EZEtoGRU

I agree that it seems the regulations are not as tight as they used to be regarding headlights. Also, I bet there is very little enforcement to ensure headlights are in compliance with the regulations. I am sure there are aftermarket headlights sold that are not compliant with the law. 30-50 years ago, police would stop people for things like this (overly bright headlights). I doubt that happens much today. ...and don't get me started on another pet peeve of mine regarding vehicles: Windows tinted so dark that you literally cannot see the person inside. Again, the police used to stop cars for having their windows tinted too dark. Today, the police would be too afraid to stop such a car out of fear that the driver might have a weapon they cannot see.

What?? So I point out the behaviors a poster has done in the past and then I am accused of making fun of Autism & Asperger??? Mary you need to lay off the alcohol.

Ask him how many times he has complained about his home market and then moved to a new market...and then complained about the new market😉.

All is good. Americans continue to feel better about inflation and the economy: Americans continue to feel better about inflation and the economy | CNN Business WWW.CNN.COM US consumers have been feeling a whole lot better this summer as inflation has continued to slow.

Sad to hear she's gone. She had a troubled life for many years...mental illness. Sadly, she lost a son to suicide not so long ago which had to be traumatic for her. Rightly or wrongly, I always considered her to be a one-hit wonder. For the last 25 years, I never heard much about her except when she was missing, threating suicide, or being hospitalized for one thing or another. Her illness had to be exhausting for her.

It seems some theatres were running a "Barbenheimer" special that would allow the moviegoer to see Barbie and Oppenheimer back-to-back. Has anyone seen both movies? If so, what did you think? I'm thinking of taking mom to the movies next week and would like some input. I read one review from a woman that saw both. In the end, she liked Barbie more. She felt it was faster-paced and surprisingly deeper in message than what she was expecting. She found Oppenheimer interesting at times but dull and slow in other moments....oh...and utterly too long. Any input would be appreciated.

You are right. I was just in Montreal and spent three nights around the village. I felt completely safe, saw very few homeless people, and never got pan-handled once. I would say The Village has changed compared 20 years ago. However, to me, it's basically the same as it has been for the last 7-8 years. So I would say it's pretty stable now. Like you, I don't seek hotels in The Village any more. Been there done that 30 years ago but not now. Obviously, to each his own.

Same for my Chase Sapphire Account. I think any major US bank offers a premium checking account that allows international ATM withdrawals without charging a fee and does the transaction at the prevailing foreign exchange rate at the time. Easy peasy. Even if you're only going to Canada and/or Mexico 2-3 times per year, this is much better than changing money at airports or foreign exchange offices. Obviously just my 2 cents.

Agreed. Delete this thread now.

I think we can all agree there is really no inflation problem in the US right now. The trend has been towards lowering inflation for more than a year. The Fed may raise rates one more time this week just to finish the job. I see no further rate increases this year (since there is no longer an inflation issue) unless there is another oil crisis or a major COVID resurgence. Hard to predict.

The quicker Twitter, or X, swirls down the toilet into the sewer the better off society will be. Well done Mr Musk !

Yes but can a smart techy fix a lousy attitude?

We now have the longest consecutive market rally since 2017…and inflation keeps falling!!

Yes the economy seems to be full steam ahead…even as inflation continues to abate. The Stock market is loving it!

Wow. I have not seen Travis for years. His stripper days started at Twist in Miami Beach way back when. Great photo!!

Inflation in 2021/2022 was a global phenomenon driven primarily by the consequences of COVID. The US has managed this situation better than most countries and is seeing the positive results through the monthly inflation numbers. As far as a potential US recession goes, people like Jamie Dimon and Elon Musk have been preaching doom and gloom now for more than two years. Yet the recession hasn't happened. Beyond the improving inflation situation, monthly employment numbers have proved to be very resilient for more than two years now. We still need many more workers in this country. That can be a topic for another thread😉.

or North of the border.

Positive inflation news out today. This is definitely a trend as inflation has been falling for 12 straight months now. Separately, I read something yesterday about Florida being the inflation hot-spot in the country currently. US inflation cooled in June for the 12th straight month | CNN Business WWW.CNN.COM What a difference a year makes.

I used Androgel (roll-on) some 8-9 years ago. It provided minimal benefit for me.

It's a relatively recent thing for Montreal. For many years, women were not allowed into Stock or Campus except on the designated Ladies Night once per week at each club. Both bars strictly enforced these rules. Then the bars started relaxing the rules to allow ladies on other nights maybe a year before COVID. Even then, it was nothing like what I just witnessed on Friday night. So things certainly have evolved on this issue in Montreal.

