On New Year's Eve this year, I went to a large swinger party with B on my arm and an assortment of friends. We spent much of the evening with B's friends Tim and Karen. I'd met Tim & Karen before at the Halloween party I went to with B, and they seemed like nice folks. We spent most of the afternoon and evening together, and sometime during the party, we ended up in a naked pile together in Tim & Karen's room. I had a romp with Tim which I thoroughly enjoyed. Sadly, however, it was not to be repeated. We got together socially a couple of times after that, but before Tim and I had a chance for a rematch, he and Karen moved overseas. They both took contract positions with the military in Iraq, and headed for a war zone, much to the chagrin of all of their friends back home. They've kept up with us all via Facebook, email, and instant message on their prehistoric internet connection over there, and given us glimpses into what life is like in a warzone (for non-soldiers).

Last week, Tim made it back stateside for a brief visit. I found out he'd gotten back to town on Tuesday morning. I had plans with a girlfriend Tuesday evening, an unchangeable commitment Wednesday, and was planning on leaving for vacation first thing Thursday morning. By the time I returned from vacation Monday night, he'd be gone again. I hated the thought of missing him on his brief stint stateside, so I asked my girlfriend if she'd mind rescheduling our plans - thankfully, she understood.

Tim and I spent a lovely evening catching up over food and snuggles and sex... all of which was fantastic, by the way... but what fascinated me most was hearing about life in the warzone, and most specifically, Karen's ongoing affair with an Iraqi. Tim and Karen have an open relationship, and even in the absence of available women for him over there, he is happy that Karen has found someone special on whom to focus her attention. I find the whole thing fairly remarkable. She is working with the Iraqi military forces, and her lover is, like her, a civilian contractor working for the Iraqi military. However, as an Iraqi, he is not allowed to socialize with the Americans, much less visit their residences on base, much less socialize, visit, and/or have sex with an American WOMAN on base. If he's found out, he could lose his job, the job he took which is way below his education and qualifications, and which pays a pittance, but which must support some 8-10 people. I found it surprising that he would risk all of that to sneak over to the American housing side of the base to spend nights in the bed of his new American lover, who'll be gone in a few months' time.

But I'm super happy for them to have found something in that desert war zone to make life a little more livable there. And I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to spend an evening with Tim on his brief visit home!

-Vixen

My central air conditioning system has decided that a mid-90s heat wave is a splendid time to refuse to work. And the AC repair people have basically told me that due to the age of the system and the cost of repair, I may as well replace the whole damned system (grr). I was chatting with Craig about it, comisserating over shared AC woes (his system's on the fritz too), and he mentioned that a buddy was going to fix it on the cheap, the same buddy who put a new system in at his mom's house. It just so happens I have a day full of appointments for AC estimates tomorrow, so I asked for his friend's number for another estimate - I'd much rather give my business to a friend of a friend than a stranger. I left a message for Craig's friend, who called me back not too long thereafter.

"Hi, this is Joe Smith, how are you doing?" the friend greeted me on the phone. I said hi, and before I had a chance to say anything else, he said "I bet you're HOT!"

My first reaction to this had nothing to do with air conditioning. My brain was registering the caller as "friend of friend who you've not met before", not as "AC repair dude" - so when he said "I bet you're HOT!" my brain registered it like one of a bazillion brainless boys I encounter online who would say such a thing, as in "I bet you're sexy as hell!"

It took a second for my brain to register "It's 90+ degrees outside. He's an AC repair guy. You called him because your AC is busted. He does not know you're sitting in your nice cool office. He is suggesting that you must be awfully warm without AC."

Oh.

Oops.

So I was a bit delayed in my response of "...OH! Yes, yes, I am."

Heheheh. So, Mr. Hot AC Guy will be by in the morning to give me an estimate.

And until then, I will be here, wilting with my hotness in the sweltering heat.

Thank GOD for ceiling fans.

-Vixen