good exercise as that it’s on the side of a hill, so it was a little strenuous.

            After that I did not do much else. I made some ravioli for supper but mainly gave most of it to Kyle to eat. He’s staying put this weekend instead of flying out to be with Danny Montoya. I think he needed a break since almost every weekend he’s been gone to be with Danny.

            It rained a good bit this evening, I guess from the monster storm that hit California.

 

30 January 2021 Saturday

There was a tiny bit of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning, but it warmed up considerably. I watched more episodes of True Blood but didn’t really do much today except go to Lucky’s to get some canned dog food for Lulubelle and pups. I found a kind that even Coco likes that isn’t too expensive since Caesars went up from 79 cents to 95 cents at Lucky’s. Not sure why it jumped so much but the 12 oz cans of chicken and beef is only $1.20, and I can divide it among all of them to supplement their chicken or meat I cook for them.

            In the late afternoon Kyle Foote came upstairs hungry for snacks so he ordered some chips, salsa, beans, and rice from Chubby’s and I went with him, but I wasn’t hungry as I had already eaten

It was cooler today but not bad out at all. Republican Senators don’t want to have an impeachment trial because of all the dirt it will raise on them. They are pissed that President Biden is issuing executive orders to overturn the mean-spirited orders signed by Trump.

 

31 January 2021 Sunday

I had bought a turkey breast a while back, so I decided to cook it for Sunday dinner. I invited Michael Romero over, but he didn’t pick up his phone. I made all the trimmings, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, dressing, and gravy. I even had the cranberries I had canned leftover cranberry sauce from the Cranberry bread I made for the Montoya’s last Christmas. I didn’t want to make a pie, so I made a small peach cobbler that the crust turned out so much better than last time. Kyle Foote came up to eat and said he had two plates of the turkey dinner which he ate down in his room. I just had a small plate of the trimmings and no turkey.

            I also made Turkey noodle soup in the afternoon from the meat still on the carcass. I am not a big fan of turkey soup, but Kyle said he likes that kind of soup.

Besides cooking a turkey dinner today, I did nothing other than spend the entire day finishing up the research I did on the Banks Family and other Black Utah pioneers so I could post it to my Utah Stonewall Historical Society group for February Black History Month. I finally posted it after midnight so technically I posted in February. It seems like I had been working on it forever.

So, we survived another January. It’s been one the mildest ones I ever remember in Utah and no real frigid days or inversions to speak of. I haven’t visited with Bill Poore since Christmas and before that with Jim McMullin and TJ Otaka. I guess with the ponderous of infections in Utah from the Corona Virus I think its best we seniors stay away from each other for a while until we can get vaccinated. At the end of January 2021, there have been 1665 deaths in Utah related to the Covid19 epidemic.

It’s been a really expensive month with Kyle needing to borrow so much money from me for his Build Team’s payroll. It makes me nervous how my reserved money has been depleted right now even though I am sure it will be replenished.

The month started off with an insurrection at the nation’s capital, but Joe Biden officially became President and ended the Trump regime or horror. Georgia elected two Democratic Senators so the Democrats now have the slimmest of majority so Mitch McConnell can go fuck himself. 

FEBRUARY 2021

1 February 2021 Monday

It’s hard to believe that it’s the 2^nd month already. I am amazed that I am able to write about anything at all, as one day blends into another and I really don’t see anyone anymore.

            All this morning Kyle Foote had me checking America First to see if the funds from my 401K had posted yet. Finally, around 1, when I checked, they did; so, he had me transfer $27,000 of the $29,000 into his checking account. I kept $2000 to keep in my checking since I no longer have a cushion with a Visa Credit card since I maxed it out and also my overdraft protection.

            I fixed Kyle some ravioli for his supper, but I really didn’t eat any myself.

I corrected the African American “Banks Valentine” Family history that I posted on my Utah Stonewall Historical Site.

 

2 February 2021 Tuesday

I went down to Roseman Dental this morning to show Michael Romero how to get there as he needed to see a dentist about a cracked tooth he broke yesterday. They have a walk-in clinic for emergencies, so he was able to get in. He had two molars pulled that were rotten but because they had a $250 free visit special, so it only cost him $29 to have the surgery. He said he really liked the people and he said they made having the extractions a fairly good experience.

            I called Jim McMullin this afternoon as I hadn’t heard from them since before Christmas. He said that on the 22^nd of January he was able to get his first Covid19 vaccination and it wasn’t an arduous process even though they lost his original registration he had done online. He’s over 70 so he was in the group that’s being vaccinated first. I am happy for him. Other than that, like the rest of us we are just hunkering done during this pandemic.

Well, we are halfway through winter today it being a Cross Quarter Day between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Happy Candlemas to my pagan friends. I didn’t do anything special today mainly worked on correcting syntax and grammar on the Banks-Valentine black histories for much of the day.

I never left the house except to take Coco home who is feeling so much better. Whatever bug she had must finally have gone away.

Kyle Foote wanted a Domino Pizza for supper, so I went with him, for the company, in the evening. I wasn’t, nor have I been, very hungry but I had a couple of small slices since it was thin crust.

 

3 February 2021 Wednesday

It was raining this morning but by mid-morning the rain turned to snow here by the Jordan River in Westpointe. It snowed rather good but by early afternoon it had all melted as it’s been rather warm here yesterday.

            I watched an interesting but slow film on Netflix called “The Dig” about the discovery of the Sutton Hoo Anglo Saxon burial discovery in 1939. Ralph Fienne was in it and if I weren’t so interested in historical events, I would have thought it too dull.

I was at the Glendale Smiths grocery shopping and saw these three blond statuesque busty women in high heel suede boots and faux fur collar jackets shopping, one with no mask, one with a mask around her chin, and only one wearing it properly. I thought what entitled snatches. They are perfect examples of why I have too self-isolate. What is wrong with people?

Ron Holmgren wrote about people like them: “We call women like that ‘Park City Princesses.’ They are the beautiful ones, and some nasty virus isn't going to infect them. Of course, their grandma and Grandpa will have died of it, but what the hell, they were old anyhow. My Smith's gives out masks to people who come in without one. But it isn't unusual to frequently see their staff frequently pulled down around their snouts.”

I called Bill Poore this afternoon after I hadn’t heard from him for a while. He said he’s been without Internet for 2 weeks since the people he had shared it with moved away. He is supposed to be reconnected tomorrow. I invited him over this Saturday for a pot roast dinner and to spend the night since Saturday is his birthday.

Kyle Foote brought home some Chinese Food for supper tonight and talked about have the FIT and Solar Panels refinanced at a lower rate. He also said that Danny Montoya is peeved that Kyle isn’t coming down to Las Vegas this weekend to see him. He said that he thinks he has Covid19, but he had never been tested. Kyle thinks it’s just a sympathy ploy to make him feel guilty for not rushing down to see him.

 

4 February 2021 Thursday

While checking my accounts at America First I was surprised to see nearly $24,000 in my checking account! Evidently the loan that Kyle Foote had applied for last week with the money I loaned him for my savings came through. I told Kyle that I wanted to replace the money back into the Line of Credit and the Visa Card because they would be charging me interest and I just didn’t want to be in debt. I transferred the $10,300 into his account.

I made 4 mini loaves of lemon poppy seed sweet bread this morning and took two of them to Kyle’s Build Team Office in Bountiful. Then I came home in time for Richard Gordon from Soakers to look at the hot tub that hasn't been working for a month. Richard said they have been so busy what with everyone using their hot tub that this was the soonest he could get here. It was a short in the heat pump that had to be replaced. So, $300 later hopefully I will get to soak my old bones again once the water heats back up.

Kyle said that Danny Montoya had come in to Salt Lake and asked if I would put his laundry bedding in the dryer for him, so I did and while there folded all his clothes that had been in the dryer.

They came up to visit for a bit and then they went out to Olive Gardens while I watched some more episodes of True Blood before going to bed.

The Q-anon bitch from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene was removed from all her committees in the House of Representatives. The Republicans wouldn’t do it, so the Democrats had to. She never apologized just said that killing Democrats was no longer her views. LOL

It’s been 35 years since I came out of the closet in 1986.

 

5 February 2021 Friday

I used the hot tub for the first time in over a month, but I could tell that the water needed changing. I’ll get to it this weekend.

It snowed kind heavily in the afternoon, but it’s been too warm for it to stick on the ground. I think only once this winter have, I had to shovel. What snow we get usually melts off the sidewalk and driveway.

I took Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya to the airport at 4 this afternoon because Danny wanted Kyle to spend the weekend with him. Kyle was confiding in me that he really didn’t want to go and was frustrated that Danny was insisting that he does. Kyle even admitted he’d like to break up with Danny because he’s so possessive of his time and Kyle’s real focus right now is growing his business not having a relationship. I said to Kyle that the only thing worse than not having a relationship is having one.

            Kyle will be back Sunday morning and I will retrieve him then. I know his time alone on the weekends is important to his stress levels.

            This evening I watched two depressing Science Fiction films. One was Melancholia which I had seen some time ago about a rogue planet colliding with the earth destroying every living thing and the other was a Swedish film called Aniara where in the dystopian future a space transporter to Mars gets damaged beyond repair and the ship like a city drift endlessly in space without hope until they all die.

In the news actor Christopher Plummet died. Also, when Pete Buttigieg was sworn in as Secretary of the Treasury, his husband was holding a Bible and Vice President Harris swore him in. What a Historic event. When I graduated from high school in 1969, I never would have dreamed this would happen but 50 years later and a lifetime of hard work, here we are.

I am increasingly convinced that Marjorie Taylor Greene get all her opinions from The Weekly World News as do many Trump Cultists.

 

6 February 2021 Saturday

Today is my friend Bill Poore's birthday so I am having him over for a pot roast dinner. He’s my sister Donna’s age. He turned 72 and Donna will be 72 this June.

            I was up early to put the roast beef in the crock pot and peel some carrots to go in the bottom so as to be flavored by the drippings. Then I cleaned the house and made up the spare room. I washed the bedding and then mopped the rest of the house before preparing dinner.

I then made Bill a cherry cobbler with a lattice crust although it didn’t turn out as pretty as I liked but still was tasty served with cool whip. My pie baking days, except occasionally, are over. I have a small 5 inch by 2 inches glass baking dish that I bake little cobblers in, when I am hungry for some pie.

Bill Poore came over in the afternoon and he brought me some yellow roses for his birthday lol. They are so beautiful and yellow roses are my favorite.

He was having trouble catching his breath and of course his hearing aids weren’t working so I had to shout the entire time. I made him some coffee and since he said he was hungry I told him to start eating before Mike Romero got here.

            I had fixed a roast Beef birthday dinner with sides of cream of corn, buttered peas, roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, and gravy, with baked dinner rolls out of the oven. When Mike Romero came over, Bill and he helped me eat all the food since I only eat a thimble full of each item.

            Mike stayed until about 1:30 then went home because he said that the surgery he had on his teeth last Monday was starting to affect him and he needed to rest. Bill, who was going to spend the night, said that his kidneys were really hurting him, and he felt like he needed to go home and lie down rather than spend the night.

            I sent both Mike and Bill home with a plate of food. Seeing both of them today I realized what better shape I am in then the both of them. Mike doesn’t seem as sharp and of course then his hearing isn’t all that great but he’s not as deaf like Bill is.

Jim Dabakis texted me and said his flight was landing so I offered to take Taco home rather than him driving over here because I know he must be tired. I gave all the pups a ride also and it was a really pretty day. It’s funny how missing one dog can make the place seem a little emptier. But he was excited to see his daddy. I won’t have him for a while because next weekend Corky and Bhanni will be here.

I started to drain the hot tub to clean it. The water yesterday seemed a bit stagnant, having sat for nearly a month without it being circulated. It was warm enough today for me to do it and tomorrow I will wipe it down and refill it.

I was kind of relieved that Bill Poore went home rather than spend the night as he has become a hand full to take care of. I wonder how long he will last. I don’t want to think about that.

I fell asleep in the lazy boy about 7 this evening so I must have been tired.

Five years ago, I adopted Harleigh ... I had him for his senior years...his name was Rocky but Bill Poore charged it to Harley but that was too butch for the sissy dog, so I changed the spelling to Harleigh.

 

7 February 2021 Sunday

It was a beautiful day in the mid 50’s. I had to pick Kyle Foote up at the airport at 8:30 this morning and he spent some time talking to me about how his relationship with Danny Montoya has gone sour. I knew that Danny was overly possessive with the way he was always trying to keep track of Kyle and even interfered with whom he hired.

He’s so jealous of Kyle but really not in a healthy way. Danny even makes Kyle tell him what the car mileage is when he drives Danny’s car down in Nevada checking up to see if he’s using it to cruise guys. It really sounded like Danny was emotionally and mentally abusive to Kyle even once threatening to call the police on Kyle when Kyle was still on parole. Kyle wants to break up with Danny because he said Danny is being kind of a psycho boyfriend.

