Throwback Thursday

Me on bicycle trail Schuykill River, January 19, 1975 (Philadelphia, PA)

I haven't participated in "Throwback Thursday".  My nature is such that I resist fads and trends but I can't hold out any longer on this fad.  So folks, here I am with my first "Throwback Thursday" picture.  

Me riding my bicycle December 25, 1954 on Boot Road, Downingtown, PA
(sorry about the quality of the photo, one of my brothers took it) 

This picture was taken on January 19, 1975 when Bill and I lived in center city Philadelphia.  I didn't have a car but I had a bicycle.  Bill had the car, I didn't drive.  In fact I didn't drive until we moved out of Philadelphia to Downingtown, Pennsylvania in 1980 when I was forty years old.  Yes, I got a late start.  I'm making up for it now.

We lived in center city Philly from 1969 to 1980. Those years were some of the best of my life.  I always wanted to walk to work (I worked at Girard Bank, right across from City Hall) and walk to the bars.  "Walking to the bars" was very important to me, callow, self-absorbed youth that I was at that time.  And yes, those were the peak years of gay life in the city.  Talk about timing, I got out just before the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic.  Pure luck folks, pure luck.

I haven't had a bicycle since I moved out of center city.  Lately I've been thinking about getting another bike, haven't made up my mind yet.  I do like riding a bike.  I rode one for years when I was a paper boy in my adolescence.  But then it was for work but not pleasure.  

Ah yes folks, the years to fly by, especially when you're having fun and believe me, I've had my share of fun.

Have a great day!

Me at the Philadelphia Water Works on the Schuykill River, Philadelphia, PA January 19, 1975

Prostate Update

Me at my home away from home this morning

Well folks, just got back from my six month update visit to my oncologist.  It's been a little over a year since I had my seed implant surgery (May 2nd) for my prostate cancer.

The good news is, I am progressing well.  So well, that I won't have to visit my oncologist anymore.  He's turning me over to my urologist, who I will visit every six months for the rest of my life.  Hey, a small price to pay for the knowledge that (so far) the seed implants have been successful.

Bill works on a puzzle while I go through my paces this morning at the cancer center

My PSA reading is down from 4.8 to 1.2.  My oncologist said he would like to see it below 1 but he'll accept 1.2.  Hopefully the reading will be lower after my next blood test.  I'm just thankful it's not going up or staying the same.  

"Ship ahoy matey!"

So it's free sailing folks for me for the foreseeable future. I told him that I'm going to be one of his success stories, surviving at least twenty years past my original diagnosis of PC.  He said that would make me 91 years old and "that would be a good run."  Are you kidding folks?  I'm 72 years old now and I've had a damn good run already.  It's all gravy from here on folks.

Good to go for another 20 years

Passport Application

Rehoboth Beach Post Office this morning, this must be the place!

This morning I applied for my first ever passport at the Rehoboth Beach post office.

As you may (or may not) know I'm planning a trip to Toronto Canada

Pat's "hoose" in Toronto, Canada

late this summer to hookup with my friend Pat and meet Dr. Spo and Someone who will be in Toronto at the same time.  Sort of like a mini Bloggerpalooza.

I've been experiencing a fair amount of frustration in getting my U.S. Passport.  First thing I needed was my birth certificate.  I only have one copy which I didn't want to part with so way back March I wrote to the Pennsylvania Department of Records to get more copies (two) of my birth certificate.  Of course that didn't go well which was not unexpected because I assume the powers that be in Pennsylvania are more concerned with suppressing the vote and filing delaying tactics against same sex marriage.  My first applicate was returned because they didn't like the copy of my driver's license.  I sent them a new copy, in color. That was month ago.  They cashed my $20 check two weeks ago but I'm still waiting. 

Dr. Spo told me that Someone

Dr. Spo and Someone - International travelers soon to visit Toronto in August

had to wait about three months before they got their passports.  Time was a running out so I took the bull (shit) by the horns this morning and took my original copy of birth certificate to the Rehoboth Beach post office this morning.

