Wash or Dash

I seem to have some sort of fascination w/bathrooms this week. I was watching a movie at the AMC theatre yesterday and I had to use the restroom. Upon my completion I’m washing up and I noticed something. So, I thought I’d put it to a test. If you work or play in a busy area and tend to frequent public restrooms, keep an eye on how many guys actually wash their hands after taking a piss.

I’ve always been a washer. I wash my hands when I’m finished doing my biz. No matter if its #1 or #2. I’ve noticed that on the norm, gay guys tend to wash their hands more often than straight guys. That said, even some of my gay friends are dashers. Meaning they zip and dash w/o a single glance at the wash receptacle.

At work, I notice the same thing. However, I do tend to see more people wash in general. Still the ratio from gay/straight is always higher. I’m curious as to why that is. Any thoughts?

Ooopsy!

Don’t you just HATE it when you are out and about and you desperately have to go to the bathroom (yes, #2). So you search and search and you finally find a spot before you explode. You give it all you’ve got and are relieved and thankful until you discover….uh oh! no toilet paper.

Discuss…

Corporate Disgrace – Again

I don’t know if this is the first incident of 2005 but its the first I’ve noticed. Anyhoo, so get this. A guy is fired from a blood lab for disclosing he is HIV. A BLOOD LAB! The very people who should know better. (full story)
John Couture was hired by Bonfils Memorial Blood Center to work as a phlebotomist – a technician who draws blood – as part of a mobile blood collection team.
Several weeks into his training, he was informed that members of his training class would practice on each other to learn how to draw blood. Couture disclosed his HIV status to his employer to avoid the possibility that one of one of his colleagues would come into contact with his blood during this one-time training. As a result, Bonfils Memorial Blood Center fired him from his position as a phlebotomist, yet allowed him to apply for an inferior position in the production department where he would have no contact with blood donors.

Wait, I know what you’re thinking, “this sounds like a bad episode of Nip/Tuck“. No, I’m afraid not, this really happened. How often do you hear of a phlebotomist saying oops, silly me, I drew my own blood and, *feigned laugh* I accidentally put in your vial” I mean how stupid do these people have to be? Basically, he’d have to draw someone’s blood, stick himself w/a needle draw some of his own blood and then inject it into a used vial.

*ring ring, its the clue phone*

Meanderings

Today was a nice day off. I’ve learned to appreciate my days off more and more these days. Got up late, had lunch w/the ex and did a few errands together, met a nice stud for an afternoon slough and now just hanging out watching the world go by.

Morning: Most of it spent goofing off being lazy around the house. Finally, got my lazy carcass over to the gym around 11:30. Today was originally back day but I switched and did shoulders. No real reason, just felt like doing shoulders today. Mr. Hottie was there and I ignored him completely. Ok, well completely is the wrong word. Afterwards, he came into the steam room where I was laid out relaxing and I made sure to get a stiffy before leaving. (Yes, I can be a spiteful bastard at times)

Early afteroon: I decided to have lunch in the Castro after checking the mail. The ex came by and we had a nice lunch together. I discovered he is dating someone new. I’m not sure how serious it is as he was obviously uncomfortable talking about it. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel upset or hurt at all. I’m not sure its wise to be dating someone so soon but who am I to be giving him advice on relationships. It pains me to know that I’m not the one for him but I’ve also realized that maybe he isn’t the one for me. I deserve to be treated better than I was and I didn’t have to convince myself this time by rehashing all the reasons why. I’ve had some time to grieve and my head and heart are beginning to agree with each other as far as he is concerned. I’m digressing again. We had a nice lunch, caught up on “the stuff” going on in our lives and we ended up doing a few errands together. It was nice just hanging out w/him as a friend. He seemed very at ease as well.

Late Afternoon: Met a fellow thru an online site (which will remain nameless) and we had a nice romp. For a change he was everything he said he was and then some. The connection was powerful which made it that much better. (No, I won’t go into the details. However, I’ve thought of starting another blog for such matters, whaddya think?)

Evening: There is a nice new french bakery/coffee shop in the Castro, the Le Bon Gateau, which is becoming one of my favorite haunts. They have free wifi but more importantly, its setup to relax. They have a mixture of hard top tables w/bar stool style chairs along w/some very comfy couches. Much more of a relaxing atmosphere than the very sterile a-typical style Starbucks just around the corner. Starbucks ain’t bad but it just doesn’t have that “come on in” feeling to it. I’m digressing again, shit. Ok, back on topic so I’m hanging out and I bump into a friend of the ex. We had a nice coversation over him working and me net surfing.

So overall its been a good day. No stress, no drama, very relaxed and friendly. Just the way I like it.

