The Gay Terrorist...

... is at it again.

Yesterday's post over there, which I responded to, asked if anyone knew any "information" regarding whether a current candidate for Florida Governor was gay. As a reminder, anyone with a (R) behind their name is a "right-winger".

I am gay. I live with and love another man. I am also HIV+. But these issues do not define me, but only are part of me. So let me ask this question:

Who said this:
"Personally, I believe marriage should be a bond between a man and a woman [...]"

He goes on to say:

"[...] however, I voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment because I also believe the United States Constitution should protect rights, not deny them, and states should have the right to decide whether same sex marriages should be recognized within their borders."

(This was obviously not the Bow-down-before-me-gay-god Bill Clinton)

I agree with the second statement, actually. Blah blah blah... insert history lesson about changing the constitution, and then he states:

"Although the Federal Marriage Amendment failed to pass, current federal and state laws pertaining to same sex marriage remain in effect. In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which is intended to deny federal recognition of same sex marriages and further dictates that states are not required to recognize same sex marriages from other states. In 1997, the Florida Legislature passed what is known as the Florida Defense of Marriage Act, a law I support, which states that marriage is between a man and a woman and that the State of Florida would not recognize any same sex marriage deemed legal in other states. 35 states have passed similar DOMA laws."

No mention of the fact that, Jim Davis, in his Freshman year in the United States Congress, voted FOR the Defense of Marriage Act.

So. If you are a one issue voter you must be confused as who to vote for in the Florida Gubernatorial Race of 2006.

Charlie Crist may be against gay marriage, might not ask for a repeal of the "No Homo's shall Adopt in FLA" law, but Mr. Davis is no better.

Charlie has at least said that a Domestic Partnership Law should be considered. Jim Davis hasn't even gone that far.

I stand by my prediction.

(Full disclosure, I am a registered Republican, but I did not vote for George W. Bush, either time. I also did not vote for Jeb Bush the first time, although I did the second time. I tend to vote FOR a person/issues, not having anything to do with "party".)

Mario

I don't care if it IS fake.

I'd hit it.
New Link. I'd still hit it. Over and over again.
--
And suck it. And sit on it. Oh. My.

I'm still not watching "Dancing with the Stars", though.

N.S.F.W.

I warned you.

I had no idea one of them had such a cute little ass.
--
And before all you two year olds try to boycott me, threaten my life, or offer a fatwa on me - you should remember that I didn't say/post it first. Someone else did.

At least they are being "safe".

Question...

I am trying to figure this out. Stick with me for a minute.

I am a gay man. I am HIV+ (or have AIDS, depending on my blood work this week). I seroconverted after having sex. Unprotected sex.

I make no apologies for it. I am not asking for your sorrow. It happened. 13 years ago, the doctor told me. I accept it. Because of it, my life changed. I take pills. I cannot do certain things. I cannot go certain places.

Does the fact that I had sex -in and of itself- make it my fault?

I've never told you, gentle readers, who gave me this "bug". I know his name. I know other people he "gave" it to. I also know that he knew, at the time, that he was POZ, but did not tell me so.

I do not believe that it is on the same level as, say, an unwanted pregnancy. There are things you can physically do to make a "baby" go away. Plan B. RU486. Abortion. Adoption. Besides, pregnacy does not necessarily become a death sentence.

As of yet, there is no "cure" for HIV. Except him, of course.

Do people in this world say the same thing about Type II Diabetics? About people with Heart Disease? TB? Leprosy? Influenza? Stroke? I guess because they are not "contracted" by having sex, you get a pass. Oh, gods, what are we going to start thinking about women who are diagnosed with HPV now?

But because I had sex without using a rubber, I "got what I deserve". And I'm not talking about some right-wing-conservative-preacher type.

I read this tonight on a gay blog.

Monday Meeting

At the office, we typically have a meeting in the morning, especially on Mondays. We talk about issues that have come up and what is on the agenda for the week. There was a time when we had this meeting EVERY morning, but since the new supervisor guy came in from the corporate office (he drives in from across the state every day) this hasn't happened so much. Especially if there isn't a quorum.

Today, there was three people, plus the new Supervisor. He said we should all meet.

He went around the table asking if any of us had issues, nobody did, except me. I asked why a "call" from a customer, which was opened for a technical reason, was in my name. I reminded the room, I am a typist. I, you know, type things. Sure, as my notes in the call said, I had called the customer (at the company's owner had requested) to explain that they (the customer) would NOT be charged for fixing a piece of equipment that was under warranty - because the customer service person had not explained it correctly, but that was my only comment. And the next thing I know, it (the call) is my responsibility. Do I need to explain, again, that I am a fucking typist? I don't care who typed the last comment or talked to the cusotmer last, a typist does not need a call on his list. He/she is not a call center/customer service person. Do not put the call/resposibility on me to make YOUR reports look good, bitch. --- It doesn't matter, nothing will be done.

