TonyDown

Great actor.

Did not care for that film.

On 1/13/2024 at 6:56 AM, domdom81 said:

Thanks for posting that thread. Interesting to read that he massaged in the nude and allowed touching. I guess you'd have to ask for that, I didn't and just got an excellent massage from a very, very hot guy.

My experience was same as you.  I would repeat. Nice guy.  

 For such a hot guy, and his relatively lower rate, I did not expect any extras.

One could ask when booking him, but I doubt if he allows touching or works nude. 

My dad did not reach 70.  At the end he regretted not having more fun in life.  Not sure what kind of "fun" he meant.

At least Dad left Mom a comfortable life.

It's a gamble though, having enough money until the end.

So maybe there is not a perfect answer to your question, how much $$ to spend on "fun".

For me, I spend nothing on casinos or ocean cruises.  I'm happier supporting a nice provider with my business.

I do like the above idea that someone drove Uber to pay for his "fun".

I'm in the minority.

I will watch movies like My Policeman and Benediction again but Saltburn, no.  Big disappointment.

That said Jacob Elordi will host SNL tonight.

With the widespread wintry weather I'm curious what temperature everyone sets their furnace thermostat.

I have a gas furnace.  With rates going up in recent years I have dialed down the temperature and made sure to dress appropriately.

This winter I've set my thermostat at 67 when at home, 61 overnight, and 56 when out of the house.  My housemate is fine with that.

I live on the West Coast.  It's fair to say my house is not nearly as well insulated as homes in the Midwest so keeping the air toasty warm would be quite costly.

On 12/29/2023 at 12:01 PM, Ali Gator said:

There's a great conversation going on at another site about dropping Amazon Prime and other streamers in 2024. I'm curious what others think here - has anyone considered it ? (It's being said the easy solution is to get a great VPN and stream on Torrents, though I'm not certain if that's the way to go or if I will participate in that, myself - thoughts ?) 

Amazon Prime: It was once promoted as giving the Prime customer guaranteed 2 day delivery with no minimum order; hassle-free returns with drop-offs at Kohl's, Whole Foods and UPS or send it back via a delivery system; streaming service with thousands of shows and movies available with no commercials; other perks (such as music, photos, etc.). 

This has changed in the past year or so: 'Guaranteed 2 day delivery' is no more, and many have complained about this. I, myself, ordered a handful of things in October and November and opted for 2-day delivery - I got my stuff in 5 -7 days, which is standard for non-Prime customers. 'Hassle-free' returns are also now a thing of the past, as Amazon has fully enforced a 'restocking fee' on many items the past couple of years if you go past a certain amount of items that you return during the year (good luck on finding out how much the restocking fee is or how many returns you can make per year, as there's no clarification on their forum). On the other message board, customers are saying they've been charged 5% - 35%, and only found out about it when their refund came through- not when they placed the order.  

More and more 'free movies and TV shows' are now under the option to rent or buy - no more free streaming. If a series is 'free', they have cut down on the number of episodes / seasons available and for how long you can access it for free.  Starting next month, they will be inserting ads in all their 'free streaming'. If you want no ads, it will cost you $3 a month more (but the reason we signed up for Prime is to be ad free).

 

On the other forum, it was suggested to drop Prime (I'd save $139 a year) and wait until you have $35 worth of merchandise in your cart and then have it shipped for free - it will get to you within 5-7 days just like it does now for Prime. I may do this.

 

Anyone else have any thoughts on this or other streamers ?  (I have Prime and Netflix - I probably will keep Netflix). 

May I ask what is the other Site you mentioned having a similar thread?

I dropped Apple in December and dropped Netflix awhile back.

I still have Prime and Hulu.  I've also tried free streaming on Kanopy, Hoopladigital, and TubiTv.

I may return to Netflix.  

I read an article linked on Yahoo Finance today that Citi was planning to cut thousands of jobs.  The article reported Citi had a loss.   My initial reaction was how could that be possible with the high interest they charge on credit cards.  Thus this thread caught my interest.

The average credit card debt reported in the article did not seem too astounding compared to all of the credit card debt horror stories one hears about.  So, I wonder if the median debt metric is quite a bit higher than the average.

That said, I pay off my credit card balances every week.  My car I bought used at Enterprise, with cash.

I basically keep no debt.

The gossip rags claim Timothee Chalamet was considered for the lead in Saltburn.  If so, I believe he dodged a bullet.   I thought it was awful.

