JoyfulC

Oh no, I wasn't suggesting that you wait until next year to sell it, but only that you might see the offset between sweetening the deal now and saving payments from now to next spring. Our neighbours just sold their boat (although probably not the same kind) last weekend, so here's wishing you good luck.

I can't claim to know much about boats or financing, but is this a good time of year to sell a boat? Especially one that someone would have to take out financing to acquire? It seems to me that if you sell your boat now, you will have enjoyed use of it for most of this year's season, but would also be able to spare yourself making payments on it all throughout the winter. (Which we all have our fingers crossed you can do.) But on the other side of the coin, if someone buys it now, he won't get much enjoyment out of it this year before he has to pay monthly payments for many months before he has a chance to enjoy it again. Like skydiving gear, I think boats are probably best sold for full going price early in the season. If you want to save the winter month payments, maybe lowering the price now would sweeten the deal. Just a suggestion! And again, what do I know ^_^

Happy birthday, Malika! I hope this is your most exciting and rewarding year yet.

I have never smoked in my life. It wouldn't be possible for me to, as I react violently to tobacco smoke. And even marijuana, the couple times I tried it, I made a spectacle of myself going into coughing convulsions. So I'm asking because I really don't know, but today, for some reason, I wondered: What is it you get out of smoking tobacco? Do you get a buzz or a high, like with drinking or doing marijuana? Or is it more a tasty treat, like a banana split or a chocolate bar? Or is it more a fetish, something to do with your hands and mouth? My husband smoked, but just briefly (maybe a couple years, very casually) in his early twenties, but wasn't that into it and had no trouble quitting cold turkey upon deciding to. So he isn't much help. What can you tell me about the experience of smoking? Additional Comments: Oh, and also, how does smoking a cigarette differ from smoking a cigar? Why are cigars desirable?

That's cool. But we found just making up the dough and leaving it to mature in the fridge for a few days worked well for us. Additional Comments: Also, never roll the dough out. Stretch it. There's a "window pane" thing where when you stretch it one way, and then the other, it seems like a pane rather than breakng.

Okay, I have to ask about the crust.... What did you do? We heard online that making up the dough a few days or a week before make the crust a bit better, and we've found it to be so. Still, something is just not right. What's your secret??

Yes, it has happened, but only because I remind them when they're confirming their next appointment. I'm not convinced it's dishonesty at play, but I think if I didn't remind them, they would forget about it. And I only bother to remind them if it's a significant amount.

When I first came here, some 30 years ago, I saw a movie several times on maybe CBC that I thought was called "The Virgin Bride." I can't find anything about it on IMDB though. It was about a young teen-age girl, just coming of age during WWII. She experiments with local boys along with a friend of hers, but then her brother (cousin??) who is in the army comes home to stay for a bit, bringing another young soldier with him. She has sex with this soldier, and then he ships out. Some time later, she finds she's pregnant. He's long gone. Her parents pawn her off on some really old dude, a friend of her father, because she's pregnant and he's willing to take her off their hands. I'm sure I haven't seen this movie in at least 25 years, but when I went to look for it, I couldn't find it. Anyone know the one I'm talking about?? Thanks in advance. It's sort of one of my memories of early life in Canada! (Yeah. Pretty gloomy, eh?)

Obviously I was so wrapped up in my own frustration that I completely missed this. Please accept my apologies. Not that it's much of an excuse, but it's been very hot here this week, and I think it only serves to make frustrating inquiries all that much more frustrating. Again, I'm very sorry. You are, of course, right.

