February 2024 Monthly Entry
After the big dump of snow we had since last month's entry, the rains came for the rest of January and washed all snow away. The first half of February hasn't been that rainy and lately, it has been sunny and nice. The nights can get cold in return, but not near the levels of the cold wave we had last month. I heard there may be one more fall of snow before winter ends, which usually happens with us here. Even then, I'm glad we are over halfway through winter and spring is on the horizon in over a month.
I will be in Seattle this weekend to visit boy (Alex) Zander as he'll be visiting the city. I have no plans outside of visiting Doghouse Leathers and may go to CC Attle's on Saturday night. It is Seattle Coronation this weekend also, but I won't be going to it and neither will the Jet Chapter of the Knights. Daddy Rick will be going though, so my seeing him will be limited. Next month, BLUF Vancouver will have a gathering March 9th. Like last year, we will be going to the Fountainhead Pub from 7-9pm, and then the VML social at the Pumpjack Pub from 9-11pm. Ed from Grand Prairie will be flying over to join us that weekend as it is the only date he is free to do. While I've been avoiding VML socials for the last three months due to the personal incidences that happened, I'm going to have to bear it this time. I'll talk about Seattle and the gathering next month.
During that big dump of snow last month, there were two days of schools closed. For the first day, I used a paid gratuity day for the very first time since I became permanent as I've been banking these days for years. It was too dangerous to go into work as not all major routes were cleared. It stopped snowing eventually and after enough time, the roads were cleared enough that I went into work the second day of schools being closed. At Rosser, it was just me that afternoon as David came in the previous day by himself and did the vast majority of shoveling. He was too sore to come in so I picked up where he left off. I first increased the width of the sidewalks that he did and by the time I got to the last quarter on Pandora, I noticed it was where he must have slowed down. I cleared those and stopped. After I made a record of my work, I closed the school and went to Montecito. Jay was in that day and also managed to make it in the previous day. He did the vast majority of work around the school, so I did what was left. My main focus was Montecito Drive, clearing the sidewalks by using salt to break down the ice so I could scoop it up and throw it. I finished on Duthie though Jay had done a decent job on it beforehand. I was very tired and sore that I relaxed for the rest of my shift. The woman who cleans the daycare had come in before Jay's shift ended. She shoveled the snow outside the daycare before returning to Westridge to help with the shoveling there. It was nice to relax on my own for the rest of the night. Schools reopened the following day and soon after, the rains came to get rid of the snow. It hasn't snowed since, thankfully.
Using a sick day on January 30, I had an appointment with an ophthalmologist here in Langley. I haven't used a sick day since my workplace accident in 2019 (because of this, I forfeit banking a gratuity day next year, but it's not a big deal as I've amassed over twenty days banked since 2018), but I had no choice. My parents dropped me at the clinic and my eyes were dilated for the first time ever. It wasn't painful or anything, but I did have problems reading text on my phone. After some tests, the eye doctor says my eyes are in terrific shape - meaning that my diabetes haven't affected them yet! I was very happy to hear that and I trust my GP and endocrinologist will be too. My folks picked me up after they did a quick trip to Costco. Speaking of my endocrinologist, I'll be seeing her next month.
I've got some really sad news... my best bear bud of over 21 years, Kevin Caldwell of Fresno, has passed away around 10:30pm on February 2nd - just four days shy of my 42nd birthday! He was 62 years old. I plan to do a blog entry on him, talking about our friendship and high place within the Knights. That will be forthcoming, but not sure when it will be completed. I will be pouring over my past blog entries about all the times we got to see each other and comment on them. I am so glad Eugene and I went to visit him in Fresno last August! We knew he was declining in his health and thought he had a few years left in him, but his organs were giving up and he couldn't be saved.
My birthday with my family was low key this year, given how fractured we were. My younger sister took me to our favourite Pho place in Langley, and I got a nice gift from Wayne T. later on during my birthday week (which afforded us to talk about Kevin too.) It was only four of us for my little party on the 4th: my folks, my older sister, and I. My brother-in-law and niece didn't come up given the current circumstance. I had to work on my birthday on the 6th, but I was happy with some of the messages I got on Bearforest and Biggercity though some on my friends list didn't bother or care as usual. I thought more about Kevin than myself at that time, the fact I will never get a birthday greeting from him again via text message. On a nice note, Kevin's lover Kirk sent me a birthday wish through WhatsApp on Kevin's phone, so that perked me a bit.
I've got some bad news with my dealing with Daddy Doug and what happened at Knights Anniversary last November. I sent him a message late last month on Recon, mentioning that I sent a text to his friend Philip with my apologies and explanation but have not heard a reply from Philip and asked Daddy Doug if he had any other suggestions. My message had a few other things, but they weren't relevant. Around a week after sending that message, I noticed the "Profile Not Found" title - meaning whomever I was chatting with has either shut down or suspended their profile, or I was blocked. I checked and sure enough, it was Daddy Doug. He opened my message, didn't bother replying, and must have blocked me. WTF? His profile cannot be searched for and to confirm if he truly blocked me, I would need someone to search his profile on my behalf. If it appears to them, he blocked me and if not, he may have suspended it. Still, the fact he didn't reply was very telling. I thought this misunderstanding could be rectified, but apparently I'm guilty of being a possible asshole with no amount of apologizing being acceptable. It's a bummer as I was hoping to have a friendship with Daddy Doug that was beginning between us last year, but if his immediate opinion of me is negative and couldn't give me the benefit of the doubt over a clear misunderstanding, then perhaps a friendship was never possible. As for Philip, I do not know as he chose not to reply to my text message. I don't know what to do if I confront Daddy Doug at future VML socials or even at Palm Springs Leather Pride. I guess I'll have to bear the negativity.
I've beaten the main campaign in Red Dead Redemption and I'm now starting the Undead Nightmare expansion. I should have it done by the end of the month. I plan to start Legacy of Ys: Books I & II this weekend while on the bus to and from Seattle. I've seen a few episodes of Star Trek: TOS and should have the first season done in spring.
Last Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (Theatrical), It's a Wonderful Life (Blu-Ray)
Last Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - The Screwtape Letters
Last Game: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages (3DS Virtual Console - GBC)
Current Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Miracles
Current Games: Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360) & Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (DS)