Gun Not So Clean

At the class this evening all guns were checked for being clean. I had cleaned my gun, but it was still a little dirty and it was discovered. I was made to do twenty-five push ups. That sucked. I was mad that it was dirty. The class got out a little early today. We talked about suicide and para-suicide. Then we went over the test.

Today was Peter’s birthday. It always brings me up to a dilemma. I have a situation that has been going on for years. I am too much of a wuss to actually ask Peter point-blank what happened.

I met Peter when he was a freshman at WSU. We became friends then best friends. We were always together. Going to football games, playing basketball, watching TV, playing on the computer, talking politics, and even doing the radio show together. I actually came out to him towards the end of the school year. That was tough because he was a Southern Baptist and very conservative. But he said he didn’t care and had actually figured out I was gay long before I told him. He said “you don’t become as good of friends as we are without figuring out that kind of stuff.”

The following school year things started out okay, but then one day he stopped calling, responding to e-mails and voice mails. He just stopped communicating with me. Once in a blue moon I would get a hold of him, but he would blow me off. That went on for a long time. I didn’t know what was going on and I was very sad about it.

To this day I still don’t know what happened. Why he did that to me. Since that time we have hung out more after he moved to Bellevue. It is sort of like it never happened, but I still am very self conscious about it when I am around him. I have a hard time looking him in the eye. I need to know why he did it. During his twenty-one run several years ago he invited me out on it. After the end of the night he was very drunk and he said that he was sorry for being such an “asshole” to me. I wanted to ask him more at that time, but I never did.

I wished him a happy birthday and he said that when I am in town next time we need to hang out. He said it has been too long since we last hung out. I want to get with him, but I have to get the courage to ask him what happened. Why he just stopped being my friend and dropped me like a dirty whore.

A Review of Ought-Eight

Jan – Body for Life – While I was researching that [number of calories in a Big Mac] I hit upon (I should say hit BACK upon) the Body for Life site. I am going to give their twelve week program a try that combines weight training, cardio, and nutrition into a program that lasts twelve week. That is eighty-four days.

Feb – NU Sold to MH – Today was the day I was going to get fired from NU. But it was one where I was told I would be fired. It was more of a formality than anything. They had to “terminate” everyone to close out the books. Then start the new company. I was hired back on.

Mar – Truck Traded for a Durango – I test drove two of the Durangos. One was a Ought-Seven and one was an Ought-Three. I like the color and seats of the Ought-Three. Plus the cab reminded my of the look and feel of the old Dakota. But the Ought-Seven was nicer over all, had many less miles and some other things I just couldn’t pass up. Plus it wasn’t a ton more than the older Durango.

Apr – Last Radio Show… Ever – This last semester or two the show has suffered from my lack of time preparing for the topics, getting guests, and whatnot. I don’t have the fire in my gut like I did. I just don’t have things to talk about like I did at one time. … I decided it was time to pull the plug on the show.

May – Multiple Softball Tournaments – Brandon came to the camp site and I got to see him for the first time a while. He got his uniform from Kelly and went to put it on. The team went to do some warm up hitting. I didn’t do so hot there. Brandon was crushing the ball as normal for him.

Jun – Snow and Fire in June – I opened the door and saw snow. I thought to myself “Am I more shocked over the fire or the snow?”. Then I looked up and saw heavy brown smoke coming from the south-east area behind my house. On the way to the station the guys leaving Station Two quickly called or a second alarm. I drove by the scene and saw the whole front of the building involved in fire.

Jul – Pullman Fire Temp Full-Time – I went to Heston’s office and said I that I am going to take it. He shook my hand and we scheduled my first day to be Monday of next week. I am going to only have three more shifts as a reserve. I am sad about that. I am going to miss working with those guys. I am now in a little bit of a haze as this is a big event in my life and I have a lot to think about now.

Aug – Playing in Nationals for Softball – We didn’t score enough runs and lost the game ending our hopes at the Western ASA D-league Nationals. It was fun to be here and I have my t-shirt to show for it.

Sep – Passed my Physical Test for Sheriff’s Reserves – I crossed the finish line in thirteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds. That was so huge. I passed the test. It felt great. I finally did it. We had some rest, then we had to run a sprint. That was seventy-one seconds for three-hundred and thirty yards. I knew I could do that without a problem.

Oct – I am a Sheriff’s Reserve – The first day of class I got a chance to meet up with some of the other students. We had the Sheriff tell us about ethics and what he expects from us. It was mainly a day of introductions and laying some of the groundwork of the academy. I am excited for the academy to get over with so I don’t have to worry about getting days off from work and then I can go out on the road and work on becoming First-Class solo patrol.

Nov – Met a Man – When the game was done I met up with Gunnar. We have been e-mailing back and forth the last two days and decided that we wanted to watch the movie Scream. So he called me up. We met at Starbucks. We sat there talking for a while. He is working on a project and he told me a little about what he is doing.

Dec – Treating Myself Well – I don’t usually splurge in the way I did over the last week. I have spent thousands of dollars on a new Tempurpeadic Rhapsody bed, a fifty-eight inch plasma TV, a new TV stand, and a new Sprint Touch Pro cell phone.

Looking back over the year some months I had a hard time picking out one thing because several things could have been listed as big events for me. But if I had to pick out three major things from the year I would say being a Pullman Fire Temp, a Sheriff’s Reserve, and making it to Nationals in Softball were the real big events.

My Boyfriend

I got the final items completed on my work for NU. They have all been checked in and I am now going to start the testing process. I got some plowing done around the house.

Gunnar and I were going to get together. We went to Moscow. I went to a couple stores. I bought a couple pair of cargo pants. I tried them on and got his input. It was pretty relationship-like feeling. I also got some belts.

We went to get some pizza and then back to my place to watch a movie. We choose The Count of Monte Cristo. I also told him what ten-six-seven means as well as wondering if someone owns a weedeater or not.

We sat on the couch together watching the movie. When it was over with we cuddled some more. During that time he asked me if I would be his boyfriend. I said I would. So I now have a boyfriend.

Date Number Two

This evening found Gunnar and I going to dinner at The Emerald. After dinner I got some food for BKoe and then went to my place. Gunnar and I were going to watch the new Batman movie. He got a chance to see my new TV. He was very impressed.

After the movie we were watching some stuff on TV. I was on the loveseat and he was on the couch. BKoe also watched the movie with us.

Later he went upstairs and Gunnar invited me to sit on the couch with him. He laid up against me and we held on to each other as we watched TV. At some point BKoe came down stairs. I felt sort of weird having him walk past us, but I didn’t make eye contact nor say anything. I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable.

My First Date with Gunnar

I went to the Dodge dealership to talk with them about the Chrysler Aspen they have for sale. I got a pretty good over all price on it. The problem is I was not happy with some of the things it didn’t have, such as the upgraded sound system and the center counsel that is not as spacious as the Durango. I turned down the deal after some negotiations. I got some calls through out the afternoon dealing with this vehicle. The final one was me saying they would have to come down five to seven thousand more for me to consider it as it would be me “settling”. I am not ready to do that.

I went to Moscow to pay for my bed and TV set. I am excited to have it delivered. It will be at my place on Monday. I am excited to see what it is like to leap on one of those beds. I will have to writ about it in one month when I have it and me broken into it.

At six-thirty Gunnar and I were going to go out on our first official date. We hung out on last Saturday and again for coffee on Monday. But we have not done anything official yet.

I went to his place to pick him up. I was trying to decide if I was going to get out and open his door or not. I decided to not do so. I am not sure of that was good or bad. But he got in and we headed down to Pete’s. He was dressed in some slacks a tee-shirt and a button-up with the buttons not done. He was looking good.

I was wearing slacks and a collared polo-type shirt. I was looking reasonable as well. Or so I say. Anyway, we went to Pete’s and had dinner and conversation. We talked a little about jails and religion and their crossing point. We also hit on some other subjects that he brought up. We both ordered nachos.