I got there at 8:45 am.  They weren't open (of course).  So I got in line behind this young man in semi-Army fatigues.  Me being me I attempted to start a conversation while we waited for the Post Office to open.  I asked him if he was an Iraqi veteran.  He said he was.  I thanked him for his service.  I then began to talk to him about the VA and other issue related to both of our experiences with the Army but he didn't want to talk.  Okay, I'm fine with that.  Probably thought I was hitting on him.  This is Rehoboth Beach after all, lot's of Old Gays hitting on young guys.  Not me though, I like my own age group but that's another whole subject for a different blog posting.

Finally at 9:02 a.m (and not a minute before) the window opens.  By now the line waiting has eight chatty people in it.  The Iraqi war vet is first.  He doesn't take too long to do his business.  He doesn't say "goodbye" to me.  I didn't expect him to.  Then I'm next.

I flop my plastic folder full of information proving I am who I am (birth certificate, Army DD-214, five envelopes with my mailing address, original Social Security card and even the "birth certificate" with my baby footprints).  I tell her that I'm applying for my passport.  Immediately she takes out a multiple form and tells me what to fill out and "don't go past that line!"  Thankfully she knew what I was talking about, I didn't have to explain myself or worse, I wasn't told that I was at the wrong place (which I half expected).  To the contrary, she was very efficient.  

She told me to go through the "Postal" door.  She told me to stand agains the wall, take off my glasses and SMILE!  Yes Virginia, unlike our driver's license, we get to smile on our Passport photo.  

Smile, you're on Passport Photo!

So I mustered up, on this short notice, my best endearing smile.  Whatcha think folks?  I like it.  At least I don't look like a stalker criminal like my driver's license photo.  Sure, I got beady eyes but the smile….man oh man you can't beat my smile.  Distracts from my turkey neck.

Next up, fill out the forms.  I take the forms and and find spot out of the way of the other postal customers and fill out the multiple forms, printed.  Mother, father, birth dates, next of kin, am I married or not (I AM! Which I gladly fill out as my "spouse" William Daniel Kelly).

I take the completed forms back to the nice postal employee lady.  She takes one look and says "These really should be filled out in BLACK pen."  Uh oh.  I filled them out with my BLUE ball point.  

Okay Ron, fill out the forms again.  A snag not unexpected, I'm just surprised there weren't more snags.

I fill out the forms again and submit them to the nice postal employee lady.  Then she asks me for my check.  I DON'T HAVE A CHECK.  Uh oh, another snag.  She asks me if I have a debit card.  Uh……no.  I try both of my credit cards, neither one works as a debit card.  She asks if I have cash.  Well I do but I don't know if I have $111.25 on my person.  I pull out my wad of bills in my back pocket, which I rarely use since I always use my Discover credit card, and viola!  I have the cash.  

JUST have it with exactly a five dollar bill to spare.  She asks if I have a quarter.  Nope, I don't carry change.  She loans me a quarter and says when I go out to my car I can bring it back to her.  Of course I promptly forgot to do that but I digress.

She rings everything up and then needs another $40 for the application itself (what WAS the $111.25 for I wonder?) and photo.  She could take my credit card for that charge.  

She also takes my original birth certificate to send in with the passport application.  She tells me it will take four to six weeks to complete and at that time there will be two plain envelopes returned to me.  One with the passport and other will have my birth certificate.  Probably by then I will have received my additional copies of birth certificate from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Records.  They should have the time now because a judge struck down the same sex marriage ban in Pennsylvania and their loser governor, Tom Corbert has decided (wisely) not to appeal.  Pennsylvania is usually a little late to the game.  Ironically I live in the First State which is Delaware.  

Know who the Second State is?  You got it, Pennsylvania.

I gathered up all my papers and left the Post Office, walking out in the bright morning sun of Rehoboth Avenue.  Bill was waiting in the car. There was a sign "15 minute parking for Post Office Customers".

 He was afraid I would get a ticket since I was gone almost an hour.  I assured him I wouldn't because I was in the Post Office on "business."  He didn't want to hear it.  Oh the joys to bring Worry Wart with me.

But anyway folks, I finally got my applicate in for my Passport.  That hurdle is done.  NEXT!

Every day is an adventure folks. 

Our Philadelphia Home

2409 Naudain Street (house with red door) - our home for eleven years in Philadelphia, PA

From 1969 to 1980, Bill and I lived in a center city town house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Prior to that we lived in an apartment in Roxborough, which was also in Philadelphia.  

When our rent was raised significantly in our Roxborough apartment we decided to buy a house and put our monthly housing expense into equity. 

