mike carey

Of course, the answer to the original question is, 'Shoes and socks'.

... and of the guys in the forum looking at the image.

It seems so, I tried to post a review of a well regarded escort whom I met via other channels. It was a 5 star review but I hadn't contacted him through RM so no dice. I attempted more as an experiment than anything else, and I don't think he needed the review, but it was salutary that I couldn't post it. I had thought of making RM contact first but decided not to.

Beautifully put!

Beautifully put!

Yes it looks that way. I was only aware of the first case, in Melbourne, but I had been watching sport all evening. No indications so far that the authorities here have been considering restrictions on flights, but that could change quickly.

Ok, I commented in a different thread but here goes. Alec Andrews - saw him once, would have gone back time and again if he had not retired. Sweet, sweet man. @peterhung85 - one time so far, hope for more, he's a delight. @tristanbaldwin - one hunk of a man, I've seen him more than once, one hot soldier.

I only met Alec once (so he qualifies as my input to another thread) and didn't meet Ryan. I couldn't manage to get to the US between his announcement and his actual retirement. I absolutely agree with your assessment of Alec. Their case my be illuminating on the subject of this thread and on people's thoughts on the viability of escort-to-escort relationships. There may be more difficulties if one member of a couple is in the business and the other isn't (same with porn actors). The fact that they both retired at the same time would seem to support my theory that one partner working is more a difficulty than both. I'm not an escort so obviously my opinion is pure speculation.

It's been figuring prominently in the news here. Border force and NSW Health have increased surveillance at Sydney airport with closer screening of pax on the three weekly flights from Wuhan (China Eastern). With the lockdown in Wuhan yesterday's will be the last flight for some time. So far the authorities are concerned but not alarmed, there have been no cases here yet and a only a handful of people have been tested for the illness. They are saying that it's not highly contagious but they assess that it has a 14 incubation period so the alert will continue. One major hospital has designated responsibility for handling any cases. The surveillance and checks are so far only precautionary and there's no talk of broader travel restrictions.

I can't speak for Uber (but @Epigonos did) but there is a taxi rank at the front and that's what I used first trip, 12 or so bux, minimal wait and there was a dispatcher there. I rented a car last year but that was mainly because I was driving to Vegas then on to LAX for my flight home.

IIRC they were an item before they took up escorting.

Some banks and card companies understand that they actually depend on the good will of their customers. Some do not.

Ain't that the truth! Towards the end of my service, Diners won the contract for the Defence corporate card (so perhaps 100k cards on issue). To start with it was a nightmare but it seemed Diners used the fact that Defence personnel were using the card to encourage merchants to start accepting it.

Thanks for that story @Charlie, so many instances of ways to become separated from cards and other documents. And another positive Amex story, there seems to be a pattern emerging (although no doubt the counter-examples will now emerge!). I well remember in the days before ATMs and all that sort of technology were linked globally, being able to cash a cheque on my Australian account at Amex offices in Washington and London.

@MikeBiDude, I'll be judging companies by how long it takes for replacement cards/documents to show up! Nothing quite so cold-war dramatic as yours, I suspect! I'm at home so at least your visa card issue won't apply. When the shit hits the fan (hope that isn't a uniquely Australian expression) Amex come through. They always did claim 'replacement world-wide' in their advertising.

Yes, something I'll have to look into. I currently have a very basic Samsung phone with no memory left for additional apps, and I don't know much about digital wallet apps. When I was cancelling one card, they said if I was using the app (presumably theirs, not Google Pay) the new card could be loaded immediately. Not sure if I could have used it for cash but once you have a card, any card, you have less need for cash anyway. All good suggestions, not just for me but for everyone as this can so easily happen and it's good to be prepared.

Australia Post has a reputation for that for parcels (not specifically for 'signature required' deliveries). You'd hear nothing then find a card telling you to go to the post office. I had to sign for the delivery today, one of those annoying devices where you use your finger to sign and your signature looks like you were drunk.

Probably safer than a wall safe, thieves seem likely to steal a safe intact and break into it at their leisure once they've left the scene.

