EZEtoGRU

I was in Ft. Lauderdale for four days last week and it was mostly a waste of a trip due to the weather/rain.  I spent most days in my hotel.  The beach was empty except for Thursday when there was some sun.  The worst day was on Wednesday when the rain never stopped for the entire day which caused serious flooding in several areas.  Even Wilton Manors was empty at night.  I did go to Johnson's that evening and I was literally the only customer.  No dancers.  They closed down around 9:30pm.

I don't think I'll go back until November as summer trips to Florida seem to be too risky as far as weather goes.  Just my two cents.

I’m actually in FLL now on a plane leaving shortly for Michigan. The weather in Lauderdale was a mess and totally screwed my trip. Florida definitely is not the place to be anymore. I can’t imagine investing in this state anymore. Seems like a fools errand. 

2 hours ago, sync said:

My perception is that immediate termination would be very much more preferable to the horrors of survival. 

I agree with this. The best preparation is to have a plan and the means to end it all. Cyanide perhaps?  I don’t think I could pull a trigger.
 

  Trying to exist in survival mode doesn’t interest me at all. Really…what’s the point?

May inflation came in lower than expected...so trending in the right direction.  This news coupled with multiple retailers dropping prices and gasoline prices plummeting (I paid $3.19 last week in Michigan) all suggest things are going well economically.  I still don't see the Fed dropping interest rates imminently...maybe later in the year.

US inflation cooled in May in a sign that price pressures may be easing

APNEWS.COM

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Inflation in the United States eased in May for a second straight month, a hopeful sign that an acceleration of prices that occurred early this year may have passed.

At least two of the dancers at Johnson's FTL have had their dicks filled with something.  One of the guys is from Argentina and the other from Italy.  

Yea.  Well she probably has a divorce to announce. Maybe that will come tomorrow. Check out this variety article regarding the tour cancellation. You can see the seat maps for three of the previously scheduled shows. Blue seats indicate seats not sold yet. Pretty wild. 
 

Jennifer Lopez Cancels Summer Tour

VARIETY.COM

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Jennifer Lopez has canceled her troubled summer tour to spend more time with her family and is...

Well it seems that many of the potential restrictions a convicted felon could face can vary widely dependent on the state where the conviction took place and also the type of crime that was committed. For instance, firearm restrictions likely apply for a felon convicted of a violent crime…but maybe not for a felon convicted of say a financial crime. 
 

Thanks to those of you that contributed constructively to this thread and stayed on topic. 
 

21 minutes ago, MikeBiDude said:

Moderator note:

Obviously…there’s a major news story breaking here that’s of much interest. News is ok, political comment is not.

Just be very, VERY careful how you comment here. 

I totally agree.  I hope you take names of those that try to drag this into a not allowed discussion simply because they want the thread closed.  

I'm not thinking of anyone in particular...but curious about what restrictions are put on a convicted felon.  Can they vote?  Can they travel out of the country?  Can they hold a passport?  Drivers license?

Turns out multiple retailers are actively lowering prices currently.  Think Walgreens, Walmart, Ikea, Amazon, Aldi, and others.  

1 minute ago, fresh said:

Kyle may be the only attraction at Stock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle?  You mean the one from before COVID?

On 5/29/2023 at 1:07 PM, Luv2play said:

I agree its a cultural thing and now a class thing too. The better educated and higher income earners are not so likely to smoke now. I tend to move in those circles.lol.

I totally agree with the above.  Amongst people under 50 in the US, lesser educated/low income earners are much more likely to smoke IMO.  I confess to being judgmental when I see someone smoking a cigarette these days (less so if they are vaping).  With everything that is now known about the dangers of smoking cigarettes, its amazing to me that people actually still voluntarily choose to do it.  Flame away at me...but when I see someone with a cigarette, they automatically go down a notch in my estimation.  Poor judgement and bad choices.

As far as Vegas goes, the Park MGM on the strip is a completely non-smoking casino hotel...including in the bars and the casino.  It sits between the Cosmo and NYNY...so a very central location.  If you hate cigarette smoke, this is the place for you.  Sometimes I stay at the Cosmo but do all my gambling at the Park MGM due to the smoke-free environment. 

I haven't been yet this year but I was in Montreal in early December 2023.  Things have changed in Montreal since Covid hit.  Pre-Covid, I was a regular fixture at Stock Bar due to the dancer quality.  No longer the case.  I do watch the on-line feed and I find the dancers to be mostly uninspiring...with one or two exceptions.  

