Rudynate

I don't have any.  If the first impression is good, I hire him.  I look at photos, I read his profile, don't pay too much attention to reviews. I categorically don't hire guys who advertise outrageously high rates. I have had, by and large, great experiences with massage guys.  A couple misses, but that's to be expected.

When I a was kid, my uncle and his wife visited a lot.  They were very country and decidedly working class.  My aunt had two younger brothers who were both thuggish-looking country boys and they both wore Wellington boots.  Both guys were sort of like the guys you would see running the amusements at the county fair.  They also wore dirty denim jackets.  Those Wellington boots gave me a raging boner.  I looked forward to seeing those guys mostly because of the Wellington boots, but both also had sideburns, waaay long before sideburns were a thing.  They only looked rough though. Both were quiet and polite and never said much.

Agreed - he doesn't look Arab or Persian.

I don't have any.  If the first impression is good, I hire him.  I look at photos, I read his profile, don't pay too much attention to reviews. I categorically don't hire guys who advertise outrageously high rates. I have had, by and large, great experiences with massage guys.  A couple misses, but that's to be expected.

I used to be a competitive bodybuilder.  I had a terrible time, during competitions, with my spray tan starting to look patchy later in the day. I would look great early in the day just after it was applied, but as the day progressed it started to look patchy and I would have to have touch-ups, which wasn't a very good solution at all. One of the women told me that women tended to be very conscientious about skin care -  exfoliating and applying moisturizing lotion regularly -  and had no problems like I was having.  I started doing that  - moisturizing lotion head to toe - every day and exfoliating 2-3 times a week. Problem solved.  My skin looked great all the time and the problem with spray tan looking patchy completely went away.

I used to be a competitive bodybuilder.  I had a terrible time, during competitions, with my spray tan starting to look patchy later in the day. I would look great early in the day just after it was applied, but as the day progressed it started to look patchy and I would have to have touch-ups, which wasn't a very good solution at all. One of the women told me that women tended to be very conscientious about skin care -  exfoliating and applying moisturizing lotion regularly -  and had no problems like I was having.  I started doing that  - moisturizing lotion head to toe - every day and exfoliating 2-3 times a week. Problem solved.  My skin looked great all the time and the problem with spray tan looking patchy completely went away.

I would never ask a pro to cover his tatts. If I found his tatts unacceptable, I just wouldn't hire him.  I really dislike tatts on the neck, face, and head and I just wouldn't hire a guy who had them. I think it's so weird when someone who doesn't like tatts just doesn't move on.  They are driven to turn it into a cause and seem to take it as a personal offense that someone is tattooed.  When I was a little boy, I was completely taken by men who were tattooed and my mother told me that there was something seriously wrong with guys who had tatts.  Even then, though, she never felt she had to share her disapproval with any of them. 

I would never ask a pro to cover his tatts. If I found his tatts unacceptable, I just wouldn't hire him.  I really dislike tatts on the neck, face, and head and I just wouldn't hire a guy who had them. I think it's so weird when someone who doesn't like tatts just doesn't move on.  They are driven to turn it into a cause and seem to take it as a personal offense that someone is tattooed.  When I was a little boy, I was completely taken by men who were tattooed and my mother told me that there was something seriously wrong with guys who had tatts.  Even then, though, she never felt she had to share her disapproval with any of them. 

I would never ask a pro to cover his tatts. If I found his tatts unacceptable, I just wouldn't hire him.  I really dislike tatts on the neck, face, and head and I just wouldn't hire a guy who had them. I think it's so weird when someone who doesn't like tatts just doesn't move on.  They are driven to turn it into a cause and seem to take it as a personal offense that someone is tattooed.  When I was a little boy, I was completely taken by men who were tattooed and my mother told me that there was something seriously wrong with guys who had tatts.  Even then, though, she never felt she had to share her disapproval with any of them. 

I don't have any.  If the first impression is good, I hire him.  I look at photos, I read his profile, don't pay too much attention to reviews. I categorically don't hire guys who advertise outrageously high rates. I have had, by and large, great experiences with massage guys.  A couple misses, but that's to be expected.

Roger Sterling is the hero of all service professionals : "This would be a great business if it weren't for the clients."

I haven't ever found physical contact with a doctor to be erotic -the contact is so brief and the setting is so non-conducive that it just would never work for me. 

This is a little off-topic because it involves hookups in general not just with providers. I have noticed more and more that guys I meet on A4A think we HAVE to meet in a hotel - It's non-negotiable.  The arrangement is that you split the cost of the room.  I like hotel sex, so I used to be OK with it.  I have encountered, over and over, that guys often no-show or they cancel, so I'm out for my share of the room charge and I'm disappointed at yet another hookup gone south. It is such a problem that I won't meet up with a guy who insists on a hotel room. I have a nice, spacious house that is always clean and neat and I'm happy to host, but I have encountered a steady stream of guys who feel that they have to have a hotel room.  I have gotten so that the minute a guy mentions a hotel room, I say "no thanks."  Is this a general thing, or is it specific to A4A, or just to this area (Bay Area). 