Blogs Blogs and More Blogs

In my search for a blog managment tool, I’ve discovered there are more than a few out there. I’ve narrowed it down to just two, wordpress and moveable type. Both use php as the code, which I’m not familiar with. That said, I think I’m up for the challenge. Being a technophile does have its advantages.

So first things first, I discover I have to move my domain. While this doesn’t affect the blog as of yet, it still presents a hassle. My domain host tells me for mySQL to work, I have to switch my domain from microsoft to a linux server. Of course, this means I have to download everything from the site to prevent any info from being lost during the switch. They wipe the old site completely. Blah blah blah…..

I haven’t quite decided to make the jump just yet. I’m still doing some fact finding to get everything lined up. Wish me luck!

Blog Roll Update

(I’m on a roll today so bear w/me)

I finally updated my blog lists. I’ve expanded my reading quite a bit lately so felt it time to add a few folks to the list. I’ll be adding a blog link section soon. For those poor souls who found it in their heart to link to me I can only ask “What were you thinking?” *big grin* Seriously, thank you to everyone who felt like my ramblings were worth linking too, I’m grateful.

I’m also looking at folding my blog into my own domain. I listed here originally out of convenience but I have no control over the blogger code and more and more I see blogs that have been hacked. Fear not, I will update w/links and a “forward” command to reroute everyone.

Menz’es & the Castro

On a completely different and shallow rant, I’m down in the Castro and I’ve forgotten how many really good looking men live in this city. And to think most of them are gay too. Wahooo!

It’s sooo nice to just to sit and watch the world go by. I get a kick out of people watching and of course the castro is never w/o its flare. I mean this is one of the few places in the country where people can just be themselves w/o fear of gawking or bashing. In the past 20 minutes, I’ve seen 2 bears, 3 straights w/kids in tow, 6 muscle men, 4 twinks, 2 tranny’s and a drag queens walk by.

Ain’t tolerance grand?!

Cold & Broke

Ok, its cold right now in SF. Its been a rather nasty rainy & cold all week. brrrr. While it tends to get chilly here often it rarely gets below 50. This week the temps have fluxed back and forth just above/below.

I’m also seeing the repercussions from my ‘gifts’ to the relief fund. I sent a couple hundred bucks along w/some ‘stuff’ and I may have been a bit hasty. I forgot that I’m already in a money crunch from the split and moving twice. So after doing the finances today, I get to decide who doesn’t get paid on time. I don’t regret the money as I still have a home over my head and those poor souls need it way more than I do right now. I just think I should have waited until my next paycheck. Once again, my heart runs off before my head. . .

Dog or No Dog

So I had a call today that got me thinking. Sf tends to be a very compact city. We have lots of people everywhere. Throw domesticated animals into the mix and you are bound to have a few problems. So todays rant goes like this. . . A man is playing frisbee in a non-dog park (meaning any dogs in the park have to be on a leash). A dog runs up and bites him in a scuffle for the frisbee. The owner shows up afterwards w/o seeing what happened and is very confrontational, denies any wrong doing and flees w/the dog. The victim follows while calling 911. So the police show up and the owner is still very uncooperative even though the victim has an obvious bite to his hand/arm. Needless to say, the dog gets taken away by animal services and will probably end up euthanized. Sad, considering the animal probably wasn’t that dangerous.

My issue is with the owner. First, he invites drama by having the dog off his leash in an area where it’s clearly posted not to. Don’t get me wrong, dogs need room to run. SF has several parks specifically for dogs. Granted there aren’t many but they are located all over the city. Second, instead of just owning up to the issue and possibly avoiding having his dog taken away from him, he acts the complete ass. So now the poor dog gets to suffer for his stupidity. I think they should lock the owner up in a cage for awhile and see how he likes it.

Lunch date

Starting the new year off w/a bang, I had a lunch date today. A very nice one at that. He was everything he said he was and actually looked like his pics. [1]tell it on the mountain! I get so annoyed w/guys here using pics of themselves 10-20 years & 40-50lbs ago. We met at a local joint in the castro. It was muggy/cold today but I needed to get out of the house anyway so made for a good excuse. Not only was he personable but he was sweet, approachable, and seemed really at ease chatting. He didn’t have his guard up and didn’t put on “airs” as to being some stuck up fag which was great. I am probably the most unpretentious person you could ever meet. I never understand pretentious people. All that work for a fascade, no thanks we are all stocked up here on drama.

I had a good time and I was a horrible flirt. (surprise) Started my day out in a good mood.

References

References
↑1 tell it on the mountain! I get so annoyed w/guys here using pics of themselves 10-20 years & 40-50lbs ago.