Lakeview guy

Can you say more about why you recommend? Am going in March. Feel free DM me.

I’d also be interested in any recs for guys at Revive in Chicago. DMs welcome too.

Same...I've heard a few people say that the massage from Gary is sub-par.  Would be interested to hear if anyone has tried out the new guys Kevin or Joe.

I’ll be back there again Friday. I always try to ask other guests about their experiences. Recently I’ve mostly heard bad things about sessions with Gary.

I heard Marco or Piotr do a good massage, but that’s all.  

I used to go to Piotr (Peter) when he was at Sir Spa and he gives a good therapeutic massage

My Turkish friend has to be careful when talking to friends and family back home over the phone or skype. Thousands have been fired from government jobs and have nothing to live off so that's one of the reasons many who can choose to leave (try finding a job if marked as a traitor). The trend is clearly downward and if one extrapolates, enforcing more traditional morality is the next step. Especially on those liberal city folk, the middle of the country might actually like to see that. The last thing I'd want is to become a headline in the news and hope that the orange man will somehow negotiate my release from a Turkish prison. And if Erdogan's relations with the west continue to deteriorate some prisoners might come in handy as bargaining chips. Be careful out there, guys!

The risk is too great right now to go for any type of session. Not for myself but more so for my elderly parents and my baby niece. They're in my so called bubble so I'm more concerned for them than myself.
 
I received my first dose of the vaccine and the only side effect I felt was the soreness around the injection site. That went away after 24 hours. I am to get the second shot a week from tomorrow, and I intend to. This is the first vaccine of its kind so there is no telling what the long-term effects I might suffer from or there may not be one at all. It doesn't guarantee, however, that I won't be carrying the virus and pass it on to someone else. That risk exist with or without the vaccine.
 
I don't understand why there are some who decide to not take the vaccine. Some I worked with and are in the health profession but that is their decision to make. They are willing to take the risk of the virus even after being in the front lines and witnessing its effects. I have a few coworkers who denied it at first but have since changed their minds. Guess what? There's none available. Any additional dose we get will be for those getting their second shot. Any extra dose, if any, will then be appropriated to those next on the priority list. That's what's going to happen. Those who had the chance will regret not getting it when they finally have to compete with the general population.
 
I miss the massage, the touch. I did go for one when Chicago opened up briefly over the past summer. It felt nice. But I do realize that people getting on and off that table is not within my bubble so I'm just putting those within at risk. So I stopped. I miss it terribly.

Those of you who get massages might find this short film interesting. It explores the warm yet awkward dynamics that can emerge during an M4M massage. (Apologies if it has already been posted; there are tons of “Marco” threads on this site!) Click below to view.
 

Exactly. While the new variant may not be any more likely to cause death than the previous, the fact that it is 50-70% more transmissible means 50-70% more infections, 50-70% more hospitalizations, and 50-70% more deaths. Possibly even more than that if hospitals and ICUs hit their limit. In the summer some provinces in Canada were down to single digits for hospitalizations, while now the numbers are in the hundreds, if not thousands, depending on the province. Now is not the time for complacency. @big dale I appreciate your post and hope others heed your advice.

Living should not be about putting other people's health at risk for your own amusement. It's not longer personal choice, it's personal responsibility.

All of this is a reminder that 1. We're no where near through with this shit.
2. It's no time to be a selfish pig. You may get it. It may be mild. And someone else may get infected by you. And they might get very sick, or suffer and die. And the death will affect families in myriad ways, few of them good. 3. We are in desperate need of national leadership here. Coming soon (Jan 20?) I hope.
4. Please, my friends, Romans, Countrymen, think of someone else this day. Someone sicker, weaker, needier.

Many of us on this forum remember the early days of the AIDS crisis. While not the same, there are some parallels and lessons that should have been learned. The Reagan administration downplayed AIDS, deliberately undercounted cases, and much of the country was in denial about its severity, or even existence. Ronnie didn’t mention it publicly for years.
 
The real lesson from the early response to AIDS is that viruses do not have ears. They do not listen to grandstanding, rationalizing or denial. They just keep infecting.

All true, for a variety of reasons (speaking of vents), but god knows we don’t want to get back to April-May levels. That was almost catastrophic and we’re creeping back up to almost half of where we were. And when you compare it to the summer numbers, it’s harsh.

I get it. We all need touch. We all get that itch. He says he keeps his table super clean. We are both going to wear a mask. The economy needs to keep moving, etc., etc., etc.
 
And that's all fine and well, except things are getting worse. Period. This isn't speculation, or mind control, or the government trying to take away your rights. This is life or DEATH. There's a new more contagious version of COVID-19 in the UK and now the US. In the Los Angeles area 1 in 5 people tested is showing to be infected. This is an huge increase from before the holidays.
 
