Philly Place Under Contract

On Christmas Eve, our Philadelphia real estate agent notified us that our revised offer had been accepted. Yay! Now, for the inspection, appraisal, and loan approval. Our agent noted that the seller had belly ached about declining sales prices, well we can certainly relate to that complaint!

The House is Under Contract

Our house in Atlanta is now under contract. When we listed it over seven months ago, our real estate agent estimated that it would sell within ninety days. Unfortunately, that estimate was given before the sub prime mortgage debacle and the subsequent housing crash.

We are happy that the house may finally be sold; now, we just need a place in Philadelphia.

The Attic Varmint

Every couple of years, we get a critter who decides the attic is the perfect place to store acorns. This situation is rather annoying, since they are active in the nightime when we are trying to sleep.

Here is the latest varmint to attempt housekeeping in our attic:


After dining on sunflower seeds, our guest was transported to a local park where he was last spotted quickly climbing a tree.

Unusual Holiday Season

When the local chain of pawnshops mails sales fliers ("Giant Holiday Sale!"), you know it is an unusual Christmas:



The economy must not be doing well when the pawnshops are having sales -- and mailing brochures to market their merchandise!

New Computers are Work

A couple weeks ago, I purchased a new PC. It is much faster than the old one, but it has been a pain to set everything up. Windows has a wizard to help transfer files, but that doesn't speed the process of sorting through old files to identify the ones to delete and the ones to move, nor the time to organize the files to move. Nor did the wizard move everything that I wanted on the new PC.

Additionally, now I must remember all the passwords to the various accounts; previously, I let my web browser remember the passwords (that file is not moved by the wizard, their idea of a security feature).

Watch -- the same PC as I bought will now go on sale for hundreds less than I paid and I still won't have everything set up!

The Cat Has Cataracts

Our cat is old enough that she has developed cataracts.

She's now sixteen. We've had her for eleven years; she was five when she adopted us at a local animal shelter.

The cataracts are now so bad that she has trouble seeing, even treats placed a couple inches away. Interestingly, she was supposed to take care of my better half in a new city (which she has lovingly done), but now my better half is taking care of her as she adjusts to her poor eyesight. Life indeed abounds with ironies.

And I thought pets had it easy.

My Iowa Souvenir

Originally, I purchased this souvenir for my mother-in-law; however, I'm not sure that I want to part with it!

Road Trip!

I leave this morning for a road trip to Iowa to check on my father. Except in the winter, I always enjoy the drive with the beautiful scenery. My route cuts through the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia and Tennessee, and the rolling hills and prairie of Missouri and Iowa. It's such a change from Atlanta scenery. Plus, I get to listen to music or practice a foreign language during the drive.

My dad lives in a small town of about 5000 people. It's a whole different world. People seem to have more time there, and you can't go anywhere without bumping into a friend or acquaintance. Even people who don't know you are friendly. Except for the winter weather, it's a great place. I didn't see it that way growing up there; isn't it strange how time changes your perspective?

Autumn in Georgia

With its rolling hills dotted with trees, Georgia is stunning in the autumn. The golds, reds, and greens are fun to see, like being inside a landscape painted by Monet.

Georgia is the first state where I've lived that I've enjoyed autumn. Florida had so few hardwood trees that it was not nearly as pretty, while autumn in Iowa only served to announce the upcoming winter, which was always long, cold, windy, and icy.

The Front Yard Garden

For the last several years, the rainfall in the Atlanta area has been undependable. My better half planted this drought resistant flower (the globe amaranth, also known as gomphrena) which has been flourishing. Here's a different view of the front yard flowers:


The bumblebees and butterflies enjoy the gomphrenas, and it's fun to stand outside and watch them.

Just in Time for Halloween!

Our spiders are doing their part to celebrate Halloween. Every autumn, spiders start weaving webs along the exterior walls of the homes in our Atlanta neighborhood. The one in the picture is just outside the back door, one of their favorite places. The webs appear suddenly, and never just one, usually at least three, four, or five appear simultaneously. Many a time, I've been surprised taking trash out the back door. My usual method of shutting the door, pivoting, and moving toward the trashcan almost always ensures that my face encounters any new web. LOL. This is the one proven method to wake me up without coffee!

