Former Member

Could you let us know on GA if you do, please?

I’m surprised the dragon doesn’t speak the magical language of the Danes! ;–)

This reads and feels like a completely different book, the sequel to the book about Jamie and Sam. New setting, new cast of characters, new situations. Some authors arbitrarily end a story and tell you that they have a sequel to their story when it’s really a continuation from the middle of a story arc. I’m going to think of this as chapter 1 in Jamie – US Adventures. ;–)

Wow! This really is a fantasy if you can drive ‘pretty quickly on 405 north’ and whizz through the outer counties of Los Angeles! 405 is normally pretty congested just about anytime you try to use it, day or night. I think the last time you could drive on it ‘pretty quickly’ was not long after they built it in the ‘70s! ;–) Oh, and I hate it, but Angelenos refer to their freeways as ‘the 405’ or ‘the 101’ – if they’re not using their names like the ‘San Diego Freeway’ or the ‘Ventura Freeway’ (which inspired America’s Ventura Highway). It sounds ignorant and dumb, but they think they’re being clever and witty. It’s one way to identify Southern Californians from the real Californians. ;–)

It is often said that many psychologist/psychiatrists get into the field because they have mental health issues themselves. ;–) But I haven’t noticed that phenomenon myself with any of the professionals I’ve dealt with over the years.

There’s also Billy’s oft neglected best female friend. Maid of Honor? Flower Girl? ;–) What kind of psychiatrist thinks that money is an acceptable substitute for love?

Pastor Nate Stevens! ;–)

[rant] I want to point out that there’s nothing wrong with being effeminate. Some men are and they shouldn’t feel ashamed of who they are. We shouldn’t go so far overboard in denying that we are effeminate that others feel denigrated. There’s plenty of room for Gay men to express themselves in all sorts of ways without affecting other Gay men. It bothers me when ultra-macho he-men feel so threatened by the few who are effeminate that they make others feel bad about themselves. The one common thread among all Gay men is that we are all attracted to other men. Nothing else necessarily is shared, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are all Gay men. Don’t bully others just because they don’t express their sexual orientation the same way you do. [/rant]

Lionel Richie’s Three Times a Lady and Easy are not appropriate for weddings either! ;–)

That’s one of many popular songs about obsessive love that are used in weddings. (A coworker specifically requested the song from the DJ at her wedding reception in the ‘80s.) There are Gloria Estefan’s Anything for You and James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful which are also not always recognized as being stalkerish.

So sorry for Hayden and Vic.

Seat belts first became mandatory in the US in 1968, but that applied to manufacturers, not passengers. New York was the first state to require drivers and passengers to use seat belts in 1984. New Jersey’s law didn’t take effect until March 1985 (8+ in all seats). You’re welcome! ;–)

But they barely know each other! They aren’t friends. Kyle is still wondering why Buddy intervened in the fight… ““ ;–)

Way back in ancient times when I was in school (the ‘70s), there were no cameras in my school. Zero. Zilch. ;–) Both students and administrators would have thought that was too much like life behind the Berlin Wall. We had just experienced ‘Peace With Honor’ as the Vietnam War ended with the humiliating loss and the televised chaotic withdrawal from Saigon. The Cold War was still going on strong. Cameras would have been too un-American! ;–)

School Administrators are just as oblivious as Upper Management at work! They create policies, but are under the very mistaken belief that everyone under them adheres to every single inconsequential and idiotic idea they come up with! They think that issuing policies actually changes culture and behavior. I can’t remember how many times Corporate would issue a new policy and we’d all just smirk at their ignorance – it was worse when Corporate was on the opposite side of the country and didn’t understand local standards. Customers feel harassed when every single employee they encounter is required to greet them. California casual means no ties, but that doesn’t mean employees look less professional. (Of course, the extreme was Sacramento-based no-dress-code Tower Records where the name tags sometimes just said ‘I work here.’ At an East Coast-based bookstore, I worked with one skinny, young guy who bought a white collared shirt that was about 6 or 7 sizes too big and a plain, ugly, old tie at Goodwill – he met the corporate dress code, but didn’t really look professional.)