I drained and cleaned my hot tub by bailing the three inches of frigid water at the bottom which was chilly on the old tootsies. Then I took the filter out and yuck it was pretty nasty from sitting a month when the tub was broken. It was really slimy, and I knew it had to be replaced so I ordered a new one on Amazon and I was pleased that they said it would be delivered tomorrow. So hopefully my new filter will come tomorrow...” First World” problems...

I baked chicken thighs for the pups and made a chocolate chip Bundt cake with crush walnuts because I was bored. Kyle can take it to his office people tomorrow I suppose.

The weather is so beautiful here and warm for a February that I am really having cabin fever...maybe I should just take a nap. The only time I left the house this afternoon was to walk around warm springs park and to fill the FIT-up gasoline. It was $2.28 a gallon at Smith’s but I had a 10-cent discount, so I only paid $2.18.

Tonight late, about 9, Michael Clunkie from England started messaging me and we wrote each other back and forth a bit. I said how warm it’s been here, and he said it was snowing in Newcastle. That led to some sex messaging between us of what we would do in bed if we were together. Welcome to the 2020’s. Sex without touching.

I’ve never ever watched a Super Bowl Game, so I am never disappointed about the outcome or the half time show. I have not one athletic gene in my body and all the ballyhoo over it is lost on me. It’s foreign to my nature.

There have been 1,735 deaths from Covid19 since the health department started keeping track.

 

8 February 2021 Monday

I woke up way too early, around 3 in the morning, and just decided to get up rather than fight staying in bed. I fixed some coffee and hot Malt O Meal cereal for breakfast then tried to watch the news but all that was-on-was ludicrous chatter regarding the Super Bowl. So instead, I finished watching John Ford’s Stagecoach one of my all-time favorite movies even if it’s xenophobic against the Apache Nation.

I did my federal and state taxes through Turbo Tax today. I really hate doing taxes more than actually paying them but because of my solar panels I will be getting a lot more back that I will just pay towards what I owe on them. I feel better paying taxes under than President Biden then I did pay for all of trumps golf expenditures

            It cost $120 but it’s a pain to try and do it on my own otherwise and I will get the refund directly deposited. After paying the fee I will get $5,608 back from the feds and $1,471 from Utah. Supposedly some of the tax credit for the solar panels will roll over to next year.

            My Dominion Energy gas bill came today also. It was $100 which surprised me, so I looked up what was the deal. In the summer, my bill is only around $15. Last month it was $90. It’s not even been that cold of a winter so I wonder what it would have been if we had a lot of below freezing days. I should go to a year around payment which would be $48 a month so my payment would be consistent on my fixed income.

            My filter for the hot tub came today so that is good news. The old one I had to toss out it was so slimy from the month of stagnant water.

            I fixed some spaghetti for supper for me and Kyle when he came home but that was a big mistake on my part. I thought I could eat noodles, but I can’t. I was so sick to my stomach from them expanding that I had to go vomit. I know I am sick when I have to throw up because I rarely do.

            I watched a film called The Vast of Night a sci-fi independent film based in 1950’s New Mexico about alien abductions. It was interesting but really didn’t explore any character development between the two main protagonists.

 After seeing all those idiots celebrating in Tampa without masks or social distancing that shows me that Florida truly is a land of moral decay and entitlement especially when Florida has the highest concentration of the new variant of the Corona Virus...  We are doomed.

 

9 February 2021 Tuesday

It was kind of a gloomy day outside after the pretty day we had yesterday. Kyle Foote worked from home today and I putter around some but really didn’t do much. I got back on the computer to research and do some more writing about Second South, actually picking up where I left off when I started searching for Utah’s pioneer black families.

            I watched some television in the evening, mostly the Sixth season of True Blood and the 1934 The Thin Man film which I just love the chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy.

            Kyle ate up the Spaghetti leftovers for his supper and I ate a bowl of corn flakes for mine. I gave him the financial documents he requested to perhaps refinance the FIT and the Solar Panels at a lower rate.

            Trumps 2^nd impeachment trial began today. I didn’t bother watching as it was mainly a preliminary argument whether even holding a trial for a “former president” is constitutional. Seven Republican senators actually broke ranks and voted that it was constitutional including our own Mitt Romney but of course the cowardly partisan Mike Lee voted against holding a trial. Horrifying is the only way to describe the video clips of Trump’s insurrectional terrorists.

            Mary Wilson one of the founders of the Supremes died in Las Vegas at the age of 76. The Supremes were up there with the Beatles and The Beach Boys, as the sounds of the 1960’s.

 

10 February 2021 Wednesday

Alan Anderson messengered me and said that they canceled their trip to Las Vegas, so I won’t have to doggy-sit Corky and Bhanni this weekend. I was relieved.

            Jim Dabakis brought Taco over for a play date this afternoon and stayed about an hour as we watched some of the impeachment trial. We were both aghast at the footage of the terror that went on inside the capitol especially footage of Mitt Romney barely escaping an encounter with the mob and how the insurrectionist was hunting for Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi to kill them. Incredible.

Beyond the horrific images of trump’s insurrectionists rampaging in the capitol, I was amazed how beautiful the capitols halls are, as shown in security video images.

Listening to the impeachment trial all I can say is "God Damn Trump" and "God Damn his supporters" in Congress.

I made stuffed red bell peppers for supper, but I didn’t eat any. When Kyle Foote came home, he had one and said they were good. He said he had a really productive day except that one of his Terrain vehicle’s tires went flat and has to be replaced.

He’s refinancing the FIT at a lower rate at this bank near his office and hopefully also the solar panels. He’s also taking out a loan for $23,000 from them in my name to buy a new truck for his company.

 

11 February 2021 Thursday

I went with Kyle Foote this morning to Bountiful so he could get a new tire at Discount Tires and then to help him buy a commercial flatbed dump truck for his business. I guess it will be used in his concrete division of his Build Team projects. He said next Tuesday he will be moving his office from Wood Cross to Centerville. He’s moving to the old Oasis Spa building where I used to buy supplies for the hot tub.

I made like two Sheppard pies with ground beef and pork at noon but with a pastry crust instead of a mashed potato for a topping. I diced new potatoes for the inside along with peas, carrots, and other mixed vegetables. When they were done, they looked pretty.

I had to do something while I listened to the impeachment of the insurrectionist former president. It’s kind of riveting like the Watergate hearings only we know trump is guilty. We are just waiting for the GQP to show what cowards they are and refusing to convict one of their own.

Mike Lee met with Trump’s defense attorneys, and he is supposed to be on the Senate jury to convict Trump? That man has no ethics. He’s a Partisan hack and lives within a privileged Mormon bubble. At least Romney has real world experience raised in Michigan and was Governor of Massachusetts. Lee would be nothing if not for his daddy Rex’s positions.

            I took Taco Belle home at 4 this afternoon. I didn’t want to keep him away from Jim Dabakis exceptionally long, so he gets used to being in the Avenues rather than out here. When I took Coco home, I gave one of the pot pies to Michael Romero. He said he thinks he’s getting a head cold.

This flu season only 14 patients in Utah have been hospitalized for it. Last flu season there were 1,310 people hospitalized so don’t tell me wearing a mask and washing hands doesn’t work.

 

12 February 2021 Friday

I wonder if my ex-wife Fran has had her vaccination for the Corona Virus yet or whether she is one of the anti-vaxxers who proliferate in Utah County? She is 76 years old today if she is still around. Last I heard was that she lives in a condominium she bought at 468 East 200 North in Provo.

            It had rained last night, and everything is wet this morning, which is great. We need the moisture for sure.

            I worked a lot on detailing the murder-suicide of a 2^nd South love affair gone wrong in 1919 and then posting my research on my history site. I made a pot of lima beans with ham today and had that for my supper.

            Danny Montoya flew in today to be with Kyle Foote so let the drama commence. Bill Poore called, and we visited. He screwed up his password or pin for his computer again, so he just went out and bought a new one instead of trying to figure out how to get into the old one. He’s such a character.

He told me of the time that he met the actor Richard Chamberlain in New York when Bill was heart sick having his boyfriend David break up with him. Chamberlain listened to him and gave him some good advice and Bill said he never forgot how kind and understanding Chamberlain was to him virtually a stranger.

The Asian New Year begins today. It’s the year of the Ox.

            I didn’t listen to a word of the lies and gas lighting the defense lawyers put forth today. They only took two hours because they knew the Republican collaborators would not convict the former insurrectionist president.

After listening to snippets on NPR and if I understand Trumps lawyers correctly, they claim the despotic autocrat never said anything that Democrats and others haven't said before...Funny how Democrats’ rhetoric never had anyone storm the capitol, tried to over throw an election, and tried to murder the vice President and members of Congress... so am I right in believing that if Trump is blameless, then his Republicans  supporters and followers are simply  evil morons easily misled? So, the followers will go to prison but the “inciter in chief” gets to collect a pension and play golf. Sounds about right for Republican logic

 

13 February 2021 Saturday

It rained a good half inch today as a steady drizzle. We really needed the moisture, but it was a gloomy kind of a do-nothing day. I woke up again way too early at 3:30 as I thought I heard Kyle Foote coming up stairs. I had fallen asleep last night in the lazy boy kind of early, so I was too wide awake to be able to continue to sleep. It had rained pretty continuously throughout the night after I had gone to bed.

            I decided to make a strawberry Bundt cake to bring to TJ Otaka and Jim McMullan. Sometimes your creations just don’t turn out perfect. I put frozen strawberries at the bottom of the pan with shredded coconut flakes. That was not wise. It just made the top spongy... oh well... they can’t all be gems. I don’t think I want to bring it over to TJ and Jim’s.

            This afternoon when I tried to take a nap, Kyle came up and asked where the box fan was. Evidently when Danny Montoya and he were fucking last night, Danny spilled a bottle of poppers on the bed and the fumes lingered all downstairs, like a bath house. Kyle was not happy. I tried to lighten the situation and said he ought to invite a bunch of Gay guys over for an orgy and just let them inhale the fumes and the air would be Cleared up in no time.

            The Senate voted on the former President’s 2^nd impeachment trial. It was a fore gone conclusion that the Republicans would not convict him of insurrection. They kept stating it was illegal to impeach someone not in office like removal was the only reason for impeachment. However, acquittal does not mean guilty. It is interesting that the majority of the Senate, 50 Democrats and 7 Republicans voted to convict. If it weren’t for the 2/3 majority rule, he would have been convicted.

            In the evening, Kyle came up and asked if I wanted to share a Pizza they were ordering from Dominoes. I said I’d have a bite but not all that hungry. Later he asked if I wanted to go out to eat with Danny and him tomorrow. I was hedging because while I love being with Kyle, I am still hesitant about eating in restaurants, especially on Valentines’ Day when so many will be out.

 

14 February 2021 Sunday

Today is Valentine’s Day or as I like to call it "Being Single Appreciation Day". I learned my lesson with the failure of the Strawberry Bundt cake I made yesterday. Never bake with frozen strawberries. They turn to mush. I was not at all happy with my strawberry Bundt cake, so I made a poppy seed lemon Bundt cake this morning to bring over to T.J. Otaka and Jim McMullan.

I haven’t seen them since before Christmas. So, it’s high time to catch up while masking up. Jim had his 1st inoculation in January and TJ said he received his second vaccination two days ago.

I texted Kyle Foote this morning saying “I am going out to TJs for a brunch at noon. I will leave here at 11:30 and probably won’t be back until near 3 so go enjoy a special Valentine’s meal with Danny. I appreciate you asking me. Love you...”

He wrote back, “Brunch with them sounds genuinely nice.” Please give my best to Jim & TJ and enjoy your Valentine’s Day as well. You are family and hold a special place in my heart, what little heart I have. I love you, too. Happy Valentines!”

I wrote back, “You have a much bigger heart than you let on...that is why you are family to me.”

Snow was on the ground and the roads looked icy this morning but by the time I left the house at 11:30 all was good. The roads were clear, and it seemed as if not that many people were traveling.

I had a nice brunch with T.J. Otaka and Jim McMullin. We had waffles, link sausage, and scrambled eggs, same as the last time I came over, but it wasn’t planned that way. We ate at noon, and I talked like a magpie until three in the afternoon catching them up on what gossip I could remember. TJ made his home-made doggie treats for the pups and also sent some chocolate treats with me too.

When I came home Kyle Foote and Danny Montoya weren’t here or at least I didn’t see either of them. I soaked in the hot tub for a little bit and then took a late afternoon nap. It’s what we vintage Gays do.

            Around 7:30 this evening, while watching Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper in “Morocco,” the doorbell rang. Kyle came up to answer it and it was a pleasant surprise. My neighbor brought me over a plate full of homemade tamales. I had one and Kyle took one but there were several.