After dinner was over we went to Zeppoz’s. We were going to do some bowling. There was a bit of a backlog. So we played some video games and I watched him do some Dance Dance Revolution. He is pretty good at it. I went to check on the lane availability. Turns out there were many lanes open but we were never called for it.

Anyway, we started to bowl. He was struggling. On the other hand I was doing pretty well for myself. He finally got a strike and i gave him a high-five. In the second game I bowled left handed. I lost to him by five pins. I bowled a one-oh-nine left handed.

After bowling we went to Dairy Queen for dessert. We both got an ice cream cone. I drove him home and he was saying goodbye. He put his hand out towards me palm up. Indicating he wanted to hold hands. I took his hand. We held hands in my vehicle talking about all sorts of things for about fifteen to twenty minutes. He talked about how happy he was to have found me. He was excited about the possibilities for the future. He didn’t want to let go. Later on that night he sent me an e-mail saying that if I didn’t want to have let go, he would have gladly gone home with me.

It felt so good to hold hands and have the physical contact. I am making sure that we are taking things slowly. There is no reason to hurry into a physical relationship if we want something more out of it. If we want a one-night stand type of relationship it would already be over with.

I am not sure what it will be like in the future if our relationship blossoms into something of a boyfriend relationship, then he will come with me on events I am sure. I am sure people will talk, because first off it would be a might Mo of a relationship. The other thing is that he is twenty-one. I am sure people will look at me as a cradle robber. I am just happy to have someone who loves to be around me and I hope that something positive comes of the whole thing.

Coffee with the Man

I was working hard on the new spec that I have for NU. It is an update to the LP program that we have. It is a lot faster going than it use to be since my computers have been put into the colo. But now it is just getting up to speed on some of this stuff. I am running into road bumps off and on.

This evening Gunnar and I met up and went to the Daily Grind to get some coffee and spend time talking. We were there for about an hour and a half. We talked about a wide range of subjects.

When I dropped him off at his apartment I asked him out on a date. We are going to go out this Friday. I am excited about it!

Met a New Man

The plan for the day was pretty simple, go to the Colfax football game and meet Gunnar. The first part went well as did the second part.

I heard the ambulance leave Colfax on their way to the game. So I talked to one of the guys on the Ambulance and then headed to Martin Stadium to watch the game. It was a semi-final game between Colfax and Asotin. Early in the game a player of Colfax got hurt. I ended up transporting him to the hospital. In the end Asotin was too big and over powered Colfax. They lost.

When the game was done I met up with Gunnar. We have been e-mailing back and forth the last two days and decided that we wanted to watch the movie Scream. So he called me up. We met at Starbucks. We sat there talking for a while. He is working on a project and he told me a little about what he is doing.

Then we went to Blockbuster. I bought a couple movies but we didn’t find Scream. We went to Video Quest and found it. We rented it and went to my place to watch it. Following the movie we sat around and talked as the TV was on in the background. In all we talked until nearly two o’clock in the morning.

We talked about a lot of different subject. It was very easy to talk to him. He is twenty-one years old and going to WSU and is planning on going into law. We have that in common. Well more so that I wanted to go into law. We talked about our homosexuality, but that was not a huge part of the night, it was just a small part.

When it was time for me hit the hay, I gave him a ride home. He was impressed that I was real and was true to my word about who I was and the way I acted.

Outside the Park Homerun

Today was pretty busy for the most part. I got up and went to station one for the reserve testing. I got to drive the PL to the tower and back. I helped to set up everything. I also was an evaluator. I followed about seven of the people through their testing to keep time and make sure they did everything they were supposed to during the test. We were done after about five hours.

I was invited to My Office by two of the other career guys. We had some lunch and a couple pitchers of beer. We talked about a various number of things. One of the subjects that came up was about me. One guy has known since he was a reserve with me years ago. The other guy was a newer fire medic. I didn’t know he knew. But when I made a cryptic reference to the guy who knew, the other one acknowledged that he did know about me.

I asked how he knew. He said he over heard something about six months ago. He said it didn’t surprise him, but he didn’t care either. He has been a very nice guy to work with and I have always gotten along with him. I asked why he wasn’t surprised. He said it is because I am such a nice guy.

Following the time at the bar I went to my house to get into my softball uniform and went to the Valley Road Playfields for the games. I ended up pitching both games and did just fine while pitching. I had one ball hit back right at me in the second game and it hit my right on my cup. Good thing I had one.

Hitting was good for me. I had an over-the-fence homerun in the first game. It was the difference in the game. It was a two run shot. I took a pitch that was inside and up. I swung away and it just flew. I knew there was a good chance that it would go out when I hit it.

We lost the second game because no one could hit and all of our defensive players made an error. It was sucky.

Ryan and I got some dinner from Cougar Country and went back to my house to watch the Simpsons and Family Guy. After Ryan left I worked on my Town Crier column.

The Boys are Back

This morning I went to my appointment for the psychological analysis that I need to get have for the reserve deputy position at the Sheriff’s Office. That appointment took nearly two hours doing all sorts of various tests.

When the tests were done I went home and got some stuff taken care of there before Bien was going to get into town. Heston called me and said he was planning on going to My Office an hour earlier than the scheduled time in order to have some dinner and meet up with Bien. I went down even earlier in order to save a table. It took a while for people to show up.

Heston and a girl who he knows from softball were there. We sat around watching some baseball and talking about things. We were waiting for the others to start to show up. Dearth was coming as well as Bien and Tyson. We also had Parrish, Williams, A. Wilcox, Yean, and Togiai all were going to come down. As people arrived we greeted each other and started to share drinks and conversation.

We also started to get photos of the different groups of reserves. After a while when A. Wilcox wasn’t there Parrish called and reminded him about it. He came down and we got a photo with him in it as well.

The Spring class

The Spring and Fall class

It wasn’t long after he got there that we headed up to campus to go to the bars up there. Dearth and Tyson headed to Dearth’s old frat. A. Wilcox, Bien, the girls, and I walked down to Mike’s.

On the way I asked A. Wilcox if we were good. He said we are. He was relieved that I asked that. He felt we were good the whole time but he didn’t talk to me because he thought I wasn’t good with everything. He said he felt bad because the other day I was working at the station and we were sitting next to each other on the computer and he wanted to chat with me but he thought it would make me uncomfortable.

He said that he really respects my moral values and my work knowledge. He said he has learned a lot from me. He said he always would look for me when we were doing some sort of training at the station to say hi to me in the past. He didn’t want that to end. I still cannot look him in the eyes. But we talked for a while and holds no hard feelings at all.

He knew some of the bouncers and got us downstairs without having to stand in line. Bien got something to drink. We talked and hung out. I told Bien that I wanted to tell him how sorry I was over something that had happened. He didn’t even remember it, but I told him that it was probably the worst I felt I have ever done as a crew leader. I felt I had been out of line. I told him I thought that since that happened we were not as close as we had been. I also told him I had great respect for him and that he was always my right-hand man on the shift. It was good to get that off my chest and that I needed to let him know how bad I felt.

Bien started to get out on the dance floor and he was dancing with some of the girls down there. We stayed at the bar until closing time. Then we walked back to my house from Mike’s. He stayed the night and we went to bed around three o’clock in the morning.

First Cougar Win

After the test was done at the SO I went home and cleaned up. I went to the fire station to help make lunch. I was the griller. I cooked up all the hamburgers for everyone. I spent a while working the grill in the process.

The guy who found started the string of events recently was at the station. I told him I wanted to talk to him. After I was done eating I asked to chat with him in the bay. I started by saying “I heard you found something funny on the Internet”.

From there we talked about what had happened. I told him I was disappointed that he didn’t respect me enough to not make fun of me. I told him by giving that there person some grief about what he read also was making fun of me.