Side note: there would  not have been any peen if T.C. had been cast.

Some real world data, be it limited, was a news piece this week about businesses closing in LA including several along Melrose.  

One factor is high rents for leased commercial space.

Does this point to a recession coming?  Even though employees are finding new jobs, how will rising commercial vacancies affect local economies?

  Sharing thousands of texts is something lovers or very close friends do. 

That you traveled far to be with him also sounds like you loved him.

So if this describes what he meant to you, then it makes sense you might be grieving over the loss of your connection with him.  

IMO it's OK to fall in love with a provider as long as you're being honest with yourself what is going on.

That he believed you owed him money sounds like a huge misunderstanding between you two or else his circumstances changed.

From the little you described about legal issues, suggests he might not be good at making choices.  

That he blocked you could mean he doesn't know how to say good bye.

But it does sound like he has.

On 12/15/2023 at 2:23 PM, stevenkesslar said:

Or maybe the dialogue went over Emerald Fennell's head.  

I often like to read Metacritic reviews after I watch a movie that was interesting or, in this case, just weird.  This is one that reviewers either love or hate.  I hated it.  So I read more reviews than usual wondering why some people might love it.  This was the best description of the message, if you can call it that:

Actually, Jacob Elordi is all it really needs.

In terms of why some people might actually like it, I thought the BBC nailed it:

Speaking of fantasies, and penetration, I figured out about 30 minutes into the film that the only reason to keep watching it was Jacob Elordi.  I wouldn't mind a sequel, or just a porn movie, featuring Elordi dancing around naked.  Or just being penetrating, in a particular way that the film was not.

What do you say, Jacob?

I also hated the film.  Thought it was predictable and shallow.

Love the cast but that's about it.

On 9/26/2023 at 10:09 PM, jessmapex said:

I am gen x gay man. I started investing in my early thirties - mostly in ETFs, IRAs etc. My elder brother was my advisor. He is straight and financially savvy. In last 8-9 yrs he stopped advising me as my money grew. I work a tech job and make more than he does. 

I have always maxed my 401k contributions and have IRAs. 

As a left brained person, I have zero interest in financial matters. I would rather play piano, watch a movie or do something else than doing spreadsheets. If i were straight, I'd be the wife who leaves all money matters to the husband. But I am gay and on my own. I am getting increasingly worried that I am not managing my money well.

Over last 5-6 years i have relied on robot investment advisors like WealthFront and Betterment. 

Can someone here recommend a gay friendly financial advisor who understands my situation (unattached financially unsavvy gay man who makes a decent income but is not a superwealthy guy) . I live in Northern California. 

Kudos for asking about selecting the right advisor.

Some folks claim you can't outperform high quality no-load index funds over the long term.

I hired a financial planner after college.  She turned out to be lesbian.  I am very satisfied.  She follows the rules, doesn't let emotions change the strategy, doesn't believe in timing the market and does not get involved in crypto.

So yeah do some research and don't hire anyone that seems driven by emotion.  

16 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

 

The Absolute Worst Predictions of 2023

PREDICTED BY: A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE …

• CNBC, Oct. 10, 2022: “JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon warns U.S. likely to tip into recession in 6 to 9 months”
• Bloomberg, Oct. 17, 2022: “Forecast for US Recession Within Year Hits 100% in Blow to Biden”
• The Economist, Nov. 18, 2022: “Why a global recession is inevitable in 2023”
• Bloomberg, Dec. 6, 2022: “Wall Street Chorus Grows Louder Warning That 2023 Will Be Ugly”
• Wall Street Journal, Jan. 2, 2023: “Big Banks Predict Recession, Fed Pivot in 2023”
• Fox Business, Feb. 6, 2023: “Bank of America ‘still forecasting’ 2023 recession”
• POLITICO, April 4, 2023: “Jamie Dimon warns of new economic storms ahead”
• CNBC on April 12, 2023: “Fed expects banking crisis to cause a recession this year, minutes show”

In those articles, they quote Jamie Dimon predicting economic "headwinds" coming 

and more recently that economic

"storms" are approaching, which sounds worse, right?

One thing for sure, we might all agree with Dimon when he warns

 “...you can’t talk about the economy without talking about stuff in the future — and this is serious stuff,”

No wonder he leads the biggest of the big banks.  

I recall the last recession followed a financial implosion that was caused by misbehavior of large institutions after shadow investments on Wall Street were deregulated.

