The Countdown Begins!

I know you want to hate me. You really do! I am one of the people that has all of their holiday shopping done MONTHS in advance, has all their parties planned, cards mailed, and festive holiday fare throughout the completely decorated house! Martha would be proud (or green with envy...granted, it would be a shade that complemented her skin tone nicely). Yes, I am one of the people that brag to everyone and try to offer hints at how to be more like me when it comes to being ready! Yes...wait a minute...that's not me at all!!

Yes, I am still rushing around trying to get my Christmas shopping done. Granted, the house is decorated, but only because we had a party and people would come over and see if I wasn't. Thanks, T! However, I am in a conundrum as to what to get my partner that will a) not cost an arm and a leg, b) bring him joy, and c) possibly get me laid. You see, once you've been with someone for almost seven years, you take the opportunities that you can...contrived, yes. Necessary, definitely!

Oh, well! We do what we must to survive! It gets cold around here!

PS: I found a great blog by Puntabulous. You should go check him out and vote for him in the gay Bloggies!! This is a little late, but everything helps!

Is it Christmas yet?

I finally got around to starting my Christmas shopping. I was waiting to find out if my cousin was coming up or not. She and her new husband have three kids between them, but I do not ship! If the kiddies want presents, they must get them in person! I always reimburse them for gas, but I do not get joy out of shopping, wrapping, finding appropriate shipping boxes and then standing in line at the post office. Getting old allows one to be cranky that way!

The house is decorated (for the most part) for our Christmas party on Saturday night. I always send invitations and get responses, but they never match up when the event actually takes place. Fortunately, I work where everyone is looking for free food, so any of the HUGE amount of leftovers I always have will be put to good use. I know some of my employees really can use the help of extra food, not only at Christmas. You don't have to work retail or fast food to be working poor. sigh

G-Dubya also just granted us Feds the 24th as a holiday this year. I had already planned on working, so this was a nice bonus. Doesn't change my feelings about his incompetence as a leader, but you take the little things that you can!

Have a wonderful holiday season (regardless of how you do or do not celebrate!), and may your days be merry and bright!

Black Friday and Beyond!

With Turkey Day safely nestled in the recesses of the mind, it's time to turn towards my favorite holiday of all...a week off of work! Oh, and Christmas, of course. The day after Thanksgiving, I did my annual "roof squat" and put up the lights! I use multi-color icicle lights...I think white icicle lights are kind of akin to lighting up a parking lot. T decided to put lights on our maple tree out front as well, and ruined a perfectly good ladder falling off of it. He was a little peeved when I did not offer my deepest sympathies to him, but he was only three feet off of the ground and I watched the whole thing unfold in front of me...he was not hurt in the least! Besides, I told him that he shouldn't try as the ground around the tree is not exactly flat and easy to place a ladder on. I'm mean apparently!

I have this week off and was thinking about doing some Christmas shopping. Thankfully, my list is incredibly short as both of our families are opting out of receiving presents. Most everyone is strapped for cash this year, and we are all over 30...not exactly waiting for Santa Claus to stop by! Unfortunately, my washing machine decided to not stop running and somewhat flooded our laundry and powder rooms. The repairman cannot make it until Friday (of course) and although I think I know what the problem is and could possibly fix it, I learned long ago that some things are better left to professionals. I can imagine a bigger flood should I try.

So, I went to a laundromat today for the first time in about 16 years. I now know why I haven't returned! Although this one was clean and the few people in it were friendly and benign, the fact that I had to lug three bags of wet towels (from sopping up the flood) across a parking lot and pray that there was nothing funny in any of the machines that would dye my towels or make me itch! Fun, fun! Turns out everything was uneventful and I brought the goodies home to dry! One shopping day now in the dust.

I will be going into work tomorrow because one of my employees is giving a training session and I want to be there to support her. Then I get to have my oil changed (in the car...my oil is fine as far as I know!). I may get some shopping done, but it appears that my total loathing of traffic will mean that Wednesday will be my first venture into retail land.

Wish me luck!

Halloween is just around the corner!

What's a fella to do? We are not having a Halloween party this year and it appears none of our friends are either! What are a couple of middle-aged gay men to do in suburbia?

Decorate the house!