He said he was shocked to find out that I am gay. He didn’t know up to that point. He felt like he was left out because it seemed that everyone else knew. Even the guy he was giving a hard time knew. I was surprised to know about that. I didn’t know that he knew. I wonder how he found out. Sounded like it was a non-issue with him. He has known for a while it sounds like. But this other guy didn’t seem to know why I was upset about the whole thing. I am not sure after we were done talking that he knew. I asked him if he would at least not tell anyone else.

It is not even that big of a deal that people find out that I am gay. It is not like I can stop people from finding out. Like I told this guy I don’t tell people. I let him know I actually only told one person at the FD that I am gay. They other found out from other means. Over time others find out. Most of the time people have known for a long time before I find out that they knew.

I also let him know that I don’t like how people self-censor when they know. He said that he wished he had known because he had made some comments in the past that he felt bad about now that he knows I am gay. I said that is the point. I don’t want people to not be who they are when I am around.

My position was working at station two today. I took my engineer book down there and worked hard on it. I am trying to get it done. I stayed there working on it until almost ten. That is when I was going to get released from working.

But we got a medical call. Following the medical call we got a fire call. I ended up working an extra hour.

The Cougs today were on TV. They looked good, but they were playing an easier team. We however lost the starting QB. Later on our backup QB was hit and he was taken off the field in an ambulance. Not a good situation.

Three for Three

I went into the fire station to participate in the new station committee. Following that I was waiting a while to speak with Chief Brown. As it was getting close to noon I decided to go home and get lunch. Just as lunch was getting done I heard them call for someone to do a transfer to Palouse. I called in for that.

We got to the hospital and found out we were delayed one hour. I worked on some stuff for my CPR class that I am teaching tomorrow to my shift. We did the transfer. I was in the back of the ambulance. When it was all said and done the whole thing took more than four hours. Chuck did the transfer with me and we talked some politics. We talked about being gay and it being out at the fire department. I think most of the guys at PFD know. I don’t tell people, but I think others make it know. For the most part I think the newer reserves are in the dark about it. Or at least most of there were in the dark about it.

I went to a softball game in the evening. I was the EH. I hit the ball well. I went three for three. One of them bounced badly and I was running hard. I got to third, but I had to slide. We won the game and I went to the fire department for training.

I was hoping to talk with the guy that saw the blog. But he wasn’t there tonight. I have been waiting to get a chance to speak to him. I have a couple things I would like to let him know. I also want to find out who it was that he told. The other guy never said anything to me at all through out the night. I was also ignored by one other guy. I am not sure if that was on purpose or not.

I have been keeping a low profile with the reserves right now. I am not sure who knows and who doesn’t. More importantly I don’t know who knows the whole story or part of it. I have been letting them come to me and talk. If they talk to me first then I figure all is good with them. Several of them talked to me so that is good. But I am not sure about two of them who were there plus the one who wasn’t. Only time will tell.

Crushed in the First Home Game

After I got home from working this morning I went to bed. But within a few minutes I was getting a call from Pete. When I heard him on the phone I realized that I was going to need to get ready for the autopsy that I was going to observe. I knew that was going to help make me tired tonight. I went to the funeral home and watched the autopsy. I was able to see some findings that I had seen and understood what they meant. I had a chance to ask questions and have a better understanding about what happened.

When I got home I cleaned up and headed down to station one. I was meeting up with a reserve who bought tickets for the football game for Brandon and I. Brandon was working on getting the transportation figured out.

When I got to the station I met up with one of the guys there. I wrote something that was used to tease him. After I found out that happened, the situation has made me incredibly embarrassed because certain pieces of information about me are out to some of the newer reserves. I have tried to keep my private life and work life separate. It has worked for a long time.

I talked to him about it. We had e-mailed about it, but I wanted to speak to him about a couple things specifically. I cannot look him in the eye. It is tough to look at him at all. He said he doesn’t have a problem with me. He said that he hasn’t lost any respect for me but I am having a hard time with it. We never used the word gay during our conversation, but I don’t have a doubt he knows about me now. I don’t feel better, I think I will have a hard time being around him and the guy who was doing the teasing. Right now I am not sure who was all told and who knows about the situation, but with the way things get spread and the way rumors get built, it will probably be devastating to me. I will have a hard time around the reserves. I am not sure who knows now and as I interfaced with them today I felt very strange not knowing if they knew or not.

I went back home and met up with Brandon. We made our way to the bus stop to ride it to the game. We first went to the CUB. Then to the PD. I met up with the reserve to get my ticket. We went into the game and met up with Weese. We sat down on the twenty yard-line in the lower section. I stood the whole game. It has been a while since I have done that from the stands. Within eleven second of the game starting Cal scored a touchdown. They did not stop. People were leaving the game in the first quarter. That is a record as far as I have seen.

The Cougs got crushed. From what I heard their worst loss in history. Brandon and I went to the bus to head home. At the house we got some pizza. Watched Cops and then the movie Thank You for Smoking.

Oh Crap

While at work I was called into the Chief’s office. I was not sure what was going on until he asked me to have a seat and close the door. I was worried about what I did. It is never good when an unscheduled meeting starts off like that. I was told that he was told that a reserve was uncomfortable with something on my facebook or MySpace page. He said he doesn’t pry into my personal life. He wants to keep our friendship, but he has to deal with this issue because it affects the fire department. I wasn’t sure what he was speaking of because I am careful about what I post on those mediums. I was asked to deal with it and possibly talk to the reserve in question.

After the meeting I went to facebook and MySpace to see if something was on there that I didn’t know about. With nothing found, I figured it must have been something in the blog. This has been written in for the last five years. There is a lot of stuff in it. So I started to try to find anything. I found one comment that was not written about anyone specific at all. No identifying information was given that would point to anyone either. But due to what I was told I figured that paragraph was causing the problem.

The last thing I wanted to do was cause some sort of problem. So I figured I would delete what was written just so it wouldn’t be out there anymore. I felt horrible sitting in the chief’s office when he was talking to me. I hate it when being gay is brought up with people I work with. I like to keep my personal life and work life in separate worlds.

I don’t know how mad the person is at me. I don’t know what it will be like to be around him. I don’t know what it will be like to be around the others that now know.

After taking care of the problem I wrote an E-mail to the person explaining that I am sorry that there was an uneasiness felt. I let him know that I am horribly embarrassed. I figured that I will lose his respect, but that is what I deserve.

It is frustrating that something that I wrote that was not attributed to anyone specific was used to make someone feel uneasy. But I cannot let that go. I had to delete it anyway. It will not take away what happened, but it will not be used in the future in the same way.

Seeing Wakeman

Today the plan was to spend time in the office before heading back to Pullman so I could get to work on Saturday morning. I was able to get some stuff done at the office but I didn’t get anything resolved with the bugs. I loaded up my computers and some books and headed out.

I texted Wakeman about meeting up on my way through Ellensburg. He called me up and said he didn’t live there anymore, but as it turned out he would be in town doing some moving. He told me to call when I was close to see if he was still around.

When I was about ten miles out I called and he was still in town. I met up with him at The Tav. He and his friend were having some food and beer. I sat down and we talked about what each other was doing. It was nice to see him. He is the one who pulled me aside one day at the fire department and asked if I was gay. Many people at the FD know and some would spread it around, but very few have ever asked me. He said that he had heard, but wanted to ask me. I really respected that about him from the beginning.

I enjoyed my time working with him and I sad to see him go. For one summer before he left we were running daytime calls all the time. He never cared about the response level of the call he would go on everything like I would.

Computer Issues Most of Today

A fan is starting to squeak a little bit on my computer. So I was testing the different fans to see what one causes the squeak. I had done a reboot of the computer. But I wanted it to stay shut down. So as it was loading I hit the power button. I knew that was probably a bad idea. Before I know it the computer is in bad shape. A file was missing and the computer would not boot. Oh great!