Aren’t you missing an ‘F’ in there? ;–)

K-Mart, huh? Target and Best Buy won’t be selling CDs in the future. Sales have declined too much due to legal downloads, streaming, and the ever-present pirating through sites that even include YouTube! But you have to own a minimal level of technology to participate. I’m sure Buddy and Andre know people who burn pirated music onto CDs and sell them for just a couple dollars. ;–) I hope Kyle broke Melissa’s phone when he threw it! ;–) I don’t understand why Brad is too stupid to realize that Melissa is behind the doctored image…

That green seems a little trendy for Jeff. I think he’s either an earth-tone or neutrals (gray or white) kind of guy. Or maybe that ugly pastel green that was only seen on rental cars and government-owned vehicles! Jeff seems like a buy-it-off-the-lot kind of guy who wouldn’t want to wait for the dealer to find one for him. ;–) I’m amused by the mudflap in the front wheel well –it’s not matched with one behind the rear wheel! ;–) The amazing thing is that vast herds of proto-soccer moms used to drive their kids around in them! But a generation earlier, those kids didn’t ever use seatbelts. We slid across the rear bench seat and around the cargo area! ;–)

Wikipedia has a 1978 Ford LTD Country Squire picture: The 1979 model was downsized and was significantly smaller and lighter. This basic design lasted until 1991, a very long time when most cars are typically redesigned every four years with major upgrades in the chassis and other hidden components every other redesign. ;–) Consumers switched from buying sedan-based station wagons to truck-based SUVs that were taller. More recently, consumers have shifted to sedan-based CUVs that are basically just tall station wagons. But marketers don’t want them to realize that! ;–)

@R. Eric often accuses me of ‘reading ahead’ (before he’s even written the chapter) too! ;–)

I was thinking about movies and looked up one that was a little before the late-‘70s setting of the story. I found a link to a list of Best Picture Academy Awards. That’s why those movies were listed. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) is another movie from the era that actually has an LGBTQ connection (there’s a documentary, The Dog, about the real life bisexual bank robber whose story inspired the movie – he was trying to pay for his lover’s sex-reassignment surgery). ;–) Sydney Lumet’s later Equus (1977) would probably be of interest to the guys too, because of Peter Firth's full-frontal male nudity. ;–)

No one in the story ever talks about going to see movies. If they mentioned seeing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Rocky (1976), the annoying Annie Hall (1977), the offensively inaccurate The Deer Hunter (1978), or Kramer vs Kramer (1979), we’d know the year right away since very few people owned VCRs yet (Betamax was first sold in the US in the fall of 1975, Sony was first sued by Universal Studios and Disney in California District Court in 1976, and the ‘Betamax case’ wasn’t decided until 1984*). * It’s interesting that the music industry didn’t sue Phillips for introducing the Compact Cassette, nor did they sue Dolby Labs and Nakamichi for turning the Cassette into a high fidelity format. Long before I bought my first Betamax in 1980, I was copying records my older brother borrowed from college classmates (a very strict religious college, by the way) onto Cassette tapes using stereo equipment my minister father bought. I also later used a church-owned VHS VCR to copy porn onto my Betamax VCR too!

You do realize there are a few stories posted here that are more than 100 chapters long, don’t you? ;–) I’m guessing the other honeymoons will be cut short as everyone is needed back at VUN headquarters! Stan will have taken some sort of portable Buddy with him and can start searching for clues as soon as they let him know about the kidnapping! Ruben was too upset to think about calling Devon & Colin on the phone rather than pounding on their door? ;–)

Jeff’s poor brother can’t do it all by himself!

Jeff desperately needs help with both his alcoholism and his PTSD, but I don’t think they really understood PTSD back then. In any case the alcohol problem is caused by the PTSD. Getting him to acknowledge that he has a problem would not only be a miracle, but would solve several of his other issues! When I was homeless, I met a guy who was suffering from PTSD. Apparently he had been some sort of medic onboard a ship that had an engine fire. He had to deal with sailors who had been badly burned. They had him on some extremely powerful meds and it was clear he was very high after taking them. (He claimed to be straight, but he flirted with me enough that I’m sure he’s not a Kinsey Zero. The last time I saw him, they had gotten him an apartment by himself. He didn’t have even the minimal support of the shelter anymore and was on his way to being evicted for non-payment of rent.)