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Sadly no. But thanks for asking! I was beginning to think this had become the Forum of the Damned. I did find the thread that gave us all Big Picture privileges a few years ago, but lately I seem to have been demoted to a Free Member with squinting privileges only. Perhaps it was something I said?

A few months ago, along with a handful of other members, I pushed through twenty-five posts in twenty-five days and was rewarded with a free Gold Membership. It was only to last for thirty days, and I enjoyed it once or twice during that time. As scheduled, it went away. No beef here. It was nice while it lasted. But when it went away, it seems to have also taken away the complimentary Silver Membership that many regular posters had enjoyed for a couple of years. I found that out when I tried to see a full-size picture of an escort, and was told I could see only the thumbnails from now on. As I recall, the Silver Membership was a compromise reached a few years ago to allow regular posters to see larger pictures. Haven't been able to find the thread that did it, but I'll go looking for it if that would be helpful. Had I known I would lose Silver too, I would never have gone for a temporary Gold. Anybody else? Or am I just doing something wrong?

Not before I posted, but just tracked down the phrase I remember. It seems to have faded from common use after all these years, as have I, so all seems fitting. Your definitions, while not originally intended, take things to a whole new level. "The pip" is a disease of poultry and other birds, a respiratory illness that produces large amounts of phlegm. When people developed a phlegm producing cough of unknown origin it was said thay had a touch of the pip.

I was sure it's the subject or host Or the tone of a thread at the most, But I learn it's a thrip Or a touch of the pip, That determines whatever I post.

Mostly I thought a night train between Budapest and Bucharest would represent the far reaches of a cloud-connected world, where I could enjoy my own music as well as sights I'd never seen before. Add to that, Bucharest is a place I'd love to visit. Barcelona is certainly appealing but, on my rare travels, I like to go places that are a bit more out of the way. It's fascinating to go somewhere that's been rather isolated from the U. S. and see what the similarities are and what the differences are. I believe most people around the world want the same things, but the differences in how they go about getting them is always fascinating and enlightening. And, certainly not least, I think there are some hot Romanians. At the turn of the millenium, I boogied off to Budapest and settled myself at a sidewalk cafe on the Pest side of the Elizabeth Bridge. A few yards away was a little park where the Romanian boys were strutting their stuff and, ever since, it's been a place I've wanted to visit. At the time, the guys couldn't easily get any farther west than Hungary, and most I spoke with had a younger brother at home who wanted to make the trip to Budapest but didn't have the money. Why, I asked myself, couldn't Mohammed go to the mountain? I'm sure you're sorry you asked, so by way of making amends, I'll try posting a clip of the guy pictured above, Voicu Panzar, Mr. Romania World 2010. If you can ignore the interviewer (not easy, but worth the effort I think), you'll see a guy who could definitely get me up in the cloud and on a train to Bucaresti. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvMFTtxXeMk&feature=player_embedded

As many are aware, our own modest Lucky has expressed vividly his feelings on the subject of compliments, and has more than once come out strongly and publicly against them. So I have sheathed my typing finger as the educational and entertainment value of this thread has continued to build, and heretofore reticent posters have contributed thoughtful, insightful, and often quite personal, views on a subject that affects us all. Far be it from me to tender kisses and hugs where they are not wanted, but would a gentle expression of appreciation to the OP be entirely out of line?

A million thanks! I used the picture without reading the entire caption. Very interesting description of an early advance in technolology. Early telephone exchange, Paris V410/0043 Rights Managed Caption: Telephone exchange. Women working in a telephone exchange in Paris, 1890. Connections between early telephones were made manually by the operators. Technological improvements in this Parisian exchange meant that people, for the first time, provided a number rather than a name, and they were passed between fewer people before being connected. This system was known as Poste assis. Taken from Physique Populaire, 1891.

Much as I'd love to be sitting on the night train to Bucharest listening to Spanish Eyes and taking pictures with my iPhone, I'd just as soon not have it all up in Apple's cloud. They'd probably track my GPS back to the caboose and cause my gentleman friend and me all kinds of tsuris.

Right. It's even better than Google docs. Taken to its extreme, everything that used to be on your computer (docs, software applications, music, photos, videos, emails, you-name-it) can now be moved to a giant hard drive in the sky (the 'cloud'). You get access to it through the internet, and the only thing you really need in your possession is a device with some kind of browser that can connect to the internet and interact with all the stuff that's in the cloud. The device you use can be a computer, a smart phone, even a TV, as long as it has a browser and can connect to the internet. All your stuff is available any time, anywhere in the world with internet access. And it's available on a device you can slip in your pocket. The good news is, somebody else is responsible for storing all your stuff and making it available to you. The bad news is somebody else is responsible for storing all your stuff and making it available to you. The idea of Google or Apple or Microsoft having all my stuff on their hard drives leaves me cold. I just know they're busy thinking up new schemes to charge me for getting at it.