I tried to use Windows Home Server to fix it. But each image I used did not fix it. So I figured a reformat of the hard drive was in order. I used my Windows XP CD and formatted the harddrive. Then I used Windows Home Server and put the latest image back on. The computer worked! Thank goodness. But that ate up part of the day.

Once it was up and running I was able to get work done. Tonight I was on duty and we have training. We went to the tower and ran a water evolution. As always there is something added in. We had a MayDay in the middle of it. But it wasn’t over the top.

When training was done I got home and I went to g.com. I check it out from time to time but I rarely chat with anyone. But I found someone who was “Way Right”. So I started a conversation with him. We talked for a while. Seems like we are pretty much like minded for the most part. It was nice to have a conversation.

Death Investigation Class Day Four

After class this afternoon I went to Portland with Greg again. On the way we stopped by a marina to look at some more sail boats. We checked out the various boats for a while.

We went to Powells Books again. This time we spent about an hour. I went back to the section I was at the other day. I also went through their gay sections. I was looking for something, but I didn’t know what for sure. I figured I would know it when I found it. I turned out not finding anything I wanted.

After we got back to Kelso we stopped to get something to eat at Arby’s. As we were walking into the hotel there was a ten-six-seven passing me by. I sometimes wonder who they are. I sometimes think about how there are millions of people in America and I will probably never see that person again. I sometimes would like to just stop and say hello. I figure if you say hello to everyone you pass, you will have said hello and “met” a lot of people, but it would be interesting to think that even with a lifetime of doing that you will not have even met one-percent of the population of America, I would bet.

Freak Hail Storm

Today there was a freak hail storm that left more than an inch of hail on the roads down by Dissmores. But near station two we got nothing to speak of. I had come down to the station for a call. While I was standing by Stallcop showed up for something else. He told me about the hail in the town. He said we are probably going to get called out for a car accident.

Within a couple minutes we were toned out to a motorcycle wreck. We got first on scene. I set up command and did my thing. As we were getting ready to park Rescue we got another call. We got on scene the same time the ambulance did. They transported and we went back to the station.

Soon the reserves were called on to do a transfer to Spokane. I called in on it and we ran the patient to Spokane. Drew and I had some dinner before heading back. It was a nice trip over all.

I talked to Drew a little bit about the whole homosexual thing. He asked me about it years ago when the article appeared in the newspaper where I was named for the lack of gay magazines at the Bookie.

I was telling him about some of the other things that happened since thing at the jail and at a call once with a WSU Police officer. I also told him I didn’t want the reserves to know. I know that at least one of them knows but I am not worried about that so much as I am about the newer guys finding out.

Wet Lab at WSU

Today the only real plan was to go to the WSU Wet Lab. But it turned out there was a coroner’s call. I talked to Patti and she invited me to come. The investigation was very interesting. I had to look at a lot of evidence around the house to figure out what was going on. It was an interesting case and I cannot wait to learn more.

Then it was off to the WSU PD. I started by getting a breath sample. That would show that I had no alcohol on board to start off with.

Blowing into the PBT to start the day

We had tequila and rum to drink. Carl and Heidi from PPD, and Dan from the PAs office were there to help out. We drank and played a game called Scene It. That was a lot of fun. Dan bought some pizza for everyone and we continued to drink. Through out the drinking part we were supposed to keep watching the BAC readings so we would get to a very specific level of intoxication. I was supposed to be at about a Point-One.

When we were done drinking we went over to the CUE building for the actual field sobriety tests. On the way there Carl was making some observation about someone who I was thinking was a ten-six-seven. I acknowledged that I did think that person was a ten-six-seven and Carl started to laugh. We got another PBT test to see how intoxicated we were. The Pullman cops who had come to help out with the tests got called out to a person not breathing.

Soon the coroner called me to see if I could take the case, but I was in no condition to do that.

Doing a HGN test

Trying to stand on one leg without falling

Doing the walk and turn event

One more shot of the walk and turn

Brandon was also there. He took some photos and watched what was going on. I have found the alcohol will cause me to lose my swear filter and I tend to allow more swear words to flow. I also noticed that I allow my homosexuality to come to the surface a little bit. But I am usually able to suppress it.

During the test though a couple of the people doing the tests on me were ten-six-seven. A couple times I almost blurted out that fact. I was able to hold on to that though.

The FST went on for a while and the people doing them were doing a good job with them. We had a debriefing after the tests. Then we all went to Rico’s. I started to drink a lot of water. My highest reading I remember was a point-one-three. I was feeling very drunk. What was interesting to me was when I was at a point-oh-five I felt like I was too drunk to drive.

Carl said I should let Brandon know that I am gay. I figure as a cop now, he will hear about it through the grapevine. I don’t necessarily like the fact that it just gets spread around, but I figured that Brandon is a very good friend and I wanted to let me know rather than him finding out via the grapevine.

I sat down and said to Brandon “I am gay.” He asked me a couple times if I was serious. I said yes. Then we looked at Matt across the table and Matt confirmed it. Then Matt told Brandon the story where Matt found out. It was the scene where he made a joke not knowing about it. Carl and Monte had told him afterword because Matt sort of thought he had said the wrong thing around me. Carl thought it was funny. I let Matt know he didn’t say anything bad.

Brandon did ask why I was telling him. I would like to chat with him a little bit more about it, but I don’t want to make a big deal about it. He said he is cool as long as I don’t hit on him. I said I haven’t hit on him and that will not change.

While at Rico’s we listened to music and talked about random stuff as people usually do while their at the bars. I was there until Matt gave me a ride home around midnight. I was tired, but I also drank more water when I went home to make sure I would not have a hang over in the morning. After all I had about fourteen shots of Hard-A between four and six o’clock PM.

Movie Night at Russells

After working out I spent some time taking photos and cleaning off my driveway of snow. I also cut away some of the tree limbs from the tress that cover my walkway. It is nice and clear for walking through that area now.

From NE Terre View Drive on the way back from my workout

The Bumblebee Before cleaning off its snow

The Bumblebee filled with *some* of the snow in the driveway

Russell, Nick, and I met up tonight to watch Another Gay Movie. It is more or less a spoof of American Pie. With some parts of other movies. It had some very funny parts. I agreed with Nick when the part where one of the gay guys came out to him mom.

He always wore lipstick, fingernail polish. He was very feminine, and just girl-like. But he thought he mom was clueless. So finally he came out to his mom, she looked at him with some surprise, then said “Well, Duh!”

Looking Back on the Last Year

Jan – Joining the CISD Team – I started the evening off going to Colfax for a CISD team meeting. They were looking for new members, so I thought I would see what it is about. Now it seems that I am on the team and they are looking at having a training class come in soon to get the new people trained.

Feb – How Many Really Know? – When I got home I wrote back and forth with Matt and Monte about the call from yesterday. I told Matt that I was not offended and that he could not offend me. I asked both to keep the information secret. I also asked Monte how Tom knew about it. It was Tom who told Monte. Monte said he heard about it several years about and it was a non-issue to him. I was surprised to hear that Tom has known about it for three or four years. Monte said “remember it is a small world”.

Mar – The Start of What was to Date my Best Softball Year – Then there was another play where I had to go hard to my right, more or less a dive and scoop a ball. When I came up with it I looked down at home where someone was running, but I did not think I would be able to make the play, so I held on it the ball. We were playing A Bunch of Old Guys, which use to be Don’t Care. We lost to them by three runs. It sucked.

Apr – My First Shift Patrolling with the Marine Patrol – Then we went to the boat. We went through some things about the boat and then we were underway. We made a couple stops of people who were breaking the wake zones. I saw him do an inspection. Then on the next stop I did the inspection. We spent some time driving along the shore line of Medina, Hunts Point, and we were working our way to Yarrow Point.