            Kyle looked really tired, and I bet he had been quarreling with Danny because the reason he went to the door when the doorbell was rang was that he thought it might have been Danny, so he must have taken off. I didn’t ask.

            There was a post on Face Book that someone opened a real donut shop here in Rose Park, so I won’t have to drive 5 miles anymore. There are only two donut shops near me, Darla’s on Redwood Road and about 2500 South and Deli Donuts on State Street and 27^th South. Lee’s Market in North Salt Lake has a decent in store bakery for fritters, but this is the first time in the 25 years I lived here that there will be a donut shop here. It’s a little place called Mr. Donut at 950 West 1000 North.

Republicans are schizoid. They pretend to be good guys but it’s just a veneer. Their actions speak louder than any words. McConnell says now that Trump is responsible for the assault on the capitol but then he voted with 42 other Republicans not to hold the Insurrectionist in Chief accountable. Trump has grabbed them by their GOP pussies.

I wish I understood the appeal of Donald Trump to Mormons when his character is so antithesis to what they say they believe in. I can understand evangelicals being duped by charlatans preaching the Gospel of Prosperity, but Utah has me puzzled. How can one say they love the teachings of Christ then follow the ideology of trump?

Can you imagine what the GQP would have done if Obama had done what this traitor did? They'd be a public execution on the White House lawn with McConnell holding the rope and Lindsey Graham pulling the gallows lever.

The rate of infection in Utah is slowly declining but the death toll from Covid 19 is now 1,795 people.

 

15 February 2021 Monday

Today is President’s Day but other than not getting any mail it was just another day. I am really tired this morning. Lulubelle was sick last night and threw up in bed. Poor Lulubelle kept up a heavy panting which kept me awake, so I went into the spare room to try and get some sleep. I had closed the door to keep Lulubelle out, but TJ kept crying to be let in, so I brought him in to sleep with me. Then Lulubelle and Buster started whining so finally I had to go sleep in the front room's lazy boy so they could all be with me because I was too tired to remake the bed.

Finally, sometime after 4 in the morning, Lulubelle fell asleep on the top of the lazy boy near my head while TJ was tucked in by my side. Buster was sound asleep in his doggy bed by my feet and Maxx took over the vacated bed, glad to have it to himself.

At 7 this morning Mike Romero came and dropped off Coco, so I went downstairs to carry her back up. I just stayed up after that. So, I was tired for much of the day.

I saw that a tow truck came to the house early, about the same time. I guess Danny Montoya’s vehicle probably had a dead batter because Kyle Foote was out there with the hood up. I never saw Kyle again until this evening when he brought home an egg roll from some place, he and Danny ate supper at. However, besides Kyle petting Lulubelle, we didn’t visit any.

I made me some chili Verde this cold February to smother my tamales and cooked some Pinto Beans. When I took Coco home, I gave Mike a pint of Chili Verde and a half pint of beans as well as the rest of the doggie treats that TJ Otaka had made. Coco loves them more than my pups.

I went to the Glendale Smith’s this morning to buy some doggie treats and some groceries. I also did a load of laundry and put new bedding on the bed.

            Lulubelle threw up a lot of liquids this afternoon on the bedroom floor. There was nothing solid just a puddle of clear liquid, so I know her stomach is not well. She doesn’t seem to be in pain just listless; not her usually hyper self. If she continues to not feel well, I may have to take her back to the vet. She did eat a little bit of the Caesar dog food I bought just for her but only about half.

            I watched Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Lily” this evening. I have been in the mood for old Criterion movies.

            Nothing in the news except for the Polar Vortex which has put much of the country in a deep freeze, especially Texas. My cousin Kay Johnson Campbell posted pictures of snow in San Antonio.

           

16 February 2021 Tuesday

I didn’t do much today but watched some Marlene Dietrich old movies until this evening when I made two deep dish chicken pot pies because I was bored. I had some chicken breast left over from a roasted chicken I had bought the other day for the pup’s supper. Then I cleaned the kitchen listening to music from the early Sixties. It’s funny that I can still sing along to all the girl groups from that era, and I still know all the words. It’s the best way to do the dishes and clean while listening to Martha and the Vandella, the Chiffons, and the Supremes. I suppose it reminds me of my youth when I cleaned and did the dishes in Mom’s yellow kitchen at the house on Dale Street.

Lulubelle seems to be better today. She still isn’t her perky self, but I think the bug that she caught has passed and at least is eating again.

While I was making the pot pies, Kyle Foote called me about 7 this evening on his way to Mapleton where he was heading to meet with some prospective clients. I think he called because he needed to share with me his breakup with Danny Montoya, who he took to the airport this afternoon. Danny is like a perpetual teenager who is obsessed with attention and thrives on drama.

            It sounded like all they did this weekend was quarrel and fight. The downstairs Casita must be well insulated as I didn’t hear any of it upstairs. Well Kyle wanted Danny to go home yesterday but he couldn’t get a flight out until today. I knew that the breakup was coming. Kyle’s not in love with him anymore.

Danny, according to Kyle, has some real psychosis as he thinks people drug his food whenever he’s not feeling well, even me. He never will let Kyle know his work schedule because he thinks Kyle would go out ‘tricking’ if he did, even though Kyle said they had an “open” relationship.

            Kyle said that when Danny spilt that bottle of poppers last Weekend, he acted like it was giving him heart palpitations but there was nothing wrong with him. It was a major issue for him as that he is kind of a hypochondriac. A week ago, he even claimed he had Covid19 but would not get tested to see whether he did or not. It was mostly to make Kyle feel guilty for not rushing down to take care of him.   

            Kyle confided in me that Danny liked older men, like Kyle is, but he also had hang ups about it. Often when they would fight, he would call Kyle “an old faggot.”  They were in a fight Sunday when they were out driving around when Kyle got out of the car and walked back to his office when Danny said he was calling the police on him. Those threats didn’t work any longer now that Kyle is off parole. But they are still irritating and immature when Kyle hadn’t done anything to him but trying to break up with him.

            Kyle also said that he thought Danny was also a true sex addict and that was difficult for Kyle. Knowing some of Kyle’s past peccadilloes before he went to prison, I had to smile to myself at that one, as Kyle was hosting orgies and screwing everyone, he could on Craig’s List 10 years ago. Age slows everyone down.

            In the news Texas is suffering from ice storms and the loss of their power grid. Texas does not do well in snow and ice...

In January 1978 I was living in Ft. Worth. I had flown to Utah with Fran to get sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and upon coming back a freeze had hit Northern Texas. I had left my Pinto in the airport parking lot, and it was covered with a sheet of ice, a half inch thick. I had to chip it away just to get my key into the door to unlock my Pinto. Thank goodness my Pinto started up but driving it the 10 miles home, at night at 5 miles an hour, was terrifying as the highway was a sheet of ice with no snow for traction. I “white knuckled” it to our apartment but the Pinto gave up the ghost the next day and never started again. I had that car from 1972 until January 1978. It was good to me.

Now Two million Texans are without power; in below freezing weather. Funny how the Texas GOP all become socialists when a disaster hits. I thought Texan right wingers, who voted for Cruz, wanted to secede from the Union; again. It’s a good thing Democrats are in control of the national government to bail out the Old Confederacy when it snows in the South. Texas’ power grid I suppose did secede from the Union so as not to be regulated by the Federal government.

 

17 February 2021 Wednesday

The first real snowstorm this winter hit tonight. I woke up to a white wonderland. When Mike Romero dropped off Coco, he said it was ice under the snow, so it was dangerous on the roads.

My backyard has at least 6 inches, so I am glad Kyle Foote had a roof built over my veranda so the dogs can at least go out until I can dig a path for them. Unlike Texas snow like this is not a state of emergency here in Utah.

The final total according to the news was nearly a foot of snow, 11.7 inches, fell at the airport and as I live just a mile east of it, I suppose that is how much I received at my place. The snow broke a record for this day. There’s four feet of snow up at Alta ski resort so that's a good start to get our water reservoirs refilled.

Kyle Foote wanted me to go with him to see his new office on Parker Lane in Centerville. I think he also wanted to vent more about his breakup with Danny Montoya. He told Danny not to get him anything for Valentine’s Day, but he did anyway, a vase full of flowers. Kyle threw the vase outside to show that he didn’t want to continue in a boyfriend relationship with him.

 The building in Centerville had been completely remodeled since it was the Oasis hot tub and spa space. Kyle said the owner spent a million and a half remodeling it. Kyle was there to go over the inventory of the office furnishing while I just looked at my I Phone and played Solitaire.

It was after twelve when Kyle was through so before taking me home, we stopped at Culvers and had a kid’s cheeseburger meal which we ate back at the house. Even that was too much for the both of us.

After he left to go back to work at his office, I finished clearing the sidewalks in the front and off the back deck for the pups. I have a corner lot, so I have 100 feet of sidewalk to shovel, and the snow was already containing a lot of water weight, so I was tired yesterday and went to bed early.

Snow kept sliding off the solar panels onto the driveway, but the streets had already melted by the afternoon.

When Kyle came home after 7 this evening, he was hungry, so I fixed him two smothered Chili Verde burritos which after I gave him a tight embrace, he went down to his “Fortress of Solitude” to decompress.

I watched The Scarlet Empress” which was a weird expressionist film about Catherine the Great of Russia that starred Marlene Dietrich. It was rather bizarre, I thought, but is supposed to be a classic.

I hate to speak ill of the dead so I will just say Rush Limbaugh is dead...good and dead. He truly was an evil bastard making fun of Gay men who died of AIDS and dividing the country like no one else ever had. He was my age.

Texas' go alone attitude shot themselves in the foot. Maybe the Baptists and Evangelicals can pray the polar vortex away after all Climate change is a Democratic hoax like Covid19, isn’t it? Cruz and idiots like him claim Democrats will take Texas guns away, establish socialism in Texas, and provide the deep state with Texas babies to eat. Well maybe not the last one but Q-anon does.

I wish the spirit of Ann Richards could restore sanity in my native state. Ever notice that Republican ran states are devastated during disasters as they are so anti governmental programs

A year ago, Kyle and I attended a Pete Buttigieg Presidential campaign and now he’s a part of President Biden’s cabinet...maybe someday he will be our first Gay President...after or first black woman president...times they are a changing

 

18 February 2021 Thursday

Taco is back for a visit with the gang. I asked Jim Dabakis yesterday to bring him over today. Taco must have missed me as he's full of kisses and won’t leave my side. Jim has a sweet pup. I am glad to be his home away from home. Jim said he’s getting bored again and would like to go someplace. I said I am happy to be home and travel back into time.

            It was announced by Governor Cox that vaccinations will now be opened to those over 65. As soon as the registration came online at 6 this evening, I signed up to get my Covid19 shot at 1:30 this coming Tuesday at the Mountain America Expo-center.

            I didn’t see Kyle Foote all day. He left early at 7 this morning and still wasn’t home when I went to bed at 9.

            In the news Ted Cruz is being lambasted for going to Cancun, Mexico when Texans are dying from the cold and millions are without drinking water. Typical elitist behavior. He also left his little pup alone in his freezing house.

 

19 February 2021 Friday

This morning Kyle asked if he could borrow $10,000 because he was short on his Pay Roll again, so I took it from my line of Credit and also from the Visa bill. He said he could pay it back on Monday.

When Kyle came home, he asked me to go with him to Baskin Robbins in Bountiful. He was in the mood for a chocolate shake. I just had a small cup of ice cream which was more than filling. Kyle finished off the ravioli I made for his supper.

I am a 5th generation Texan who had ancestors there before it even became a state. It is sickening that Texas has been reduced to a Third World Country due to the avarice of its ruling class and failed policies of the right-wing Republican Party that will always have the back of the über rich over the general welfare of the people. The oilmen and cattle barons rely on bigotry and the fear of class warfare among whites to stay in power while Texas’ Mega Churches turn people away during emergencies ... property over people every time. Texas must do better. I hear Texas water is also a mess from all the broken pipelines.

 

20 February 2021 Saturday

I spent the morning researching some characters who had businesses on 2^nd South in the 1950’s and 60’s before stopping to clean the house. Well at least the front room and dining room. I did a lot of mopping and washing lap blankets. Jim Dabakis came by to get Taco, but I didn’t see him. He sometimes just shows up and takes Taco Belle out the back gate.

Kyle Foote and I went to El Pollo Loco to get some lunch to bring back to the house. Pollo Loco was the first place Kyle, and I ate together after he was released to the halfway house in June 2019. Other than that, I didn’t leave the house any.

I finished binged watching “It’s a Sin” on HBO Max series... about a group of British friends who came to age in the 1980 during the AIDS epidemic... excellent but for us that went through it, the series will break your heart... it’s not history for those of us who lived through it ... made me think of all those sweet boys we lost, and how fun they were and full of life... watching the series made me feel survivor guilt again, when so many of my generation perished ... it was a Gay disease so no one really cared... we were so scared... who would be next? Being old and sentimental I was weepy for much of the ending... I miss David Sharpton; we should have grown old together...I can still hear him calling me Sister Williams in his Texas drawl...though he’s been gone nearly 30 years.