By the way, one of my MySpace friends found a website where you can find your Halloween name. Click Here For Your Halloween Name. Mine is "Cobb Webbed Crotch," which makes me cringe because the name makes that area sound so unused. LOL.

The Underwear Issue

The models are the reason I enjoy the issue of Genre magazine devoted to men's underwear. Unless you're gay, you probably don't know the many different brands and styles of men's underwear that exist. The brand in the picture above is 2xist, a favorite among gay men. Indeed, Exodus ministry (the group that claims to change people's orientation from gay to straight) considers 2xist underwear too gay (whatever that is) and bans the brand from being worn by its victims attempting the orientation change.

Genre does contain articles and this issue has one looking back at the underwear revolution caused by Calvin Klein. Prior to Calvin Klein, underwear was not considered sexy, but a commodity. Thank you Calvin Klein!

BTW, Genre also has an annual issue on beachwear that is also eye pleasing. :-)

Internet Fakes

One of the problems created by the internet is the use of fake identities so that people can misrepresent themselves. I'm mystified by misrepresentations. Are they so dissatisfied with their life that they must lie about it? I'd like to be younger, but calling myself 25 won't make me twenty-five.

I also believe that truth always prevails, although there are times when it can be slow to do so. What are the people who misrepresent themselves going to do when the truth emerges?

There was an interesting story early this year about a man who invented a fake identity and fell in love over the internet with a woman who invented a fake identity. The man murdered a rival who was competing for the fake internet woman. (You can't make up stories like this!) In this case, the truth ruined several lives.

One of my MySpace friends sent a bulletin last week about an impostor. The impostor had posted about a dozen photos that belonged to my MySpace friend. What kind of fantasy do you have when you do that?

(Disclosure: Since I was an identity theft victim, I never provide internet sites with my real birth date. I choose a random date, and I do usually key in one that knocks off several years. But its not done with the intent of deceiving; it's done to avoid a hacker stealing that information and impersonating me.)

Sexual Identity

I used to think that people were either gay or straight, and that bisexuals were people who weren't ready to admit that they were gay. I now think that sexual orientation is more like a scale, with some people on the extreme ends of gay or straight, and others falling in the middle, truly bisexual.
My new view is the result of some conversations with one of my better half's friends, a psychologist, who mentioned the many patients she treated because they felt an sexual attraction that differed from their usual orientation. She concluded that everyone was bisexual, although to different degrees.

With so much societal pressure to be heterosexual, people like me who identify as gay are pretty much only attracted to the same sex; however, I suspect many straights are actually bisexual. Perhaps as being gay becomes increasingly accepted, more people will identify themselves as bisexual. I'm sure that this will complicate marriages and relationships (not that they need any more complexity!).

My Visit to the Gym

Monday is one of the days I visit the gym to perform my penance for the calories that I so enjoy. In walking from my car to the entrance, I found that I was walking behind another guy.

Being gay, I love the sight of a sexy guy just as a straight man loves the sight of a sexy lady. Because I'm in love, I don't do anything but look, but looking is fun.

Well, the guy in front of me was a sexy, twenty-something boy with muscular, hairy legs, which started to turn me on. (Of course, being in Atlanta with my better half in Philadelphia has something to do with my libido too). I don't usually begin my gym visits that way.

Entering the gym, I handed the employee (a girl that I usually chat with) my ID and asked her how her week-end was. "Great!" she exclaimed, telling me how she went to Miami and had a fun time at the beach. "See?" she said, leaning toward me and opening her shirt collar. The sunburn was apparent, and I told her "You must have had a wonderful time!"

As I walked to the locker room to stow my gym bag, a cute, Asian, twenty-something gay looks at my legs, then looks into my eyes, smiles, and nods. Can everybody tell I'm horny?

Rotating through all the exercise (torture?) machines that I use, I came to the shoulder press. Nobody was there but they left their drink. I read the label incredulously. Somebody had branded the sports drink "Muscle Milk." LOL.