OK, this is T's thing, not mine. I'm the Christmas guy in the neighborhood. However, I got to go on the roof and put up the Halloween lights. Who has Halloween lights anyway? Us and the crazy old couple that has a hundred blow-ups in their yard every holiday!! They do look nice...a pre-cursor to the Christmas energy-use extravaganza! However, it seems in these troubled times, a respite from reality is still a nice diversion!



Hope everyone enjoys themselves and has a devil of a time!

How YOU doing?

Next week I get to start giving my annual performance appraisals to my 18 employees. As much as I love the thought of making them sweat, this is actually not that much fun for me. I do like getting with folks and having a nice chat, but I have discovered that most government employees aren't going to change a thing about what they do unless some adverse action is at play. Good employees will continue to perform well; bad employees will use all of their leave and complain about why they aren't getting promoted.

This will be my sixth go at this event. I think I'm prepared and that my points will all be valid. I talk with folks all the time throughout the year, so nothing should be a surprise. Yet, it inevitably happens that someone will think they are much better than I gave them credit for, and the discussion gets ugly. We have a new appraisal system where folks must get outstanding in at least 2 of the 4 elements in order to be eligible for an award. Before, you just had to be in the top 20-30% of a unit in order to get an award (and that criteria was VERY subjective). This should be interesting as I only have 3 folks who will be considered based on the new system.

We shall soon see how this goes over!

Charity-a-palooza and a Pound of Flesh

My checkbook has taken a beating!! I have had several friends (and T.!) approach me for donations for all the charity events happening in the Seattle area. Vuboq was asking for donations as well, and I was going to help out there, but I realized I am not a multi-millionaire who donates to make his name look better after a bad scandal. My trough is empty, alas!

It's interesting how we all say we want to do good and help out the world in some way, but that pesky standard of living we try to maintain gets in the way. Since I work for a social agency, I know that many folks live on far less than I make, but I still have to wonder how much more I could do if I didn't have to spend my money on frivolous desires.

Speaking of frivolous desires, last night T's sister had another figure competition. We got to drive to Bellevue and see lots of spray-tanned, half-naked flesh! T's sister has been doing these competitions for two years now, and she really works hard at it. She eats chicken and vegetables and egg whites and protein bars, and very little sugar, and no pasta or cheese (pretty much no dairy at all), and she says she enjoys life! I could not do that to myself, but she does look good.

(PS...the spray-tan looks great on stage, scary up close!)

T is on a crazy "let's not eat much" diet, too, but he is already too thin. I, alas, am carrying a few extra pounds who seem to have taken up permanent residence. Let us just say that when his family comes over, we pretty much only talk about dieting and exercise. Granted, I used to be a fitness instructor, but I no longer have a job that allows me to devote 2-3 hours a day on my appearance! I feel like singing "One of these things is not like the other" whenever we have a family function. I am trying my best now to exercise, but my metabolism isn't what it used to be. We shall see what happens!

So, in closing, for all of you who are raising funds for charity, your efforts are applauded and I hope you all exceed your goals! And for those who want to become figure competitors, I wish you a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese (in theory of course! You'll have to make do with some soy and broccoli!). Oh, what the heck...I'll eat it in your honor!

Can you make wine out of sour grapes?

Alas, I did not get the position that would have furthered my career to new heights. Although I will carry on and smile and do the best job that I can (I'm funny that way), I also have to consider what went awry. What did I do wrong? What am I lacking? How can I develop myself so that I might not be overlooked next time?

Sadly, I don't have an answer for that. I thought I was doing very well and have been told so by all of my bosses.

Without sounding like I'm bearing a grudge or being bitter, the fact remains that I am a young (ish) white male and it seems that this is quickly becoming a bad thing in our society. Granted, I am all for affirmative action, but even then, merit should still be a factor. Not that I am saying we have brought total equal rights into fruition by any stretch of the imagination, but I fear that when we try to be overly PC, we tend to minimize the efforts of everyone. Had I received the promotion, there are those who might say it was because I am a white male. I am sure there will be talk about the Hispanic female who got the job.

My employer states that they take diversity very seriously and our workforce should reflect the public that we serve. If you looked at the actual workforce statistically, you would notice that it does not accurately reflect (at least with current percentages) the population at large. I am a minority (and not because of my sexual orientation). I have never received any privileges because my parents were Caucasian, nor have I benefited from any type of public or private assistance because of who I am. However, I am sure that some would think it of me because I have done all right for myself, and they would still begrudge me any success.