Ambulances are no longer transporting people in cardiac arrest if they cannot revive you on site you get left behind. There's no capacity for people hurt in car accidents or with other health emergencies. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/us/los-angeles-county-california-human-disaster-covid/index.html
 
So, yes... come here and share stories and tips, make your wish list for when things are more stable, ask about your favorite eye candy, but think twice 365,620 times before you book a massage. (That's the US death toll as of this posting.)
 
And here's the thing; I know some of you are going to lambast me, and try your straw man arguments, report this post and try to have it taken down, but I really don't care. Somebody has to say this. We need to stop this thing. It starts with each of us acting responsibly.
 
Need info on how to keep yourself safe? https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
 
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Ugh. And here we go again. @big dale, @kenomora, @MisterMike, others and I should just start linking to a factsheet. I really like Big Dale's response in this thread. I don't have much to add editorially but a lot to add science-wise.
 
Just because you've recovered from Covid, don't assume you have long-term immunity. We don't know enough yet. Antibody responses wane over time and the neutralizing antibody response in a person may disappear. Not everybody develops a neutralizing antibody response. We don't know enough yet about T-cell responses because they are harder to assess. That individuals still get recurrent colds caused by related-coronaviruses* probably means that immunity is not perpetual (unlike for example, measles or smallpox). Maybe a large percentage of us carry pre-existing T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 from cross-reactivity with other coronaviruses but that may only ameliorate the severity rather than prevent infections. You may be asymptomatic or feel just a little "not-normal" but you're still spewing virus.
 
*Have you ever had one of those colds that felt like you just couldn't shake it? Regular cold symptoms for a week or so and then residual congestion, dizziness, lethargy, and cloudy-headedness that went on for a month or more? You went into work because you had to but just felt like crap and getting through the workday took every ounce of energy out of you? That was probably a coronavirus.
 
The vaccine data are being overly-hyped by the lay press, not to mention some of the medical journals and the orange-potato in the White House. Today's CanSino vaccine data look bad. The AstraZeneca/Oxford are only just a little better. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are both unproven modalities, and Moderna may have some associated adverse events that may be serious in an older population (SAEs in the technical parlance). We don't know how long immunity will last. Early data are that people >55 years in age mounted lowered immune responses, as should be expected. Chances are good that the first vaccines are going to be partially protective, rushed through approval for Trump's election campaign, and, I'd bet, elicit some life-threatening SAEs in older and/or co-morbid (immune compromised - HIV, autoimmune disease -, hypertensive etc.) populations. Then there are manufacturing and supply chain issues. So don't expect a magic bullet in January 2021 and unless you're a frontline healthcare worker in a major population center, don't expect anything.
 
Therapeutic/prophylactic antibodies are super-expensive to make and will probably be reserved for acute interventions. And most companies are pursuing a strategy that might ameliorate symptoms but could evolutionarily select for escaper mutants that could be worse (just like the early monovalent anti-HIV drugs selected for resistant viruses - and why PREP as a get-out-of-jail-free card for promiscuous unprotected anal sex still scares me just a little bit).
 
As a species this virus and us are just getting started at ~6 months into the pandemic. It is rapidly evolving and adapting... hello D614G. The US has really blown it. Do your part. If you do decide to take a risk behavior like a massage or more, be prepared for the consequences and then stf away from other people for 2 weeks.
 
Anything else is fucking magical thinking, ignorance or utter selfishness.

Again, I'd like to remind everyone that there is absolutely no way a provider can sanitize their facilities enough to prevent transmission. There is no way every single surface could be covered with 10% bleach or other antiseptics for at least 10 minutes of contact time. I would also imagine setting up a sterile environment to be exceedingly challenging if they are not operating in a healthcare setting. There is also growing evidence that the disease could be transmitted through aerosols. If this is the case, none of those practices would do any good. If you're in a room with a provider who is asymptomatic or presymptomatic, or if one of the previous clients is asymptomatic or presymptomatic, your encounter is now categorized as high risk. I just want everyone to stop using "he cleans his place between clients" as a justification for getting a massage.

I read through this thread and feel like screaming. There is so much misinformation and misunderstanding in some of the postings. Listen to @big dale and @kenomora. I could write a lengthy post (and have in another thread similar to this one) but they have already said what needs to be said in this one. I completely empathize with wanting the release (no pun intended) of a good massage, whatever "good" means for someone. Just know that if you get one, there is no way to drive risk of transmission to zero. So then, what is your acceptable risk for contracting a potentially life-threatening, long-term debilitating disease? At this point and probably not until late 2021, if then, SARS-CoV-2 isn't some disease that can be prevented or cured with a shot or controlled with antivirals, like today's STDs. So, if you are willing to bear a risk and do get a massage, wear the damned mask every time you step foot outside your home (you should be doing this anyway), don't eat or drink around others, inside or outside, and stf away from anyone over 60 for at least two weeks afterward. Period.
 