May – A Police Officers’ Funeral – At about 10:00 AM the procession started. It was long enough that as my vehicle was pulling into the parking of the Kibbie Dome the last cars were leaving Tidyman’s. Along the route people were standing on the sides of the streets and police officers on Motorcycles where blocking intersections. There were people who had their hand over their heart, American Flags, signs of support, and cub scout troops along the way.

Jun – An Incredibly Fun Softball Tournament in Waitsburg – But we had an eight run lead going into the seventh inning. They were the home team because they were undefeated. In the bottom of the seventh all we had to do was to get three outs and go to the second game. But they started to hit the ball. I knew our team was hurting when after the inning the jumping back slaps that Kelly and some of the other would do turned into just back slaps. The jumping was over with. In my second to last at bat, there were two outs and I was on first base. My quads were sore and I did not want to run. But I brought up my positive mental attitude by thinking about the fact that I want this. That I had gone this far and I just have to do it.

Jul – Final Men’s Game is a FFT – Tonight the records were supposed to fall, however, when the other team could not come up with enough players to fill the team, we would end up getting a FFT. That sucked because Michael B, Bill, and I were all up for records to be broken. I needed one walk to tie Skyler. That was my goal. I did not want to beat the record because it has been around for so long.

Aug – Ryan Gamble Get Married – Once that was done we were back at the hotel, the time was counting down for the wedding to start. People started to file into the Davenport hotel. The wedding started and it lasted around thirty minutes total. I was the best man and stood next to Ryan. It was neat to see the whole thing.

Sept – Bought a Lightly Used Truck – By this time in the day I realized that I did want to get the truck, but only if I got it for twenty-one-five. A while later the sales manager called back and said I could get it for twenty-one-seven, plus a full tank of fuel. I said I would do it.

Oct – Introducing the Next Coroner of Whitman County? – Pete said he was happy to hear that I would like to do it. He said he plans on not running in twenty-twelve. So that would be when I would need to run. By then some of the other guys would be a lot more trained and may want to run as well. So I figured I would talk to Pete right away and have him start to groom me to be the next coroner.

Nov – A Night of Arson’s in Pullman – On our arrival to the scene I could see a five inch across Spring Street. We parked in such a way to protect the hose. We walked up to the scene. While walking up the road a man asked us if the smoke coming from his garage was a normal amount. Because he was a neighbor of the fire, he figured some of the smoke was from the fire. But it was pouring out, and I could tell it was not from the other fire.

Dec – Ankle Operation Part Two – I walked into a room with a table for me to lay on. I got up there and the anaesthesiologist started to prepare me to go under. Before I knew it I was asleep. Later I woke up not feeling well. I was being wheeled out to the recovery room. I heard one of the nurses talking to someone else, saying “you’ll have to break it to him.” I still don’t know what they meant by that.

It is always hard to put this list together. There was the day at the jail when I found out that Poff and Capt, as well as everyone else, has known about me for years. Or November when the boys made their first trip to Pullman to see Cougar Football and Basketball. There are many other examples. As usual. If I were to do this another day I am sure some of these choices would be different, but some of them would be the same for sure.

Most of today I responded on calls at the station. But most of the time no one was showing up to go with me. So I stood by on most of them. One of the calls Gecas showed up and we went on the call.

We also got a couple calls during the evening hours. I couldn’t find my pager. I looked around the house for it, I looked around the station, I checked my truck as well. I couldn’t find it. I am a little worried that I lost it on the call I went on with Gecas.

I worked on getting my E-mail inbox cleaned out. It took a while to go through all the messages. I really should go through everything again and reorganize it some more. But I am probably not going to.

Hanging with Mike D

Today was the final day of the men’s basketball pre-Pac-Ten games. It was a pretty easy victory for the men. I worked it with Nick. I spent a fair amount of the time talking to the WSU cops. We first talked about a recent death that took place on campus. It was a pretty tragic thing.

Later on I was just chatting with a couple other ones about Colfax PD. One of them was a Colfax cop for a while.

Towards the end of the game the Cougar starters were all on the bench to make way for the young guys to get play time. They got a lot of it today.

I got a text message from Mike D. He was in town for the basketball game. He asked if I was interested in going to Pete’s for Wiley’s. I was on call for the Coroner so I could not drink, but I wanted to see Mike. It has been a while. He now lives in Montana.

I drove down there in the Bumblebee when I saw that Pete’s was closed. Soon I saw three people walking down the road including Mike. He had two girls with him and that all had Wiley glasses. We ended up going to Rico’s. I saw Johnson there. I gave him a howdy.

Then I was introduced to a guy named Nick. He was blue eyed and ten-six-seven. I also got some non-weedeater-owning vibes from him. Mike, the girls, and I went up stairs and played some pool. Soon Nick and the girl he was with joined us. At first I was thinking that he was her boyfriend. Later I found out he is not her boyfriend.

Peter and Kevin showed up. We were messing around texting each other. We were making some sort-of inside jokes about Nick being gay. Or really we were insinuating that he was gay. The thing about him was he was flamboyant and he was cocky at the same time. He was beating me in pool and we were really crap talking each other. I was doing it all in fun.

As the night was winding down and we were getting ready to go he was asking me some honest questions about buying or renting houses. I was trying to give him some good information. But with his intoxication level I was thinking at best he was going getting sound bites. He did let me know where he worked. I might poke my head in there someday. I am going to not write it in here as I don’t want to give away who I am talking about here.

Happy Birthday Scotty!

Well I got the normal phone calls and text messages from people wishing me a happy birthday. I got several on facebook and MySpace as well.

Reed McPherson wrote
Happy Birthday. Don’t mix too many of your drugs with your booze. Have a fun one

Andrew Wilcox wrote
Happy B-day man, hope your recovery doesn’t hinder you from partying tonight!

Sarah Daoud wrote
Happy Birthday Scotty!!! Hope you have a good one!!

Bryce Cuello wrote
Happy Birthday Man! Hope you have a good one!

Kristiné M. Reeves (Spokane, WA) wrote
Happy Birthday! Loved the photos as of late…you are looking stellar!

Denise Keeton wrote
Happy Happy Birthday Scotty!!

Dax Berven wrote
Happy early Birthday old man

When I got to work today there was a $10.00 gift certificate for me from NetUpdate. They also made cookies and put them in the break room.

I actually got a couple things productive done today and checked in. Then the rest of the day it was spending time in meetings and having lunch. We went to Crossroads mall. Ricky, Noah, and I met up with Chris a former employee.

While there I got a couple different styles of die for my board game. I got several styles so I can play with them and see what I like the best.

The traffic home was worse than normal, but probably normal for the time of day. It just seemed like everything was backed up. I don’t like to spend time in traffic on my birthday. I was thinking that they should just open up the roads and step aside for the birthday boy.

When I got home my special dinner was being cooked. It was fatback and potatoes. Following dinner I got a universal power supply for my computer from my mom for my birthday. She made a cake with pudding topping. It was very good.

Compared to last year it was a pretty tame birthday. That is okay though. Actually, this is the first birthday I have been here for a while. My last few birthdays have been spent with just a couple friends.

I am thinking if there is anything ground breaking to say right now. It is the one time a year I can reflect on the past year of my life and think about it. But I have not done that. Maybe I can do that tomorrow. Make a decision what letter grades I earned this year in many categories. I am not sure it was one I can look at as one of the best. That is a shame. Every year should be better than the one before it. That would be a sign of a good life.

Maybe that means it is time for me to uproot my life as it currently sits. Maybe it is time for me to move to some new random place and get a new job. Get new friends. Get new activities. Just do something different.

But then again, when I think about the car fire recently and how it was still a new experience to me, that leads me to believe I still have things I can do here.

I think if there is one thing I work on this year it is to be more active in my down time.

