more progress, and some engineering prowess

Today was just beautiful, so I worked outside all day. The next two days are going to be iffy. I figured I ought to take advantage of the sun while it's here.

So the first thing I had to do was trim those damnable clapboards so that my second piece of trim would fit. I got a piece of scrap and just started at the top, marking the clapboards and slicing or sawing them as needed, all the way down. I picked up the pre-cut piece of trim, wedged it in right, smacked it gently into place and nailed that sucker in place. I was so thrilled, I cannot tell you.

I put two more pieces of trim up at the outside corner, then went home for a lunch break. I bought some solid stain, too, so I am painting the trim before I put up the clapboards and drip paint/stain all over them. Some days I am really clever.

But the marvel of today was the staging I rigged. Now, I have staging on site. It's just at the other end of the sun porch, and it is set up exactly where the metal guy needs it to be. Besides, I'll need it there in a day or two when I get down to that end.

So I needed to get up high today, but not high enough to require my extension ladder. Higher than either stepladder would get me, though. Hmmm. Well, I have some saw horses and some planks... but the ground is uneven, so I'll wedge some boards underneath for stability, then lay the planks across the saw horses, but then I need to reach over there. Hmm. Well, I have a 16-foot staging plank around the corner of the house that I can use. But what do I put it on so I will be able to reach? I know, scramble, scavenge, scramble, assemble, cross my fingers and tada! Staging! Sort of. Hey, it got me where I needed to be. And I could put the short stepladder on the planks on the saw horses and reach the top if the trim to stain it. So there. Nyah. Take a look at this marvel of Yankee Ingenuity:


So I got the trim up and hit it with a first coat of stain, and then I got the clapboards up. Take a look at how my first effort in that regard came out:


Not too shabby, eh? Here's another look:


I am exceedingly proud of my engineering abilities and the fact that I did not break my neck. Depending on what the wind is doing tomorrow (they're predicting 45 mph gusts!) I'll either try to finish siding this side of the sun porch or I will sand the trim inside. The owners are due back next week. I am trying very hard not to panic, and only having moderate success.

Interior trim is done!

I forced myself yesterday to get over my fear of the table saw and do what needed doing and I got the last pieces of interior trim cut, ripped, sanded, planed and installed in this sun porch.

You may (or may not) remember that the rafters are exposed. They were rough and quite ugly where I nailed them to the house, so I boxed that in yesterday. Here's a shot of what they looked like before. You can kind of see where they were toe nailed in over there on the left. Trust me when I say it was not the prettiest job I have ever done. There were exposed nail heads and hammer marks on the rafters. Ugh.


So here are three shots of what it looked like by the time I knocked off at 7:45 p.m. last night, from left to right, looking at the place where the rafters join the house:



I am not a fan of finish work. But I feel pretty darned good about this job. I used the table saw, the chop saw, and the hand plane to make this little beauties fit. I even shaved a quarter-inch of thickness off the underneath piece of trim so it would fit above the metal trim on the sliding doors.

Today I go tackle some of the exterior trim. Wish me luck.

Perhaps I'm losing my touch

We took Laura's car to the garage to get it inspected on Friday. We can't go to our regular garage for this because our regular garage does not do inspections. We bought it from him back in November. Nice car, Ford Crown Victoria, drives like a hearse. Big, bad, smooth ride, nice crushed velvet seats, power windows, looks like a cruiser. Guy said it was a solid car. His daughter used it that summer, but he wanted something with all-wheel drive for her in the coming winter. Whatever. It seemed like a nice car. Famous last words.

We paid a couple grand for the car, and then a week later had to dump another three hundred into it for a new alternator. Well, those things happen, we figured. It was still a pretty good car. Then Laura hit a christly frost heave and separated the exhaust, and then something happened to the ignition and it wouldn't start. Back it went to the mechanic, and six hundred later it worked. Only it needed a new power steering line right after that. Well, we bought a used car, you have to expect stuff like that, I guess.

So we brought the Crown Vic to the other side of the island to the other garage. This is the place we had my truck towed to when the wheel bearings went on my way back from Massachusetts back in January. The guys looked under it and saw some stuff that didn't look quite right, so they put it up on the lift.

