Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

I feel today like I’m back in 2nd grade. That was the year we discovered that the mysterious headaches I was getting, severe enough that I went home several days that spring, were seasonal allergies. I suspect today that it’s a combo of the newly horny plants and the lovely storm front that’s been passing over all day, but right now I just want to take something that’ll knock me out and let me sleep this off. I know it’s not a migraine, I blessedly do not get those, but man does this hurt.

I wonder if any of it is fighting off Richard’s current cold, too. Or stress from the move. Or all of the above.

Speaking of other pains, the movers have been arranged. I went with Tod & Doug’s folks over Starving Students (both were recommended to me) mainly because with Metropolitan I was talking to the local guy, not a national number, and he was much, much friendlier. Not to say that SS wasn’t friendly, but they were damned pushy when I was making it clear (I thought) that I was merely calling for a quote. I’ve already gotten 2 calls and an email from them (and called to ‘cancel’ the move I hadn’t yet signed up for). No thanks, don’t need the hard sell, guys.

So that’s set for the 13th. Also arranged to reserve the elevators, etc.

In shopping for trash cans I’m now thinking an 8 gallon or smaller trash can for the kitchen will be plenty. I’m reltively close to the trash chute and stuff doesn’t need to sit in my apartment for that long. Plus the kitchen’s not as large as I’m used to currently, so smaller would be better from that dimension, too. Still want it to be pretty (duh), but don’t think I need large unless it’s difficult to find medium bags at the local grocery store.

Have my first co-op meeting this evening, voting on officers for the “members’ council,” something separate and apart from the board, evidently. We’ll see how that goes, but if what I’m hearing from folks is any indication it promises to be fairly painful entertaining.

And one last pain, this one in the nipples, for the usual reasons. Not quite to the level of the bruised ribs I had from the tickling scene I did back in 1999, but riding the bus this morning was still a chance to be reminded that they’d been worked over pretty well the previous evening.

So, it’s no secret that I’m a member of several web sites which cater to more prurient interests (hell, my user name is always the same, and I use clear face pictures, so it’s not like it’s hidden). Many of these sites allow you to a) see who has looked at your profile recently and/or b) see if someone has rated your profile.

Yesterday, while feeding my ego checking those self-same sites, one of the pictures stood out as looking familiar. I puzzled a bit, it wasn’t the best or, I now realize, the most recent picture of him, but then it hit me: I work with this gentleman. Not directly with him, I’ve not addressed any legal issues in his area, but we usually see each other every other week or so in one of the cafeterias in our office building, often enough that I eventually recognized him, despite the more grizzled appearance in his online profile.

Now, this isn’t the first co-worker I’ve seen on such sites, nor the first that I’ve had confirmation of some of the rather naughty things they like to enjoy in private, but it is the first where I only have a casual, passing acquaintance with the gentleman (hell, I don’t think I even know his name in this case). But I’m wondering how to handle this. With the others I’ve known, I knew them well enough to be able to tease them a little bit about it in private, but as I said, I don’t even know this guy’s name, just that he usually orders a grilled cheese sandwich and which office he works in.

So how does one, or does one at all, acknowledge the recognition?

I’m wearing a tie to work today. I hate ties, with a passion. So why the tie? Why, to keep my collar up sufficiently to hide the light hickie I have, of course.

When coming in from dinner last night I got cruised and allowed myself to get picked up inside my apartment building. Nice fuzzy chested latino, my size, nice uncut cock and a penchant for lots of little comments like, “You’re so cute,” and “You’re so sexy,” and “Ay, papi!” He wanted me to stay the night, but I did need some amount of sleep prior to working today, so I politely excused myself and went up to sleep in my own bed. Twas a pleasant diversion after a frustrating weekend without internet access.

I’m in the process of putting an offer in on a co-op apartment down in southwest DC, near the Waterfront Metro station. Nothing quite like contemplating more than doubling my debt load (after student loans) in one fell swoop. Thank heavens for the tax benefits that come along with mortgage interest payments in this country.

I’ve otherwise been busy, helping with the club’s new triathlete program, working out myself, and just generally living. My calf is still out of commission; tried running last Thursday, a week and some after the initial injury, but ten minutes in at a moderate pace I could tell it was not ready yet. I’ll take this entire week off and try to be patient. Thankfully swimming and biking have not been affected by the calf’s little injury, so I’ve been able to stay up with those in the meantime.

For reasons I’ll not go into here I broke things off with CT last week. For the first time since the Clinton administration I’m single. And you know, I’m okay with that; I’m looking forward to having some “down time” from dating, to be honest. I want to get the new apartment arranged, do my race, get the new triathletes through their first race(s), and simply take things day by day otherwise. Heaven knows I need to take some of the down time and retool my eating habits; I’ve been eating for stress, not for hunger and fueling my body, and the scale’s been showing it this year. Not that buying the apartment and breaking up are doing wonders for my stress levels, but this has been just plain silly. There’s no reason my eating should have been that out of whack. Ah well, live, learn, and move on.

Got a starter Prince’s Wand (link not safe for work) last week. The starter version was nice, after a ton of cleaning (it was obvious they hadn’t cleaned it before they shipped it), but if I were to continue with one I think I’d have to go and get a custom one done by Steel Werks Extreme (again, link not safe for work). The starter one fits okay, but a more customized version would be needed for more than just hanging out in it, if you will.

(how sad, I just realized I didn’t have a “sex” category for that last bit of text; shows how little I’ve been doing anything in that department lately)

Anyway, brought some work home tonight so I need to go read that and get prepped for a semi-big meeting with my chief deputy poo-bah tomorrow.