Republicans are so concerned with a woman’s uterus but don’t care if 10 million people are without safe water to drink and are freezing to death as long as they can deregulate utilities to make a few more bucks for the already obscenely wealthy. There’s a moral reason to never vote Republican EVER... even for a Mitt Romney who for every decent idea he has, he has an equally bullshit one. Corporations are not People and dogs should not be put in a cage on top of a car.

 

21 February 2021 Sunday

Kyle Foote and I went to the Wal-Mart in Centerville to go grocery shopping and to pick up a few items like a furnace filter, some bounce dryer sheets for pet hair, and a plastic tub. I mentioned to Kyle that he needed a tub to put his dirty dishes in so I could take them upstairs and put them in the dish washer for him.

            On the way home we stopped at Culvers to get something to eat, not much. I just ordered Onion Rings and Kyle ordered Cheese curds

            In the afternoon I made a pineapple upside down cake for Kyle to take to work but otherwise I didn’t do much but try to watch television. “It’s a Sin” sure has stayed with me and made me nostalgic for friends of days long gone for much of the day.

            I watched a series called “Flack” about a British Public Relationist that has to clean up the messes in all her clients’ lives. It’s okay I suppose but not riveting. Just something to watch.

People need to realize that what happened in Texas was not a "natural disaster" but a man made one from the Republican ideology of deregulation of essential public services so that unbridle capitalism can make more wealth for investors at the expense of consumers. The Great GOP lie is that they strictly followed the law, but they refuse to admit that they are the ones who wrote the law.

My cousin Kay Johnson Campbell who lives in San Antonio now said they were without power and water for several days, but the temperature down there was back up to 70 degrees today.

There’s been 1,853 Covid19 deaths in Utah since they started keeping track.

 

22 February 2021 Monday

Rich Butler came over at 11 this morning and stayed until 12:30 in the afternoon before I shooed him off. He mainly came over to give the pups some dog treats that his pups Miley and Sophie won’t eat. I love Rich but he would just go on and, on all day, if I let him, about his life and never asking about mine. The biggest news he said was that Brenda and he have decided to relocate to Mesquite, Nevada. He wants to sell his home in West Valley and get a place that doesn’t have stairs and away from Utah’s winters. He certainly has the money to do it. It’s a way off probably in the fall or next year.

            Rich’s birthday is tomorrow, and he will be 67 years old, and he’s been a good friend to me over the years. I gave him the container of nuts I received at Christmas, that I will never eat.

            After he left, I went to the store and bought items to make some Gumbo soup. I know Marti Gras was a week ago, but Gumbo sounded good to me, but I think I made too much. I never made it before but thought it sounded good and different from my usual soups. It turned out good but rich and I made way too much.

            Kyle Foote called and said he needed me to take him down to the place where he gets his work vehicles wrapped off of 27^th South. I had Mike Romero pick Coco up because Kyle wanted me there in Centerville at 4:30. I left out for Mike a jar of soup and the rest of the pineapple cake, but he didn’t see my message and didn’t take them. I made an appointment for Coco to get groomed at 10:30 this Wednesday. She’s getting shaggy and did have a dirty butt this morning.

            Kyle said people enjoyed the pineapple upside down cake I made for his office people that he took into work this morning.

            I had to get together two of my latest Utility bills and a mortgage statement for Utah First Credit Union in Woods Cross for the refinancing of my solar panels.

President Biden ordered flags flown at half-mast for the 500,000 Americans who have died from Covid19 as of today. He held a candlelight vigil and spoke words of comfort to the American people who lost loved ones.

            Bill Poore went to the VA and finally got his first vaccination after he was so adamant about not getting a shot because of adverse reactions he’s had from flu shots. Ironically, the health department said this was the lowest infection rate from flu this year in Utah especially by children.

            Many of my other senior friends got their vaccinations today also.

 

23 February 2021 Tuesday

Kyle Foote wanted me to help him go take the Rogue and the flatbed truck into Precision Repair to have their wind shields replaced at 8 this morning. We picked up the Rogue at the Bountiful office where Kyle left his Terrain. However, when we went to the shop in Centerville, evidently that was the new repair shop which hadn’t been opened yet. So, we had to go all the way into Layton to their original shop. We first stop at the Centerville office and picked up one of Kyle’s employees named Mike Callahan who drove the flatbed while Kyle drove the Rogue and I followed in the FIT. The window repair place was way up by Hill Air Force base past Northridge High School.

            After they dropped the vehicles off, I climbed into the back of the FIT and let Kyle drive back to Bountiful. Mike was someone Kyle knew from his prison days at Lone Peak, and they talked about people they knew.

            After leaving Kyle and the other guy, I went to the Mr. Wash car wash in Bountiful to get some of the road grime off the vehicle and to get some gas at the Smith’s Market Place there. Gas has jumped up nearly 30 cents from the last time I filled up. It was $2.48 but I had a ten-cent discount.

            After that I went to Lee’s Market in North Salt Lake, bought some pastries and caramel popcorn, and came home to wait for my Covid 19 appointment at 1:30.

            I didn’t know how long it would take me to get to 95^th South and what I would find at the Expo Center, so I left the house at 12:40 and traffic was smooth so actually I arrived there around 1 in the afternoon.

I stayed in my car until 1:15 and then started heading towards the Expo Center. The process was well organized with lots of folks there to shuffle you through the right doors and to the right people. I first went to a set up that confirmed my registration and then they sent me to another area to stand in a queue to wait for an available person administering the vaccines. The entire space of the center was filled with tables and chairs well spread out from one another.

            When it was my turn, the gal rolled up my sleeve poked me with needle with the Pfizer vaccine and sent me into another space to wait for 15 minutes to see if I was happening any reaction to the vaccine. I didn’t so I left about 1:45. The whole experience went like clockwork.

            At home I registered for my second dose which will be on March 16^th at 2:00 in the afternoon at the same place.

            That was pretty much my day except for taking Coco home and bringing Mike Romero some Gumbo stew and pineapple cake.

            I didn’t see Kyle again until he came home around 8 at night and came up to see Lulubelle and tell me what a hectic busy day he had. I said Well that means his business is growing.”

            It was a pretty day on the most part almost 50 degrees. It’s getting to that time I get edgy to get out into the yard but it’s still a bit early.

            So, I have my first Covid19 vaccination which relieves some of the anxiety of getting sick although I never was as anxious as I was in my younger days with the fear of catching AIDS.

 

24 February 2021 Wednesday

I went up to Centerville to meet Kyle Foote and Mike Callahan so we could go to Layton to retrieve the vehicles left there at Precision Glass. It started to snow on the way up and it snowed for much of the morning. So much for my car wash, I guess I will need to go again tomorrow.

            I took Coco in to be groomed at 10:30 and when she was done at 3:00 I also took TJ and Maxx in to have their nails trimmed. Jim Dabakis gave me a $150 gift card for the Dog Grooming School, so It didn’t cost me anything and I still have $60 left on it to have Lulubelle done when she needs it. I left them a $20 tip.

            It cleared up in the afternoon and melted any snow from this morning and last weekend.

            Kyle came home around 7 this evening and heated up some ravioli before heading downstairs. He received a letter from Craig Crawford today. I remember Kyle saying they closed Lone Peak and put everyone back in the main prison which I hated going to. I feel sorry for Jenny having to still go through that Cattle call.

            My arm was a little sorer today from the Covid19 inoculation but not as bad as when I had my Shingles shot. Just like a dull punch in the arm. I guess the Johnson and Johnson vaccination, which only requires 1 shot, is going to be approved.

 

25 February 2021 Thursday

I went with Kyle Foote this morning to Utah First Credit Union to sign papers to pay off Loan Pal and I guess it was for a $60,000 second mortgage spread out over 30 years. Afterwards I went through the car wash again since I am paying for unlimited washes. Other than that, I didn’t do anything else today. Jim Dabakis dropped Taco Belle off today. He didn’t visit just said he had a bit of a cough.

            Kyle came upstairs with some surprising news. He received a notice that he’s eligible for a Covid19 shot through the University of Utah. He made an appointment at the Redwood Clinic for a week from tomorrow.

            I started watching a series called the “Outlander” about a girl from 1945 being swept back into time to 1743 Scotland. I am not sure if I really enjoy it or just like some of the nudity. It’s kind of a romantic novel narrative but the period piece is really done well with a lot of heterosexual soft porn thrown into the mix.

 

26 February 2021 Friday

When Kyle Foote came home, he asked if I wanted to get some supper with him as he hadn’t eaten all day. He said he had been up since 4:30 in the morning and he looked really beat. Of course, I said yes, and he wanted a steak at the Texas Lone Star restaurant in Bountiful but when we arrived there, they said there was 55 minutes to an hour wait. So instead, we went to the Black Bear Diner in Woods Cross. I was not at all that hungry, but Kyle was famished, and I wanted to be with him.

            He ordered a rib eye steak, and I had a country friend steak. It was really too much for the both of us and I hardly ate a thing off my plate. Still the dinner with a tip was nearly $40. Oh well.

 

27 February 2021 Saturday

Well, the blazing love affair between Danny Montoya and Kyle Foote, burned out and into ashes. I got this message for Kyle to call me, and I thought he was just downstairs, but he was actually calling from Draper on his way to Las Vegas driving Danny’s car he had left here. He wanted for me to come and get him at the airport after he returns this evening.

Kyle only said that Danny had called him again last night and they got into another terrific fight and Kyle said he didn’t want anything more to do with him. He blocked him on Face book and was driving the vehicle down to Vegas, so Danny won’t have a reason to ever come back up here.

            Danny was a strange kid. Good looking and nice enough to me, but never really friendly or truly engaging. From what Kyle has told me, and it’s from his perspective, Danny has a lot of immaturity about him and probably a lot of insecurities. We all have out issued I suppose.

            I called Jim Dabakis and said I’d take Taco Belle home so he wouldn’t have to go out as he was not feeling well. It snowed during the night, not much, but kind of a combination of ice and snow.

When I dropped Taco off, Jim said that he has been tested for the flu. I said how in the world did you get that? Nobody’s gotten the flu this year from all the masks and hand washing and social distancing for the Coronavirus.

            Anyway, I came back to the house, did a little grocery shopping at Lucky’s, and saw that they had put in a whole slew of self-checkout stands that they have never had before. Finally, up with the times I suppose. That’s one way to avoid paying people $15 an hour.

            I made some corn chowder this afternoon but mainly worked all day on researching the characters that lived at 528 ½ West second South in the 1960’s.

A little after 7 in the evening, Kyle called me from the airport, saying his plane had landed so I drove over to pick him up. It was lightly snowing but the roads were fine.

He was waiting for me at the curb when I arrived, and he had two chocolate shakes in his hands that he had bought while inside. I asked him if he was hungry and he was, so we stopped at the Taco Bell on North Temple where he had a chicken quesadilla, and I had a plan red bean burrito.

I didn’t ask him anything about his adventure, but he proceeded to let me know how he parked Danny’s car at the MGM parking terrace after having it washed and filled with gas. He took a Lift driver to the airport and was racing to make his flight which he thought was at 5:40 and it was actually departing at 5:20. He said he felt like the family in Home Alone racing to catch their flight.

            He didn’t communicate with Danny until he was on the plane and Danny had a melt down over the breakup saying he was going to press charges, was going to call the police, and call all the girls in his office about how he treated him. Of course, this just made Kyle even surer of his decision to end the relationship entirely.

            Danny is young, he’s good looking, and if he matures, he will find someone new. I still kept him as a friend on Face Book.

 

28 February 2021 Sunday

Well, here’s it’s the end of another February. It’s a buttermilk biscuits and gravy kind of morning so that is what I fixed for breakfast. I worked almost the entire day on writing up information I found on the characters who lived at the Notorious Baywood Hotel. I didn’t do much else.

            Kyle Foote and I went to El Loco Pollo for lunch today. It’s one of his favorite places. He always gets the same thing while there, the avocado chicken platter. I get the 3 chicken carbon tacos which is actually more than I can eat.

Danny Montoya reached out to me because Kyle Foote had blocked him on Face Book. He sent me a bunch of messages and I wrote back to him, to be kind of gentle and let him know that Kyle is moving on.

Danny wrote, “Hey Ben, I just want to thank you for always making me feel welcome and giving me a place to rest in SLC. Kyle and I aren’t talking right now. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but I do want the best for him and I’m glad he has you. I’m going to miss you. It hurts but until we see each other again I hope all is well. I guess we both just need a break, but everything will be okay.”

