www.boyinsuit.com

Announcing a BIG MOVE!

Blogger has been wonderful to me for the past two years that I've kept this blog. While still an excellent product, I've decided to move to my own domain name, www.boyinsuit.com.

Not only will my new site be easier to remember (no "blogspot"), it will have additional features that make reading my blog (and writing it) more enjoyable.

I hope you like my new site!

Thanks,
Jesse

Las Vegas Day 2

Brian and I went to Planet Hollywood to register our Las Vegas Power Pass. It's a card that you buy that gets you into lots of different attractions. After we got the card, we made a schedule that filled our day.

2:30pm Hilton Star Trek the Experience

This was definitely a must-see for Star Trek fans like Brian and I. We spent about an hour in the museum part reading everything. We first went on the Klingon ride that we went on about 2 years ago. It was still so much fun! Then we went on the Borg 4-D ride that was amazing! I love Star Trek!

5:30pm Mirage Dolphins

This was pretty cool. I've never been very close to dolphins and it was cool to see them. Brian even saw one of them pee!

6:30pm Venetian Wax museum

I didn't expect this place to be as much fun as it was. I had an absolute blast! It was cool that the museum provided props for pictures. Brian and I laughed many times in here.

7:30pm Luxor IMAX Ride

We saw "Search for the Obelisk" and it was really lame. Plus, it the ride jerked us around in an unfun way.

8:30pm Dinner

I was craving Italian, so we stopped at a place that looked good. The food was really good but the service was terrible. It took them five minutes to seat us in an empty restaurant. Then we waited 10 minutes before anyone came over to greet us. The waiter gave Brian a Pepsi instead of a Diet Pepsi. Brian wasn't going to say anything, but when the waiter came by, I told him to bring a diet. Since Brian paid, I don't remember how much of a tip we left.

9:30pm New York, New York Rollercoaster

Although everything we had done today paid for itself (it was cheaper to do everything by buying a powerpass), we had to go on this rollercoaster. We waited in line for awhile, but it was okay. Not having been on a rollercoaster for a long time, the first drop really scared me. I've never been scared before and I think it's just because I'm out of practice.

Yes, it was early, but both Brian and I decided that it was time to go to bed. We were going to play at Circus Circus until midnight, but we were both exhausted and wanted to sleep.

Instead of giving us a queen or king, our room has two full beds. Because Brian took up most of the room last night, I decided to sleep in the other bed. I thought it was pretty funny that on our vacation, we slept in separate beds.

Las Vegas Vacation (Sales Pitch)

The only reason that Brian and I came to Vegas was because I "won" a free vacation. When I went to Canada in April, I called Avis to rent a car. After I made my reservation, they told me that I was eligible for a free vacation from Fairfield Resorts.

Yes, Brian and I went to a timeshare presentation this morning. (Wipe that smile off your face and don't roll your eyes!)

When we first got there, they sat us in a room where we filled out some information. They had a referral program, so to be funny, Brian and I put the names of some of our friends to be contacted. Soon, they will probably receive a call!

We met Jeff and he offered us food and drink before sitting at a small table with us. He was really nice and used great sales techniques. He got to know us, joked with us, got us excited about vacations, and made us feel really comfortable with him. He told us all the great advantages to owning a timeshare and showed us why we couldn't live without one.

When Jeff asked Brian if he had a girlfriend, Brian looked at me, patted me on the shoulder and said, "This is my girlfriend." We all laughed.

We watched a video of current timeshare owners who said, "We went to the presentation because of the free vacation. We weren't going to buy anything, but when we saw all the advantages to owning a timeshare, we knew we had to have one."

After the video, Jeff took us to the Fairfield Resort just off the strip. It was so nice! The "cheapest" room had a living room and kitchen. Then we saw the penthouse... Let's just say that someday, I want to be able to only stay in penthouses in hotels because they are so incredible.

When we came back from our field trip, I plainly told Jeff that everything we saw today was incredible but we weren't ready to commit lots of money to vacation. He said, "Well, I haven't shown you the numbers. How can you say that you can't afford this?" Instead of backing me up, Brian laughed and agreed with him. Jeff got up and had another guy come over and show us how affordable owing a timeshare could be.

While Jeff was gone, I asked Brian if I killed the mood. He said I did and said that I should have waited. I didn't want to wait and spend more time with Jeff thinking he's going to make a sale. I was just trying to me nice.

The man Jeff brought over asked if we lived together and we told him yes. I don't remember how it came up, but we told him we were gay. Jeff looked surprised and later told us he didn't know we were gay. He asked how long we were together and if living in Salt Lake is hard. We told him that since we're not big flamy faggots, we don't get any grief for it.

We used the "we're both going to law school next year and will have lots of debt" excuse for not buying and that seemed to work well. It afforded us the luxury to say, "In 4 years, we'll be making way more money and owning a timeshare will be possible."

Once Jeff and the guy knew we weren't going to buy anything, they thanked us for our time and had a customer service guy come to us to survey us about the presentation. After a few questions, he said, "Now I can offer you something special that you haven't seen yet." He basically offered us a ten day stay in Hawaii for $2000. We kindly said no, and Brian later told me he was really, really tempted to say yes at that moment.

