Rudynate

Most competitors aren't in it for the money - there isn't any except for Olympians. Last year, Mr. Olympia walked away with $400k. For amateurs, it's an expensive hobby. They make their livings just like anybody else does - they have jobs, businesses, etc. IFBB pros make their livings from training, coaching, clothing lines, supplement lines, their spouses, their sponsors. My coach, an IFBB pro, has a wife and two sons. He is a credentialed paralegal and has additional income streams from coaching and training.

Very useful. Thanks.

He's more fleshy than muscled.

As Thomas appreciated, the story had a happy ending - I lived happily ever after (mostly).

Our home environment was definitely weird. My mother seemed to regulate her mood by having babies. If there was a new baby in the house she was much happier and able to cope with things. She seemed to be able to get pregnant at the drop of a hat. She gave birth a total of ten times - one of which was a stillbirth. There were also two or three miscarriages. In order to feed all of those mouths both she and my father worked two jobs and my sister and I had to take care of all the babies. There was always a lot of tension and we lived with a feeling of impending disaster because money was so short. When one of my older brothers was in the 12th grade, we were selected to host a foreign exchange student from Sweden (don't ask me how that happened). After a few months, the sponsoring agency moved him to another home because he was so unhappy. My parents were mortified at having our dysfuncionality exposed that way. I got out as soon as I could - after high school, I joined the army and served three years. When I got out, I stayed at home for a couple weeks, realized what a looney bin it was and bought a one-way ticket to Denver. I used my VA benefits to put myself through college and made a nice life in the western US. I think one time I went for 12 years without speaking to any of them. People who got to know me well always asked why I never talke about my family.

Friends? I don't even think about it. I suppose it could happen, but I'm not looking for it to happen.

Kaiser has a one-stop walkin shop - RSV, flu and COVID. I'm going in Tuesday probably.

being super cut makes one look bigger - superb!!!

Actually, I miscounted. There were six of us and the sister with Down sysndrome made seven.

My father insisted on it. Years later she told me she was opposed to it and wanted to keep her. There were five of us already and she was barely coping. My father made the tough choice, and I think it was the right one, but I don't think he was ever comfortable with it.

I love that. I get those intuitive flashes from time to time. My husband used to dismiss them, but now, he just always says "Yep, you were right."

Our family life was up and down. I was very close to my father and he loved to indulge me in little ways. He called me "buddy" and took me everywhere with him - even to work. My mother was very moody. Sometimes she was as sunny as June Cleaver and other times we would get home from school and it was obvious she hadn't done a thing - she hadn't dressed, breakfast dishes still on the table, etc. and she would be in a very witchy mood. Things really took a nosedive when she have birth to a girl with Down Syndrome - in her first few weeks it wasn't certain she would survive. She did survive and they followed the advice of the pros and institutionalized her. I think they were both very ashamed at having given her up and the whole affair cast a pall over our family life that never really lifted.

No place is perfect.

No, I never said it did. You're exactly right - he didn't think it through before he did it. I have lived abroad - I know what it's like. I loved it, but it was at times very difficult and I experienced moments of deep isolation.

What I love about Canadians is that they are exactly like us and nothing like us, all at the same time. I have lots of relatives in Quebec - all in the Trois-Rivieres area - they've been there since the mid-1600''s

I wouldn't even consider moving anywhere where I didn't already speak the language. To expect yourself to learn a new language in addition to everything else just is a lot to ask of yourself. I have already decided that I will not move out of the country, but I am keeping Canada as an option if things get too weird in the US. I was saying to a freind just the other day that it would be good idea to establish what the trigger would be for leaving the US. Lots of German Jews got caught because they kept putting off leaving - they hadn't identified a triggering circumstance so it was easy to keep putting it off.

True - it is a personal issue. But loneliness among the elderly is a widespread problem, right here in the US. Add in the complicating factors of being a stranger in a strange land, a language barrier, gay in a Latin country - and you have loneliness waiting to happen. Being a tourist is a different thing - its their job to be nice to you. I'm sure the Portuguese are lovely - but they already have lives. They aren't sitting around waiting to befriend the next expat American who moves in down the road.

Kind of obvious isn't it - he was lonely.

Right - definitely nice build - he wouldn't win any contests though.

He looks great - just a guy who's in reasonably good shape. I wish I could see the more recent pics - I like 'roided physiques.

I've never been in a situation like that, so I can't be sure, but I just don't think I would care. Obviously, the guy needs social skills, but why not choose somebody who's drop-dead handsome? I don't feel like I have anything to hide. For years, I have thought about hiring a guy to go to church with me. I love midnight mass on Christmas Eve and my husband won't go because he hates Christianity. It would be great to make an evening of it with a guy who looks terrific in a nice suit, have dinner before, and turn heads when we walk into Grace Cathedral. Actually, my husband would be completely OK with it.

Actually, come to think of it. I escorted an older woman to the opera once. It was the mother of a co-worker. The mother was coming to visit and wanted to go to the opera and my friend hated the opera, so she asked me if I would take her mother. My friend paid for the tickets, the mother treated me to dinner and we went to the opera together. It was a great evening and It was nice to give the mother an experience a nice experience.

He's also on RM, specialized in FF.

In the screwball comedies of the mid-20th century, when women could not go anywhere without a male escort, there were often wealthy widows who had to attend an event such as a wedding or a charity ball, and they would call an escort service, which would send over an escort who turned up perfectly dressed, with perfect manners, etc. I have often wondered whether those escort services actually existed or whether they were just a thing in the movies. I think there are guys on cruise ships who are hired to provide company to unaccompanied women. I don't see why you couldn't hire a provider just for company. I wouldn't expect a break on his rate though. Service is service.

I have had four boosters - 10/21, 4/22, 10/22, 5/23.