I responded back because I know how much it hurts to be in love and rejected. “I hope you are well. A breakup is the hardest of all things, but you are young, handsome, and smart. Someone is out there waiting for you. Life is a long adventure. I know you loved Kyle so now go and love some more. I always thought it a great sin to hate someone you once loved but it’s okay to grieve for something that is gone. When enough time has pass, look back and smile for the good times and let the sad ones fade away. Take care of yourself.”

Danny replied “It broke my heart on his birthday when he said he was going to move out because a little bump you two had that day. I had to remind him that you have always been there for him and to not forget you always will be, to forgive the little things, because no one is perfect. I did love Kyle. I just wish he could see that, and we both cannot hold on to those bumps of we had. Only time can heal things I suppose.”

I wrote, “Time is precious and rare. Make the most of it.”

Danny commented back, “I don’t mean to get you all caught up between us because I know you want the best for us. I just wanted to let you know that I do appreciate you. Neither Kyle nor I are particularly good at showing our feelings to other people.”

I said, “It’s all good...”

Danny continued, “Time will heal itself and I’m sure him and I will come around. It’s just stressful. Thank you for the kind words”

I answered, “Life is too short to hang on to hurts and what ‘ifs. Keep yourself open to new possibilities and new people who will come into your life to share your journey. People come together and they come apart; to travel on different paths.”

Danny said “I’m nowhere near, wanting to meet someone new right now. I mean he and I will come around and be friends in time, I’m sure. Just right now we need space.”

I replied, “Absolutely, anyone 'new' would be on the rebound, and y’all both need some space which isn’t to say you should not go out and have a fling or two while you’re young.”

Danny responded, “Hahahaha. I still do love him.”

I wrote, “I know you do and that is okay. You can love someone and let them go.” Danny finished by saying “I actually know what that quote means now.”

In the news 1,946 people have died in Utah from Covid 19 but the infection rate seems to be declining finally.

 

MARCH 2021

1 March 2021 Monday

It was kind of a chilly day but not frigid. The sun was out bright, but the breeze put a chill in the air. So, it’s March again. I hope this March is better than last year’s March when we had an earthquake, my sister Charline died, Covid19 was just beginning to be a thing, and Brad Hart stopped seeing me.

The pups and I will be eating well for supper. I made a kettle full of chicken and dumplings. I like the biscuit kind more than the flat noodle kind because I am Southern. My cooking pot contained peas, slivered carrots, chopped celery and onions, red pimentos, and parsley with chopped up chicken breasts which I had from the roasted chicken I bought yesterday for the pups.

I save the drippings whenever I bake chicken thighs for the pups and then boil the bones to make a broth to use as stock in soups and such. Chicken and Dumplings is kind of just chicken gravy and biscuits.

I finally posted my research on my Utah Stonewall history site. I've spent two months researching nearly 6 to 8 hours a day on a piece of real estate on Second South Street between 600 West and 500 West at what was once 528 West.

Nothing remains on the spot now but a parking lot but for 70 years from 1909 to 1979 it contained a building that housed a hotel which was one of the wickedest places in Salt Lake City. I tracked all its incarnations and the scores of folks who lived, loved, and died there, mostly long forgotten reprobates lol.

I am so weird that I find the past so intriguing. The spot was the home of the first Mexican community center, the home of the finest "negro hotel” between St Louis and the west Coast, and eventually a flop house for alcoholics, prostitutes, and heroin addicts. That little spot in Salt Lake had more ethnic diversity than I suspect any other place in the city.

I took a good portion of the Chicken and Dumplings over to Mike Romero when I took Coco home, and when Kyle Foote came home around 7 this evening, he ate a bowl of it too. He shared with me a long message that Danny Montoya and sent him and asked for my opinion on what to do as he’s afraid Danny might start stalking him. So, I suggested, and he agreed, that his best course is not to respond at all in order to lessen the drama.

 

2 March 2021 Tuesday

I wanted to get out of the house this morning so I went to the Centerville Wal-Mart and bought a new kitchen waste can, an electric mop to clean the floors with steam, a new area rug, and some groceries. I spent $114 on all of it. Coming back to the house I stopped at Culvers and ordered some Onion Rings, stopped at Exxon for a Dr. Pepper fountain drink, and went to the Mr. Wash in Bountiful to get the dirt and salt off the FIT.

            A box came this afternoon from one of those make a meal kit with three packages in them that Kyle got for free except for paying for shipping. I will make one for his supper tomorrow. When he came home, he had a pint of my corn chowder for his supper.

            Only thing I watched tonight was Gary Cooper’s High Noon for which he won his Oscar. The music is the best part of the Western morality play.

In the news, Merck and Johnson and Johnson are working together to help produce the Covid19 vaccine and President Biden said there should be enough doses from the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson to inoculate all Americans by the end of May.

Lulubelle is not feeling well again. Her panting last night kept me up again and she was lethargic this evening. She didn’t even run excitedly to greet Kyle when he came home.

           

3 March 2021 Wednesday

I went to my 9 in the morning dental appointment at Roseman Dental University in South Jordan where they just did a periodontal examination. So, I have to come back on March 9 at 8:30 for a cleaning and to fill a cavity, I think.

            On the way home I stopped at the new donut place called Mr. Donut on Tenth North and 9^th West. I bought a half dozen donuts and while they were a little pricey at $1.50 a piece, they were delicious. I wanted to support a local donut shop because one of my main gripes about Utah is that they don’t have many donut shops like California. Even Dunkin Donuts on Fourth South and Second East has closed. I gave three of the donuts to Mike Romero when I took Coco home because I knew I couldn’t eat all of them.

            Back at the house, I spent two hours doing some spring cleaning in the front yard, transplanting plants and a general clean up. I dug up a box planter and moved it so I will need to get some grass seeds to cover the spot from where it was moved. It felt so good to get my hands back in the dirt. The bulbs are trying to push up but two hours being outside was plenty. I don’t need to do it all at one time, but the weather was so nice at 61 degrees.

            I fixed one of the dinners that Kyle Foot received called Food Fresh that are preplanned meals that all one has to do is prepare it. The one I fixed was seasoned potatoes, roasted carrots, and a steak with a mushroom sauce. Actually, it was pretty tasty, and I ate a bit of it at 7, while Kyle didn’t get home until 8 this evening.

This evening Face Book said I couldn’t post for seven days because I posted on someone’s site, about Governor Cuomo’s sexual harassment charges, that heterosexual men were stupid when it came to women and that he should not resign but people should be allowed to take him to civil court as long as it wasn’t a sexual assault like Trump. Face Book said I violated community standards of “hate speech.” I guess you are no longer allowed to call heterosexual men stupid or have an opinion.

I watch “Murder among the Mormons” on Netflix about Mark Hofmann killing Steve Christensen and Kathy Sheets to cover up his forgeries. I was here in Salt Lake working for Utah Title at the time and I remember it so well. It was just less than two weeks after Rock Hudson died of AIDS. Mark Hofmann blew himself up a day before Kyle’s 6^th birthday and I was 34 years old at the time, still married, still Mormon, and still in the closet.

 

4 March 2021 Thursday

I worked again in the front yard and pulled up the planter boxes that Amy Barry helped me put in years ago when I wanted a vegetable garden. I cleaned out the old leaf’s debris and just generally cleaned up. I went to Sutherlands and bought some more Rye Grass seeds to reseed where I had moved the planter box from yesterday and threw more down in the back yard.

            Jim Dabakis brought Taco Belle over while I was ‘out and about’ and left a package of meat for the pups.

            I am having withdrawals from commenting on posts I agree with on Face Book but it’s okay. Bill Poore and I are going out to lunch tomorrow. We both have had our inoculations so feel a little more comfortable going to a restaurant again, but I am still going to wear a mask whenever I go out even though wicked men in the legislature are trying to lift the statewide mask mandate like Texas and Mississippi have. These Republicans are so anti-science.

            Coming back from taking Coco home, I stopped at Smith’s in Rose Park to get some gas for the FIT. Prices sure have jumped up. It’s $2.70 a gallon now.

            I fixed the Fresh Foods’ pork cutlets along with sweet potatoes and green beans for Kyle Foote and my supper. The green beans weren’t all that fresh, but the rest was okay. I didn’t think it was as tasty as yesterdays. I made dinner rolls again also.

            Kyle came home around 7 this evening after I already ate and went downstairs to relax. As long as I get to hug him every day, I am good.

            There’s this 46-year-old guy from Boston who contacted me on Silver Daddies who wants to meet up with me. He’s here in Utah to go skiing and staying at the Hampton near the airport. I agreed to meeting so it’s just setting up a time.

            This evening I watched The Godfather and 42^nd Street before heading to bed at midnight. I hadn’t watched the Godfather I know in over thirty years or more and while still well, it still had scenes which were too gruesome for me to watch. 42^nd Second Street I watch periodically just for the fun of it. The dialog is so schmaltzy, which is one of the best parts and all the wise cracking.

            Well, the White Terrorists didn’t storm the capitol today and Republicans are doing their damnest to hold up President Biden’s stimulus package. Governor Cox announced that anyone fifty years or older can now make an appointment to get inoculated. Kyle goes in tomorrow to get his shots at the Redwood Clinic.

           

5 March 2021 Friday

            The guy from Silver Daddies sent me his phone number and asked if I could meet him this afternoon and I said I could. Before meeting Bill Poore for lunch, I went down to Sutherlands and bought a yard rake and a pair of blue jeans. I hope they fit as I wasn’t able to try them on.

            First, I went and met Bill downtown at Charlie Chows. It was 11:30 when we arrived, and the place was nearly empty. Still, since we both had our shots, we felt fairly comfortable eating out although the CDC said restaurants were places of high contagion.

            We both had a cup of Hot and Sour Soup, and we also ordered food to go. I ordered Sweet and Sour Pork, but they brought me chicken instead. Who Cares? Probably won’t eat much of it any way.

            We had a nice visit and actually he could hear me pretty well even without his hearing aids in, so I didn’t have to shout, just speak loudly. I invited him over this Sunday for a pot roast dinner.

            I then drove out to the Hampton Inn on the west side of the airport to meet the man from Boston who contacted me on Silver Daddies. He was in town for a couple of days to go skiing. He was a nice looking 46-year-old man with an athletic body. He said he was sore from skiing, so I gave him a long relaxing massage over his nude masculine body. We visited about what we liked about Salt Lake City and a little about the time I spent in Boston so many years ago.

He loved the massage I gave him, and he was horny to fuck me as he said it’s been over a year since he had. He was so excited that he basically came only after a few thrusts but that was fine with me. I was enjoying the physical intimacy as much as anything else. I was only there less than an hour and then left about 2:30. I wouldn’t mind if he contacted me again but who knows if he will.

            I didn’t do much after that, except go by Deseret Industries. I had not been there in a while and was looking to see what they might have. I did buy a set of new yellow color sheets for $12.

Kyle Foote sent me a picture of him getting inoculated for Covid19 at the Redwood Clinic. I am not sure why he was eligible so soon but glad he was. He had the Pfizer vaccine as well.

            I fixed the last of the Fresh Food meals to our supper. It was a chicken pot pie kind of casserole. It was good but I am not sure I’d actually join since I know how to cook already, but they were free.

            In the evening I watched The Godfather Part II which was three hours so that took up my evening.

            In the news Senate Republicans are trying to delay the Covid19 relief package as long as they can.

 

6 March 2021 Saturday

It was so breezy outside that I did not do any yard work. It was a record tying day temperature wise, but the wind kept it cooler than it was outside. I took Taco Belle home at noon to give the rest a ride. There’s so much new construction going on downtown. It is almost like a new city.

Jim Dabakis said he felt much better but still had a lingering “blah” from the flu. We discussed a bit about the Senate barely passing the 1.9 trillion covid19 rescue packet. The Republicans are squealing like stuck pigs. Not one voted in favor of helping the American people. Thank providence that Georgia flipped the Senate so those awful people cannot stall President Biden’s recovery programs.

            Kyle Foote came up around 2 this afternoon wanting to go to Loco Pollo again. I had already eaten but I went with him for the company. Coming back home, he went back down to his “Fortress of Solitude.” I came to realize that he needs his space after nearly nine years of being constantly surrounded by noise and people while incarcerated. I cannot take it personally.

            I watched programs for most of the rest of the day. I finished watching the 3^rd episode of “Murder Among the Mormons”. Kyle said he watched it too and for him it something that happened in his distant past when he was a young child but for me it was part of my adult years. I told Kyle that the show made me realize how far apart we are in age. He was just turning 6 years old, and I was 34 years old. These events happened 35 years ago, and I’ve lived in this house for 25 years.

            I also watched Coming2America a sequel to an Eddie Murphy movie from the early 90’s. The African costumes were spectacular, but the premise was just as hokey; Mindless and forgettable for sure. I also watched a couple of episodes of Outlander before heading off to bed.

            I may have to take Lulubelle into the vet next week. There’s something wrong with her I know, and her behavior is changing.