Brian and I walked out of there feeling badly, but proud that we said no. Brian's boss, Perry, told Brian before we left that he's never met anyone who has not come back from a timeshare presentation without a timeshare. One of the reasons that it was so easy to say no was because Perry challenged us to say no.

Owning a timeshare is a big investment. The cheapest package we could get would cost $10,000 for 7 days at a Fairfield Resort. If I had the money, I would totally do it because it's actually a really good idea. You get 7 days for the rest of your life and you can give the timeshare to your children. Theoretically, you pay $10,000 and you get one week vacation for the rest of your life.

Was I sold on timeshares? Yes, absolutely. Brian and I are going to go on more presentations to get free vacations until we can buy a timeshare to travel. Seriously, its the way to go.

Driving to Vegas

I felt sick on the drive down to Vegas but felt better toward the end of the day. We stopped and got Subway sandwiches in Provo and Brian made a big deal about them not having Swiss cheese. The worker told us that all Subway's in Provo do not carry Swiss cheese.

The only major traffic we encountered was coming over the mountain into Vegas. We waited for about an hour and at 6pm, Brian realized that Vegas is one hour behind. We changed our clocks and I told Brian, "We went back in time!"

At 6pm Vegas time, I said, "We've only been in traffic for an hour!" Brian wasn't amused.

We finally got to the Imperial Palace where I checked in. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner (mostly because Time magazine had an article on the restaurant).

So Brian and I are in Vegas on our first vacation together and what do we do after dinner? We go to bed because we are so tired. We felt like old men because it was still early.

Consequences

When I woke up this morning, I walked down the stairs to go to the bathroom. Instead of peeing first, I threw up. I went back to bed.

I woke up an hour later and tried to sit up, but I got dizzy and sick so I laid back down. The most comfortable position was on my back and I tried to stay there. Brian got up to make breakfast and brought me some waffles. Even though I ate half of one waffle, I felt so sick. I laid back down and tried to rest.

I usually don't get hangovers, but that streak of luck is over. I realized that the last time I drank I threw up because I drank too much. When I told Brian, he called me an alcoholic. I told Brian that I wouldn't ever drink again (a drunk's song), then revised that and said I will always have a one drink maximum.

Brian was really upset because we were supposed to leave for Vegas at 8am. It was about 10am when I finally got out of bed. Brian called me from downstairs to take a shower and as I walked down the stairs, my waffle came up. I sat there for about five minutes regretting drinking so much and then I was fine. Russell, instead of asking if he could help, laughed at me and mocked me by saying, "Consequences!"

At 11am (3 hours after Brian wanted to leave), we got into the truck and drove to Provo. Once we dropped Russell and Jennie off, we started driving to Las Vegas.

HRC Dinner

Going to a nice event takes a lot of preparation. You have to wear nice clothes, have nice hair, and get ready to talk to nice people and not-so-nice people and be friendly.

Normally, I cut my own hair but I didn't have time today (nor the last time before the Jefferson-Jackson dinner). It saves so much time and feels so good to have someone else cut my hair.

I picked up Megan at her house ("What happened to your hair?!") and we went to Fashion Place mall to pick up a few items to complete my outfit. When I went shopping with Megan earlier this week, I wrote that I only bought a shirt. In actuality, I bought a new suit! I wasn't going to, but when I walked into Express for Men and saw cute suits, I knew that I needed to buy a new one. Needless to say, I bought more than a cute shirt at Nordstrom Rack.

Unfortunately, the cute shirt I bought necessitated cuff links and I didn't have any (though when I got to the mall and saw Brian, he reminded me that we actually had them). I also needed a belt and a tie.

Megan and I went to Dillards and I had a great time picking out clothes and dressing at the same time. I picked out a really cute belt and Megan found some nice cuff links. It took us awhile to find a tie that would match, but Megan found the perfect one! If politics doesn't work out for her, she should do men's fashion cause she's really good.

Brian thought I looked really good and I'm glad he did. He wasn't as mad at me for spending $139 on a new suit because I looked so hot! Haha...

Getting ready in Dillards

Brian helps me with my cufflinks

On the drive down to Bruce Bastian's mansion, I was most excited about dancing. I haven't been dancing since Mexico and I really want to get my groove on. Last year, the dancing at the HRC event was my favorite part!

When we first got there to register, the guest speaker of the night, Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, was thanking volunteers for the work they were doing. I thought that was very classy and later told him so when we finally met. As we were talking, I realized what a great man he is and knew that he was doing God's work. I had a good feeling in my soul as I talked to him and am glad that I was lucky enough to meet him.

Me and Gene Robinson

I had a VIP wristband (because of course I'm a Very-Important-Person) so I was able to enjoy the comforts of being a VIP (free drinks). The last time I had any alcohol was in Mexico, so I thought I could drink some tonight. Unfortunately, too much of a good thing can be bad. I had four drinks before dinner.

After the reception stopped serving drinks, I walked around outside to meet and greet people. I had such a blast! I saw lots of people I knew and met some new friends.