Holy shit.

First, the original fuel lines had rusted out, so it looks like the first mechanic, we'll call him BH for now, replaced the metal line with a rubber one. Now there is some discussion about whether there is an appropriate high-pressure rubber fuel line for this application (BH says there is such a thing, the other guy says there is not) but what is NOT in question is the fact that the line was run along the frame on the underside of the car not SIX INCHES FROM THE EXHAUST. Yeah. High pressure or not, no rubber hose should be that close to the very hot exhaust. In fact, the hose was LAYING AGAINST THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. It was actually burned. Not to the point of leaking, but that was only a matter of time. So: hot exhaust, rubber hose filled with pressurised extremely flammable fuel, all adds up to a rolling Molotov Cocktail.

They took some zip ties and secured the thing away from the hottest part of the exhaust.

Well, we decided then that we needed to change mechanics. But the new guy, we'll call him G for now, kept poking around. Uh-oh. Game over, he said. Huh? We looked up as he took the shop light, one of those things with a light bulb in a cage with a hook at one end and the cord at the other, and hung it in A HUGE HOLE IN THE FRAME. Rusted straight through. In two places.

No way did that hole develop in the six months that we have owned this vehicle. We bought a piece of junk that was not safe back then.

And now there is no way that car is ever going to pass an inspection. The fuel lines could be replaced with metal, but there is no way to repair that frame. It's shot. Instead of a car, we now have a boat mooring.

So we're out something like three thousand dollars over six months and a car. If we had an extra five hundred dollars a month, trust me, we'd have a much nicer car than that used one. But we don't. This is what life is like when you live close to the poverty line. We have no cushion. We operate very close to broke most of the time.

Saving money is an interesting theory. It would be nice, but every bit of income seems to go toward getting us something close to caught up. Getting ahead? That's pie in the sky stuff.

So Monday morning we arranged for Laura to borrow a vehicle for the day and I brought the Crown Vic back to BH. I explained my dissatisfaction to him in calm tones and without shouting or threatening. I said I wanted him to buy it back. He refused. He offered to leave it on the lot and try to sell it for me. I said OK. I said I wouldn't be back. He said to have the car out of there within a week.

Friday, I was ready to go in there loaded for bear. I wanted to jump up and down and scream. I had fantastic visions of repeatedly driving my truck through Bar Harbor Auto Repair's office window for putting my sweetie in that kind of danger. I was wild.

But I have been trying to work on my anger. Yes, I know it may come as a surprise to some, but I have anger issues (who knew?). So I did not have a fit. I did not shout or scream or threaten. I did not pound the counter, nor did I drive my truck through the window. Such tactics do not work on mechanics as far as I can tell. They remind me a lot of George W. Bush - incapable of admitting error - and this guy is no different. I went in, said my piece, got NOTHING in the way of satisfaction, and left. Truly, it was all I could do and what I expected to happen.

I have no idea what we might do with that rolling death trap. We cannot afford to go to a dealer and get a car, so we cannot trade it in. I suppose we'll just have it hauled off for a proper burial. That's too bad. It has a nice 5.0 litre engine in it that could make something else run really nice, but the rest of the thing is a safety hazard.

So now we are pinching our pennies and trying to find something within our budget that will not explode or fall apart as we drive it down the road. We're looking at a couple of things, but we're trying really hard not to buy out of a panic mode. It will be tough operating with one vehicle for a few days, but we need to look around and figure out what's best, not just what is the first thing we find that runs.

Am I losing my touch with my negotiating/fit-throwing skills? I don't know. I think I have probably mellowed over the years. I don't think any sized fit would have got what I wanted in the way of satisfaction out of Bar Harbor Auto. We won't be back there. And that's too bad. I liked the young guy who works there. He explained a lot of things to me about my truck. Like how to do a brake job. How to replace the cap and rotor. Cool stuff.

Oh well. If he goes to another shop, maybe I'll go there. But for now I am going to drive to the other side of MDI (30 minutes, easy) to the place that starts with a G to have my work done.