 

7 March 2021 Sunday

I was up early to start fixing Sunday Dinner for Bill Poore, Kyle Foote, and Mike Romero that I was having over at noon.

            I put a roast in the crock pot and then made a peach cobbler for dessert. All in all, I made mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, green beans with bacon bits, and roasted carrots. I also served Rhode’s dinner rolls.

            When Bill came over, he brought the pups some treats and a bouquet of yellow roses for me. He knows yellow roses are my favorite. Shortly after he arrived, Kyle came in from his office, and Mike came over with Coco so we basically all ate at the same time.

            After eating we sat in the front room and visited some about the good old Gay days and Kyle talked a little about his time in prison about not having experienced any real bullying because he stayed away from gang members, drugs, and gambling which seem to be the principal areas of conflict in prison.

            Lulubelle was scooting around on the carpet, and we worried that perhaps her anal glands were what was causing her to be so hyper ventilating.

            About 1:30 Bill heading back home, and I fixed him a plate to take with him to have for his supper and Kyle asked if Mike wanted to go see his office in Centerville. He just had his business decals put on the windows there, so he wanted to show off, so I went with them. It was a fairly pretty day out and a good day for a little drive.

            Afterwards Mike went home with some food and Kyle spent the rest of the evening downstairs.

            In the news Covid19 deaths in Utah are at 1,976. It’s been a year now since the first covid19 case started showing up in Utah.

 

8 March 2021 Monday

I made an appointment to take Lulubelle in to see the vet at the Warm Spring Clinic for a check-up. The appointment was at 11:30 so I spent some of the morning working in the back yard, raking globe willow twigs and branches as well as raking up the vegetable garden area into piles of debris. It was breezy but pretty day out and it was 70 degrees, but a cold front is moving in for the rest of the week.

            The vet said he couldn’t see anything seriously wrong with Lulubelle and her heart seemed fine, and he did her anal glands which he said weren’t infected. He did say she seemed bloated and may be developing pancreatitis which I needed to watch for and cut down on any fatty food. He gave her a shot for it, and some other medicine to help with her upset stomach. It cost $107 to see the vet so that wasn’t too bad I suppose. I then took Lulubelle for a walk over to the Warm Springs Park. I saw a homeless man bathing in the sulfur springs there.

            Kyle Foote was gone before Mike Romero came at 7:15 this morning and he didn’t come in until well after 9 at night so I never really saw him today.

            I cooked a meat loaf for supper tonight and some scallop potatoes because I thought Kyle might be here to eat but he wasn’t. I brought haft the meat loaf over to Mike Romero when I took Coco home.

            I watched some episodes of Outlander but that about all I did this evening.

           

9 March 2021 Tuesday

I was up at 6:30 this morning and saw that Kyle Foote’s vehicle was already gone. I left the house myself around 8 for my 8:30 appointment at Roseman Dental for my dental cleaning. That took about an hour and the Weather had really changed from yesterday. It was cloudy up against the mountains like it was snowing there and down here the temperature was 20 degrees cooler than yesterday.

While at the clinic, I paid $144 for the Roseman Dental Plan that will help with the expense of future dental work.

            Kyle Foote called in the afternoon and said that Alicia Montoya, Danny’s sister was in town, and he was bringing her home for dinner. So, I prepared dinner of breaded pork chops with apple sauce, peas & carrots, rolls, and served the au gratin potatoes I had left over from yesterday. I also made four mini loaves of banana nut bread. I gave one to Mike Romero when I took him home, gave one to Alicia to take with her, and gave the other two to Kyle to take to the office tomorrow.

            We had a nice visit after dinner but skirted any mention of Danny. Alicia left about 9 at night and shortly after that Kyle retired downstairs and I went to bed myself rather tired.

 

10 March 2021 Wednesday

I was up way too early this morning at 3:30. I wasn’t able to continue to sleep, so I just got out of bed and went to writing again. I am consolidating all the research I’ve done on West Second South Street and I’ve 262 pages so far. I may try to see where I could get it published.

            At 7 Juan from Build Team came to take two power cutting machines from the garage finally and I looked out and there was a dusting of snow on the ground, but it was gone by late morning although it never really got warm today as it was in the damp 40’s.

            Kyle Foote came home around 6:30 after taking Alicia Montoya to the airport. I talked to him about paying back the Visa Card and Line of Credit, so the interest doesn’t keep accruing. I owe $3000 on the line of credit and $7000 on the Visa Card. I saw that my federal refund came in so I have near $9000 in my savings and checking accounts, but I hate being in debt if I can avoid it. Besides now that the Democrats have passed the stimulus relief bill, I don’t want the $1400 to just go to the bank to pay interest.

            Kyle said he’d have some guys come out soon to clean out the garage to take everything to his new warehouse so he will be able to park back in the garage eventually.

            I didn’t make anything for dinner and Kyle wasn’t too hungry, but I went to Chubby’s for a tostado and bought him some chips and salsa. He said he had a real nightmare of a morning because one of his vehicles that was paid for out right was repossessed by mistake and he had to deal with that mess when he had so many other fires to put out.

            Finally, this evening my 7-day suspension from posting on Face Book was lifted. All it did was make me not want to be so engaged on Face Book as I was before.

 

11 March 2021 Thursday

I went grocery shopping in the late afternoon and snow was falling this afternoon, so beef stew sounded good for supper, so I used the electric skillet and make a batch. I baked some biscuits later to go with it and called it good.

While I was out shopping, Taco Belle came for his weekend play date, and he wouldn’t leave my lap. That was okay because I was not going anywhere for the rest of the day. Jim Dabakis asked if I’d take him later for a couple of weeks while he travels to Panama. I said I would.

I took Michael Romero a pint of beef stew when I took Coco home. It looked like we had more moisture here near the Jordan River than he had over by I-15. It was damp out, however.

When Kyle Foote came home, he said he wasn’t feeling well and may be coming down with something. He said he hadn’t been sleeping more than a couple of hours a night. He took a bowl of stew with him downstairs.

            I watched President Biden’s address to the nation. He said that by May 1 all Americans who want the Vaccine should be able to get it. How wonderful to have an articulate President filled with compassion speak directly to the American people.

Rich Butler said he bought a house down in Mesquite, Nevada and will be putting his house in West Valley up for sale soon.

 

12 March 2021 Friday

Nothing lasts forever. My Microwave I've had for 25 years gave up the ghost this morning. I went to melt some butter when I heard this loud pop like there was metal in the microwave although I knew there wasn’t. It still operated but would not heat anything, so I knew it was broken. More of an inconvenience than anything. Oh well. I just need one to warm things and melt cheese on nachos lol. I actually don’t cook with one so will just get another inexpensive one.

Mom and Dad gave this microwave it to Mike Romero and me as a housewarming present, out of their Palmdale home so who knows how old it really was. The brand was Whirlpool. Rich Butler had hard wired it into that wall when we first got it and we never had a probably with it until it quit. Rich asked to come over tomorrow and I said sure.

I worked on the computer researching an interesting character named Maggie Martell who lived on 600 West at the turn of the century who was a wild woman when drunk, with the police having to haul her off to jail kicking and screaming.

It was nearly 50 degrees up here in Salt Lake City but blizzard conditions down in the Beaver area of I-15. They’re expecting a major snowstorm to hit Denver.

Republicans in the state will be the first to cash their checks. A Mormon family of 5 will get $7000. I bet all those Utah Republicans who voted for Trump and our Republican delegation who voted against the rescue plan will have no qualms cashing the checks.

 

13 March 2021 Saturday

It was damp and rainy for most of the morning until early afternoon. Not a heavy rain more like a steady drizzle that soaked into the ground. I went out to the garage and started cleaning up the mess that was on the north side where all the left-over construction mess is. Threw away trash and gathered the copper piping together that Kyle Foote said to save.

            About 11:30, Rich Butler arrived, bringing me a 5 lb. bag of flour, two bags of sugar and 1 bag of brown sugar. He’s cleaning out his pantry for preparation for moving to Mesquite maybe next month. He wants me to keep Sophie and Miley over the weekend of their open house, I think April 16. I said I would. Jim Dabakis came over while Rich was here to retrieve Taco.

            Kyle came up and visited with Rich about finding his new home which surprised me and after Rich left Kyle and I went to Wal-Mart to buy a new Microwave. I bought the least expensive one I could find because I really didn’t need it for anything more than to reheat things. Kyle bought it for me.

            On the way home we stopped at Loco Pollo to get some lunch. I bought a Tostado salad for a change and that was a mistake because I could not eat much of it because of the lettuce. I just can’t’ digest that any more except in exceedingly small amounts.

            I spent much of the rest of the day making a banana cream pie, prepping for tomorrows Sunday dinner.

I started watching 1978’s Superman and think it’s funny that Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman got top billing before Christopher Reeves in the title of the movie. He wasn’t the big star back then.

            I was surprised by a message from Kyle Daniels flirting with me and saying he missed me. He and Alan Anderson were at the Sun Trapp bar for some court benefit. He said he wants to come see me this Thursday in the afternoon. That would be nice, but I won’t count on it until I see him here in bed naked.

            I’ve had a thought lately that I should ask Kyle Foote to marry me if he isn’t married himself in a few years. It would make it so much easier to leave my estate to him and for him to make end of life decisions for me and take care of the probate. It’s just a thought I suppose.

 

14 March 2021 Sunday

For some reason I woke up at 2 this morning just as the time changed on my tablet to Daylight Savings Time. That was kind of weird. I went back to sleep and slept in until about 6:30 before getting up to type and then do some more prepping for Sunday dinner.

            I had people come over at 1 in the afternoon only because it would seem like noon, and I didn’t want people to feel rushed. Bill Poore came over at 12:30 any way and brought some flowers. When I went to his vehicle to help him, I saw he had 4 huge trash bags of garbage in his passenger front seat. I thought what the hell, so I took them and threw them in my trash bin because even though he said he was going to take them to his dumpster I knew they would sit there until they stunk. He still has the basket of laundry I did for him last Christmas in his car.

            Anyway, I brought my old CPAP machine out to him and gave it to him as that I don’t need it anymore and haven’t’ used in three years. It’s like brand new. I doubt whether he will bring it in from his car. Oh well.

            Mike Romero soon came over and a little later Kyle Foote came home, and we all ate dinner together. I fixed a corned beef, carrots, cabbage, black eye peas, deviled eggs, and a banana cream pie for Sunday dinner. I ate very little as I wasn’t hungry and just preparing the meal was enough, I suppose.

            We all visited in the living room for a bit afterwards and when Mike and Bill left, I sent them each home with a plate of food, and I gave each of them half the pie to take with them.

            Kyle went downstairs to relax and after cleaning the kitchen and washing the dishes that didn’t fit into the dish washer, I took a nap.

            I didn’t do much else in the evening except finish watching Superman which I started yesterday and made some oatmeal raisin cookies for Kyle to take to work tomorrow. It was beautiful out today this last week of winter.

            There’s been 2,014 deaths from Covid19 in Utah since a year ago March.

 

15 March 2021 Monday

I’ve been researching this character named Mrs. Maggie McGordon Montello who was a hell raiser on Second South and Sixth West at the turn of the last century. I spent part of the morning organizing my research on her.

            I planted some basil and thyme from seeds in planter boxes out front. I hope they grow. The front yard bulbs are starting to pop up and the forsythia in front of the front steps is trying to bud so Spring is on its way.

            I spent a lot of the day really cleaning up my bedroom, which I have neglected a bit. I changed the sheets, put away the laundry, straightened up a closet and put away items just cluttered on my bureau. I even put together the electric mop I bought a while ago and used it on the floor in my bedroom. It has a steam function that really cleaned the floor really well.

            When Kyle Foote came home, he asked if I wanted to share a Domino Pizza and I said sure, so I went with him to pick it up. We noticed how much gas has gone up. It’s $3 a gallon or close to it at almost all places.

            I ordered some muted, yellow-colored sheets made from Bamboo fiber from Amazon and another pull over African print cotton shirt.

            I started watching a PBS Masterpiece series called “The Durrells in Corfu,” which is pretty good, this evening and noticed it was raining when I retired.

 

16 March 2021 Tuesday

I didn’t do much this morning in anticipation of going down to the Mountain America expo center for my second Covid19 Vaccination at 2:00. Actually, the process was much quicker than last time and even with the wait they wanted you to do after being inoculated, I was done by 2:15 this afternoon. The people there getting their second shots were all seniors it looked like.

            I was slightly concerned with the second shot as that so many people said they had a more adverse reaction to it than to the first shot, but I didn’t at all. The shingles vaccination hurt far worse.

            I took State Street home as I had driven it in an awfully long time to see what is new. Like everywhere else in the valley, change is everywhere. It rained on me a little bit in various parts of my drive home but all in all it was a pleasant Spring Day.

            I stopped at Smith’s in Glendale to buy some gizzards for the pups and snacks for me before heading home. I saw that the LuxClub Bamboo Sheets came today. That was fast as that I just ordered them yesterday.

