Full Days Are Fun Days
So today was a full day. This morning a workout at the LA Fitness closest to the house in Duncanville, TX. The facility was ok (a bit worn from some of what I observed), but I was pretty upset when I went in and they told me they would not honor my pass. Now, my 2-week pass which has an expiration date of 8/8/11 is supposed to be honored at any LA Fitness I visit during this time. This was important to me as I plan to use different gyms depending on where I am on a particular day and wanted to check out the various facilities to check on the continuity of the facility's quality.
However, the manager of the Duncanville said that they were not going to honor the pass and that "this is only supposed to be for one day". I was insistent and he wound up letting me work out after I pointed out the date and told him I would call the gym that issued the pass as well as lodge a complaint to his corporate office about the shadiness of what he was telling me. Don't mess with a man dealing with an uncomfortable prostate and on Tramadol! I wound up getting a good hard 20 minute swim in and left. If I join LA Fitness in the end, I doubt seriously I will use this particular location again what with the management and quality questions that were raised in my mind today.
Then to Ikea on the auspices of picking up a few kitchen implements including a scrub brush that both Scott and I like to use when washing dishes. First off, I had no idea the Dallas North Tollway would be closed an exit short and all toll traffic diverted to the access road. This resulted in a good 30 minute delay, so by the time i got to the store, I only had about 15 minutes to run in, get the things I needed and hit the road back to Oak Lawn for a reading this afternoon. It was by far the quickest visit to Ikea I have ever made. I did not hit the showroom to see anything on display like I enjoy and made myself pass by the bedding section. A return trip in a couple of weeks is definitely in order.
That speeding back DOWN the Tollway was to get to the GLBT Resource Center for a reading, talk and book signing with Justin Elzie. Justin was the first Marine to publicly come out and did it in high fashion on ABC News the very evening that Clinton announced he was basically throwing GLBT military personnel under the bus. Justin wound up the first Marine discharged under DADT, but he fought it in Federal court and wound up serving four more years as openly gay. He is a true living hero to the GLBT community
Now, a bit of history. In 1994, I attended the NC Pride parade and rally in Raleigh and there met Justin for the first time. It was brief as he was very busy with things at that rally, but memorable to me at least. Anyway, I totally lost track of him and his story over time. This past week though, I received an invitation to the event held on Saturday and decided to go. I looked him up on Facebook and sent a message saying hello, reintroducing myself and letting him know I would be at the book signing.
To make a long story short, we met Friday night when he and rafdfw met up with the regular dinner gang and really got along like a house on fire. There are so many similarities in our stories it is just too funny. Both of us grew up with pig farming being the primary commodity. Both of us have been involved with singing/acting, though he on a far more professional level. We both grew up in homes where Evangelical Christianity was emphasized. We are both July Cancer babies. All of that to say I am very happy to have made a new friend from a long ago brief acquaintance.
That and he gave a really inspiring talk today.
And photos are working as well! Justin and I, followed by Justin (little_buddha52 ) with sacredjade , who also happened to be there today..
However, the manager of the Duncanville said that they were not going to honor the pass and that "this is only supposed to be for one day". I was insistent and he wound up letting me work out after I pointed out the date and told him I would call the gym that issued the pass as well as lodge a complaint to his corporate office about the shadiness of what he was telling me. Don't mess with a man dealing with an uncomfortable prostate and on Tramadol! I wound up getting a good hard 20 minute swim in and left. If I join LA Fitness in the end, I doubt seriously I will use this particular location again what with the management and quality questions that were raised in my mind today.
Then to Ikea on the auspices of picking up a few kitchen implements including a scrub brush that both Scott and I like to use when washing dishes. First off, I had no idea the Dallas North Tollway would be closed an exit short and all toll traffic diverted to the access road. This resulted in a good 30 minute delay, so by the time i got to the store, I only had about 15 minutes to run in, get the things I needed and hit the road back to Oak Lawn for a reading this afternoon. It was by far the quickest visit to Ikea I have ever made. I did not hit the showroom to see anything on display like I enjoy and made myself pass by the bedding section. A return trip in a couple of weeks is definitely in order.
That speeding back DOWN the Tollway was to get to the GLBT Resource Center for a reading, talk and book signing with Justin Elzie. Justin was the first Marine to publicly come out and did it in high fashion on ABC News the very evening that Clinton announced he was basically throwing GLBT military personnel under the bus. Justin wound up the first Marine discharged under DADT, but he fought it in Federal court and wound up serving four more years as openly gay. He is a true living hero to the GLBT community
Now, a bit of history. In 1994, I attended the NC Pride parade and rally in Raleigh and there met Justin for the first time. It was brief as he was very busy with things at that rally, but memorable to me at least. Anyway, I totally lost track of him and his story over time. This past week though, I received an invitation to the event held on Saturday and decided to go. I looked him up on Facebook and sent a message saying hello, reintroducing myself and letting him know I would be at the book signing.
To make a long story short, we met Friday night when he and rafdfw met up with the regular dinner gang and really got along like a house on fire. There are so many similarities in our stories it is just too funny. Both of us grew up with pig farming being the primary commodity. Both of us have been involved with singing/acting, though he on a far more professional level. We both grew up in homes where Evangelical Christianity was emphasized. We are both July Cancer babies. All of that to say I am very happy to have made a new friend from a long ago brief acquaintance.
That and he gave a really inspiring talk today.
And photos are working as well! Justin and I, followed by Justin (little_buddha52 ) with sacredjade , who also happened to be there today..