Argh.

Speaking of observing trends, I have been following Effective Reproduction Numbers on rt.live website. Rt is a good (although not perfect) indicator of how effective disease control measures are in a geographical area. The numerical value represents how many people, on average, an infected person could transmit the disease to. The better the control, the smaller the number. The model used to create these graphs makes a whole lot of sense in terms of epidemiology, and you can totally see that the upticks in almost every state happened soon after reopening. I'm only bringing this up in case this website could be helpful for our members to monitor the situation in their state so they can make an informed decision if they are considering an encounter. The numbers are updated real-time.

I almost succumbed to the 'need' for something tactile. But this thread has saved me, thanks guys!
 
'someone saved my life tonight sugar bear'

I'm glad to see some sanity on this board. We are still in the first wave because we failed as a country. We've been unable and unwilling to test/trace/quarantine the way every other civilized nation has done during this pandemic. Enough of us have refused to wear masks and socially distance that transmission rates are climbing again across the country. There's a very real risk some hospitals will soon be overwhelmed. I hope it doesn't get as bad as New York. Cases and hospitalizations are climbing rapidly in many states. Thankfully, deaths haven't yet. There's a lag on deaths of about 3 weeks. In mid July we should know how many 18-49 year olds (they're over half of hospitalizations) die. And how many will survive with lifelong injuries and damaged organs that may require transplants.
 
If you choose to get a massage, please wear a mask the entire time. Work with a professional who wears a mask and understands how to clean, sanitize, and disinfect as required. Preferably, that professional would also have a massage room with hospital grade HEPA air filtration or outdoors with a good breeze.

Yeah, this thread has been reassuring for me. As I started to lose my resolve, reading this thread helped me recommit to abstaining for now from encounters. We need to help each other stay committed to being healthy and safe as the pandemic persists.

Owing to many of my family members living places like Huntington Beach (the Florida of California as I like to say) it's refreshing to be able to come to a thread about this and not have to argue the logic and common sense of all of it, and why it isn't just a giant global conspiracy to tank the economy and make everyone wear a mask. Thanks guys!

So much truth in what others have said here. We are still in the first wave of infections in the US; the geography just changed, and maybe the demographics as more Millennials and Gen Zs get infected. Younger people appear to have a lower hospitalization rate, maybe as low as 4% while for older people >65 years, it may be 20%. Proportionally, people of color appear to be getting hit harder than Caucasians but that may be amplified by socioeconomic and co-morbidity factors. But, all in all, the virus doesn't care who you are, and whether it makes you symptomatic or not - for its success strategy, it's better having people up and about and spreading the infections person-to-person, which makes Millennials and GenZs (our favorite phenotype of masseur) prime vectors for transmission.
 
We are learning a lot about the virus incredibly fast. But with speed comes a lot of preliminary conclusions that turn out to be wrong - a lot of headlines are coming from scientific preprints that have not completed the review process. The popular press takes the preliminary conclusions, amplifies them, and maybe politicizes them. Then when something turns out to be false, there usually isn't the same amplification of the correction. Or, if it fits a political agenda, it's over-amplified to discredit science in general.
 
I think we've still got a potential for a huge wildfire of infections, with too many hotspots. and a high pressure system building (red states, too fast relaxing of lockdowns back to normality, and general non-compliance with whatever the locals rules are), and a high wind warning (resumption of travel, lack of social distancing). Our air tankers aren't ready (no vaccine, no good treatments yet), our firefighters aren't on the ground (no contact tracing), and our backfires and fire lines are weak (non-compliance). (As a Californian, I love my wildfire analogies). A lot of people ignore risks and fewer understand statistics. I have a sinking feeling that late September and October are going to be very ugly.
 
So for now and the foreseeable future until this first wave subsides, I'm jerking off, best I can while my dog is scratching at the bedroom door. If this goes on for many more months, my thirst for human physical contact and my little head may take control, and I may get a massage. But it would be with a masseur that I trust; in SF, I'm lucky to know educated masseurs with some experiences in real health education, including an ICU nurse. And if I do get a massage, it will be much more subdued in the sensual nature than I usually am looking for. And then I will be extra careful about my exposure to others for at least one week, so that my risk-choice is solely on me and not foisted upon unsuspecting others.

Same experience with Brad here. I've never tried Alejandro but he used to advertise on rentmasseur as strictly therapeutic, and his rate is consistent with that.