            When I took Coco home, Mike Romero said that his $1400 stipend was deposited so when I went home, I checked my account and so had mine. I decided to pay off my line of credit and paid all but $3000 on my Visa Credit Card. I am still waiting on Kyle Foote to pay me back the $10,000 he borrowed last month, as I didn’t want interest just to keep accruing.

            I didn’t see Kyle at all today. He went straight to his Fortress of Solitude downstairs and never came up to greet the pups or me. He must have had a stressful day as I know he said he was firing women today for ineptitude doing their jobs.

            I watched a couple of episodes of The Durrells and of the Outlander before retiring for the evening.

This morning I woke from the most vivid dream of being back in California. It’s funny what is stored in your mind that comes out in dreams. I dreamed I was showing friends the old Orange County Plaza in Garden Grove. When I lived there it was the largest shopping mall in Orange County with 60 stores. It was about 2 miles from our house, but we kids would walk there all the time on the weekends for something to do.

JC Penny’s was an anchor store where I shopped for my school clothes, and they carried our high school colors for PE that was required for us to wear.

At one end, near Nutwood, was Safeway connected to Thrifty Drug store that sold ice cream for a nickel a cone. Further down was Grants Variety Store that sold penny candy. Hartsfield was a young girl’s store where my sisters bought their school dresses.

             At the far end of the plaza, towards Brookhurst was Thriftimart but we usually never walked that far except at the very end there was a donut shop, DK Donuts, where my sister Donna once worked.

The donut shop was what really stayed with me in my dream because I told my friends that this was the place I first ever told someone I loved him. July 9, 1970. It was there when John Cunningham said he didn’t love me...

I fostered Maxx on this day in 2016. He didn’t do well with children. He became Coco’s playmate, so I decided to keep him. Maxx was about 5 years old then. He’s been a good boy over the years.

 

17 March 2021 Wednesday

I went to my 8:30 in the morning appointment at Roseman dental clinic to get a cavity filled. It went pretty smooth without too much discomfort. I had to make another appointment for the 29^th for another cavity. Roseman is saving me hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

So far, my second Pfizer shot has not given me any trouble. My arm isn’t even sore. No sleepiness. No flu like symptoms. So, I guess I am fortunate. I did take an hour and half nap this afternoon, but I attribute that more to the donut holes I ate and getting up to early in the mornings.

For my St. Patrick Day supper, I made twice baked potato, buttered asparagus, a roast with brown gravy and mushrooms. I fed the pups the left-over stew I made last week, and I was surprised they ate ever bit of it even the green beans.

I sent a message to Kyle Foote saying I had fixed dinner if he was hungry, and he said he was so when he came home, he fixed himself a plate. He said that Alicia Montoya is back in town so I will make something out of the left-over pot roast for Kyle and her tomorrow.

            Some young killer murdered eight massage workers in Atlanta, six of them were Asian women. The Southern Baptist fanatic said he killed them because of his sex addiction but its more and likely he was spurred on by Anti-Asian bias influenced from Trumps’ rhetoric.

 

18 March 2021 Thursday

Kyle Daniels came over before 3 this afternoon and we made love until four when he had to go back to work. He is teaching night classes as well on Thursday but has a break in the afternoon. It’s the first time we have been together in nearly three years.

            We both have had our second inoculations so little fear of catching the Corona Virus from our love making. It seemed to be natural to pick up with him again where we left off and he was so amorous that he came twice inside me and then almost a third. He then wanted to cuddle and nap before we took a shower to get the sex off of him so he could go back to school.

            I guess Alan Anderson and he have an open relationship now with Alan having his own romps. I am good for them because Kyle can release his sexual tension with me and as I am fond of both of them, I am no threat to their relationship. In fact, I prefer in some ways, Kyle coming over for sex then going home.

            Kyle said that Alan is so antsy to be traveling that he’s booked vacations in St. Thomas and Costa Rica for this summer for several weeks. Kyle is like me and prefers to be a home body. If Kyle starts fucking me again on a regular basis, I guess I will be obliged to babysit Corky and Bhanni.

            Well Mike Romero said he’s retiring at the end of May and that means after all these years, Coco won’t be coming over in the mornings so there will be one less pup here to deal with I suppose.

Kyle Foote and Alicia Montoya came over for dinner, so I made beef enchiladas, refried beans, and Spanish rice for supper.

 

19 March 2021 Friday

            It was nearly 70 degrees today but because it was so breezy, it never felt that warm. I am removing the grass on my parking strip in front of the house. Three hours is work enough for any honest man and especially one who is 70 years old. It’s quitting time and there’s always tomorrow or the next day.

            I was going to plant Thyme in the front of the house but now I am leaning more towards putting bark down like I did the south side parking strip. Just not sure what to do with all the dirt that I have to remove if I do.

            Mike Romero came to pick Coco up because he went to the Roseman Clinic today for an evaluation and didn’t get out until after 5. Kyle Foote didn’t get home until after 8 this evening. He looked exhausted. So am I. I didn’t eat any supper, too tired, so I just snacked on jellybeans and peanut butter cookies.

            President Biden’s promise to vaccinate 100 million people in 100 days was done in 56 days. It’s wonderful to have a President who cares about the American people and not just his own narcissistic self.

 

20 March 2021 Saturday

Spring officially arrived here at 730 this morning. We survived a pretty mild winter considering we were holed up for much of the time. Merry Ostara as the light and darkness is in harmony again.

It rained almost the entire Spring Equinox. Nearly .75 inches of rain here by the airport. It was a good soaking rain so no yard work. It was sleeping in and making a pot of lima bean and ham soup kind of weather. The pups were sound asleep for much of the day during the steady down pour.

I binged watched Masterpiece Theater’s The Durrells for most of the day only taking a break around 5 in the afternoon when I went with Kyle Foote up to his Centerville Office to unload boxes and other items he had in his vehicle that he took out of the old Bountiful Office.

Kyle was being kind of weird, anxious, because Danny Montoya was coming tomorrow to retrieve his stuff that had been stored in the storage Unit, he had over on Center Street in North Salt Lake which he is closing since he has a new Storage unit on Center Street near Foxborough. He was so uptight about Danny coming he wouldn’t talk about it, so I just dropped the matter.

After helping Kyle unload his SUV, we went to Baskin Robbins in Bountiful to get a chocolate shake. It’s his favorite place for a shake. He bought me one also although I couldn’t finish it even as small as it was. I think it was the only thing Kyle had to eat today because he never came up to have some soup or eat the tacos I had made. I thought he might eat later so I made us a tuna noodle casserole, but he never had any of that either.

So, it was kind of a washed-out day, but we certainly can use the moisture.

 

21 March 2021 Sunday

A frosting of Snow on the roof tops this morning and there were snow flurries for some of the day, but it warmed enough into the 40’s for most of the snow on the ground and roof tops to melt away.

            Kyle Foote brought Danny Montoya to the house around noon. He said that Danny wanted to see me. I am not sure why. The entire time he and Kyle were together he barely said two words to me. I suppose it was a way for him to come to the house for a final time. I was polite and hugged him although I know it was a strain on Kyle being with him. We chit chatted briefly, him telling me about his new opportunities with another start up airline called the Breeze.

            After he left, I needed something to do so I made a pan of lasagna I put in the refrigerator for later this week for Kyle and Alicia Montoya.

            It was too wet and damp to do any yard work so just watched more episodes of The Durrells until Kyle came home at 6 this evening. He was emotionally drained and didn’t want me asking anything about his day, so I didn’t. He did say he boxed up all of Danny’s things to ship by UPS to Nevada so there would be no reason for Danny to ever come up here again. While kneeling petting Lulubelle, he started to breakdown and weep. I went over to him and held him and let him know it will get better.

            Hearts do not break. They sting and ache for old love’s sake but do not die.

Idaho’s state legislature is more ignorant than Utah; hard to believe. Last week Idahoans were in the news by having their children burn masks and now the Idaho Legislature will be shut down until April because of a major Covid19 outbreak. Utah’s patriarchy won’t be in session when mask mandate is lifted here in April so we will suffer for their arrogance. Nearly 2100 deaths here in Utah aren’t enough, I suppose, to keep reactionary conservatives happy.

 

22 March 2021 Monday

This morning at 11, I get a knocked on the door and its two guys from Build Team asking to look at the back yard deck. I was surprised that they said they were coming over Wednesday to haul off the demolition leftovers and that Kyle Foote said they were going to start rebuilding the veranda. They said that the old trex decking was going to be pulled up and new planks put down. I thought they were going to use steam clean it but later after talking to Kyle, he said it was too old and needed replacing. Out with the old and in with the new I suppose.

            I worked a bit in the front yard on the parking strip since the ground was soft from al the rain the other day. However, the handle on my rotor tiller snapped so I need to replace it. It was cool out but rather pleasant to be working outside but later I had the chills and felt like I was coming down with something, so I bundled up under a comforter to watch programs.

            I noticed that my sister Donna Jones had tried to call me, so I called her back, but it was not anything important. She just wanted to check in. She still hasn’t gotten Vaccinated for the Corona Virus but said she never really goes anywhere and now that Kevin can drive, he does most of the errands. We talked for about an hour mostly on her change of diet and losing some weight. She said she hadn’t heard from anyone, and I said neither had I. The only way I know what is going on with my cousin Stephanie Williams is through Face Book postings. I guess she’s been helping at the mass vaccination site at Disneyland with processing people.

            Kyle didn’t come home until after 7 and we visited a little about the deck and how that is going to happen and about $647.15 that the Lending Club is taking out of my account. He said it’s for the loan we took out and he needed to update the bank account information on it to be auto pay from the Build Team account.

            Another mass shooting, this time in supermarket in Boulder Colorado with ten people left dead. Of course, an assault weapon was used.

 

23 March 2021 Tuesday

It was supposed to have been gloomy today but instead the morning and afternoon was really nice except by late afternoon clouds came in and it sprinkled off and on.

            Kyle Foote and his Build Team crew came over to plan for the new stairs leading off the deck. I suppose that will be built first, then on Thursday the veranda will have the planks removed and rebuilt. The new trex decking will be brown this time.

            After they left, I cleaned off the upper deck by removing all the chairs and tables and also decided to mow the back yard. It wasn’t all that bad, but it needed tidying up.

So, my deck is being remodeled with a new stairs and planks. Build Team is going to move my hot tub into my northwest corner. The pups will have one day when they won’t have access to the doggy door but right now, they are sacked out. Maybe I should join the canine crew and take a snooze.

            I saw that another box from Fresh Foods came today. Kyle said he had forgotten to cancel it so three more meals came. I think they were selected at random because I doubt whether Kyle would have chosen them as that one was kind of a sloppy barbeque sandwich something that Kyle would not have eaten. The others were a sweet chili pork rice bowl and a balsamic, tomato, herbs chicken over spaghetti noodles.

            I decided to make the balsamic chicken tonight since Alicia Montoya is coming over Thursday and I made a Lasagna casserole for them.

            Rich Butler came over at 2 this afternoon and stayed an hour. He brought over a garden pitchfork and a hoe as he is getting rid of all his yard tools in preparation to move to Mesquite, Nevada. He’s giving Kyle a Kobalt air compressor for letting him use his trailer to haul household items down to Nevada after he sells his house.

 

24 March 2021 Wednesday

I ordered a new rototiller today and an electric lawn mower from Amazon so I could keep up with my yard work. The Build Team workers came at 8 this morning to start on the demolition. I fenced off the side yard to contain the pups since all the gates will be wide open; safety first

They made progress on the new stairs, new railing, and new electrical plug on the south side of house below the junction box. Tomorrow they will work on the new upper deck. When the Build Team broke for lunch, I went and inspected the new trex that was unloaded. It’s s a brown color that looks more like real wood.

After the crew left at 3:30 I let the pups into the back yard to play and exercise while I pulled weeds and cleaned out the flower bed next to the Southside of the house. It was a pretty day to be outside.

 

25 March 2021 Thursday

            I woke up at 4 this morning and decided to just get up and work compiling my writings of the characters who lived on West Second South.

Juan came with his crew and worked on the new stairs and deck all day. The stairs were completed so the pups can go up and down into the south side of the backyard, but the doggy door is still closed, and the rest of the deck is inaccessible as many of the planks are torn up exposing bare braces.

The roto tiller came today in the late afternoon. It was too cold and damp to do any yard work, so I left it in the box. Kyle Daniels called at 2 this afternoon and we had to postpone our rendezvous because of the men working here.

The dogs won’t be going out the kitchen door for a while, but it looks like the new stairs are done. Lulubelle isn’t having all these men in the backyard, and I have to get after her to leave these diligent workers alone.

When the guys all left at 3:30, I had the pups try out the new stairs. They are steeper than what they are used to and were hesitant at first, but Lulubelle, TJ, and Taco were going up and down in no time. Maxx is still wary, but I think will get used to them but worried about Buster and Coco being able to use them.