Then the new Supervisor got to the REAL reason for the meeting.

GoofySalesGuy has had the most sales in the company for four months running, and none of us had told him what a good job he is doing.

Really?

None of us had said to him "Great job doing, you know, your fucking job."

I thought the purpose of congratulating someone was to say "nice job doing more than you were expected to do." I have, more than once, said so someone, "Don't thank me for doing my job, there is no reason." The thanks is the paycheck.

Correct me if I am wrong: In sales, you are rewarded by selling. Meaning, you have a quota. You must meet said quota to remain employed. Once said quota is met, you make commission. The more you sell, therefore, the more you make.

The more you make = thanks for doing your fucking job.


Although I kept my mouth shut during this part of the entire diatribe meeting, my face was quite expressive. I may have rolled my eyes once or twice. And yes, I was called out for it.

Help Wanted... part three

The finale.

To: TheHusband
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 9:12 AM
Subject: from Headhunter Guy

I certainly appreciate your participation in the search for {The Company}. However, there was a candidate already in the process that had worked with {The Head Guy} at a prior company and yesterday they made an offer to him that was accepted. It was a sudden and unanticipated move on their part.

You have an impressive background; we will retain your information for consideration on other opportunities that appear to be a match for you.

Best regards,

Headhunter Guy

Allow me to translate.

"They had already hired a guy, but in the interest of looking fair, they thought it to be best to 'conduct' a country-wide search for the 'best' candidate. It isn't our fault they didn't choose you.

Don't email us, we'll email you."

Open Wide

I went to the dentist today.

Yeah. First time in, oh, I don't know... 13 years. When I made the appointment, I also made them promise they wouldn't yell at me. The original 1st appointment (diagnosis, cleaning, x-rays) that I made last week was scheduled for November 29th, the soonest available. They said they'd call if they got a cancellation sooner.

Boy howdy, they called.

I have pretty good teeth, luckily. Up to now, I've had three cavities. In 40-year-old teeth, that isn't too bad, I think. I had some veneering done on my front two about 20 years ago, to close a gap and cover some discoloration. The hygienist says it is in pretty good shape for being on there that long.

I went to this particular office because TheHusband recommended them. I call them his unofficial second home, he is there so often. Each and every person I spoke to asked me about him. "How is he doing?" "Tell him we said HI!!". Wasn't he just in here last week with his latest chipped-tooth, or lost filling, or whatever?

They cleaned my teeth and said I was doing a good job, obviously brushing my teeth twice a day and flossing. I said thanks, and in my head, telling myself not to mention that I only floss if something is stuck after a meal, and only brush once a day. But EVERY day, if that means anything.

The doctor was so sweet, I felt the need to brush my teeth afterwards (a lame joke, but I am going to own it!). I was feeling offended for the "girls" in the office because he kept calling all of them "honey", until I realized he called me "babe", as in "How's it going, babe?" He just doesn't use names, I guess. TheHusband says the Doc does the same thing to him.

He said my x-rays looked good, no issues. I, uhm, said, "Don't I have a cavity?" He said no... I asked him to look again. I thought maybe I had one on my last molar, back left top side. He looked again, adjusted the x-ray, and said, "Oh, yeah. There it is..."

I have to go back, once in November and once in December. I have a bit of periodontal disease, so a major scraping is in the works. That will be fun...

I think I should get a discount for diagnosing my own cavity.

Is Audrey...

... getting paid for this?

Really, I wanna know.

--

Is this thing on???

I've "upgraded" to Blogger-Beta, and I'm just not sure. I can see my posts, I can see some of the minor changes I've made, and I don't THINK I lost any of my "extras", but I don't think it is working.

Or, you are bored.

Someone, please comment on this. I just want to know if they are working.

Please? Anyone??
-
UPDATE: I've turned off the "must-be-a-registerd-user" part of commenting. Maybe that is the issue.

Please comment. Somebody.

Email exchange...

... from yesterday, about this.


----Original Message-----
From: TheHusband
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:34 AM
To: Mikell

IT'S after 1030, and the phone hasn't rung -- no news is bad news

---
On Sep 11, 2006, at 10:34 AM, Mikell wrote:
No, in fact, no news is NO NEWS. You can't give up that easy. Not yet, anyway.

When did you send it?
----
From: TheHusband
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 11:07 AM
To: Mikell
Subject: Re: RE:

Last night at 11:00. I wonder if maybe he was impressed enough to forward it directly to his people, and is waiting for their feedback...

----
On Sep 11, 2006, at 11:18 AM, Mikell wrote:

My guess would be that it is a combo of the two. He is probably NOT making this particular decision on his own. Probably has two or three candidates, and they will decide as a committee to present to the client.