Oh, well, I'll stop whining now. I guess my point is that we still have a long way to go in truly becoming equals. I would never minimize the struggles that people have gone through to achieve the freedoms they have now, but is it right to stack the deck so the perception is that all is well in the world? GayProf stated it much better than I did here, but diversity still is an interesting topic.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering why I thought I was a better candidate...I have three years seniority, I was a sergeant in the army, I am the go-to guy when anyone else needs assistance...and I helped train the selectee.

Go figure!

Still waiting!

I have no clue if anyone is reading this or not (is there a "hit" button that lets you know? I'm clueless in this regard!), but I mentioned that I am waiting on word to see if I get a leadership program spot. We were told after the telephone interview (mid-August) that we would know by September 1st. Well, it's a little past that. Although I would love this opportunity, I will not die if I don't get it. But there are several other positions I would apply for, but I don't want to until I know one way or the other about this one. We'll see what Monday brings! If anyone is reading, have you ever been in this position? What would you do?

Thanks!

It's Official!

My partner and I now join the ranks of the gays who might be protected from their seemier family members! On Thursday we signed our wills. Washington State recently passed a domestic partnership law, and we will also be submitting that paperwork! $750.00 for the will (only because our lawyer is an old friend of T's) and $50.00 for the domestic partnership papers! What a bargain! Of course, a traditional wedding (at a Justice o' the Peace) would have been cheaper, and we may have been able to have a reception and get gifts, but that would be a "special right" and who wants those?

At least the babies won't have to worry about being orphaned now!

My Faith is Being Restored!

I don't consider myself an elitist, but sometimes I wonder where our society is headed. The current media frenzy over the naughty, nasty antics of politicians and celebrities just won't stop. Many years ago I chose to no longer watch the news because I was tired of all the cynicism and apathy that was being marketed in an attractive package. I figured if something was actually worthy of my interest, it would be discussed out on the smoke deck. Turns out I was right! Call me the laissez faire viewer!

Being an independent thinker, I also worry about the effects this mass-market journalism will have on those viewers who are too consumed with thoughts of themselves (and how they will be perceived) to form their own opinions. Being new to blogging (including reading them on a regular basis), I have found that many others share my love for a good debate and question that which does not appear to be all that it seems. Even if I hover in the shadows, the public display of intelligence is refreshing. Even if no one reads my little freshman effort, I will still have the freedom to hang with the more established fellas (as it were) and bask in the brainwaves.

Thank you bloggers!

The Hunt for New Employment

Since I've been with the government almost 11 years, the only positions I ever applied for were promotions from within. I have received more than my fair share. My partner, on the other hand, has had to change jobs many times. He has been with the County for over five years, but is getting tired of the 60-mile a day commute in really bad traffic. So he is looking for employment closer...employment that is still with a government entity as I have been hounding him that he needs a pension! Because of my work, I hear too many sad stories of folks that don't plan ahead and end up with very little when they should be enjoying their golden years.

The point is, we have all been in that position where we need to find gainful employment. The interview process can be brutal, and no matter how good we think we are, there is always someone a little better or willing to take less pay. I have been reading other blogs about people who aren't happy with their current jobs, but fear the change that might ensue. The almighty "dollah" prevails! No one strives to live in a cardboard box.

I am fortunate that I actually like my job, but I still try to move ahead and must endure the internal processes that we have for these endeavors. I am currently awaiting news on a leadership program I applied for. The interview was over the telephone (which was weird because I couldn't see whether the interviewer was engaged (or laughing hysterically at my answers). The questions were "behavioral-based" meaning that you never know what the hell someone is looking for. You could shine or you could be labeled a deviant or miscreant. It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

So I will close in saying that if anyone is out there looking for a job right now, I feel for you. This is not for the faint of heart!

My First Posting!

After lurking behind the scenes at many other blogs, I decided that I should try my hand at this. Not that my life is that interesting, but because I feel that I there is not enough attention being paid to gay, Federal employees! OK, I am not an activist by any means, but I like what I am reading in other blogs and would like to force my way into that universe! Since I am new to this, forgive me if I make any social blunders. I am usually too busy living my life to be PC at all times. Besides, life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving (yes, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Auntie Mame). As I get used to this format, I will try to add interesting content that pertains to life in this humble little burg between Tacoma and Seattle. I will sign off now and try to make this purty!