It had started to sprinkle lightly when I took Coco home and when I went to Lucky’s to buy some Romaine lettuce and red wine salad dressing for supper. It’s a good light rain over here by the Jordan River in Westpointe.

Kyle Foote had Alicia Montoya over for dinner, so I fixed a romaine lettuce salad, bread sticks, and spinach lasagna. It was tasty the little I ate.

Alicia is so unlike Danny, very personable. Kyle asked if I’d take her to the airport tomorrow morning at 8:30 and I agreed. He had to take her back to her hotel across from Culver’s in Bountiful so I went with them so I could see where the place is and know how to get there in the morning.

After dropping Alicia off, Kyle wanted an ice cream, so we went to Culver’s, and we went inside instead of through the drive-up. We were surprised how crowded the joint was being a Thursday night, but I guess Spring Break is starting.

It’s a damp foggy rainy night here out by the airport. I am grateful to have a roof over my head, a warm dry house, and my own hound surround.

I was tired from getting up so early that I went to bed at 9:30.

There’s a push to have Washington D.C. become a state. If Washington City becomes a state does the mayor become the governor? Does the city become its own capital as well as capital of the nation? Wouldn’t it be easier to divide the residents between Virginia and Maryland for voting purposes? it is puzzling to me, but these people need a voice for sure.

 

26 March 2021 Friday

Again, I woke up thinking it was morning and it was only a half hour after midnight. I got up to pee and let the pups out, but they wouldn’t go and there was snow all on the ground and it was still lightly snowing.

            I cleaned up some poop in the dining room. I can’t be mad as their schedule is way off and they don’t have access to come and go. 

            I went back to bed but was up at 7 when Mike Romero delivered Coco to the house, and I was really surprised to see that the Build Team crew had shown up because I thought because of the snow and slush they weren’t going to work today. It caught Kyle Foote by surprised to because he doesn’t want his employees to know he lives here.

            I had to go into Bountiful to pick up Alicia Montoya and take her to the airport for her morning flight. The roads were wet but not icy.

            I stayed in most of the day while the Build Team crew worked on finishing laying down the trex for the upper deck.

            I decided to bake some quick bread this morning, but my oven wasn’t working. Well, my gas oven I've had for 25 years finally gave up the ghost, I suppose. The meal I baked yesterday of Lasagna and bread sticks will probably be the last baked in this oven. I was trying to make zucchini bread and couldn’t figure out why the oven wasn’t preheating. I had the batter made but no oven to bake it in. That oven baked a lot of meals over the 25 years and fed a lot of people so I can’t complain. I used it nearly every day while living in this house.

My microwave I had for just as long gave out this month also... oh well nothing last forever even me... maybe it’s the universe saying, “Do Not Ask for Whom the Bell Tolls.”

I ordered an inexpensive countertop oven on Amazon that is supposed to come tomorrow. I will use it until the kitchen remodel happens. I already have an oven and range sitting in the garage for the kitchen remodel.

Dan Fahndrich contacted me about asking Kyle about repairing his gate. “Ben, I am not sure IF Kyle wants to talk to me or really, vice versa but......I need my gate fixed and wonder if he wants to entertain the thought.”  I said I’d ask, and Kyle said to tell Dan that he would have his guys look at it next week and do it for free. I think it was part of Kyle wanting to do some restitution for defrauding Dan ten years ago.

The veranda was being finished today so the pups could use their doggy door again. The weather had cleared up, but the yard is a muddy mess. The three cute guys are doing a great job, I think. They left for the day at 3:30 this afternoon.

The Good news is that Buster went down the new stairs and back up without any assistance and the same with Maxx. The hand railing will go up on Monday and finish the little bit left along the edge. Maybe Maxx and Buster will lose weight climbing the new stairs.

Kyle Foote called from Daybreak saying he was leaving and asked if I’d call China Delight and order some dinner, he could pick up on the way home. He wanted orange chicken and Mushroom chicken. I ordered sweet and sour pork for myself but ate hardly any of it and neither did the pups LOL.

Kyle said that the hot tub decking should be dismantled next week and moved over to the north part of the yard where the tool shed was. He suggested we plant something for privacy either trees or shrubs. I will have to do some investigating on drought resistant and fast-growing plants.

 

27 March 2021 Saturday

Since I was up early, I spent much of the time looking up drought resistant and fast-growing evergreens for the back yard on the internet. We are agreed to look at planting Emerald Green Arborvitae.

When he came up finally, Kyle Foote changed the Lending Club account over to Wells Fargo, so the loan doesn’t come out of my America First account. That was a worry taken care of.

Kyle Foote and I went out looking for evergreens shrubbery trees to act as a tree as a privacy screen shield for the hot tub. I shared what I was looking up this morning on evergreens that were fast growing and drought resistant.

We first went to Western Gardens near Trolley Square, but they hadn’t any thing to look at, so we went to Millcreek Gardens at 33^rd South to look at what they had. It was a zoo there.

Everyone body on the east side of Salt Lake must have been there and I bet there were over 100 people shopping and looking around. We finally found someone there to help us and to answer some questions we had.

Kyle wanted to buy between 10 and 15 plants in ten-gallon containers. They would have to be specially ordered but were common enough that it shouldn’t be an issue, but I know that many will cost close to a $1000 for the size Kyle wants. I just agreed to whatever Kyle thought best because someone else will probably get the use of them more than I will for the years I have left.

Afterwards, we stopped and picked up some lunch at Salazar Mexican Restaurant there on 33rd South and 9th East. I don’t think I’ve eaten there since the 1980s, but Kyle used to eat there all the time in high school when his parents sent him to counsel to a place on 9^th East down the street from it; for as he said to “change him from being Gay.” The place was still good, for as much as I could eat, so we did our part supporting a local business.

This afternoon my little countertop oven was delivered. I feel like I now have a Betty Crocker Easy Bake oven that I always wanted as a boy, as it is rather small, I decided to bake the carrot zucchini bread batter I made yesterday to see how it handled baking.

I am not sure about my little oven. It seems to bake unevenly. The bottom of the mini loaves was darker than the top. I guess I will experiment with time and temperature.

For the second batch, I reduced the time by 5 minutes and the bottom didn't get as dark, but the top wasn’t quite done either. So, I had to use the toaster feature for the upper burner to brown up the top, but I almost burnt it. The breads are tasty, but I feel like a novice baker again.

I finished watching Masterpiece PBS series of The Darrells of Corfu. I really enjoyed it, but did think the last episode, when they had to return to England because of the threat of the breakout of war in Europe by putting on a play, was kind of contrived.

 

28 March 2021 Sunday

It was a breezy day, but the temperature was in the low 60’s so I went and did some yard work in the backyard pulling weeds along the west fence line and cleaning up the concrete area where the hot tub deck will eventually be reassembled.

            I mainly worked on research of the origins of Belle London the notorious Ogden Madame and manager of the Prostitution Stockade on Block 64 in Salt Lake City. I was able to find out who her parents were, where she was born, and who her two marriages were by my expertise in genealogy.

            I didn’t see Kyle Foote all day, but he did message me that my lawn mower shipment came, and he put in the garage for me.

            People are making all types of comments on Face Book about how the Georgia Republicans are making it illegal to hand out water to those waiting in line to vote, while you can buy a gun the same day you want to kill someone. I would think voting should be easier than shooting someone.

The death toll from Covid 19 in Utah is now at 2,114 deaths

 

29 March 2021 Monday

I went to Roseman Dental University to have a cavity filled and it took a long time it seemed. It didn’t hurt just an hour and a half in a chair with my jaw open. The temperature really dropped today. This morning it was over 50 degrees but now down into the 30’s and its damp out with the wind blowing. I don’t have to go back to Roseman until June 9^th for a checkup.

            The Build Team crew worked more on the upper deck and stairs, and I pulled some weeds in the back yard, but it was too cold to do much yard work. They also had some guys come and haul away much of the demolition waste from the old deck.

            I cooked a pot of Ham and Split Pea Soup today but didn’t eat any of it until going to bed.

            Kyle Foote called me from the Redwood Clinic saying he forgot his vaccination card and asked if I’d bring it to him. He was getting his 2^nd inoculation. So, everyone in my household is fully inoculated for Covid 19 as of today. They are predicting a 4^th wave of infection from all the idiots that clustered in Florida for Spring Break and in places like Texas that have totally reopened.

            I made breaded pork cutlets with a baked potato and green beans for Kyle and my supper. He was home fairly early, for him, around 6 this evening. I think he wanted to inspect what was done in the backyard today.

            After giving me a hug, he went downstairs to eat and unwind, and I watched my episodes of The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers. I only ate the pork cutlet and not my baked potato at all.

 

30 March 2021 Tuesday

I was up early around 5:00 this morning after having wild dreams for most of the night. So, I just got up, fixed coffee, and worked on researching more about Dora B. Topham’s involvement on Second South. Last night at 10, the neighbor’s Husky began to howl and woke me up out of a sound sleep. So, I got up and worked researching on the internet until going back to bed at 2 this morning.

I was able to sleep again until 6:30 before getting up, making coffee and an egg omelet for breakfast. Only two of the Build Team guys were here today and they finished the upper deck and then started on tearing apart the hot tub deck.

Ten years ago, the hot tub deck was built and now it's being dismantled and moved to a new location. It sure is faster taking something apart than putting it together and by 10, they were already removing the covering that Kyle G. Daniels and Amy Barry put up for me several years ago.

It was cold today, so I made a pot of coffee and put out some zucchini bread out for the guys. I know it is a lot of hard work for them.

They were done for the day by 3:30, so I stepped down into little bit of cold water left at the bottom of the tub to bail out what didn’t drain yesterday. I did it in the late afternoon when it was not so cool out.

Before the guys left, they installed the doggie barrier fence is up so the pups will be contained on the south side of the yard while the reconstruction happens in the north side. There are no steps down to the garage’s back door right now so to take Coco home I have to bring the gang down through the house. I have to carry Maxx because he won’t go down the stairs. I brought over to Mike Romero a pint of Split Pea soup I made yesterday.

For supper tonight I made up the Thai spicy pork and rice dish which was the last of the Fresh Food packages that came last week. I made up the sloppy Joe one for lunch because I knew Kyle Foote would never eat it because he doesn’t like eating messy food with his hands.

He was home fairly early again around 6 this evening and we talked about his plans to tile the concrete with terracotta pavers or one with a pattern. I think the Terra Cotta would look more natural but said I really didn’t care because I trust his design idea and besides someday it will be his house not mine to live in or sell.

I was sleepy and Taco and I fell asleep in the lazy boy around 7 this evening and when I needed to get up to pee it was Taco who was still sound asleep laying on his back with paws up in the air nestled between my legs and outstretched on the recliner. So, I couldn’t move without disturbing him. He was such a busy boy today I guess, by the way he was sawing logs. It must have been a rough day for all the pooches sound asleep around me in their own spaces. There’s no place like home.

Easter is this coming Sunday, and it will seem strange not to be fixing an Easter dinner this year. I have no oven to bake a ham, or pies, or cakes, or yams or potato au gratin, so I guess I might boil some eggs and call it good. It will be the first in a long time not having folks over for an Easter dinner. Danny Montoya even texted me asking if I was fixing Easter dinner this year as he was wanting Kyle to come down to visit for the weekend, but Kyle used me as an excuse not to do so.

I thought with all my friends being inoculated   this year we might be able to enjoy Easter this year... oh well I have jellybeans to snack on so all is well in the world

 

31 March 2021 Wednesday’;’

It should have felt warmer than it was today. It was around 50 degrees but felt cooler than that because of the breeze. The workers were here by 7:30 and I thought Kyle Foote must have left because I didn’t see his vehicle so when I brought his dishes down, I was surprised he was still here in the dark.

The Build Team guys finished completion of the upper deck and worked on finishing tearing apart the hot tub decking.

Taco got out of the yard when the workers left the gate opened. I came home from the store I let the pups out and noticed the gate was open. I counted heads and all, but Taco was accounted for. I thought he might be curled up in a blanket, but he wasn’t in the house and my anxiousness went through the roof.

 I immediately went to the front yard and heard a dog barking down by Niles, and I called out “Taco”. Then the little guy came walking towards me and I was so relieved that he hadn’t wandered off or someone had picked him up. He may have thought that since the gate was opened that Jim had come for him and went looking for him. So, all is well that ended well but it gave me such fright. I put locks back on the gates to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

            My hot tub deck is completely dismantled. It looks great but the yard looks naked for sure.

            When Kyle Foote came home, he drafted plans for the new layout to know how much material will be needed to reconstruct it all. I made some ravioli for our supper.

            Well, I made it through another Winter and March but not so much my oven and microwave. Today was my Grandma Williams birthday. She was born in 1902.