MscleLovr

4 hours ago, BonVivant said:

I wonder if there are suitable candidates for the role on Seeking?

Be careful what you wish for.
 

I learned of a charming-seeming guy (middle-aged realtor) in Southern California who had elderly partners. Alas they died sooner than anticipated.

To answer the OP, I found the biggest positive impact on my health/fitness came from adopting intermittent fasting six months ago.

I’ve always eaten healthily, with very moderate consumption of sugar and alcohol. Now I eat only between 8am and 4pm. I found it a remarkably easy regime to follow.

20 hours ago, Stormy said:

I’ve noticed a new phenomenon among younger people.  I don’t get a nice handwritten thank you note for the gift.  

Respectfully @Stormy it’s been that way for at least 20 years (in my direct experience). 

I recall being asked in 2000 at a large dinner* in NYC (with about 20 people in their late 20s and 4 in their 30s) if I sent “thank you” notes. Having replied Always, I was then interrogated about when and how. I explained that I sent a hand-written note or letter (never a bought card) the day after I received a gift or the day I returned from a stay as someone’s house guest. 

Interestingly, I found from my much-younger partner (well brought-up, highly educated 30) that he too had this behaviour drummed into him as a child. 

*just an aside, but I picked up the bill for dinner…and No, I did not receive any ‘thank you’ notes but 2 people did call me the next day to express gratitude. 

40 minutes ago, nycman said:

the worst is finding out that your generosity to help a relative "pay the rent" was instead used to fund a vacation in Florida

Utterly the worst behavior. If any relative of mine did that, it would be the last time I gave them money. And Yes, something similar happened with a nephew. 

3 hours ago, randeman said:

If you are privy to it, please tell me what Olly's motivation was

My thought was that Oliver is a sociopath. He deliberately befriends the handsome boy, scion of a rich family, because he is dazzled by wealth. He loves and wants to be that handsome rich boy.

Thats why I compared it to the Ripley movie. He’s another charming sociopath. Patricia Highsmith’s novels that feature Ripley are splendid and I recommend them.

On 10/25/2023 at 6:37 PM, Charlie said:

Maybe the steroid shot is working after all. I haven't sneezed in the past 36 hrs, and my sinuses seem much clearer. But my eyes still itch.

I was just wondering @Charlie what pollen is it at this time of year that you are sensitive to?

I suffered similarly when I was young (until my mid-30s) but now I don’t usually react to pollen. Tho once on a long vacation in Australia in mid-November (pre-pandemic), I was surprised at the sneezing fits that a tree-pollen triggered. 

I quite enjoyed the movie, though I have to say that the ending was no surprise to me.

The movie is fairly dark and there are a few good one-liners. I also liked the music in the movie. For me, it certainly wasn’t as homoerotic as had been mentioned in the reviews - very similar to ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’. I really like how skilled an actor Barry Keoghan is. And I hadn’t seen Jacob Elordi before; he is very attractive to look at.

Overall, I found it stylish and entertaining. 

19 hours ago, soloyo215 said:

I actually found that they are way friendlier and get closer when I don't show any signs of interest or flirting.

That successful strategy is, I believe, termed “playing hard to get” 😎

Very interesting thread @Pipe1940 You obviously have good taste in men

I really have little idea of the current rates. May I ask what were the rates you were quoted or paid? 

When I saw the thread title, my first thought was ‘Doesn’t it burst every 20 years or so?’

Does anyone know how the market in Key West property (small houses & condos) is holding up?

I understand that no one likes to pay more in property taxes and insurance costs, but life is short and meant to be enjoyed. Daily life in Florida must still be extremely pleasant, especially during the Winter.

13 hours ago, White Hall said:

hot and strong that he could.…force me on my knees.

Doesn’t seem as if ‘force’ would be necessary @White Hall 😎

Did you think to Google “WEHT Colby Keller”? 
Lots of info appears on him.

22 hours ago, Michael PhD said:

My buddy’s son and I have met for almost 3 years. We are more than fuck buddies. Friends at minimum.…Doesn’t feel right to ghost him. Doesn’t feel right to lie. Doesn’t feel right to not share something to help him understand. 

FWIW I’d simply say to the son that you’ve now met someone, a man older than him, who is rather jealous and doesn’t want you seeing anyone else.

Explain to the son that he’s done nothing wrong. You just have to sever contact while you’re exploring a relationship with this man. Express the hope that he’ll find another nice guy or a boyfriend.…and perhaps add that over time, things may change.

9 hours ago, WilliamM said:

According to the always accurate John  Stamos found his girlfriend in bed with Tony Danza

My spirit guide reminded me that Tony Danza saw a big-dicked gay porn actor on a regular basis. 
 

I reminded her that I always said TD had the perfect mouth and lips for cocksucking.

Don’t forget the impact of two powerful forces, @Lucky: price inflation and the rebound in demand post-Covid.

And speaking of inflation specifically in Las Vegas

6 hours ago, azdr0710 said:

$1 for a modest selection of cold cuts/hot dishes at the El Rancho in 1946

By the time, my then boyfriend and I went to see Elvis perform (in his white-leather catsuit heyday), the cover-charge was $4 per head.

Very true @azdr0710  I first heard about their parties with male models some 13-15 years ago from a guy I was dating in LA.

The BBC has publicized its 2year(!) investigation which was broadcast in October and is streaming as “The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side Of Cool”. There’s also a podcast. Both David Bradberry (DB) and Barrett Pall (BP) were interviewed and made these claims. 