I am amazed.

I am amazed.

The bill went through the Senate today and directly to the Governor's desk where he signed it into law.

Laura and I can get married.

Unless.

Of course there had to be an "unless," didn't there?

We can get married, unless opponents of marriage equality gather the 55,000 signatures necessary to put this thing on a referendum ballot. If they do that, the courts will put a hold on the law so that nobody can get married before it goes to a vote.

Because we wouldn't want people to actually have equality, even for a little while, before we deny it to them again, now would we? That could get messy, like our friends in California. You don't want people being married and then have to tell them that maybe they aren't, really.

I am at once inspired and discouraged. I am thrilled that the right people understand this thing and did the right thing. I am discouraged that there will be enough people willing to sign to take my rights away.

We've got September 19 penciled in on the calendar as our wedding date. I wonder how many other couples have to consider whether a court might prevent their nuptials?

Tomorrow we get to work defending what is right. Tonight we dance. Today is a very good day to be in Maine.

My heart is full of hope and promise today

So, um, the Maine House of Representatives, after three hours of sometimes VERY emotional debate today passed L.D. 1020 by a vote of 89 to 58. It's marginally stronger than the 3-2 margin of support the bill received in the Senate last week. This is amazing.

It goes to the Governor after a brief stop in the Senate for a confirmation vote, and unless he vetoes it, it will become law. In Maine, a governor can set aside a piece of legislation and allow it to become law without his signature, but in order to stop it, he would have to use his veto power. I don't see that happening here. I could be wrong, but I hope not. This thing had solid support in both houses of the legislature. There was no squeaker vote. It's his job to sign it and send it on through.

Now according to my understanding of things, bills passed by the Legislature become law 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, which in this case is scheduled for June 17. 90 days after June 17 is September 16, which is a Tuesday.

Our wedding is planned for September 19. At one p.m., here in paradise.

It's going to be an informal, casual event. Potluck, outdoors if the weather is nice, Hawaiian shirts all around. Bring a lawn chair.

Of course, this is all hopeful. Tentative.

There is a very real possibility that the implementation of this law will be postponed by the courts pending the outcome of a "people's veto" referendum. Signatures are being gathered already to repeal this law. Maine has a very liberal referendum process. They only need to get 55,000 signatures to put it on the ballot.If they get the signatures before the end of the summer, it could be on the November ballot. Otherwise, it would have to wait until next June.

Honestly, I really don't want this to go to referendum. It's stupid and wasteful and moronic to put the rights of a minority to a vote of the majority. I just want to marry my sweetheart and bore you all with stories of the preparations. I just want us to gather among friends and family, exchange vows and rings, and then cook burgers and maybe have some native corn on the cob. That would be nice. That really doesn't need a referendum, I think.

Keep your fingers crossed. And it goes without saying that if you're asked to sign, please decline. Thanks.

a little distracted

Forgive me, but I am still a little distracted by this whole marriage equality thing. The bill passed the Maine State Senate by a 21-14 vote on Thursday. That's a 3-2 margin. Not a squeaker. Supporters numbered half again as many as opponents. That's pretty impressive.

The bill goes to House of Representatives on Tuesday, where it is said to have solid support.

This is amazing.

In 1988, when I came out and began to get active in queer stuff in Maine, it was still legal to fire, evict, deny credit and deny accommodations to gay men and lesbians in Maine. Hate crimes were largely unreported because to do so would mean to admit that you were gay, putting job and livelihood in peril. We were fighting then for an anti-discrimination law, and it was a nasty, uphill fight. Marriage was so far away as to not even be on the map. Not in my lifetime, perhaps in the next generation we might see such a thing, I thought. Back then, we just wanted to not get killed in the street. We just wanted someone to help our brothers who were dying by the thousands. Marriage? That was a decadent dessert to people who were starving for rice.

Ten years ago, we still did not have legal protections. Every other state in New England offered protection from discrimination for sexual minorities, but not Maine. Vermont was even working on domestic partnership. But they were a bunch of freaky hippies, we said. There's no accounting for Vermont. They do what they want there.