I always wanted to live in Center City Philadelphia so I could walk to work and…..walk to the bars.  Hey, it is what it is.  I didn't have a car (Bill drove) and parking was always a bitch anyway when we went to the bars, so why not move to Center City?

Our home with the roof deck (see green cinder blocks at the top of the roof

So we went from paying $165 a month rental for a two bedroom apartment to paying $127 a month mortgage on a house that we bought for $27,000, which at the time I thought was outrageously expensive.  However, just to put the prices in context, our Center City Philadelphia house last sold in June of 2009 for $592,000.  

We loved that home.  There was an entranceway on the first floor as you walked in.  To the right was a garage (barely large enough for Bill's car but he never parked it in the garage because someone would park in front of the house and block him so he always parked outside).  

Further on down the hallway was a coat closet (something I don't have in this monster of a house we live in now).  Then a full bathroom and in the back a laundry room leading to the walled in back yard.

Me on the grill in the back yard - a hibachi - whatever happened to them?

To the left was a den with a fireplace. 

On the second floor (I have photos of all these but I'm not posting them because I don't want to overload this post with photos) there was a dining room, kitchen (albeit very small, a "Pullman" type kitchen) and a large living room with TWO Mussolini balconies overlooking the walled in back yard.

The view of our backyard from one of the living room balconies on the second floor - Bill built that swing

On the third floor were two bedrooms; one in the front and the other in the back separated by a full bathroom.  Bill had the front bedroom and I had the back bedroom.  Yes, we sleep apart, have for years…..I sleep alone having grown up sharing a communal bed with my two younger brothers until I was 14 years old.

We surely did love that house but there came a time when I tired of going to the bars, got tired of the noise of living in center city Philly (police sirens almost continuously and still to this day, when Pat and I visited last November the sirens were still going reminding me of why I left).  I also yearned for openness and fresh air.  The downside was that I would now have to commute to work by train.  

Bill built a rooftop deck to satisfy my need for privacy, space and sun.  

Me working on my base for skin cancer - 1974

I also like to plant and grow things.  Bill built window boxes for me on the roof and I had a small garden in our back yard which I assiduously maintained. 

My tomato plant, such as it is.  Believe it or not I have a few tomato plants growing in the back yard now in a compost pile.  Somethings never change.

These days we live in beautiful southern Delaware.  I have my space, sun and privacy.  A bit older these days though folks, 40 years old to be precise because the pictures featured on this blog posting were all taken in 1974.  Some things never change though.  This Bhudda, which one of our Naudain Street neighbors gave us, is now in the oval planter in our backyard here.  I can see it from my bedroom window.  When I look at it every morning as I do when I get up and open the curtains I am reminded of that very same Bhudda that used to sit on our rooftop garden at our lovely home in Center City Philadelphia.  Memories, how sweet they are.

Bill

Bill Kelly May 1974

More old photos folks!  This continues my series of photos that I recently found after not looking at them for forty years.  Someone (literally "Someone" of Dr. Spo's world) mentioned that I've rarely posted early photos of my other half, my spouse, my husband, my partner of the last fifty years (this July), Bill Kelly.  Well folks, here it is.  This is my handsome Bill, photo taken September 1974 at our center city Philadelphia townhouse.  Bill had discovered a baby bird and he thought I was taking a picture of the bird.

Bill doesn't like his picture taken.  Yep, Bill is on of THOSE people which has always been a source of great frustration to me.  I had always imagined myself with a Prince Charming life partner that I could photograph endlessly.  Not so with Bill, most of the pictures I have of Bill he has his arm in front of his face.  The latest such episode was last night while we were sitting on the back deck.  I thought he looked cute with the setting sun behind him.  Bill realized that I was going to take a picture of him with my iPhone and immediately said "Oh no, you're not taking a picture of me!" and proceeded to place his arm in front of his face.  

But as you can see Bill was (and still is) quite the handsome dude.  Ironically, Bill's look was never my type.  I was never attracted to the conventionally handsome man or the "All American type" as Bill calls them.  I've always found the guys with the slightly offbeat or unconventional look more sexually attractive.  Don't look for me to go into orgasmic paroxysms over the likes of a Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise.  They leave me flat; zero sex appeal. But Bill has more going for him than his looks, he has always treated me like a prince.  Always, except when he gets mad at me for some insignificant domestic misdemeanor but that's a subject for another blog post.  Maybe not but the majority of the time Bill has always treated me better than anyone.  Bill puts up with me, who else is going to do that?  

