Charlie

I think I still have some leftover from the swine flu epidemic.

Some of the preparation for a pandemic is a lot like preparation for any kind of widespread disaster, like an earthquake: food, water, pet supplies, toilet paper, emergency medical kit, extra batteries for equipment that uses them, a full tank of gas in the car, generator, etc. I am always prepared to be cut off from supplies and aid for at least a couple of weeks.

I think g56whiz made that comment tongue-in-cheek.

My primary care doctor monitors me constantly, which is sort of a waste of test money, because my cholesterol numbers are always fine, my arteries are completely clear, my blood pressure is excellent, and my heart is sound. I also consume enormous quantities of sugar, but have no signs of diabetes and am not overweight. I seem to be one of those lucky people who can eat what I like, with adverse effects only on my digestive system.

I prefer large curd, full fat, and I always salt it. I enjoy it as a side dish with many kinds of meals, especially a juicy steak.

I see you are capable of disciplining yourself as well as clients:D.

Another term that is familiar is "lurker," for someone who often looks at the site but never joins because he/she doesn't want to participate. To me, "guest" should be restricted to someone who is a temporary member, and I assume that a poster who is described as a "guest" is someone in that category.

Congratulations! I am curious though: what was the length of the mortgages? Fifteen years, thirty years? It takes discipline to pay off a mortgage early. I have never lived anywhere long enough to pay off my mortgage during the standard time frame.

Having spent a majority of my life in eastern PA, where there are a number of small communities of old Central European religious affiliations, I am familiar with the Moravians, although even there one encounters few of them now. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they did a lot of missionary work in Native American tribes. One of my colleagues at work went to Moravian College, which surprised me because he was Chinese-American. BTW, I have been to Moravia, where hardly anyone knows who the "Moravians" are.

Well, I must be really old, because I remember what the sex for money scene was like before any of those agencies was established.

I was shocked to read in Ace's ad that he is 55. I have met him several times at the PS Weekend, and I assumed he was around 40 (OK, maybe 43).

He is referring to the 5 glowing reviews of Rainer on rent.men, not on Daddy's.

The thumbs down icon is the appropriate rating for that, but I think you are probably right.

The bomb symbol is supposed to mean "insulting," but it is ambiguous, because it isn't clear whether it means that it is insulting to someone or ones mentioned in the post, or to the person reading and rating the post. And I have received a couple of bombs that are totally puzzling, because I can't figure out why they are insulting or to whom. I don't think I have ever used the symbol, but there are a few people who use it fairly often, and I sometimes wonder if it is a mistake.

One of them claims to be 5'7", the other 5'11".

If someone asked me my wildest fantasy, this would probably be what would pop out of my mouth, which is funny, because I don't like to get fucked at all. As a wise escort once told me, after some very hot verbalizing about possible sex acts, "Some fantasies are most effective if you don't ever actualize them."

I enjoy real estate porn, especially show's like HGTV's "House Hunters."

When I lived in England in the 1970s, it was a culinary desert, where the only "Italian" cuisine one could usually find was "spaghetti bolognese."

I had that eggs Benedict for breakfast in Austin last weekend at The District, and I thought it was awful.

But his written English is not "broken:" it is actually as good as the text of most of the ads on rent.men by native English speakers; in fact, I would guess from it that he is a fairly fluent speaker (I have a lot of experience evaluating the English proficiency of non-native speakers). Of course, it is possible that it was written for him by someone else, or the ad was not placed by the kid in the photos, or....well, let's just say that I have a lot of questions about what is going on here.

Which could mean that the guy is a calculating scammer, or it could mean that he is clueless (and there are other possibilities).

I don't get the sense that there is any language problem here, but rather that he doesn't understand the situation. It sounds like he is looking for a romantic relationship (a genuine BFE) rather than selling sexual favors on an escort site (look at the only things he says he is "available for"). He may be on the wrong website.

Many of those you mentioned started their careers singing at the NYCO in the 60s and 70s (I saw all of them there), but all of them were lured to the Met once they made names for themselves. Sometimes they returned to the NYCO if it offered them a chance to do a role they couldn't get at the Met. I seem to remember Grace Bumbry going there when they agreed to stage Nabucco for her. One of the most stunning non-standard operas they staged in the early years was Mefistofele with Norman Treigle. The plaza in front of both houses was renamed Treigle Plaza in his honor, long after his unexpected early death in 1975.

The NYCO was a respectable artistic competitor to the Met in the early years, but two major opera houses across the plaza from one another was just not economically viable, especially when one had had the social cachet and money of the Met, and the other was always struggling to pay the bills. The NYCO's greatest stars always defected eventually to the Met, Sills being the most notable. I saw some wonderful performances there in the 1960s and 70s, but eventually it became a place to go only if you couldn't get a ticket somewhere else.

Nikko is definitely worth a day trip. We did it our first time in Tokyo, and liked it so much that on our next trip to Japan, we booked an overnight there.