CuriousByNature

Seriously? Harsh crowd.

@AnthonyPhilly's photos were very fetching - but sadly, I don't think he's had an internet presence for some time. We never met, but he seemed to be a nice guy via messaging. Hoping he's keeping well with whatever he's doing these days, and that 2025 will be a great year for him. 🙏

I wouldn't worry about emojis. I often get an 'eye roll' emoji, but I just remind myself the emoji is looking up to see if any new hair has grown.

That would be a horrific situation given the subjective nature of morality. What outrages one person may not outrage another. My neighbours are outraged when I leave the apartment without a paper bag over my head. I'd hate to be murdered for that.

That's a name I've never come across before. Could he be The First Newell?

By reading between the lines I can see that you're upset.

I would gladly tip my barber very generously if he was able to locate any hair on my head to cut.

Perhaps we can inject a dose of grace here for both @AngusStevensxxx and @MCR, and acknowledge that each of us lies somewhere along the wide spectrum of mental health and of trauma. Thankfully Angus has been able to share his information and clarify things on this forum, and hopefully he can move forward without the same sense of fear for his personal safety. That's a great thing. And thankfully MCR has recognized the error of his ways and is evidently seeking support from a professional to deal with unresolved trauma from his past. That's also a great thing. Here's hoping that 2025 will be a year of health, happiness and prosperity for both of them.

I'm notoriously bad at reading between the lines, but, in my case I would take things in the opposite direction of what you're getting at. I would never expect or assume that a masseur would be offering any 'extras', so I'm pretty sure I'd be completely oblivious to any signals. Even if if the masseur took all of his clothes off and climbed up on top of me, I would probably convince myself that this was just part of the therapeutic massage.... 🤣

@samhexum Thanks for posting this - I had heard about it at some point and had forgotten. I'm hoping to get over there sometime in the spring, so I'll need to get this done.

Aww, and he's already shrinking with age, too. By the time he's 50 he'll be 3 feet tall...

I too was abused, and like you, have never considered perpetuating the same. The idea is physically revolting. And particularly for men who have been abused, part of the shame and fear can be linked to society's incorrect assumption that abused people go on to become abusers themselves. While many abusers may have been abused in the past, I understand the vast majority of people who have been abused would never do the same to others.

The concept of a shirtless gym wouldn't bother me, because in every situation I think we need to be responsible for our own safety and level of comfort. I generally assume the previous person may not have wiped the bench, so I normally wipe it before and after using it myself.

And 2025 marks 42 years since the Total Eclipse of the Heart

Maybe he means both your nostrils?

I had a mild case of COVID in late July and was told to wait 6 months before getting my booster, so will do so in late January

I'm not familiar with Paragonya or the Swiss legal system at all, but perhaps it's an issue of licensing? Particularly if providers are not from EU countries? Just a guess...

100% agree! One of my uncles contracted COVID at his care home in September and was hospitalized for a month. Other than slight age-related memory loss he's in remarkable condition for his late 80s. He had to be put in an induced coma and was placed on a ventilator for several days, so we all thought this was the end. Thankfully he rebounded during week 2, and it was another 2 weeks before he had the strength to walk safely and be released. My cousin told me he had not gotten his latest booster because he was getting over the flu when it was due, so he was not as protected as he normally would have been. COVID can still be a killer, even if it is claiming fewer victims since the development of vaccines.

Just as in every previous year, 2024 proved to be 365 days without any romantic/sexual encounters. Actually, 366 days because of the leap year... So still a virgin at 51. I suppose that's my worst (continuing) experience of 2024! 😆😆😆

Yung King? I think I had dim sum there once.

Maybe the plan is to keep asking for continuances for the next 15 years, and then hope to get a sentence of 'time served'

If this is the case, perhaps consider doing a cruise that visits Alexandria? You can join a ship excursion to visit Cairo and Giza and be surrounded by other cruise ship tourists and not stand out in any way at all. This may be more comfortable than visiting as a solo tourist. Perhaps ironically, the only problem with visiting as part of a big tour group is the fact you would be part of a big tour group and not have enough time at the sites themselves. There's always some risk of sectarian violence, but it seems pretty low at the moment for tourists in Egypt. I'm a bit wary of visiting Luxor due to the attacks that happened there years ago, but I'm also aware that my concern is likely irrational because millions of people have probably visited since then without incident. I'm considering doing an independent trip to Egypt in 2025 if possible. @BenjaminNicholas said it well about being smart, savvy and alert. This is important for most travel, generally speaking, but some parts of the world do require greater alertness than others. And for many travellers, being alert on vacation doesn't seem to be a priority.

I send out cards most years. But this year Canada had a postal strike that interrupted pre-Christmas deliveries, so I didn't bother. It started November 15 and the staff were ordered back to work on December 17, so there's quite a bit of backlog to get through first.

I would happily give 99% away and still live extremely well on the remaining $10 million.