In more recent times, bank failures were in the news.   Were those an anomaly?   Perhaps so, because GDP has been rising since those failures.  

That said, I believe a recession will come.  They always do, right?

Frankly, I don't believe the big banks or Jamie Dimon know what stuff will ultimately be the cause.  Hopefully he will just stay out of the way and not add to the "stuff" our economy encounters. 

Maybe this kind of behavior has always existed.  But now the internet spreads our viral news everywhere, such as this thread. 

That we are now a heavily armed society seems to be a factor as well, how violent behavior is more apt to involve gunplay.

OK, I'll go.

The most flamboyant homophobe on campus lived in my house.  I would have enjoyed those college years more if he had kept his homophobic agenda to himself. 

I was not out. 

I had nice friends in the house and grew close to a particular housemate.  There were some strong feelings and we shared some playfulness and groping in the dark.  But the stigma of homophobia impacted our relationship.

Since nothing was ever seriously spoken about the affection we felt, the relationship wasn't easy for me to understand.  

At the end I kept my distance and he flippantly asked if we were getting a divorce. 

After college he wanted to try again.  By then he had dated several women.  At that point I didn't want to play.

Both of these guys ultimately married women. 

The flamboyant homophobe convinced some woman to marry him against her better judgment.  He is gay as a picnic basket, as some are apt to say.  The homophobe and wife have no children.  He finally came out. They are basically roommates now.

My close friend married twice and has children.  I would guess he is bisexual but closer to the "straight" end of the spectrum.  The closet prevents having honest conversations to clarify those things, right?  

Both of these fellows have been in touch with me in recent years when our house was planning a reunion. 

I decided not to go for various reasons.

I will always think of the flamboyant homophobe as somewhat of a jerk.  He now claims he was always an ally before springing out from his closet.  So he is still in denial about that piece.

I admit I could have been a much better friend than I was to this special guy I knew during college. Being closeted was no fun.  I wish I had been better equipped to deal with that situation and will always be sorry for hurting him.  

I have a friend in the restaurant business in La Quinta that mentioned the snowbird population had trended down so that restaurant business has dropped in his area.  Has anyone else noticed or heard that?

So make it a point to patronize some of the favorite eateries while in PS.

I enjoyed seeing the Marilyn Monroe statue earlier this year.  We picked up delicious ice coffees (was a very hot day) at the newer Starbucks nearby.

Maangchi has been around a long time with millions of fans.  She is so sweet.  Her recipes look delicious.

12 hours ago, BuffaloKyle said:

You said you have a rewards card for most of your spending so you're fine then to not switch. The only thing that would make me say you should is if there's a nice incentive you get if you spend a certain amount after you open. Like when I switched from American Express to the Wells Fargo Visa Active Cash Card which earns 2% back on everything and then I got a $200 bonus in cash back after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.

That is a good point @BuffaloKyle

I'll take a closer look at their incentives.  Thanks!

God fortsättning.  

Thank you @Ali Gator !

I'm not surprised to hear there is a financial agenda.  I had a hunch, the way they have warned me my "time is running out", to switch to their rewards card. 

I'm anxious to see what they say next.  Probably will offer to extend the deadline.  😁

I still have the original credit card account I signed up for when I graduated from college, from one of the big banks.

During the last year, the bank has been encouraging me to switch my account to one of their awards card accounts. 

While visiting to sign up for a CD, the cute young banker mentioned he hasn't seen my old style account for awhile.  He also recommended switching to their rewards card.

What I am curious about is why so anxious to have me switch?

I already have a rewards card from another institution used for most of my spends.

So I hesitate to drop this legacy account.

My question is, what is the benefit for the bank to have me switch?

There was so much going on and so much to take away from Fellow Travelers.

Too much?

One aspect I think about is the bad wrought by gay men against other gay men.  I'm not judging.  But perhaps it is food for thought how we might choose to treat each other now.

What struck me the most was the conversation between Tim and Mary, when Mary quotes from "Catcher in the Rye".  How that applied to Tim and Mary was terribly poignant. 

Watch the final epi and see what you think about that.  😉

On 10/25/2023 at 6:25 PM, samhexum said:

 

I'm headin' down the Atlanta highway
Lookin' for the love getaway
Headed for the love getaway

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Huggin' and a-kissin', dancin' and a-lovin'
Wearin' next to nothing 'cause it's hot as an oven

Not Guilty!  😍