Luv2play

Two regulars and a newbie, for some added variety. It kept my weekend busy.

I am just back from a weekend in Toronto. I can attest to the fact there are lots of options and it is easy to make arrangements even relatively late. My impression was that the competition is strong. My three choices were all available at times I suggested. I didn’t have to settle for second or third choices.

In my last year of law school we were required to take a one term course in accounting. That was to teach us how to read a balance sheet and income statement. That has helped me immeasurably in all sorts of situations including serving on a board of a non profit organization and handling the annual audit performed by an outside accounting firm.

The brother who opted for surgery as I did unfortunately had the result that the cancer had spread from the prostate when it was removed. It had pierced the wall of the gland but doctors were uncertain how far it had gone. He rejected further treatment at that time for fear of becoming incontinent. When the cancer returned 9 years later he then had radiation and other treatment. Today he seems ok but suffers incontinence. The older brother has had his cancer monitored for 20 years but it hasn’t progressed. Whether he has biopsy or MRI procedures I don’t know. He never raises it. I didn’t find the one biopsy I had that troublesome. Of course I’m used to having things poke around in my rear but the needle was a little uncomfortable. They took at least a dozen samples and it started to wear on me a bit. I recall they used a mild sedative but I was fully conscious.

I didn’t go through my whole case history as I had related it years ago in this forum but of course many here now were not present then. To be brief, I was alerted to having a PSA test done from my oldest brother who had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer after an elevated PSA led to a biopsy which confirmed cancer, I went and had the PSA which showed an elevated level from a test I had from 4 years earlier. A subsequent biopsy confirmed cancer in the mid range of 7 on the Gleason scale. My specialist recommended either surgery or radiation. My family doctor supported this and I opted for surgery. A year later my other brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was more advanced and higher on the Gleason so he had surgery. It also came back 9 years later and he had to have radiation and other therapy. My oldest brother opted for watchful as he was lower on the Gleason scale, in the 6 range as I recall. He has had to monitor it ever since . On the other hand I haven’t seen a doctor about this for 10 years now and am cancer free for almost 20 years.

I don’t think his work will stand the test of time. But then I will not be around to see if that bears out.

I’m too busy to be lonely. In fact I value my alone time to reflect on things, think about new ideas or projects to undertake and generally enjoy my surroundings. I’ve just published a book. I do a lot of volunteer work in areas that interest me. I hold down one part time volunteer job of 1 day a week and another paid position where I show up as needed. I have another volunteer position which requires me to oversee an institution and attend monthly board meetings which I chair. I don’t go out in the evenings like I used to and sexual interactions are with providers on a semi regular monthly basis. Maybe I’ll slow down in my 80s which are fast approaching.

This topic hasn’t been discussed for some time. This week there is a report stage 4 incurable cancers are appearing to be increasing in Canadian men since 2015, a year after the official guidelines for PSA testing were revised to exclude regular PSA testing, which caught cancers at an earlier treatable stage. (Deaths are also increasing in the US since 2015) After many years of declines in morbidity rates, the levels plateaued off after 2014 and deaths from cancers in men over 50 skyrocketed by 50 percent and men over 70 by 60 percent. (I hope I got these figures exact but they are in the ballpark). We had quite a discussion here back then and many argued against the testing because of the adverse effects that can occur from treatment. I was beyond having to consider the options becuz I had had my prostrate removed in 2006 after an elevated PSA reading. I’m glad I did and I have been cancer free for almost 20 years. And approaching 79. I read quite a few obituaries about men these days dying from prostate cancer in their 60s and early 70s I do suffer from ed but as a bottom, it’s not too concerning. I can still achieve climax so there’s that. And I’m alive! So there’s that.

I had another look at Booking.coms rates today since they sent me a follow up email after I didn’t go through with booking my stay with them. I had made a mistake and their rates weren’t twice those the hotel offered but they were $100 for the 2 nights. So I’m glad I booked directly with the hotel and got a better room. And the $100 saving will pay for the gas to get to Toronto. Lol

Well I won’t trust Booking.com any longer and if I refer to them for rates, I will check the hotel directly and to see if they offer a better rate for the same night. It may be different in different markets of course.

Has anyone used these sites like Booking.com, Hotels.com or Expedia to book travel arrangements recently? I did today for a hotel reservation in Toronto for an upcoming visit. They quoted me a rate for a queen sized bed in my favourite hotel downtown for 2 nights at a rate which gave me pause. So I contacted the hotel directly and got a rate half that for a king sized bed. As a result I’m paying for 2 nights what Booking.com was offering for 1 night. And to think I used them in October for a 2 night stay in Montreal. I probably got ripped off but I hate to look.

This is nice to hear about. I have some fond memories of the FTL Eagle at the turn of the century when I was wintering in South Florida. That place was wild. Unfortunately I’m too old to travel as far as South America again where I did have fun in Brazil back then. But good luck with the venture. It’s nice the younger ones can get to enjoy what we oldsters did years ago.

I take it there’s no grass to cut. So that’s something.

Actually doxy pep is very effective in preventing transmission of syphilis. About 90 percent. Less so but still effective for gonhorrea and clamydia.

I read today that he lost some large legal cases that resulted in him having to pay damages in the tens of millions of dollars. That is why had lost his house in Baltimore, the last piece of real estate he could call home. He’s still earning money in acting and other gigs in far off places I read so not penniless. But yes, a huge come down for a top tier actor in decades past.

I couldn’t log into my email on Tuesday morning and was cursing my provider. There have been outage problems with this company a couple of times over the last 6 months and I thought this was another case. The service was restored within 3 hours and it was only a day later I read in the press what the issue was. As I use email daily to interact with the various organizations I deal with it is a major pain when the service is not available. Texting is a poor substitute since many of my email communications are addressed to multiple parties. And try getting someone on the phone.

When one door closes, another opens. Nothing wrong with aiming for “total bottom boy”.

Well we all get older….if we’re lucky.

Not these days.

I’m always prepared to round things off.

Yeah I sometimes fart doing my stretches in my gym. Fortunately it’s a small private gym and there are rarely more than one or two others there. I always hope the noise of the machines like the treadmill or stationary bike cover it up.

To be fair the bridge construction does not appear to be at fault. It was built in a seismically unstable region and the engineers noticed cracks 24 hours earlier and closed the bridge. No one was injured or killed. The landslide appears to have taken out one end of the bridge. I went to engineering school for two years back in the 1960’s and the Chinese students were the smartest.

Well it raises the question. Have you ever taken pictures before while getting a massage?

I actually bought mine in a store in Montreal (not Priape) where they opened the package and showed me the device. It was just over $100 cdn and I was buying another item so over $150 for the 2 items before tax. It was a slow day and no-one else in the store. So I got great service.

I wish him the best. It’s a tough knock.