I watched the investigation. I’d already heard the allegations by BP as he’d aired them freely on social media, but I’d not heard of DB at all. (I was surprised that DB was considered goodlooking enough to be a male model). There was a lot of detail but almost no contemporary evidence.

I’m trying to be objective about this. It seems to me that both men complained about their poor decision-making when they were young. It was unclear what each man did by way of sexual activity, but they alleged that they felt the pressure to perform if they wanted a lucrative modelling contract. Both men said a third party, the ‘talent scout” for Abercrombie, wanted sex before putting their names forward to Abercrombie. IIRC DB said that guy wanted oral sex while BP said that he “performed fellatio” on him.
 

Neither man was forced to have sex with the CEO. Neither man was forced to join in when there were afternoon sex-parties at the CEO’s weekend house in the Hamptons. One guy alleged that the CEO suggested he have sex with another attractive young man at the party, so that he could watch them. Other men joined in with the pair who did not object. There were staff present throughout the party and no-one suggested any activity was forced.
 

Each man was free to leave the room where the sex-party took place. Each man was free to leave the house. Both guys were driven separately back to NYC afterwards. Each man talked of being given an envelope filled with $2500 in cash for their time that afternoon. (I was surprised at the amount for some 3-4 hours of work)


 

How bizarre. From what you write, it’s clear that he’s extremely inflexible, not versatile at all 😎

1 hour ago, pubic_assistance said:

For retired individuals the lack of a work routine requires you keep yourself busy with volunteer work that offers social interacions.….Re-locating takes effort and being the ex-pat anywhere means a lot of effort to blend in.

 

Extremely well put @pubic_assistance 

I moved abroad for 18 months to work in my early 20s. I was the only foreigner in the prestigious firm I joined. Luckily I had as my lover a local man who was 4 years older, so I did slot into a ready-made social scene and group of friends. Nonetheless, it was quite challenging. In retirement, I live abroad part of each year. It is a great pleasure for me but there are some drawbacks too.

There can also be cultural differences that you don’t anticipate. For example, if you are injured or fall seriously ill in Spain, critical (or intensive) care is excellent…but as soon as you are well enough to be on a general ward, family members are expected to visit often and regularly to assist with nursing care and rehabilitation. Once on the mend, a foreigner alone in a Spanish hospital would feel quite isolated. 

14 hours ago, Charlie said:

A number of years ago, an English friend of mine retired to Portugal because he thought he could live there more comfortably than he could in London on his modest pension. He would occasionally phone me practically crying, because he said the health care was great, but otherwise he found it a miserable place to live for an elderly gay man.

 

It’s very sad but I’m not surprised by this. Generally I find both Portuguese and Spanish people to be very polite, but those living in rural areas tend to be rather more conservative.

I can relate two direct experiences of life in rural Catalonia (the province of which Barcelona is the main city).
First, I had a younger Catalan partner and we had a house in the countryside. I made a big effort (trying to speak Catalan, sharing produce from our fruit trees, inviting neighbours to dinner etc) - my point is that I was expected to make the effort because I was the foreigner. There was an Englishman (40s) living nearby but he made no effort to be nice to his neighbours, so they neglected to invite him to various gatherings.

Second, there was a rather handsome young police officer (20s) in the rural force. He was friendly and I had a sense that he might be gay. So we invited him to dinner one night and he confided in us. He, locally born and raised, lamented how difficult it was to find a partner. We urged him to move into Barcelona: he did and joined the police there, and now has a partner.

I was just about to write and ask about us getting back to the OP’s question when your post appeared! 😎

Am I right in thinking the thread cured your insomnia temporarily?

I had a similar situation, but not in California, of inheriting a large house that I didn’t plan to visit much.

My solution was to find a reputable local law firm with a probate and estates practice. They were used to dealing with empty properties when clients died. They not only arranged the insurance for me but also had local contractors to visit the property regularly and do any necessary landscaping, cleaning and repairs. 

And Lidl now has Arnold Schwarzenegger as a ‘brand ambassador’ for their power tools 😀

31 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

a blessing in my older age is my sex life.…it just keeps truckin along. 😛 Weather be damned.

I don’t know how you can say that! Bad weather certainly interferes with sexual activity when my partner and I want to enjoy ourselves au naturel or en plein air 😎

Please note the date of that post - it was more than 5 years ago.

FWIW I used to stay there for 1-2 weeks at a time and I always got a good discount (booking direct). 

9 hours ago, Unicorn said:

Just checked the Chamberlain.… it looks as though their most affordable room goes for $524/night (discounts for AAA or 3+ night stays)

It still surprises me how quickly travel has rebounded since the pandemic. I can live with the increase in the price of restaurant dinners etc, but I find hotel room rates have surged upwards to an astonishing degree.
 

Both in the US and Europe, luxury hotels that used to charge $600/€500 a night pre-pandemic are now well into ‘four figure’ territory. Italian hotels in particular are cashing in - I enquired about a September stay in an hotel I’ve visited before, and “as a loyal client” was quoted €2300 a night for a sea-view room!

I stayed several times at the Chamberlain in WeHo, but I’ve not visited since the pandemic.

The hotel has several advantages: I liked the location very much; the rooms are large and quiet; a decent-sized rooftop pool; the staff were pleasant and efficient; and there’s a large garage which never charged me for visitor parking.

As for the OP’s concern about scandal/being seen with various hot young men, it was never a problem for me. There are several gay men on the staff. Once the man on reception congratulated me on my date; another time, when I told the Garage that my visitor was going to extend his parking to stay overnight, the response was Have a great time.