The Philly Apartment

The Philadelphia apartment is sparsely furnished, since we already have a houseful of furniture in Atlanta. The apartment has lamps (from Ikea); a desk, PC and chair; TV stand and TV; bookcase; kitchen table and two chairs (also from Ikea); and a mattress and box spring. On my last trip there, we added a Papasan chair and a loveseat. Prior to furnishing the living room, the apartment reminded me of dormitory living, but my better half missed that experience. (He commuted from his parents house when he attended college). The cat loves the deep window ledges, since she can perch there and watch birds, people, and traffic. (Any moving object gets scrutinized).

The apartment is only a couple blocks from the main campus of Philadelphia University, so there are many students living in the building. Despite the number of students, noise has not been a problem.

Cut Those Gray Hairs!

At a recent haircut, I told the hair stylist to be sure and cut off all the gray hairs. (I'm starting to get some around the edges. And because I still feel like I'm in my twenties, I should look it, right?) She laughed.

The stylist suggested coloring the hair. It was my turn to laugh. LOL.

Philadelphia Undergraduates

One of the fun parts of visiting Philadelphia is that there are cute undergraduates (that is, the men) everywhere because of the more than 80 colleges and universities in the metro area. Can you say eye candy? LOL.

The gym also had its share of cute, fit guys which always inspires me to work harder during my workout.

Manhattan Skyline

As seen from the ferry to Ellis Island, the Manhattan skyline was magnificent. My spouse, who was familiar with the old skyline, lamented the missing World Trade Towers.

Statue of Liberty

We enjoyed seeing the Statue of Liberty, a gift of France, and climbed the 156 steps to the pedestal's observation deck. That deck is where this picture was taken. Since the World Trade Center attacks, it's as far up as visitors are allowed.

The base of the statue has this poem:

Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
- Emma Lazarus

Touring Ellis Island

On Monday, my spouse (above, hating his picture being taken) and I toured Ellis Island, the entry point for millions of immigrants to the United States. My spouse had grandparents on both sides of his family who immigrated through Ellis Island.

At Ellis Island, the immigrants were inspected for infectious diseases, for mental soundness, and for physical defects. Less than 2% were refused entry. The island had several hospital buildings where immigrants would stay if they arrived ill.

After being cleared for entry, the immigrants could exchange money into United States currency, and buy tickets to anywhere in the country. About one-third stayed in the New York area and two-thirds migrated elsewhere.

We spent several interesting hours there, and only left because we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.

Evacuating the Apartment

The apartment's fire alarm started wailing around four-thirty Sunday morning. Such a piercing siren, it was impossible to ignore. Moving rather slowly (it was 4:30, after-all and we had been sleeping), my spouse and I dressed, grabbed the cat, and descended the stairs. We didn't know the apartment building had that many tenants, all looking disheveled (like us) in either the lobby or just outside the building. It looked like we were one of the last tenants to evacuate the twelve-story building. It was a cool morning (at least it wasn't raining!).

Samantha (the cat) was not happy, but she behaved. She doesn't like noise, she doesn't like strangers, and she doesn't like being carried, but she must have realized that something was wrong. As the other tenants noticed her, cradled in my better half's arms, she sure received lots of smiles.

The police and fire department arrived. Entering the building, they quickly determined that there was no fire. So we joined the long line of tenants ascending the stairs, climbed to our floor (thankfully, we're not in the top floors), and gave Samantha several treats for behaving so well.

Gettysburg!

Saturday, we toured Gettysburg, the site of one of the most memorable battles of the United States' Civil War in July, 1863. After Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee would never threaten the north again.

My spouse and I stopped first at the National Park Service's museum. The current one wasn't very interesting, focusing mostly on military weapons such as rifles and cannons, but they are building a replacement which is slated to open next year.

We walked across to the National Cemetery, where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Afterwards, we started on the "two-hour" car tour of the battlefield, with a National Park Service tape as the guide. It took us considerably longer than two-hours, as we would stop to read each of the many monuments along the roadway. (Interestingly, the monuments for the Confederate soldiers tended to be big, elaborate, state-wide pieces, while the monuments for the union soldiers tended to be smaller, but more numerous, with one for each unit that fought. Only Pennsylvania had a statewide memorial, which is the picture above.)