I have worked hard this year to keep on top of things. Like washing my clothes and new truck, not when I am out of clothes or I can’t see the paint on the truck, but on a regular schedule. I do things and put things away rather than leaving things out when I am done. It is the new more orderly self.

But what is a problem is that when my work is done, and there is nothing more to do, I need to get to the rec center. Go for a walk. Go for a bike ride. Do something that will keep me from sitting around the house watching TV. I really want to get into the swimming pool and get some swim time in. That is the goal.

I hope in one year from now I can read this and say that I did a good job keep up with that change I would like to make.

One thing that I have noticed about myself is that it seems more people know about my homosexuality than don’t know in terms of my daily interactions with people. I thought I had done a good job keeping it quiet at the jail. But that is not the case. Everyone seems to know and those who don’t are told by those who do. I don’t like it when people tell others. That is not their business to do that.

So really the people who don’t know are those over in Seattle. All my friends who I went to high school with other than Matt. He found out when I admitted it to him on the Rose Bowl trip.

More Zeppoz poker

After only about two hours of sleep I was woken up by a phone call from Pete. There was a call waiting in the wing. I had guessed it had to do with the call we had this morning. Later on in the morning I called Pete and it turned out to be what I was thinking it was. As it turned out I had transported the same person to Spokane about ten days prior. So I was familiar with him.

In the rest of the day Wilcox, Dearth, and I responded on EMS and fire calls. The first one was a pretty bad looking accident. Turned out it wasn’t much of anything when it was done. A lot of people stopped to help. I was talking to one person who was there. I got the vibes and the gaydar was going off. I found him on Facebook and sure enough he is family.

I was running really late for poker. Sign ups were at five-thirty, and it was almost that time when we got back to the station after our fourth call of the afternoon. With the heavy snow covering the road we had a long day. But now it is raining and the roads are getting all slushy.

I got to Zeppoz in time to get a seat at the table. Due to the weather, I believe, there was a limited number of players. We ended up having three full tables, but it took almost until six o’clock to get there.

A ten-six-seven who has been in all the tournaments since I started to play was there. He is not the normal blonde/blue but, he is still ten-six-seven.

Towards the end of the night I was knocked out in seventh place again. The ten-six-seven was in the final four. All of a sudden there was a small uproar at the table. I was playing a table game right next to the poker table. I turned around and saw the ten-six-seven with tears in his eyes. Someone said he would chop the pot with him. I didn’t know what had happened.

Later on I found out his dad had died and he was called about it during the game.

Got my Shopping Done

I got up this morning and there was a response from the cop I knew on gay.com. He answered my question and pondered who I was. I didn’t tell him straight up, but I responded to his question of me.

I went to Safeway and did my shopping. I had been needing to go there for quite a while. While there I saw Bruce. We stopped and chatted for a while. Later I saw C-Bass. Coach Doba was there shopping. I also saw the Pullman Fire ambulance crew buying some stuff for dinner.

I got home and put everything away. I had some time before I had to go back to Zeppoz. I got the IM address of the guy who I know that is gay. I also responded to the cops’ message back to me.

Then it was off to Zeppoz for the tournament. There was a ten-six-seven there again. I have seen him the last three weeks that I was there. I finally found out who it was. He is a local. I always want to play on his table, but we get different tables.

In today’s game I decided that I would not do more than one re-buy. That is all I ended up needing. I made it longer that I had in previous tournament. I was out in the seventh place. They paid the top four, with more than two-hundred going to first place. I was the second lowest in chips on the final table. But I won a big hand. Only to lose it later on. Then I had only enough for one big blind. I only had three hands to get something to play. I got K-9 suited. I went all in. I got two-pair, but I lose to someone with trips. That was my night.

I played a table game. I lost nearly twenty bucks, but I changed tables. I won back my money and walked out of there even.

The One-Hundredth Apple Cup

Today was the one-hundredth Apple Cup. Ron invited me down to watch it at the Moose Lodge. I was excited about going down there. I put on my Cougar hat and shirt and made my way there just before kick off.

The Huskies ran it back for a quick score. Ron made a big deal about it. All the Cougs were thinking this was going to be a long day. The Huskies got a fieldgoal. Finally the Cougs were able to get on the board with a touchdown.

After a while everyone in the Moose was yellow “Woooooo” every time the Cougs did something well like Ron had been doing earlier.

We went into half time up by one point – twenty-one to twenty. Michele had a big spread of food there for a fundraiser. I had my fill of food.

The second half added to the excitement. The game was a sea-saw battle back and forth. The Cougs finally scored the tying touchdown. With only thirty seconds to go they scored the winning touchdown! The Cougs went on to win the game.

I went home fulfilled with the victory.

I went to gay.com and looked around on there to chat. While I was there I did a search of local people. I found someone that I recognized and I had no idea was gay. I finally purchased a premium account. I was able to look further at his profile. I was shocked to see he was gay. I want to talk with him because I also found out he use to be in the college Republicans.

I also found a former cop that I knew. I contacted him via a message. I finally went to bed in the wee-hours of the morning.

Spokane Transfer with Suggs

I got up with a page for a transfer. In a little bit they asked for reserves. I called down and said I would do the transfer. I was doing it with Suggs. The transfer went off without a problem. It was my first trip to Sacred Heart on a transfer.

We stopped at A&W; on the way out of town. On the way back he was talking about playing hockey. He was talking about hockey skates. He said this one style looked faggy. Then he looked at me and said “no offense”. I am not sure if that is because he also knows or if he just thought I was offended. Which I wasn’t of course.

Later after we got back I was going to be on Rescue tonight. But I also needed to go to Dan and Michele’s anniversary. I went to the Moose at six o’clock pm. I saw Michael B there as well as some of the others. I got some chow and then went home. It was a pretty quiet night for a while.

Then about thirty until midnight an EMS call came out. We transported. We sat at the station chatting about the previous arson’s in Pullman. More specifically about the issues while on the fire ground.

Parrish said he was going to call it a night. He was already scheduled to get off early. But within about ten minutes of Parrish leaving we got a structure fire. I was out the door with Williams on Rescue. We got to the scene and were the second ones there. We pulled a crosslay and started to fight the fire.

It had already gotten through the roof and we put some water on it for a while. But soon we ran out and had to wait until the PL got us hooked up with the hydrant. We then had the blitz line, the masterstream, and our handline fighting the fire. Water was all over the place freezing. My turnouts were getting frozen solid.

We finally started to beat the fire back. It was in a twenty by thirty-five out building at Cougar Crest. Soon we were sent in closer with the blitz line with the other guys from ambulance. We got the remainder of the fire put out. Then we worked on a full bottle worth of overhaul.

We helped to clean up the hose. Rescue stayed to monitor the fire until some reserves got there with the utility. We ended up having to put some water on some fire that got going again. I was able to look around the structure for evidence of what caused the fire. I then spent time asking Rich if he agreed with my assessment of what I had found. He confirmed the things I was finding. I have to say this one was pretty easy. It is not like I am some incredible fire investigator, but it felt good to have an idea of what I was figuring out.

I went home and worked on the fire department application until six in the morning before I went to sleep.

Playoffs Day One

The plan was to include spending time on my garage. But instead I was on the phone with Russell. He invited me to go to coffee with Jason. I accepted the invite. Russell told me that Nick and he broke up. That was a surprise to me. They have been together for a bunch of years. In gay years, it has been like twenty years.

Due to the trip to Cafe Moro I decided I only had time to wash my truck. I got it washed up and then went to get Russell. He noticed that I washed my truck. Then he quickly noticed it looked longer. Once he got in, he knew it was a different truck.

We met Jason down at Cafe Moro. I got a hot cocoa and they got some coffee. I told them the story about buying my truck. When we were done they it was off to Blockbuster to get a movie to watch.