I sat at a table with Senator Scott McCoy and others. I sat next to Xander Gordon, a guy I never thought I'd be sitting at a table with ever again. He dated one of my old roommates, Ty Mortensen, and was a complete jerk. In talking to him, I realized that things haven't changed.

The HRC Dinner

"The" HRC Dinner

Two glasses of wine later, the night started to blend together. I called Russell to see if he could drive Megan and I home, but he said that he was already in Salt Lake. I text messaged Brian to ask if he could pick us up and he only got upset because I drank too much.

Everything would have been worth it if there was dancing, but there wasn't. I was really disappointed that instead of dancing, I had to walk around and talk with people again. Sure, it's fun, but I'd much rather be dancing to disco music like last year.

I needed to sober up, so Josh Moon walked me around and got me coffee. The walk was nice but the coffee was gross. I drank two and later realized that it was a bad idea.

The end of the night.

Megan wasn't drunk so she drove my car home. Before we got on the freeway, she pulled over and allowed me to throw-up. I got back into the car and fell asleep. When I got home, I went straight to bed.

Helping Someone Move

I helped my friends Stacie and Bert move this morning and even had the truck to be extra helpful! It was a pretty easy move as they were really prepared. I just wish they had rented a U-haul or something cause it makes it a lot easier (and you don't have to make multiple trips).

When Brian and I moved, I noticed that most people left after the first trip. That's why it's important to get a large enough truck to load everything because you'll have the most help.

Stacie and Bert moved to Herriman which was really far from their nice east side Salt Lake location. That said, Herriman is a very nice place and they're lucky to be there. Even though it's fine, I wouldn't mind moving there (though my friends probably wouldn't visit cause I don't reimburse for gas even for West Valley).

The funny part of helping them was that Bert was supposed to drive a car in the Pride parade for me. He never returned my call so basically bailed on me. I told him that the main reason I was helping him move was to make him feel badly for ditching me at the last minute (though I was only kidding).

Fun Friday Night

I had to go to an AFL-CIO for Ross since he's out of town. It was supposed to be a bbq, but Ed Mayne (President of the union in Utah) talked and talked and talked and talked. I got to the event at 4:45pm and had to leave at 5:30pm because Titus needed to be let out.

Brian and I made an appointment with a kitchen designer at Home Depot since we are replacing all the cabinets. At first, Brian didn't want anyone to help us because he just wanted to replace the existing cabinets with the exact same cabinets. I convinced him that it would be beneficial to talk to someone before we start to see if anything extra could be done.

It's a good thing we went because the designer gave us some ideas of extra things we can do with our kitchen space.

After Home Depot, I went over to Wendy's house to mow her lawn. I really didn't want to (as it was Friday night), but it had to be done. It only took me 45 minutes to mow and bag and I was proud of myself for getting out of there so quickly.

Utah Arts Festival

The Utah Arts Festival started today and I'm so glad that I went. Not only was it cool to see lots of different art, I bought two things that really got my attention.

The first one I can't talk about yet.

The second one is pictured here:

Brian and I thought it looked like Titus so we had to have it. It's going to hold our keys and will be really cute to display.

Me and Brian with Titus and Metal Titus

All photos here.

Our Softball Team

In May, Brian and I signed up to play on a softball league. We haven't been going because we've both been really busy on the house and with Pride. Now that our schedules have freed up, we are able to finally go and have fun.

Honestly, I was really hesitant to go because I haven't played softball in years (besides that one time last year). I was nervous that I'd look like an idiot and be reminded of all those years that I played right field and played more with the grass than the ball. I didn't tell Brian how I was feeling cause I didn't want to seem weak.

When I got there, I met other members of my team. Again, self-doubt kicked in because these guys seemed like they knew what they were doing.

However, after my first swing at the bat, all those feelings disappeared. On my first swing, I made a pretty good hit that established that I wasn't a weenie. It felt really good to actually do well that I'm not traditionally good at. I had a great time, especially played catcher, a position that I've never played. It was fun because I was always doing something (as opposed to an outfielder where you stand there for awhile before you see any action).

The only teasing that I received was Megan, Brian, and Ellie teasing me because I throw like a girl. I disagree as I was focusing on my target and usually threw pretty well. There's one picture that shows how I throw, but I didn't put it here. If you want to find it, go to my flickr set from tonight.

All pictures here.

My Emasculation

My friend Ashley (who I met at BYU) is coming to visit in August. She is going to be moving back here and I'm so excited! I haven't seen her in four years and I can't wait to see her, her kids, and spend more time with her. At BYU, we were inseparable and many people thought we were dating (which made us both laugh).

I asked Barbara, the woman at work who is in charge of time off, if I could get the week of August 7th off.

Barbara: Does Brian know about this?
Jesse: Huh? Why does that matter?
Barbara: Because he's the man and should know if you aren't working.
Jesse: No, he doesn't know because I haven't told him yet.
Barbara: Just like that other thing you haven't told him. I see how it is.
Jesse: Oh, c'mon. Can I have that time off?
Barbara: I need to speak to Brian first. I'll give it to you only if I have his permission. He needs to call me.

I thought it was really funny (even though I'm the more "powerful" one in the relationship--ask Titus!)