Goin' back to Cali

You may recall in this post I discovered a new neighbor who looked familiar was actually a gay guy who used to work for the same company I used to work for. It was fun to reconnect with John after about 8 years, and to meet his partner/boyfriend Matt. (I'm not sure what stage their relationship was in, as you'll read.)

I had suggested we get together for dinner sometime, and also invited them to become members of 'the usual suspects' in our regular Fri Night Dinner group. They excitedly agreed, so I added their emails to my weekly distribution, and looked forward to seeing them again soon.

I sent them an email inviting them to come over for a small barbeque on Memorial Day weekend, when Bugs & Roger would be visiting, and Rick & Nick would come over. I thought this might be a nice, relaxed, low-key way for them to meet a few of our friends before jumping into the entire group of 'the usual supsects'. I was surprised to get no response to my email, so the day before the barbeque I emailed them again, indicating my concern that my earlier email invitation may not have reached them.

John wrote back, indicating they had received the emails, but that things were not going well. Apparently just 2 months after moving here, Matt (the primary breadwinner) was notified that he was being laid off from his job as a remote help desk person. Since moving here John was only able to find employment in one of the retail outlets, which didn't pay much. John wrote that they had to notify their landlord that they needed to break their lease, and that Matt was going back to CA in order to take a different (non-remote) position with his company. John wanted to stay here so he was looking for a room to rent or a person looking for a roommate.

I thought it a bit odd that John wanted to "stay here" while Matt moved back to CA, but figured that perhaps their jobs weren't the only things that were "not going well".

I've heard many people indicate that when their love life is going well, their career is in the toilet, and when their career is going well, their love life is in the toilet. I felt badly for John & Matt because it seemed that both their career and their love life was in the toilet.

Every day I walk past the house they rented while walking our dog Jordan. Last week I noticed the "Bush's last day in office" sticker had been removed from the window and both cars gone. There was a feeling of vacancy painted all over the cedar shake house. John apparently found someone to room with, and Matt was goin' back to Cali.

Good luck guys!

Crush du Jour: John Abraham