----
From: TheHusband
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 11:29 AM
To: Mikell
Subject: Re: RE: RE:

True. I forget that I'm just a pea in a pod of potentials. Hmmm, I wonder where I'll stand...?

----
On Sep 11, 2006, at 11:31 AM, Mikell wrote:

Think good thoughts. I wanna move to New Fucking England.

----
From: TheHusband
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 11:52 AM
To: Mikell
Subject: Re: RE: RE: RE:

Yeah, I'm ready for a "cool" change. I'm just a little concerned, because this guy said he would call me today. Maybe he didn't expect to get my package, and decided the call wasn't warranted since he did...

----
On Sep 11, 2006, at 11:53 AM, Mikell wrote:

Give him time to process what you wrote.

And stop pinging.

----
From: TheHusband
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 12:30 PM
To: Mikell
Subject: Re: RE: RE: RE: RE:

Just got a phone call...


He wanted dates.. Then he asked if he could have my permission to
call his client regarding me!

----
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 12:44 PM
To: TheHusband
From: Mikell
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE:

He want's a DATE????

Kidding. I kid.

**fingers crossed**

------ End.

As much as I would like for this to happen to him, and to us, I'm not holding out too much hope. Good shit like this doesn't happen to us.

Circa 1993

Remember this picture (please note the shirt I'm wearing), taken on our first trip to New York together? Want to know where we were headed on the subway?

TheHusband lay down on the sidewalk, and took this picture of me.




I could turn this into a political post, but I won't. Those of you who do, should reconsider.

Celebrity Duets: Week 2

Live Blogging Week 2:

Hal Sparks, 21:05: I like him. Really I do. I don't know about this choice of song though. And, Wynona? WTF, over?

Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: Has soul, but last week was too white.
Little Richard: What?
Producer Guy: 1 to 10 too fast. I don't disagree.

Lea Thompson, 21:14: Could she look more slutty? Her kids should be embarrassed. And she's horrible this week. Yeah. Maybe not this song against with Belinda Carlisle. Too much pressure.

Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: "... when you started..." that can't be good. Wait, she liked it. Really?
Little Richard: "Something.. something... Tina Turner... not the voice, the legs.... something something..."
Producer Guy: Wrong wrong wrong. Yes, she did.

Cheech Marin, 21:20: I don't know if I can comment. I don't know this song. Oh. Clint Black. Must be one of his songs. No wonder I don't know it.

Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: Reach in the Cheech?
Little Richard: Great. LR talking about others "going into the closet." He knows ALOT about it, actually.
Producer Guy: Evil guy gets it right. Audience be damned.

Commercial time.

Alfonso Ribeiro, 21:28: Off tune. You'd think a guy that works that hard would have less time to eat. Jeffery Osbourn? Just as I remember him. Perfect.

Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: "Too white." Funny joke, after her comment to Hal Sparks last week.
Little Richard: What?
Producer Guy: You are telling a black man not to dance? What country do you live in?

Commercial time, again.
As with any "Reality" show, I am quickly losing my interest.

Carly Patterson, 21:37: Again, Who the Hell is She? I didn't like her last week. She's awfully hefty for a "gymnast", don't you think? I know, that was wrong. - Egads, she's bad. Anita Pointer is FABULOUS, of course. Not enough to cover for Carly, though.
Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: Wrong answer, Marie.
Little Richard: Again, What?
Producer Guy: Thank you. A reasonable answer.

Jai Rodriquez, 21:45: I really don't like him. I hated him last week (for his singing.) If he is a homo, do the girls in the audience know? How could they not? Brian McKnight is defiantly carrying this song (and has a great ass). Jai is horrible.

Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: Ewww. Whatever.
Little Richard: What is he drinking? I want some.
Producer Guy: Aargh. Maybe I hate him too much. They all liked him.

Commercial time, again.

Lucy Lawless, 21:52: Nice. Really. Nice. Probably the best performance of the night. An actual DUET, which, if I recall, is the name of the show. This is also nice, since I wasn't crazy about her performance last week. And I would still do Kenny Logins. Hubba Hubba.

Time To Judge:
Marie Osmond: Wrong Marie. She was good.
Little Richard: What?
Producer Guy: Wrong, again.

That's it. It's over. I doubt I'll be back to this next week.

Help Wanted... part two

TheHusband got a call the other day. A Headhunter was perusing the web and fell into a copy of his bio at TheHusband's current job.

What???

Even better, the job pays -at a minimum- more than he makes now at his current job, plus his military retirement, plus my current annual pay. At a maximum, QUITE a bit more.

Hook: The job would be in New England. New Fucking England. I've never even visited, much less lived in NFE. He's lived in Boston before, back in the Navy.