So here he is folks, the man I've been sharing a life with for the past half century.  And we have a few more years to go.

Me (center as if you didn't know already) with my brother Isaac (on my right) and Bill (on my left) - 2012

Philadelphia Rooftops

Me and Bill on our Philadelphia roof deck - 1972

Found some more old photos folks that you haven't seen before.  I'm sure regular followers of this blog are tired of me reposting the same old photos of me (and Bill) of long ago.  Well folks, as  I said in a previous blog posting, I found a whole new treasure trove of old photos which I will be subjecting you all too.  

These two photos were taken on the rooftop of our 16 ft by 50 ft (including a small backyard) townhouse at 2409 Naudain Street, in center city Philadelphia.  They were taken in September 1972 (42 years ago!) with a self-timer camera.  Of course the subjects in the photos are yours truly (in some God awful red striped shorts) and my Bill.  At this juncture we were together a grand total of seven years.  

Bill built that roof deck for me so I could work on my tan.  I didn't get out of the city that often and when I did it was only to visit my parents in Downingtown, a suburb thirty-seven miles west of Philadelphia.  And of course I didn't and couldn't "work on my tan" when visiting Mom and Pop in Downingtown.

I look at these pictures and think "Wow, a lot of water sure has flowed over the dam since these photos were taken."


Check out that Philadelphia skyline folks.  That's a million dollar view.  And yep, we had it…..made.

I wonder what happened to those pants

Another Visit to the Dermatologist

Another day and another visit to my dermatologist.  A few weeks ago I had an uninvited guest pop up on my left cheek.  It looked like a wart.  I suspected it was something other than a wart.  However, even if it was a wart, I didn't want to spend my remaining years with a wart protruding from my left cheek.  Hey, I know I'm no beauty at 72 and my face is starting to crumble but I do have my limits. So, last week I called and arranged a visit with my dermatologist.

I used to go to the VA for my dermatology appointment but I'm sure by now you've all heard how long it takes to get into the VA.  My dermatology appointments were taking up to four months at the VA.  Like all my medical appointments at the VA, once you get there, they take great care of you but it's the getting there.  And by the way, I'm glad Eric Shineski, the current VA administrator resigned today.  

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

The VA needs a complete overhaul but first they need a leader who looks and sounds like he's mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.  The bureaucratic nightmare that is the Veterans Administration. From a president (Obama)

Hey prez, at least act like you give a damn

who doesn't give a shit to the members (mostly Republicans) who consistently underfund and ignore the needs of our country's veterans, it is time to end this injustice and neglect of those who served so valiantly this nation.  And I'm ranting again.  I am so angry about this whole mess, from our president who at times seems more concerned with Shinseki's feelings than recognizing the real problem to the politicians who take our veterans for granted like they're getting free medical care and should be grateful for whatever dollops of care they get.  I am so angry about this whole mess and especially at those venal Republicans who are now trying to score political points over this real scandal.  I thank God (or whoever) that I now have Medicare and can go to the doctor of my choice and mostly avoid the delays of trying to get VA medical care that was promised to me when I signed up January 27th, 1960 and joined the Army and put my life in their hands for this country for three years. 

Pvt. Ron Tipton, potential cannon fodder

My dermatologist stuck a needle in my face to numb the area and scrapped off the offending "wart" which turned out to be a keratosis growth.  Keratosis is a pre cancerous growth.  I've been having them for over thirty years now, no skin cancer so far.  But of course you all know I have a cancer already, prostate cancer.  No one gets out from this trip (Life) alive.  I am just so thankful I'm one of the lucky ones who isn't caught in the web of dysfunction and deceit and ineptitude which is the Veterans Administration Medical system.  And I am also thankful that I have regular visits with my VA doctor to check on my health.  That's one thing I never had in the private medical system, preventive health care.  During a routine blood test (every six months with the VA), my prostate cancer was discovered.  I also use the VA for all my prescription medications.  They are very efficient (and cheap).  No waiting at Walgreen's for my prescription to be filled for this vet.

Have a great day everyone and try not to let the bastards get you down.