It was interesting to see several famous Gettysburg sites, including the ones for:

• Cemetery Ridge, site of Pickett's Charge (famous for the slaughter of Confederates charging a union position)
• the wheat field (famous for the slaughter of Union troops charging a confederate position)
• Little Round Top (famous for Joshua Chamberlain's defense of the Union line)

Despite the chilly temperatures and the brisk wind, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

My Space

I recently signed up for MySpace, to explore it. They have the ability to inquire by email address or name to find members. To my surprise, none of my friends are members. I guess we are not early technology adopters? LOL.

My Space allows members to join groups, and I've joined several hot guy groups (eye candy!) and history groups, and even one group supporting gay marriage. I've been inviting other members of these groups to be my MySpace friends. I suspect I'll meet some interesting people, although one of its purposes seems to be dating, which I'm not interested in. (Another purpose seems to be marketing; some businesses, particularly bands, seem to delight in inviting people as friends and then sending their "friends" advertisements that are labelled "bulletins").

So far, I like YouTube better. That may change, because MySpace seems to be integrating YouTube into its site (both are owned by Google).

Kentucky Crafts

Driving up to Philadelphia and avoiding Virginia (as noted in a previous post) took me through part of Kentucky. One of the reststops along my route had arts and crafts from area artists for sale. I discovered this mouse, which I bought for my better half. Isn't it cute? :-)

The cat sure sniffed it!

Too Many Choices

I hate running out of toothpaste.

Toothpaste is one of the product categories where there is an excessive number of choices. Do you want the tartar control, plaque control, bad-breath control, whitening formula, anti-cavity formula, oxygenating (I don't know what it does), or everything (now called total control)? Peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, wintermint, clean mint, fresh mint, vanilla mint, or cinnamon (yes, they have it)? Paste, gel, or drops? Regular, large, value, family, or extra-value (aka, toothpaste forever) size? Colgate, Aim, Aquafresh, Crest, Ultrabrite, Listerine, or one of the smaller brands (like Tom's of Maine or Nature's Gate)?

Laundry detergent is another product with too many choices.

The grocery store only carries one product where I like the increased number of choices: beer. :-)

I Hate Forgetting

A few years ago, my spouse and I visited France. Before traveling, we tried to learn as much of the language as we could. While there, we made out OK, although it obviously wasn't our first language. (We would buy and actually read a French newspaper at breakfast every morning, for example).

At restaurants, what would usually happen was that the waiter would start in French and realize we were Americans trying to speak their language, and graciously speak to us in excellent English. (Although one of the waitresses asked my spouse if we were Russian, and he said yes. LOL.)

When my real estate agent and I started talking about France (we both had a great time, it turns out), I wondered how much of the French language that I still retained. Out came the French tapes (yes, cassettes, only my German courses are on CDs). Ye gads, how can I forget that much!

So I'm studying my French tapes once more. Who knows, maybe we'll visit Montreal again...

Such A Pretty Drive!

Since the moving company isn't moving us until we've purchased a place in Philadelphia, I'm usually delivering stuff to my spouse (clothes, and items for the apartment like dishes) when I go to see him. This next trip will be seasonal items (also known as coats, sweaters, long-sleeve shirts, and flannel sheets) and some additional furniture. Since I'm delivering stuff, I drive rather than fly.

I've enjoyed the drives from Atlanta to Philadelphia. There is no way to avoid the Appalachian Mountains, and I wouldn't want to if I could. They are so pretty, all heavily forested and breathtakingly beautiful.

This last trip I avoided Virginia, which has lowered their speed limit. Long stretches of interstate now are limited to only 60 MPH. The state also raised their speeding tickets to a maximum fine of $1000. The new speed limits and increased fines sounded like a way to raise funds from travelers. Therefore, I'm avoiding the state until they become friendlier.

So instead of Virginia, I drove through West Virginia. Such a pretty state! It was the first time that I'd ever traveled through it. As an added bonus, the gasoline per gallon cost less than in Virginia (must be lower state gas taxes). I must enjoy the trips now, because I'm sure they won't be so pretty in the winter time, when the trees drop their leaves.

Endorsed By All the Sweet Tooths!

Our real estate agent prefers us to be gone when the house is being shown; she thinks it encourages the prospective buyers to examine the house more closely as well as to speak more candidly about the house.