Also, WIT, something probably you and many of the other decent customers here don't realize is that much of the time, when a guy wants to cheat us or put us in a position to have to negotiate from an unfair vantage, they hide behind playing dumb or having misunderstood. I have actually had guys tell me that they looked everywhere and couldn't find any rates on my site. Or that the link to my rates page didn't work. Who do they think built and maintained my web site? I know exactly what's on it because I put it there. And I can investigate any claim of something not functioning. Many years ago, I worked for an outcall massage business. Because of the laws in that state, the service had a fee, but wasn't allowed to say anything more than that tipping was allowed. Well, of course, the massage fee just paid for us to show up and give a massage. The tips were payment for the services the customers really wanted. It was necessary to do it that way, because of the law, but I hated it because I don't really feel it's ethical to negotiate with some poor dude standing there with a raging hard-on. And so it isn't unnatural that I would find it unfair that someone shows up and tells me that he "misunderstood" or spoke with several people, and must have confused me with someone else, and then expecting me to play "Let's make a deal" because he's standing there, he already has my address, he's already blown this time slot for me, and he only has $100. Unlike Carrie, I prefer confrontation because I don't like to reward bad behaviour. It only encourages them to do it to another SP, and I feel some responsibility to my colleagues. Like you, WIT, I believe in confirming when the appointment is made. But unfortunately, it doesn't always prevent the problem. A guy who is determined to try this scam is going to try it. He'll find some way of "aw, shucks"ing up an excuse for it. And too, if you look at any of my ads, they all say OVER 40 ONLY. Almost every guy who's wanted to do this "what are your rates?" waltz with me turned out to be well under my age preference. So really, believe me when I say, I'm very frustrated over time wasters!

My husband chose to get involved with, even marry me. His sisters have asked him if the way his mother way caused him to take up with me. His mother was a widow with eight kids to feed when her husband died. She was a young widow. Men would sometimes show up at her door after the bar closed and want in. She'd let them in. The next day there was money for things there weren't the day before. Is that somehow wrong??? She could pick crops in the field. She could take care of other people's kids. She could scrub other people's floors. And all that was honourable?? But not taking in men after closing who were ready to pay cash?? I'm not saying that every woman who gets involved with a man is exploited. But believe me, we're not all. In my case, I live with a man who, because of his mother, respects me. We accept my job as a job (although a very pleasant one) My advice is to assume that every professional you meet is a professional, If she proves not to be, then you have your decision as to what to do about that.

"Unrushed" to me is a double-edged sword. It means that I don't try to rush him to finish and get out early, and he doesn't try to prolong and get more time than he paid for. I think most of us have some means of marking the time, even if it's not obvious to/oppressive to the customer's experience. And yes, of course we give a buffer of a few minutes here or there to clean up and get ready to leave. But we do notice when too much of that comes out our personal time. Our services are quantified, even if you don't or don't want to realize it. Use the time you purchase from us wisely.

Yep, that's how I feel too, only about people wasting my time asking me questions that are plainly posted on my site. Maybe it's worth making up a thread of it's own, rather than tucking it behind something completely different, where it might get overlooked. It honestly never occurred to me that anyone would do this. A couple sites that have solicited my advertising have included fields for rates. I can see how someone could forget to go and change the rate on some such site. But still, one should honour her posted rates.

No, Amelia, I brought up negotiating, because I notice that guys who would rather have you tell them the rate are more likely to claim later you said something different, or that they misunderstood. And I say "freak world" because, as a consumer, I can't think of a single situation in which it would be okay for someone to tell me, after the fact, that their posted rates aren't current. If that ever happened, I wouldn't be embarrassed. I'd be outta there. Usually, when the appointment is confirmed, I confirm the rate. But my original post had nothing to do with confirming rates. It had to do with the dozen or so guys every week who waste my time wanting to play twenty questions about info that's on my site.

I'll admit to discriminating, on the basis of age and also to some degree on culture. I find there are certain cultures where I just can't stand their men. Russians, for example. I guess I'm narrow minded, but I generally don't have any problem with someone of any race who came up in Canada or the US. Beyond that, things start getting tricky in a hurry. I had a very pleasant Sudanese gentleman at one time. He grew up in Sudan, but had spent most of his adult life in Canada. And we hit it off. Until the day he started telling me that he wished his fiance were more like me, more responsive. At some point in the conversation, it came out that she had undergone female circumcision. Let's just say that the discussion that followed that pretty much ensured we wouldn't be meeting again. I think we do our best work when we're comfortable with someone. Agents are supposed to work for the SPs, not the other way around. But that said, if you're not comfortable representing someone who discriminates on the basis of race, then you have to cut her loose.