We got Wild Hogs and watched it at Jason’s on his projection TV. It was a pretty funny movie. We were done around four in the afternoon. I took Russell home and went home myself.

I got ready for softball tonight. We had a men’s game in the first round of the playoffs. We were playing the Bash Brothers. We hit the ball well. I was pitching because Dave was out of town. I was enjoying pitching. During the first batter my first three pitches were balls, then I came back with a good pitch. After that I did very well pitching. They were not very patient. No one walked and many people hit some pretty awful pitches.

We went on to win pretty easily. I was two for three with a walk. One well hit ball to deep right field but the guy was able to track it down at catch it. We went on to win.

Ryan and I went to the KZUU meeting. It lasted about thirty-five minutes. We went to Cougar Country and got some dinner. I was trying to relax, but I knew I had a big softball game on Monday. I didn’t know if I had enough women for it. We went to Russell’s to give him a ride to work.

Russell was able to talk a little bit about his situation. Earlier in the day we talked about it. He said he was thankful to have me around to talk to about it.

Shelf Construction

I was restless about my shelf construction and decided to go to get the wood and other needed parts to start my garage cleanup projects. I was at Pullman Building Supply when Wilson called to see if I was going to come down on the call. There was someone who needed help. I got to the station, but we were cancelled before we really got going.

I went back to PBS and got my wood and other items to build the shelves and storage areas for the garage. I got home and got going on those things. I used the tailgate of my truck as a work bench and started to make the necessary measurements to cut the wood. I started with the two shelves that will sit above the garage door. I had to make twelve boards sixteen inches long. Then I connected the five-inch L-brackets. I realized I only had enough brackets for half of the project so I was going to have to go back to PBS.

I got another call and called up Wilson. We went on it, and it turned out to be nothing. We fueled up Rescue and I picked up what I needed from PBS. When we got back to the station we saw D-twelve go by the station going code. Then they were on scene just after going past our station. About two minutes later we were getting toned out to their call, as it turned out to be ours. It was a big gaspipe that got hit with a backhoe. Engine thirty-two went to the scene and took command. They had us go to the nearest hydrant with Engine thirty-one, which was in front of the Auto Body Supercenter. Wilson and I spent time talking about engineer calculations and engineer stuff waiting for our call to duty. But the pipe was fixed before any major catastrophe happened.

We went back to the station and had some pizza that Blanks got for everyone. I took Wilson to Beasley and then went home. I got more work done on my shelf project. I got all the cuts made for the wood and started to assemble everything. I got one of them hung in the garage. I then put some stuff away. It felt good to get that done.

I talked to Juan. He was not feeling well at all so he decided to stay home for the night. But I spent time on g.com chatting with people. I actually got to sleep at nearly four in the morning. I had to be up less than six hours later to take Wilson out doing some drive time in the engine.

Helping out some friends

This afternoon I went on a tour of the stadium with the fire department to learn where things are located. It looks pretty nice, but there is more work to do.

Russell asked me to give him a ride, Peter called asking if I could help him haul trash to the dump. Both guys needed my help at four o’clock PM. I told Peter that I would help him second and f the dump closed before I got to him I would help him tomorrow.

Russell and I went to the lawyer to talk about his recent string of bad luck. It really didn’t amount to much in that meeting. Then I rushed to Peter’s and we picked him up. Went to the dump made it by five minutes.

Then back to Peter’s to get his roommate. We went to Taco Bell for dinner over in Moscow. Then I gave everyone a ride home while listening to Chris Rock on the radio.

I make some more measurements in my garage fr the shelving. I also found a resource online that wrote about another idea I will be doing. I am going to get a fair amount of storage. I will work on building those things over the weekend when I have time.

I spent some time on g.com chatting. I found Juan out there. He is going to come over tomorrow night. We are planning on watching a movie and hanging out. But I also found out there is a show in Moscow. I will see if he wants to go to that. I am not sure if I want to go for sure, but it would get me out of the house, and I would have someone to go with.

Ryan’s Wedding

Today is the big day. I woke up and got cleaned up. Russell and I needed to go to the tux rental shop to get new pieces for the tux. My shoes needed to be bigger as well as a better fitting shirt size. Once that was completed Russell and I were off to find some roses.

We drove around for a little while and bumped into a place called Just Roses. We were able to get two red and two pink roses. We went back to the hotel to check out and send our postcards that we wrote last night.

Russell and I took Ryan’s parents to dinner at Franks Diner. I had to cut out a little early and pick up Anna and one of her friends from the mall. I took them to the hotel and then parked my truck.

I had been stressing about the best man speech, but this morning in the shower I figured out the direction I wanted to take the speech. I was going to talk about what friends are and what a best friend is. I was going talk about meeting Ryan and playing softball and hanging out with him over the years. I felt better now that I knew what I was going to say.

We went to the hotel and started to get ready. Nick came and I got some photos of him and Russell together.

Russell and Nick looking dignified

Once everyone got their tuxes on we went around and took photos. I got one of Ryan in the dressing room in a chair. I also got Russell and one of me in the chair as well.

Ryan in the chair

Russell in the chair

Me in the chair looking like I am from the nineteenth century

I also got one of me being silly.

Being Silly

We then went out and took photos around the area. I also was getting photos. I got one of Ryan’s brother and his new brother-in-law.

Ben (ten-six-seven), Ryan’s new brother-in-law

Keith, Ryan’s younger brother

Once that was done we were back at the hotel, the time was counting down for the wedding to start. People started to file into the Davenport hotel. The wedding started and it lasted around thirty minutes total. I was the best man and stood next to Ryan. It was neat to see the whole thing.

We went and got some more photos and then made our way to the reception room. They made a grand entrance for Ryan and Anna. I sat at the table with Ryan and Anna. I went and made my way through the line for some chow.

As it turned out Russell and I were sitting at a table with a couple other gay people. So it was the gay table. With Nick there as well. We did not know the other guys, but it was pretty obvious about them.

It came time for the toast. I got up to give my speech. I did a great job doing it. I was prepared and it went smoothly. I did not try to be funny, but the parts that were lighter got some laughter. That was good.

Making My Best Man Speech

Ryan and Anna did their first dance together.

The first dance

The first dance

Russell and Nick got out there to dance a little bit as well.

When the reception got going Ben gave Russell and I a cigar. We went outside to smoke it. It was not very tasty. Russell got a great photo of him smoking it.

Russell smoking the cigar

As the night was winding down I signed the paperwork for Ryan and Anna’s marriage. While we were doing that Keith mention that he lost a stud from his tux. Ryan looked at me and said “So have you”.

Records Not Broken

Tonight the records were supposed to fall, however, when the other team could not come up with enough players to fill the team, we would end up getting a FFT. That sucked because Michael B, Bill, and I were all up for records to be broken. I needed one walk to tie Skyler. That was my goal. I did not want to beat the record because it has been around for so long.

Michael B really wanted the doubles record. I was going for that one too. He needed one to break it, and I needed two. We gave Michael B so much ribbing after not getting that record. We went to My Office to hang out for a while.

I was disappointed because I hate getting ready to play softball only to have it cancelled. I took some photos of the guys. Michael B was upset that he was not able to get his record. He said “that is gay” in reference to the other team not being there. Then he looked at me and said no offense. So he must know, but if he does that was the first indication that he knows. Only a small number of guys actually know, and those who do never make an issue out of it.

We went down to My Office and had some food and just hung out. Some of the guys got some beer and drank. I had my typical pop. I went home and worked on the website after the bar to get it completed and uploaded.

Happy Birthday America!

The fourth is a great time. I love fireworks and I love the time in the park. I still think back to the old tradition of going to Ocean Shores with the gang. We would stay down at this camp ground and we would light off fireworks and party all the time. We would drive on the beach and just have a great time. I still remember my first time there. We were staying at a state camp ground. When I showed up the Confederate flag was flying. One of the guys came up to me and said that he made sure it was put right side up. Making sure the star in the center right side up. Dave and I would always drive down the beach just after dark and helped to pull people out stuck in the sand. That was our good deed of the day we did each day out there.