But now here we are in Maine in 2009. We have legal protection from discrimination, finally. We have a domestic partnership law, yes, but it is offensive to me and many others. In order to register to receive half-ration benefits, we have to file paperwork with the Department of Health. The Department of Health??? Why not Vital Statistics, where straight marriages are registered? Ooooh, that's right. We're different. Separate. Equal? My ass! We have to register with the Department of Health. People with communicable diseases have to register with the Department of Health. That is patently offensive, thank you very much.

So now we are less than 100 hours away from a historic vote of the Maine Legislature. Marriage equality might be a reality not just within my lifetime, but within this year. Wow.

If the House passes this bill on Tuesday, it goes on to the Governor for his signature. With a 3-2 margin in the Senate, and something similar (hopefully) in the House, it would make good sense for him to support a bill that comes through with solid support in both houses. The legislature is scheduled to end its session on June 17. New laws take effect 90 days after the end of the session. That means by mid-September, we could be married.

Don't think I'm gonna wear no dress. Just get that thought out of your head right now.

Wow. This is a real possibility. Something has shifted in America. We have our first African American president. Being smart is cool again. Being a stupid redneck is un-cool again. People want to feel proud about ethics again. People want to be the good guys, not the bully. We are beginning to search for and find the greater part of ourselves, that part of us that takes the high road.

History is coming. This chapter WILL be written. Dear god, let us all live long enough to see it be a reality.

And the beat (bill) goes on...

Correction. A friend of mine who happens to be an ordained minister has told me that ministers do NOT have to be notary publics to do weddings "You have to be either a notary or an "ordained minister of the gospel" or a "cleric"." I stand corrected. I often sit corrected, too.

Everybody and their uncle seems to be writing about Maine's L.D. 1020 and its progress in the legislature. Forgive me, but it's on my mind, too, so you're going to hear about it again.

The marriage equality bill came out of committee with a 11-2 ought to pass recommendation to the full legislature and it could face its first vote in the Maine Senate as early as tomorrow. Holy shit. That's fast. I guess they want to get it done and gone so they can get to work on the budget, which is a total nightmare.

I am hearing that the Senate has some members who think it might be a good idea to put the thing directly out to a referendum. What bullshit. That does nothing more than save them from having to make a tough choice. It would be much easier if their voters kicked the queers in the teeth than if they had to do it publicly than to make the more difficult choice and do what they know is right and support the bill.

We have a representative form of government. That means we elect people to represent us in Augusta. We volunteer for the job, and we elect them. Their job is to sit through the hearings, listen to the testimony, learn as much about an issue as they possibly can, and form an educated opinion about it. I don't want to care about the regulations having to do with lake levels or organic chickens, or tree growth or urban sprawl. I want my elected representatives to do their jobs and represent the interests of me and my community. That doesn't seem so tough, now does it?

Feh.

And our governor is being a first class cowardly dickhead for suggesting that the referendum thing might be a good idea. Since when is it a good idea to put the civil rights of a minority out to a vote of the majority? Certainly a fair number of decent, like-minded, progressive straight folks will vote to give us marriage rights, but most people, in the solitude of the voting booth, will mark the box that says "No, not for them." It is the cowardice that comes with anonymity. They don't have to look their gay, lesbian, bi, or trans neighbors, co-workers or family members in the eye and say "you don't deserve the same rights as me." They can hide behind the secret ballot. And they do. And I fear they still will.

I wrote a column for this week's paper. If you live in Hancock County, Maine, find a copy of the Mount Desert Islander and pick it up. I'll offer the rough draft of what I sent in here. I haven't seen the paper yet, but I have been assured that it got in with nice placement.

It's okay. It's only love.

Last week, I went with a group of friends from Hancock County to Augusta for the public hearing before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Judiciary of L.D. 1020 An Act To End Discrimination In Civil Marriage And to Preserve Religious Freedom. There were almost three dozen of us on the rented bus, we left very early and spent a very, very long day listening to testimony.