Augh! Whatever, Wrinkled. I didn't post this to complain about guys asking if my posted rates are current, all-inclusive or if there are any additional charges. I get those questions every day, and I have no problem with them whatsoever. I posted this because so many people ask for my URL, then come back, tell me I have a nice site, and then proceed to ask me what my rates are, what my phone number is, what hours I work, etc. It's very frustrating. I'm of the opinion of some here, that some people are just plain stupid. They look at the pictures, and assume that we'll be only too happy to hold their hand and walk them through the process of setting up an appointment (because, after all, we've got nothing better to do, right?). And if there are any "misunderstandings," we'll take the fall on them. No, sorry! Not for me. And Wrinkled, I'm very sorry for you if you've had the unpleasant experience of dealing with unprofessional providers. I would suggest that, the next time you encounter someone who tells you that her posted rates aren't current or who tries to hit you up for more money, you turn on your heel and walk out. If more customers did that, fewer SPs would dare to try it. It is the SP's responsibility to make her terms clear prior to setting the appointment. If someone directs you to a rate sheet that isn't current, then she's screwed up and you're not obligated to pay more. If she doesn't want to provide service at the rates posted on her site, then I guess you've both wasted your time.

But you're missing the point that they're not asking whether my web posted rate is current. They're asking what my rate is, as if they have no clue. If someone were to ask me if my posted rate was current, or even if my posted phone number were current, I'd have no problem with that. I have a problem with guys asking what my rates, contact info is who have been to my site and obviously didn't bother to look at the info there. Additional Comments: Sorry, but you were the one who brought up the issue that posted rates might be out-dated and thus negotiable. Who knows? Perhaps some are. I can only say for myself that I will legally abide by my posted rates. Who knows what freak world you live in.

And that's exactly why I send them a direct link to my rates page, and if they still can't get it, I write them off. I think there's more risk in putting out rates by email than having the customers look at where rates are publicly posted. Additional Comments: So are you suggesting that, if someone claims that they somehow perceived a lower rate, we should negotiate on that? Sorry, but I don't like that idea at all. And I can see where it would be abused. I post my rates. I stick to them. Either a guy likes my posted rates or he doesn't. But I don't much like the idea that I have an obligation to present them to him individually or that he can negotiate them.

... perhaps. Did I mention the time that a friend of mine who had the hots for him came over, drank a bunch of my booze, puked in a sink full of dishes, then went off upstairs to play with him, leaving me to clean up? I'm torn. ;)

My understanding of the law here in Canada is that businesses are obligated to stand behind their posted rates unless they can do better. That's why I don't want to put my rates out in a lot of places, such as various advertising forums or even emails (which, if someone is going to put a price in email, I think under law they need to put a date limit on it too, or they can be held to it). Now, maybe no one will report us to the Competition Bureau or whatever is we play fast and loose with rates, but some of us believe in doing things the right way nevertheless.

I think we got our chairs at Canadian Tire or Giant Tiger. They're just netting, not a whole chair. Works with any foam noodle. Just perfect for soaking! I think your little pool is perfect! We had an inground 36'X16' at our last place (the one you did the sexy video in!) and it was nothing but a pain in the butt. Here we just have a little 14' diameter above ground and it's much easier to maintain. Small enough not to require heat. But still, we could go smaller and still get just as much use, with a lot less hassle.

Carrie, there are some serious biological reasons why mermaids can't exist. And we've well more than scratched the surface as to what life forms exist on this planet. Really, they don't exist. Want to see what a mammalian ocean dwelling critter looks like? Check out a whale.

I recently let mine grow back after well over ten years of being shaved. I'm not convinced it's an interesting look... I never had one of those bushes that turned a corner five minutes before I did... but it is a *very* interesting feel. I can't keep my hands off it. One of the first pornographic images I ever saw, and one that certainly fired many of my masturbatory fantasies for years and years, was that of a bush laced with a generous tribute.

As a married SP (for 30+ years), all I ever asked of my husband is that he do like my clients do and try to protect me from any knowledge of his involvement with other women. But it seems that's quite difficult! Maybe I need to rethink. I know many men need variety to keep their interests fresh. I am not one to look to hard or question too hard, but maybe I'm being unreasonable in not wanting to know. He's a really good husband, and a great sex partner. Maybe I should just be happy at that. After all, it's not like he doesn't know about my other involvements, pleasurable as they may be.