During my December visit, I only went to Campus as they had a better quality of dancers if you are into masculine and muscle guys.  I felt no need to go to Stock as all my needs were met at Campus.  Stock is a nicer club as far as the infrastructure goes...but they just don't have the best Montreal talent anymore.

Yea…Florida just isn’t the place to be anymore. Summers have gotten way too hot and winters are seeing increasing amounts of rain and cloudy weather. South Florida used to be reliably lovely from November through April. No longer the case. 
 

I still go to South Florida for Johnson’s…but I really don’t like spending my gay dollars in a state that doesn’t respect or value me. I wish there were more options elsewhere. 
 

weather and politics aside, I don’t know how an average Joe can even afford to live in South Florida now.    Who’s going to wait on and provide services to all the people with multi million dollar homes if an average person can no longer afford to live there?   Inflation has been running higher in Florida than any other state for a while now. 
 

I’m glad I lived in Florida when I did (the 1990’s) and got to experience the lovely winters. I would hate to be stuck there now given the plethora of horrors going on now. 

4 minutes ago, Medin said:

I've met him.   Wow...quite a mess.  One of my worst hires and I walked out.  

 

I'm not surprised.  Ex-con.  His look.  All the tattoos.  Labeling himself as "straight" although, by his own admission, he is mostly into trans-gurls.  I would have guessed from the get-go it could be problematic.

6 hours ago, n2guysnatl said:

 That's like announcing a pregnancy at 6 weeks.

I disagree!

It's like announcing a pregnancy before you're even pregnant!😁

Anyone with plans to travel to Porto Alegre Brazil in the next six months should rethink their plans.  Parts of the city are under water after historic rain and flooding during the last few weeks.  Hundreds dead or missing and over half a million displaced from their homes.  Flood waters may take a month to recede and  POA airport is under water and closed.  Some estimates are that the airport may not re-open until September.  

Airport terminal completely flooded:

Same old posters pushing the same old nonsense. Sheesh…it’s like a broken record. The reality is that huge headway has been made on the inflation front.  The rest will be slow-going. 
 

Anyone that thinks the economic consequences of COVID are over with is clueless about what’s gone on.   Supply chain problems continue in a big way. Millions left the workforce either by choice or cause they died of COVID. Many places are still not fully staffed.  Think hotels, restaurants, retail stores, etc. Even factories continue to be understaffed. Nearly every place I drive by here in Michigan still has “Now Hiring” signs out. 
 

When there is a shortage of workers, wages go up. Our local Burger King is paying $18/hr for full time workers and $16/hr for part time. This is much higher than the state-mandated minimum wage.  It’s just what they have to pay to get applicants. Otherwise, prospective employees feel it’s not worth their time. 
 

We are still feeling the economic fallout from COVID…so making that final move down to 2% inflation will be slow-going. 
don’t expect restaurant prices to fall as long as we continue to have a worker shortage in our country. 

Inflation cooled slightly again in April.  As I posted before, its going to be slow-going now to get from 3.4% to the 2% target.  That's just how it works.  Were doing quite well having gone from the peak of 9% to the current level.  It may take a year or more to get from the current level to 2%. 

If I'm not mistaken, he fairly recently acknowledged he was bi-sexual.  

Madonna's last official show on The Celebration Tour took place last weekend in Mexico City.   About a month ago, she announced she would do a final show in Rio on Copacabana Beach.  It will be free and looks to be an enormous undertaking as 1.5 million fans are expected for the show.  I hope it all goes off safely.  I assume everyone attending will have to go through heavy security checks.

Madonna arrived in Rio on Monday morning and is staying at The Copacabana Palace.

Here is a video showing some of the stage preparations:

Anybody going?

5 hours ago, ShortCutie7 said:

Then they weren’t kosher or kosher-style… can’t combine meat and dairy.

That may well be...but I do know that plenty of Jewish deli restaurants offer Mac & Cheese.  

17 hours ago, ShortCutie7 said:

What’s surprising to me is that a Jewish deli would have Mac and Cheese at all!

Really?  I've been to many Jewish Deli Restaurants that offered Mac & Cheese...useually as a side dish.

15 hours ago, mike carey said:

 (And as an aside, to me spicy and hot)

I do agree with this.  I really enjoy some international foods (ie Indian, Thai, Mexican) that use spices we are not accustomed to in traditional US cuisine as long as the level of heat is not too high.  However, food that is overly hot is not appealing to me.  Some foods are spiced so overly hot that the flavor of the dish gets lost in the heat.  Only my opinion of course.  

To me, there are some hot sauces and chili that greatly enhance the heat level without actually contributing much to the foods flavor.