WHAT A WEEK...AND NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT...

Well, it has been quite a week since I last posted anything.

The major decision was whether or not to paint over the ghastly wallpaper in the living room, and the final recognition that it was, well, that or slow suicide. That meant that much time was spent moving things back and forth and piling them up and dragging dropcloths around, and not being able to put anything away until the painting was over.

Then I made the mistake of moving the refrigerator, and touching the stove. Both revealed quantities of greasy filth that made me wonder [a] who on earth could let things get that bad, and [b] what on earth the landlord thought he was paying a "cleaner" for. The stove was so greasy to the touch that I really just wanted to walk it out onto the porch and leave it there. But instead I waded in and used up two green scrubbing pads and untold quantities of soapy water and Comet just to get things down to something resembling a stove. The grease filter showed little sign of ever having been a filter, but displayed plenty of grease...

For reasons that are not immediately clear to me, it also took me forever to clean the cellar- and bedroom-grime off the things I had brought with me, and get the bureau, for instance, to the point that I could bear to put clothes into it. Then there was the endless Dance of the Filing Cabinet Drawers.

The long and the short of it is that I have finally finished mucking about and can concentrate on things like: finding enough bookcases to receive the endless parade of books, finding some of those round refrigerator mini-magnets I loved so much back in the Old Country, and finding the time to mend fences with my family, which probably means having an open house once there are a few fewer boxes and bags of junk on view. That might be early October, if I'm lucky. And if they feel like making the trip south...

A friend of mine who works for a local non-profit suggested that I come in and meet someone who might have a job for me -- someone who heard that I was looking called in and said that I should send a resume, so things are beginning to hum. Nothing fixed yet, but at least there is some response coming in from some planet; I have yet to receive even a polite e-mail from any of the online applications I have made. Maybe it's my resumé? Maybe I should leave out all the things I did that actually paid money...

There are distinct advantages to being so close to Boston. [Not that I am really close to Boston, but compared to Central New Hampshire, this is a hop, skip, and a jump...] One is Boston. Another is the closeness of the ocean. I have never been a water-rat, but even I can stare at what sunlight does on water for hours on end. Especially with a "beverage" in hand. Well, that is not on offer at the WL House, but my good friend and benefactor who got me down here in the first place is within sight of the fabled body, and I will be accepting any further invites that come my way.

I met a young "questioning" man the other day. He was so touchingly unself-conscious, and so delightfully innocent -- that was probably the real attraction, the idea that there could be, somewhere in the world, someone who had even less of a clue than I did. But he was also one of those people who are so ravishingly beautiful that they redefine your whole concept of what appeals to you.

I wanted to shout at him: "Of course you're gay! Just get on with it!" but it wouldn't have sat well with the Abstinence and General Moral High Ground Program, and it also occurred to me that that was just the sort of thing that had irritated me so much during the months of my indecision...

And it is true that he didn't seem to have Terribly Much on the ball, so to speak, once he started speaking... but who needs brains when the rest of you is kitted out so well? So I just made polite conversation and wished him well. It did cross my mind that it would be awfully convenient if he decided to show an interest in Old Farts, especially if it took him a couple of months to figure it out.

sigh.

This just in from the Blog Police: If attention and validation are what you're looking for, know that you will get neither from blogging. As above, very few people will ever know that your blog (or you, by proxy) exists. The remainder of comments posted to your blog will be sappy treacle, which you won't trust as being sincere anyway. [Click here].