Swinging back from my errands, I see a strange car in the driveway which must mean the house is still being shown. What to do? Being a warm day, thoughts of ice cream danced through my mind. A brief ride later, I find myself at Dairy Queen trying a Waffle Sundae. (The pictures looked so tempting, I couldn't resist. And I got to pick two toppings from a list of a dozen or so.) Hot Fudge and strawberries poured over vanilla ice cream in a holder of waffle cone. Delicious! Endorsed by every tooth, each of which is a sweet tooth! May all the visitors be this slow. LOL.

Playing the Same Song Endlessly

Don't you hate it when a song gets stuck in your head?

Yesterday, I visited some web page that loaded and played The House of the Rising Sun while you're viewing the website. All day, that song kept playing in my mind. I finally started singing it aloud; thankfully, there was nobody here to hear my terrible rendition.

No TV Except DVDs

When my better half moved to Philadelphia, we discontinued the DirectTV service in Atlanta. I very seldom miss it. My viewing was limited to watching occasional reruns of Coach on USA Network and of Reba on Lifetime -- both shows were hilarious -- or to watching Monk on USA Network.

Now, my viewing is of DVDs like The Bourne Supremacy. It's so much better watching DVDs because I get so annoyed at broadcast television with their seemingly endless run of commercials.

Now, if we could just rid the DVDs of their annoying previews...

Cravings!

It seems like I've been having a lot of cravings recently. When it was so hot, I bought extreme moose tracks ice cream (fudge and chocolate chunks in chocolate ice cream). Delicious!

Then there was the chocolate donuts, the tortilla chips and salsa, and now the potato chips: kettle cooked, thick, rippled pieces of heavenly tasting delights.

Did I mention the chocolate chunk cookies? LOL.

The Mosquitos Are Back

One of the few benefits to Atlanta being hot and dry was that the mosquitos disappeared from the back yard. With our recent rains I was surprised and disappointed to discover that the mosquitos are back!

Usually, I'm not able to take a step from the back door without a squadron descending upon me. Mind you, other people can be with me but I'm the one who gets bit. An article from a few years back claimed that mosquitos seem to prefer people with certain body chemistry. Even with insect repellent, I'm a snack.

Spouse Starts Blog

My spouse started a blog. Here is the link:

Philly Gay Married With Cat

Samantha (the cat) is up in Philadelphia with him, although it's debatable whether he's taking care of her or she's taking care of him.

As someone once said "Dogs have masters, cats have staff." :-)

Heat Exploded Pepsi Can

Although I live in Atlanta, the home of Coca-Cola, I prefer Pepsi. During our August heat wave, I had this can of Pepsi in my cars trunk where the heat exploded it. I've never had that happen and almost always have cans of soft drinks riding around in the trunk. I was amazed how the top was literally ripped off. Here's a picture of the can:



Thankfully, the heat wave appears over, and it has begun raining again!

Certain Songs Put Me Back in Time

Certain songs always propel me back in time, to the year when the song was popular. Hearing Little Willie by Sweet always transports me to high school days, just after I received my drivers license, almost thirty-five years ago. Shambala by Three Dog Night also places me in that year, driving my first car (a 1964 Chevy Impala) in my hometown, with the windows rolled-down, the AM radio tuned to KIOA playing the top 40 hits! :-)

Profile Pic

Another Record for Heat, Some Rain, and Varmits in the Tomatoes

Yesterday brought another new record high temperature, 104 degrees, and a surprise -- an evening thunderstorm! The half-inch of rain was the first in my neighborhood since July. Needless to say, it was very much welcome.

Some varmints (probably raccoons) had even started to eat my tomatoes, probably because the summer has been so hot and dry that they have no other food.

Atlanta History Center

I visited the Atlanta History Center museum yesterday. They have greatly expanded their exhibits from my last visit of some years ago.

One of their best permanent exhibits is on the Civil War. They recreate a portion of the trenches that dominated the fight for Atlanta (and most of the other battles, such as the siege of Petersburg), and explain how the trenches were constructed. You can even step into the trench. Weapons, uniforms, and other soldiers' belongings such as mess kits, shaving kits, and playing cards (all the essentials) were on display, along with time lines, maps, and videos. It is quite well done.