This is a little off-topic because it involves hookups in general not just with providers. I have noticed more and more that guys I meet on A4A think we HAVE to meet in a hotel - It's non-negotiable.  The arrangement is that you split the cost of the room.  I like hotel sex, so I used to be OK with it.  I have encountered, over and over, that guys often no-show or they cancel, so I'm out for my share of the room charge and I'm disappointed at yet another hookup gone south. It is such a problem that I won't meet up with a guy who insists on a hotel room. I have a nice, spacious house that is always clean and neat and I'm happy to host, but I have encountered a steady stream of guys who feel that they have to have a hotel room.  I have gotten so that the minute a guy mentions a hotel room, I say "no thanks."  Is this a general thing, or is it specific to A4A, or just to this area (Bay Area). 

This is a little off-topic because it involves hookups in general not just with providers. I have noticed more and more that guys I meet on A4A think we HAVE to meet in a hotel - It's non-negotiable.  The arrangement is that you split the cost of the room.  I like hotel sex, so I used to be OK with it.  I have encountered, over and over, that guys often no-show or they cancel, so I'm out for my share of the room charge and I'm disappointed at yet another hookup gone south. It is such a problem that I won't meet up with a guy who insists on a hotel room. I have a nice, spacious house that is always clean and neat and I'm happy to host, but I have encountered a steady stream of guys who feel that they have to have a hotel room.  I have gotten so that the minute a guy mentions a hotel room, I say "no thanks."  Is this a general thing, or is it specific to A4A, or just to this area (Bay Area). 

When I was a young boy, my mother bought our school clothes in a nice men's store.   It was a small town where everybody knew everybody.  The salesmen were all old guys in suits and ties with measuring tapes around their necks.  The whole thing took awhile because my mother sat there chatting with the salesmen and smoking while we tried the clothes on.  She would write a check for everything and a couple of days later a delivery truck would pull up with our clothes wrapped in a big package,

I lived in Germany for 3 years in the 70s.  I was in the military, so it wasn't the same thing as a civilian living on the economy, but I still got a taste of what it was like to live in a foreign country for a long period of time - I had an apartment on the economy and hung with Germans quite a bit, shopped in German stores, hung out in German clubs.  It was just great - loved it. At that time, I was struck at how different the middle-class standard of living was from ours in the US.  That has all changed now.
One of the things I most remember was when I went into a men's clothing store in Mannheim to buy a new winter coat.  A salesman measured me, and  then had an assistant go into the racks to find things that I would like and brought them back for me to try on. If I didn't like something, they would take it back.  The salesman would help me into each coat,  button it for me and turn the collar up and step back while I checked it out in the mirror.  Eventually, I bought one that I liked.  Quite an adventure for a 19-year old boy.

20 years or so ago, I gave retiring abroad a lot of thought, spent a lot of time looking at expat websites, etc. My husband nixed it - said he couldn't see us picking up and moving away from our friends and family and starting over when we were in our 60's or 70s.  A lot of times, he's more grounded in reality than I am, so I give a lot of weight to what he says on topics like this.   I have also gotten more clarity on what I want - I realized that I don't even want to live abroad permanently.  But  I would like to try being a part-time digital nomad - 3-4 months living and working somewhere else - I think about Thailand, Viet Nam, the Baltic countries, Spain, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico.   The window is closing though - I need to do it in the next couple of years, if at all.
 

Inflation and higher prices is a mofo for everyone.   Providers raise, partly because every thing costs them more, just line anyone else.  But , just at the wrong time, a lot of providers are also raising rates just because. 
Clients have less disposable income and so aren't spending.  Inflation sucks for everyone. Additional inflation could work in providers' favor.  In the late 70s - early 80s, inflation was bad enough that people were resorting to spending their money quickly, before it lost value.  That could be a good thing for providers.

Exactly.  I try to manage my expectations, reminding myself "Ok, you're just here for a massage."   But when he starts to take little liberties - I know it likely will be more, often a lot more.  

I like uncertainty. I like to hire for a therapeutic massage and see where it goes. Sometimes it really is a therapeutic massage, so I certainly haven't lost out.  But often, it turns into the full monty.

I like uncertainty. I like to hire for a therapeutic massage and see where it goes. Sometimes it really is a therapeutic massage, so I certainly haven't lost out.  But often, it turns into the full monty.

Attitudes have changed a lot on this since my younger days.  Everybody now is fanatic about being squeaky clean - there are all kinds of videos on youtube about cleaning out,  the right diet for a bottom, products for cleaning out, etc.  It used to be seen as  part of the territory - that it was unavoidable to an extent - you just freshen up and everybody gets over it.

I love it.  I like to go deep on a loose hole.  I like to go deep on a tight hole, but I wear out faster.

I love it.  I like to go deep on a loose hole.  I like to go deep on a tight hole, but I wear out faster.