Knowing how I feel about cold weather, he said he wouldn't even think about it. I answered: for that kind of money, I could buy a sweater or two. And a coat. And get a house with two or three fireplaces.
--
Of course, it is way too soon to start counting Rhode Island Reds. Initial stages and all. But he did get ANOTHER call today. And the job description. And a series of three "hypotheticals" to answer.

Baby steps.

From Labor Day...

... some pictures. Not many, but more (and better quality) than you are used to here at HDOD.

The first one of you bitches that makes fun of my belly fat or my hair color is in deep kimchee, as my Step-Mother used to say. (In other words, big, big, trouble. With a capital T. <-- there's a reference most of you Queens will get...)

Here is a picture of 1/3 of the ribs I prepared. That is TheHusband cooking them. He had just started, and hadn't gotten to the three other tubs I had pre-cooked. Or the corn. Don't you love, Love, LOVE that manly BBQ Grill?



I promised OurFriend "D" that I'd actually get into his pool, if it wasn't green, like it was on July 4th. This is the best I could do. I can swim, I just don't like to anymore.



Here is another, this guy and I talked for a bit. I'm ashamed that I don't know his name. I was trying to look coy, hiding behind the foliage.



Eventually, there was a group of us on that side of the pool. I've adjusted the photos to protect the guilty innocent. Again, let me remind you about discussions about my hair color or belly fat. Regardless, I'm still the skinniest one in the room. That is, of course, by design.



Look!! There was a REAL GIRL there...
Please notice the two guys in MATCHING bathing suits. Ah.... young love.

Bitter... Party of One...

...your table is ready.

Honestly, I was disappointed ONLY because they showed her legs, twice. I don't think that is appropriate for the evening news.

Otherwise, I thought she was fine. You can't judge her too much on the first broadcast. Besides, if you criticize too much on the first day, how will you ever be able to bring up her poor choice of make-up, hair color, and/or outfit.

Give it a rest. You know she beat the other two networks, at least for tonight.

Mikell IS a member of...

...Team Orlando. And I proved it.

You see, whenever I am asked directed to do something that is outside my job description, I raise a stink. Okay, not EVERY time, but sometimes.

Today, I was called by the Director of Marketing (don't get me started on yet ANOTHER Department of One in this company), who asked me if I'd received some shirts that were inadvertently sent to me. Yes, was my answer. I received them on Friday, didn't know why but DID know what they were for, so I set them aside until they were needed. He asked that I stop what I was doing to count them. Yes, to count them, and tell him what color they all were.

Dude. Are you kidding?

Luckily, my new supervisor walked into my little area and took it upon himself to count them, and look at their colors. I had to back him up on this, since he is color blind. Then they started to talk about the shirts getting laundered.

I took myself out of the conversation. I had some busy work somewhere, I just had to find it. Oh. And stay within earshot to see how they got themselves out of this little issue.

I heard my supervisor state that he would make sure that the shirts got laundered before Thursday morning, when they would be needed. Once the conversation was over, he turned to me.

"Uhm... Mikell, can you take these to the cleaners and pick them up before the Sales Meeting on Thursday?"

Oh... My... gods...

My response: "(Insert his name here) I am NOT a secretary. I don't take dictation. I don't pick out a gift for your wife's birthday, and I don't pick up your laundry."

He walked away while I steamed. Then I started to feel guilty. I should have said everything that I had, but tempered it with, "but, I'll do it THIS time." After all, they will point to THIS episode and say that I am not being "a member of the TEAM", that I don't go out of my way to help other people in the office. This is bullshit, of course. Being a member of "the team" does not mean that you pick up the slack each and every time another member screws up. Sure, once or twice, but each and every time? I don't think so. If that were what everyone was supposed to do, nobody would get fired from any job. Ever.

Turns out, he was steaming too.

A few minutes later, he walked back into my area, put the shirts back into the box they arrived in as I said, "(HisName), just set them there. I'll be leaving for the bank in a few minutes, and I'll find a cleaner to take them to."

Obviously pissed, he told me not to bother. Of course, then he set the box of shirts OUTSIDE his office, and shut the door (after he went inside). On my way to my car, I picked up the box of shirts.

I guess I better learn to take dictation.

Another post about Ribs...

... and me making them.

It was decided, after the last holiday, that we'd do it again. Our small little affair has blown up to about 15 people, though. At least I knew this beforehand.

I spent quite a bit on ribs and corn-on-the-cob for today. No dessert from me this time. Last night, I pre-prepared the ribs and rubbed my meat for about 45 minutes. *giggles*

Today, I will cover my meat in plastic wrap and cook it at a very low temperature for about three hours, thereby steaming the meat in it's own juices and ensuring that it will fall off the bone when it is time to eat (my meat).

I also need to make the BBQ sauce, as that stuff that comes out of a bottle is crap.

I'm off to the kitchen.