I was also impressed at the maps of Sherman's March through Georgia. My mother is from a farm in rural Georgia between Columbus and Macon, and family history has it that Sherman marched through the family farm. Until recently, I could find no evidence of this, as most maps do not place either of Sherman's two columns of marchers that far west. Recently, the book Confederate Industry (by Harold S. Wilson) explained that discrepancy by noting that Union cavalry under General James H. Wilson raided from Columbus to Macon as a diversion to support Sherman's March. Of course, Wilson's cavalry destroyed factories and homes in their path. The History Center's map showed this movement. I was impressed!

I also enjoyed the exhibits for Benjamin Franklin and southern folk-art. My favorite folk-art jug showed two faces and was named for politicians. LOL.

I left the museum after three hours but could easily have spent the entire day there. Unfortunately, my stomach told me it was way past lunch-time, and I do listen to my stomach! (There are other exhibits too, such as on the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, and on Atlanta native and golfing great Bobby Jones.)

Their tours of Swan House and the plantation home are also informative, interesting, and enjoyable. And no, I receive no money from my ringing endorsement of the Atlanta History Center.

Delicious Southern Foods

Fried okra is one of my favorite Southern foods, and is difficult to find outside the South. If you've never had it, it is delicious - truly, a piece of heaven on earth. It makes eating your vegetables enjoyable.

I'll also miss macaroni and cheese being considered a vegetable.

Southern barbeque is also delicious, cooked slowly to perfection. Indeed, it is unusual to find a bad barbeque restaurant here.

On the flip side, Philadelphia (and the northeast in general) has better pizza than the South; here, the best pizza seems to be prepared by people who have moved from the midwest (another area that has delicious pizza) or the northeast.

Hot and Dry

August has been hot and dry in Atlanta. Other than a brief shower that didn't leave even a tenth of an inch in the rain gauge, there's been no rain since late in July. August so far has set seven new record highs, with eight days having highs of 100 degrees or higher. That is hot. Most of metro Atlanta is under watering restrictions. Where we live, we can only water the yard three days a week, only during the hours of midnight until 10:30 am. Some metro area counties have prohibited outside watering entirely.

The birds have discovered the neighbor's backyard fence when her watering system is being used. Her water nozzles create a mist of water that rises to the height of the fence, perfect for the birds to perch on and get wet.

Killed Another House Plant

One of my better half's many talents is growing things, like flowers, shrubs, and vegetables. Naturally, he is the one who takes care of the house plants. With him in Philadelphia, it has fallen to me to take care of them. They have had so many near death experiences that I have transferred as many of the plants to Philadelphia as possible. Nonetheless, four house plants have shriveled, turned brown (not the preferred color), and shed their leaves. The latest to succumb was the bamboo plant. The ivy is barely hanging on. I think the orchid is dead too, although the leaves are not completely brown. (I generally keep watering until the leaves fall off.) It certainly takes less time to water the remaining plants.

One of Summer's Delights

With putting the house on the market, we were late in planting the tomato plants. I'm been so impatient waiting for the plants to grow, and, later, for the green tomatoes to ripen. Finally, several were ready to pick. There is nothing so tasty as home-grown tomatoes. One of my delights are summer's tomato sandwiches. Yum!

Here's the Cat

Here's our cat, relaxing from running the house. She is a calico, and the vet says that calico cats are almost always females, which was news to us. She adopted us at an animal shelter about ten years ago.

A Great Time to Move

We're moving from Atlanta to Philadelphia, because of a change in jobs for my partner. He's already up there, while I'm sticking around in Atlanta to sell the house. Selling the house has been more of a challenge than either of us anticipated. The market here was not good, and has become even worse with the financial troubles of many of the mortgage companies (including the bankruptcy of HomeBanc). Still, the worst part of selling the home is being separated from each other. (I guess I'm still in love if that is my foremost complaint!) Luckily, Philadelphia is only a short plane flight, or a long day's drive, from Atlanta. At least during the summer, the drive is beautiful.

So, how do you think we're like the winters after living in Atlanta for over twenty years? LOL.