Over the years the group had split up and the Oceans Shores trips are no longer. But now I go to Sunnyside Park with the fire department. We show off the fire engines. Wilcox and I went on a call together before it was time to get ready to head to the fire station for the show.

I drove the ambulance up to the park again this year. When we got up there we set everything up. Then people started to show up. We helped them try on the gear. Took photos of everyone. I climbed the ladder and got some photos of the park and the area.

A couple people I knew came down and got in the gear included Andy the poker player I met through Mike. BKoe was working for the parks department, but he stopped by to try on the stuff. Dan’s wife, Denise stopped by.

I helped a couple people on EMS things, but both were minor injuries. While I was going to one I saw Juan from Colfax. I have not seen him in a long time. But I walked by him. We made eye contact and I wanted to stay and talk to him, but I had to go and help someone who needed EMS help. When I got back he was gone. So I ended up calling him to say hello and let him know that I was sorry for missing him. I think I will invite him over to watch a movie again. He is a very nice guy.

The day went off very well. We got out of there just after eleven o’clock and got all the rigs back in service. It is weird that I have to work in the morning. It feels like I should have another day off. In the future I need to take the day after the fourth off.

Day Two of the Emerald City Classic

We had our first game at ten in the morning again. So I was up at the field at nine in the morning for warm ups. We were in the rec C-division. It is a single elimination tournament from here out. We lose we go home. Our first game was against another Seattle team.

We should have really beat them down, but we allowed them to scored eleven runs in one inning which game them a huge boost. But we battled back and ended up beating them by a couple runs. We then went to play Chicago.

They scored early and often against us. We could not get runs going. We had a play at second base where our guy was running to second. Their shortstop was in the way and they collided. The short stop was down for a minute. Then he got up. Later in the game he was hurting bad and was having a hard time breathing.

I had hit a ball to the new shortstop. He made a throw across the diamond. I ran out the ball and was safe. When I got to first I looked over and he was on the ground being helped by a couple EMT’s. Then an ambulance came and took him to the hospital. We ended up losing.

On the way to Red Robin to have some lunch with the team I had a message from my mom. She said that Hargrove quit the M’s. That was a shock with the M’s on a seven game win streak and being four games out of first place.

When we were done eating we were sitting around the table talking. I remember something I just learned about the diameter of the opening of a glass compared to its height. That it is usually quite a bit larger. So I was showing everyone. I ended up putting the glass on top of a container with the packets of sugar, plus a cell phone. I measured it out and the mouth opening was still bigger. Then the glass fell from about three inches off the table and actually broke. Everyone was laughing.

When the food was done I went to Best Buy and got some CD-R’s that do lightscribe for my new burner. I went home and watched the M’s game. It was Hargroves last game. The M’s won again.

ECC Day One

I had to get up early to be up at the softball fields by nine in the morning. Playing cards to the wee hours did not help my sleep, but that is okay. I won money at cards, and now I get to play softball.

The team is mostly the same as last season with a couple of new players. We went out and quickly lost our first game. We ended up playing five games today and only won one of them at the end of the day. We started at the field at nine in the morning. We played five games and left there at eight o’clock at night.

Our pitcher took a ball off the chin like an upper cut as the ball bounced off the ground. He went down and went to the hospital, getting himself ten stitches. I was put in for him that game, because I was sitting out at first. I got a base hit. One of the few I got today. I had some walks, but I couldn’t hit the ball today. I was hitting poorly. We also had some pretty long breaks at times between games. One break was about three hours.

After all the games a couple of us went to Seattle to get some pizza at a place close to R-Place. At first I wasn’t going to go, but as I got on the highway to head home I decided to go out. All I knew was the place had Off Broadway in its name.

It was not in the phone book so I had a hard time. I just drove around a little bit back and forth and then I found a place called Billy’s Off Broadway. It was the correct place. The pizza was good. We sat around talking about a little of this and a little of that before leaving. The others were going out to the bars, I decided then to go home.

Years of Being Crafty for Nothing

My day on Mercer Island Boat Patrol was cancelled for today so that meant I had a day off and I could do what I wanted. I decided I would work the jail. But I had some things to take care of in Pullman before I left to go to Colfax.

When I got to Colfax I went into Control. I ran control for about an hour before going to the Auditors office to get the tabs for my boat and trailer, but because I did not license them last year, if I were to do it today, I would have to pay for all of last year, plus this coming year. If I wait until the end of the month, then I will only have to pay for the next year. That made it a no-brainer.

I sold a phone card to a guy in Orange. Sgt Poffenroth came with me to make sure I could log into Swanson. She didn’t think I would be able to, but I was able to login just fine. So I got the phone card sold. We were heading up stairs to the staff office when she asked if I was the one who always put the backgrounds of the military aircraft. I laughed. I said I don’t even know what that one was. She said, you would probably put pictures of naked men. It because pretty clear she knew that I am gay. She could see me blushing, I could feel my face go flush.

Later I went to her office and asked how she knew. She said he has known for years. She figured it out on her own. She said pretty much every officer knows. I was shocked for sure. I knew that Tom knew, so that would increase the chances of others knowing. Captain came in and he confirmed they had known for years. Poff also was shocked that I didn’t know that they knew. Which is a sign that no one really cares at all. I told her how careful I always was with that information because I didn’t want people there to know.

Poff said a while back when Donna was trying to set me up with a girl over in the Treasurers office, that she had to tell Captain to let Donna know it would be a moot point trying to get me hooked up. Then Captain said that they knew I was dating the guy who worked at JTI. I knew they were talking about Thomas. That surprised me because he didn’t know who Thomas was, just that I was dating someone from JTI. But Thomas and I were only friends, we never dated. Then he said that we are in a small town. Just like Monte said to me a long time ago.

I let Captain know that Thomas and I were just friends. But we use to joke about living in SGC “South Gay Colfax”. He laughed. Poffenroth was cracking up over the fact that I was in the dark about them knowing about me for this whole time. One of my biggest fears was that they would treat me differently or that the inmates would find out. None of that has been the case.

Now I wonder who all actually knows and who doesn’t know. If they all know in the jail, do the people over at Colfax Fire know. No one at Colfax Fire has ever said anything to me. But it would be interesting if they have known for a long time too.

While working at the jail I got a text message about playing some poker tonight around eleven-thirty pm. I went to Peter’s to play. He had people who work with him at SEL over to play. Kevin, a ten-six-seven, from Dissmore’s was also there. Blue eyes and blonde hair and tall. Plus very nice. He was a good sight for the night. While there another ten-six-seven showed up. He was someone who was stopping by with some over people.

We played for hours and hours. In fact it was getting light out. Pretty soon the light coming in the window was actually casting shadows on the poker table. The game broke up around seven o’clock in the morning. When it was done I had lost a total of six bucks, and that was good considering I was all-in a couple times.

One of them I knew I was being beat. There were two Queens on the board. I had a King. There was one King on the board, so I had two pair and I knew Kevin had trips. We went to the river and I knew I needed a King, and a King hit giving Kevin and I a full-house, but mine was better. As it turned out one other guy who was in also had a King, so it turned out we had a one-outer. It came through.

Another time I was playing and had pocket-eights. All night long eights have been hitting. So I played them aggressively. I ended up going all in. Kevin again was playing against me. He had over-cards and got two of them on the flop. He was leading. The turn had nothing to help either of us. I was all-in and I needed to have an eight. I was dealing. I burned a card. Then I held the card over the spot where I needed to turn it over. I held on to it for a while because I did not want to see it. Then rapidly I flipped it over. It was an eight. I had won. Everyone was laughing. Someone said the way I did it reminded them of the movie Maverick.