Wow, 1430 on Tuesday and my Amex card was just delivered by DHL courier (it's a premium one, so I guess that's part of what you're paying for). I had notified them in the small hours of Sunday morning.

I actually have a copy of my passport (it was in my backpack so that could have been a challenge) and had my expired drivers licence. I could have used my car registration papers as ID for a new licence. Second copies stored elsewhere are in order, and of other documents as @deej suggested. Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions and precautions you offered, and thanks to others for their comments. Being caught as I was focusses the mind, but as some have noted hearing of someone else's experiences does so also, if less viscerally. I have the first replacement done, bought a new Canberra public transport card and called their information line and had the old balance transferred to it. I'll get the balance of my Sydney card refunded and tap a credit card in future (exactly the same fares, discounts etc), one card fewer to carry.

Yeah, I know! They must have rummaged through it, and dumped it when they didn't find anything of interest. The stuff was taken from my house so I had a starting point from which to look for things, and I just got lucky.

The point I am making is, that if your world collapses how prepared are you to pick up the pieces and continue. Some parts are relatively easy, some require you to be prepared.

Ok, the circumstances are not particularly relevant, but my wallet and backpack were stolen over the weekend. I recovered some of the stuff (it was dumped in the street) but a heap of stuff is gone. Credit Cards Easy, I called the companies and they were cancelled. This was my priority. The problem: all my cards were stolen so I didn't have a fall-back. Now I just have to wait for them to send replacements, and they said 3-7 days. Passport I jumped the gun and cancelled it but in the morning I found my backpack and recovered it. But the cancellation was irrevocable and I'll have to go through more hoops to replace it than would have been needed if it were still valid. Lesson: if something that's stolen won't affect you the way a credit card can, don't cancel it until you're sure it's gone. Airline Cards I have two airline frequent flyer program cards that double as loadable credit cards. The amount I have on them is limited but I needed to cancel them and that was easy enough. Drivers Licence I could have requested a replacement on line, but that required a credit card for the fee and I didn't have one. At the office (a 20 minute drive away) it was simple (it's a state government organisation), helpful receptionist assisted me with the right forms and directed me to the counter I needed to visit. Paper licence issued with the photo version to be posted within two weeks. Medicare Federal bureaucracy this time, helpful receptionist, 15 minute wait and interim national insurance document issued with replacement card within two weeks. (I need that to access any health care providers at the Australian resident rates.) Bank With no cards and no cash, I was constrained in what I could do. My main bank is a high street bank so there is a branch I could go to, worth thinking about if that's likely to be an issue. I knew my card number (even though it was cancelled) and account number (I have a list of those details, although I knew my Visa card number without the list). With that info, the process of withdrawing the cash I would need until I had replacement cards was easy. Retail Loyalty Cards I have two, with accrued rewards points. Not urgent, but their on-line sites have adequate replacement mechanisms. I have one other, but I'll be able to fix that next time I shop there. Transit Smart Cards I have Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne pubic transport cards (and others but they weren't in my wallet, except a NYC card that is now a lost cause). I've cancelled them but I'll be able to easily transfer any credit to a new card. I'm sure I've missed some. This has forced me to think about what I can do to limit the effect of a theft. A couple of points would be to keep any cash completely separate. and to keep a credit card separately as a back-up.

I would offer another suggestion as to how to characterise this and similar threads. That is, that a poster offers his experience in a meeting that didn't go quite has he'd envisaged it. It doesn't mean he is seeking validation. Maybe he wants advice on what he could or should have done differently, but even then new insights can only keep being offered for so long before they start repeating what has already been said. At that stage there is less reason for him to keep commenting. There are other things that threads like this offer apart from advice or validation for the OP concerned, and that includes awareness by readers, particularly those new to the game, of things that can happen in a meeting so that they can be forearmed.

My South American experience is quite dated but it accords with more recent experience elsewhere. Use ATMs on arrival. (I used ATMs in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Chile and they paid standard international rates, and in some countries they would dispense local currency or USD - noting that I was drawing on an AUD account.) On my trip earlier this month I changed AUD for NZD at 87c, on arrival I withdrew more from an ATM in the terminal at 103c, so I got 16c less per AUD from the Bureau de Change than I was paid from the ATM.