It makes for a grinding day listening to people give reasons why I deserve fewer, or different rights than them. It makes for stomach pains and pounding headaches to hear people accuse me and my community of horrible atrocities that are simply false and outrageous.

I live in Otter Creek with my partner. We have been together for seven years and we would very much like to be married. I am not asking for a gold-plated Cadillac, I just want the same rights and responsibilities that my parents have.

I’d like to know that we have the security that comes with marriage. That if I am injured in an accident that the hospital will take the word of my spouse regarding my medical decisions instead of that of my estranged father who suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease. As it stands now, legally, he has more rights to those kinds of decisions than she does. That’s not right.

Many of the people who spoke against the bill cited faith-based justifications for their feelings. One of the best parts of this bill is that no church, ever, will be asked to perform a marriage ceremony that goes against its teachings.

The process for getting married first begins at the town office with a piece of paper billed as “INTENTION OF MARRIAGE”. There are sections for the bride and groom to fill out, and it is returned and a marriage license is issued. In order for the couple to be married, they must exchange vows and swear their “I do’s” in front of two witnesses AND AN AGENT OF THE STATE. A notary public must certify and sign the marriage license for the marriage to be legal.

Many clergy are notary publics, which is why they will say “but the power vested in me by the State of Maine, I now pronounce you…”

My argument is this: Why are clergy doing Ceasar’s work? Why is a government-issued contract being certified in a church?

Yes, a marriage can be a holy thing. In the Catholic Church where I grew up, indeed it is a sacrament. But people can get married without any clergy present at all. Non-believers can stand up in front of a town clerk or a notary anywhere they choose and be married. Churches already don’t have to marry couples if they don’t want to. A Catholic and a Jew would not be married in either a synagogue or a Cathedral, yet they can be married. Why not, then, my partner and me?

I am not asking the Catholic Church of my childhood to perform the service; I have a Notary Public already picked out who has said he will be glad to perform our wedding. His name is Dennis Damon. He’s our State Senator, and he introduced this bill that will allow us to marry.

The legislative process is not speedy, but it is resolute. The bill went to a work session and was voted out of committee this week overwhelmingly “ought to pass” and is headed for a vote in the Maine Senate next week or the week after, depending on scheduling. After that it will go to the Maine House, led by our own estimable Hannah Pingree, then back to the Senate, once more through the House, and to the Governor’s desk for his signature to become law.

Along this path, there are opportunities for legislators to introduce amendments and this and that. Usually, on a piece of legislation as volatile as this, there is a movement to send it out to referendum. To do that would be wrong in so many ways it boggles my mind.

I voted for people whom I want to go to Augusta, sit through the hearings, do the homework, educate themselves on the issues and then vote in the best interests of the people in their districts. I did not send someone down there to be an empty barrel into which I can shout to be heard. I voted for people with brains and guts, and I expect them to use both when considering this legislation. Vote it up or vote it down, but don’t weasel around and try to avoid taking a stand. Legislators should state their positions and cast their votes. Elsie Fleming and Dennis Damon will do just that. All the others? Well, there’s no telling.

The civil rights of a minority ought never to have to pass the gauntlet of a statewide referendum vote. Imagine if the Emancipation Proclamation were put to a referendum… how many white voters would have freed slaves? Some would have voted for it, certainly, but not the majority. We had much more growing to do as a nation before we would (or will) achieve anything remotely resembling racial equality.

A referendum will be exhaustive and expensive. Millions will be spent on each side. Think what positive things we could do with that money instead of fighting a prolonged, nasty referendum fight. How many beds could be bought for domestic violence shelters? How many groceries could be bought for a food pantry? How many affordable housing units could be built with what will be spent on a referendum? We’ve got more important things to argue about in Maine right now – like the gaping hole in the budget – than whether two people who love each other should have the right to enter into a civil marriage and be treated like everyone else.

L.D. 1020 is about fairness in the civil sphere and freedom in the religious sphere. It will allow citizens to go into the town office and get a marriage license, and it will reaffirm the right of all churches to say “no, thank you” to any couple they do not want to marry. It’s time, Maine. It’s time for equality.