I think all new technology is daunting at first. If we're happy without it, why clutter our pretty little heads with mumbo jumbo? When there's a good reason, we'll learn how to use it, and most likely it will be simpler by then. Let's tweet . . . Let's meet In my opinion, the burden belongs on the technology companies to make their wares easy to buy and easy to use. No one should feel inadequate when it's really the vendors who need to do the heavy lifting. They'll figure it out eventually, and we will all head happily into the cloud.

Too true. We can but try to be accommodating. ☺stinker dujour

That may have been one Reynaldo "Chile" Relleno, who was later recruited and brought to the United States by NARTH, where his hands-on workshop was credited with steering nearly half of its participants toward a wholly heterosexual lifestyle, while the remainder became celibate. I don't recall spending much time with my foreskin, as the standards of the day dictated its speedy removal and delivery to the hospital cat. I like to think that, under different circumstances, it would have become a comforting presence and a favorite plaything. A circumcized friend of mine decided to undergo reconstructive surgery some years back. I recall him being rather well-endowed, so it could not have been a trivial procedure. I haven't yet been swayed by the religious argument. This would not be the first time an assembly of clerics decided some cockamamie ritual was the entry fee for eternal life. It does get me wondering though whether or not Yahweh Himself was circumsized and, if so, what became of the mohel who did the deed. Personally, I haven't yet taken a position on the issue and that's fine, as I'm not a San Francisco voter. I'm content being one of the millions of interested bystanders who are participating in a public discussion for the first time in ages. If I were one of the folks backing the bill, I'd put that increased awareness and debate in the 'win' column.

And perhaps Santa Monica in 2012. From the LA Times article: Neither the San Francisco nor the Santa Monica proposals contain an exception for religious reasons, which for some transforms the ban into a First Amendment issue. David Lehrer, a Jewish leader, told the LA Times that "It takes the notion of the Mommy State to a ridiculous extreme. It probably touches upon being anti-Semitic." But others in the Jewish community are using the proposal as an opportunity to openly discuss the ambivalence and feelings of conflict that many Jewish parents have when they decide to circumcise their sons. Rabbi Brad Hirschfield recently penned an op-ed in the Jewish Journal in reaction to the Santa Monica initiative. Hirschfield confessed that after the birth of his three daughters, he felt "a certain inchoate sense of relief at being spared the obligation to circumcise them eight days later."

Well said, Zipperzone.

Nobody loves a good yock more, but I won't start laughing until they rule out rape. Interesting to see the French cartoons. Unless they tolerate rape better than I do, which I don't believe, it must be their view that it is in fact a coup monté. I do hope that's what it turns out to be. Now that could be funny. The part of Charlie Brown is played by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, while Carla Bruni-Sarkozi appears as Lucy.

Nice story, OZ. Thanks for sharing.

I'm holding out for next year's talking models. What an asshole! Make that a flaming asshole!!

What a dump !

With friends like these, who needs enemas?

Personally, I tend toward tolerance. The only kind of posts I really dislike are cruel posts, especially the ones designed to tear down one of our own. And there aren't many of those here, thankfully. No doubt my posts aggravate some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time , but I appreciate not getting tossed out of the clubhouse when it happens. I know that being ostracized hurts, and I don't want to kick somebody else to the curb if I can avoid it. For all I know, this Board provides a bit of support to some of our members and if indulging their posts is the worst thing I ever have to do in life, I'll die a happy man.

Indeed. And the names! WillaCatheter?

Once I overtipped the caddy and the next thing I knew he was washing my balls.

Try one bite. If that's too much, try a nibble. Discovering the ideal dose that provides only the desired salubrious effects, and not the unwanted ones, will be a highly individualized process and may take some time. In my own case, forty-five years and counting.

Thanks, lurkerspeaks, for the outstanding posts! And please give your 'advisors' a high five for luring you back. I really like hearing the blow-by-blow descriptions of sauna life and the types of guys you are meeting. Found myself wondering, though, what the other customers are like. Do you get a sense that they are local men? Tourists? Regulars? Rich? Average looks? Shy? Sociable? Not that I'm encouraging you to shift your focus away from the heartthrobs that brought you in the door, but would be interested in any observations you've made about other sauna clients. Thanks again for sharing your adventures!

Well, OK, I'd be willing to help you become a perfect poster, just like the rest of us. But it might take some hard work, and it won't always be easy. PS: Kidding aside, Hito, you're a thoughtful guy with a good heart and I think we can use all of that we can get. I know I can.