Just back from a four night trip to Montreal. Weather was mostly good with the exception of some storms on Sunday and showers today Monday. I noticed no smoke smell during my time there. Things were active in The Village with lots of foot traffic. I visited both Stock and Campus. I was at Stock Thursday and Friday nights. Stock is looking great with all the renovations. Stock & Soda seems to be successful...at least now during the summer. Plenty of folks sitting on the patio part on the street. The inside VIP room (Stock Speakeasy?) was inaugurated on Friday. Somehow, I managed not to check it out. Oops! I saw the new owner, Danny, who I remember from his bartender days. He seemed really upbeat about everything. DJ Anthony also made an appearance on Thursday for his hosting duties of the Studio Show. Stock currently has more employees than I have ever seen previously. The current level of business seems to support the increased number of staff. Although, Thursday was relatively slow. Things didn't really get going till after 11:00pm. Note the weekly summer fireworks have been moved from Saturdays to Thursdays. As a result, dancers and customers don't really start showing up to Stock till after 10:00. They had 10-12 dancers there on Thursday and some didn't turn up till after 10:00pm. So it was fairly slim pickings before 10:00pm. Alex the bartender was on duty at the main bar by the shower stage. He is always good fun. I ended up hanging out with Jasper & Eric most of the evening. It was good fun. The crowd was mostly gay men. Although there were a few ladies there, they did not make for an overpowering presence. Friday was a very different night. It was, of course, much busier at Stock as a weekend night. Also, the women were present in force. It felt like a ladies night. In fact, when I arrived around 8:30, I was advised that there was a special bachelorette-type party going on and that it would be over by 10:00pm. It must have started at 6 or 7 cause at 8:30 it was already well underway. Former Stock dancer Parker was the host and he had 2-3 non-Stock dancers plus Gatuso performing for the ladies. Several of the bachelorettes were brought up on stage and given lap-dances. It was kind of fun to watch from afar and I assumed they would clear out at 10:00pm. Well this pre-show did end as scheduled and the ladies were told that if they wanted to continue on at Stock, they would need to go out and pay the Stock cover-charge and re-enter. It seems most of them did that and the female presence just grew larger as the night progressed. All the chairs closest to the stage were occupied by females. Men seemed to be in the minority in the bar. The dancer line-up consisted of many attractive guys (Jo, Jasper, Vinny, Gatuso (from Tunisia), Barack (from Costa Rica), Bran, Denzel, Miguel, and Santiago). There were a few others there as well which I would consider duds...at least for my taste. Former Stock dancer Tyler also made an appearance as a customer. We had a quick chance to catch-up since I had not seen him since before COVID. He is not currently dancing anywhere. I had fun both nights. at Stock. Thursday, I stopped in briefly at Campus between stays at Stock. I seemed to be there during the transition from the day talent to the evening talent. The daytime boys were largely forgettable in my view. A few of the nighttime guys coming in looked interesting but I did not stay long enough to see any of them perform. A couple of the daytime dancers were overly-aggressive which I did not appreciate. Campus had roughly the same amount of clients on Thursday as Stock so , due to its smaller size, Campus appeared busier. There was only a token presence of ladies at Campus on Thursday. I returned to Campus on Saturday and what a difference. It was packed with a whole lot more dancers. Two very big body-builder types. Also there were multiple muscular younger guys at Campus that seemed to be lacking at Stock. I hung out with three dancers Saturday night and had great fun. The bartender John was a hoot also. He enjoyed gradually removing his clothes while working. The former dancer red-headed Manager (I don't remember his name) was working Saturday and I had an opportunity to speak with him. I told him I first saw him dancing way back when at West Side on Beaver Hall when they had strippers. That's quite a few years ago now. There were a few more women at Campus on Saturday than on Thursday but it did not feel overwhelming to me. I did not go to the clubs on Sunday so nothing to report there. My conclusions overall: * The Stock renovation looks wonderful and is bringing in increased business to Stock & Soda and also the main strip club. * Stock still has to work on getting the guys naked on stage. There are multiple guys (mostly the newer ones) that do not get naked. Some don't even flash their goods. * The dancer talent at Stock has improved over the last few months. This is partially due to getting back some of the former Stock strippers that had stopped stripping or had moved to Campus. That is all good, (and kudos to Stock management for achieving this) but Stock also needs to get some muscular younger talent . We need to have some fresh younger faces to go along with the veterans. * Stock needs to get more dancers to come in earlier. Many dancers not arriving till 10:00 or even 11:00pm just doesn't work for me. I like to start fairly early. I really want to see most of the guys by 9:00pm so I can decide who to spend time with. I would guess that most older customers 45+ (with bank in their pocket) would much prefer to have most dancers around by 9:00pm rather than have to wait till 11:00pm to see the top guys. * The Women at Stock. Something needs to be done about this. I know it's a difficult issue as one cannot discriminate. But the women on Friday (after the earlier bachelorette event) were the dominant force for the entire night. I wanted to tip one of the dancers on the stage and found it very difficult to even get close. I was told Saturday night was similar at Stock. I hope to return to Montreal this summer. I really really don't want to be spending my gay dollars in Florida if I don't have to. I am happy with the great progress at Stock in just three months but look for further improvements on the items highlighted above. I really want to return more regularly if possible.

The challenge is that most of the guys I saw on Mintboys were 1 or 2 not 7 or 8. No thanks. I'll just jack-off. I've never been one to compromise on quality. I'd rather do without than be with someone I'm not attracted to.

It's interesting you mention this. After seeing the recent thread about Mintboy, I had a look at the selection for the Detroit area. Yuck!!! A large number of very average to unattractive guys I wouldn't be interested in even if they were for free. It was shocking to see how many unappealing guys are putting themselves out there as escorts.

Yet another reason not to visit Florida or Texas. The list keeps growing!

Modonna's Celebration World Tour will be postponed due to a bacterial infection and visit to the ICU over the weekend. More details forthcoming. Madonna recovering from 'serious bacterial infection,' postpones Celebration world tour | CNN WWW.CNN.COM Madonna is taking time to heal after a health scare, which will postpone at least some of her Celebration world tour that had been set to commence next month.