AirmaxUK

I see the terms Wataa and Chudai used on social media posts and was hoping to see a definition here.

After talking to you, I wonder what the cops said to the people who called them to explain to them what happened? ...and if there was any blowback for the guy you met. I can imagine where I live, news like that would spread like wildfire and the curtains would be twitching.

My memory of Brief Encounter (Probably 1997 ish) was the cute rent boys in the basement and the somewhat older guys chasing them. I got picked up by a guy in a 1970s shiny tan leather jacket who wanted to take me to the theatre before taking me home. We saw 'My Night With George' which was about the AIDS crisis. I got creeped out by the guy and didn't go home with him afterwards. My London bar of choice was 79CXR back then.

1992 - Was studying at Brunel Uni. and the LGBT Soc they introduced me to The Greyhound at Colnbrook on the A4 near Heathrow, which was the place to be. I met the guy who took my virginity there. I think we chatted on an IRC channel first and arranged to meet there. I recall ihim coming back to my room in uni halls of residence, we didn't have any lube to fuck so we used Lynx/Axe shower gel. The Greyhound became my regular for many years. (What3Words: chain.finely.vocal ) Innocent days - but perhaps a harbinger of things to come as I fancied the pants off 'Russell' who assisted in the DJ booth by working the lights. He was skinny as a skeleton and his moves were like - well Russell was a very apt name as he kinda rustled in his skinny frame in baggier clothes. Never got to play with him but one of my housemates dated him for a while. I recall he was a forklift driver during the day. When I was out of Uni and into the world of work, I bumped into a colleague there. They often used to have a gay act called 'Chip' who did a kind of striptease - he had a PA and attached a leash as part of his routine erotic dancing encouraging patrons to lead him around. I still have a framed picture of him. I bumped into Chip on IRC in 1995 and arranged a meet and was deeply disappointed to discover he was a total bottom. (I should have known but, hey I was young and inexperienced!) Chip actually had a sad demise a few years later when he was visiting the USA and a breath control scene/bondage went badly wrong. The other popular act was Margarita Pracatan who played there often. I never really understood or got the point. But she was popular and even made the Clive Anderson show on TV. I remember the lesbians ran the kitchen and pool table. Back then, the Metropolitan Police would show up regularly and record all the number plates of cars parked in the car park. Rumour was they were looking to correlate with cars parked at cruising spots. Eventually, I understand the landlord sold out to Spearmint Rhino who turned it into a casino/straight stripper bar. He opened the White Blackbird in High Wycombe which was nowhere near as successful and then I lost touch.

Had my bag searched on entry a few times. Generally I drink beer from the bottle there and I'll drink it and not leave it anywhere unattended. I definitely won't drink any piss there even on the yellow parties unless I know the guy quite well - well enough to know he's not high. I've had more trouble at Scheune and Bull with guys. I think you have to be on your guard everywhere and be sensible about reducing risks.

Vaseline has it's uses - mainly I use it in two scenarios: Firstly when going to the sauna. It survives getting wet so handy for use in the steam room or even jacuzzi. Secondly for a long night out cruising - it doesn't absorb easily so it is long lasting. In both cases, I like that it will attack an invading condom. A small amount of silicon lube in addition to the vaseline works well as a lube combo. I did try crisco as an alternative. I had a top complain the next time we met that he had great difficulty cleaning it off. And it does leave residue everywhere that is hard to clean up.

For me it's about pleasing the top - so if he blows his load after a few strokes, that's a win. If he can't cum but has a good time anyway and enjoys fucking for an hour, then that's also a win. If he's obviously not into it or gives off bored/distracted vibes, then it's game over.

Personally, I have worn a rubber jock to the baths - works well in the wetter areas. I hope it is an enticement to guys who might be looking for a place to dump a load, but it hasn't worked very well so far. Seems to scare off people - or maybe it's just the bottoms realising they won't get a load from me. Wearing a butt plug seems to get better results. Where I frequent, the GenZ boys seem mostly oblivious to the message wearing a jock in a sauna conveys. The whole look-but-don't-touch-ask-permission-and-swap-instagrams-first thing seems to be de-rigueur for them. Bit of a buzzkill in the darkroom, tbh.

So... back from Berlin and I picked up an annoying Gono infection... my local clinic did the usual antibiotic injection and stern lecture - I asked about the MenB vaccine and they agreed to do it then and there - one injection in the deltoid, and another a month later. I asked about DoxyPEP and was told that it does nothing for Gono as it is the wrong antibiotic, but I'll pursue DoxyPEP on my follow up visit and clarify with the doctor as it there seems to be conflicting info out there. Usually the injection of antibiotics in the butt is bad - but the MenB vaccine in the shoulder was more painful - enough to cause me problems sleeping from laying on the affected shoulder for three or four days. Paracetamol/Acetaminophen took the edge off enough. Next time I'll have it in the left shoulder as I usually lay on the right side when sleeping.

Thanks for the suggestions - what's the crowd like at these places? I prefer an older and more bear-ish crowd to younger and twinky.

Headed to Munich for the Sk8erboy party at MLC - I'll be there a few days, so any tips on good places to find loads? Cruising spots and Dark rooms?

Post covid, when everything started to re-open and some places were struggling, a friend and I decided we wanted to visit every gay sauna in the UK. I thought the only one we missed was the place in Newcastle that had seemed to turn into a str8 swingers place. Turns out we missed Pennine too, so I think it's time for a visit. Any tips from regulars - good times or bad times to go?

Granted that's not a great experience - maybe things are different in the US, but is it not the ATM provider that imposes and profits from those fees, not the venue where it is located? Venue owners might not even realise the charges programmed into the machine as they wouldn't use it themselves. Apple Watch is my favourite tool for paying for drinks in these kinds of places - no need to carry cash in pockets that might go missing in the darker corners. I can leave my phone in a locker where it is safe and not a distraction. Many places in Europe you use your cloakroom ticket number as a tab and pay when leaving (electronic or cash).

In the early days the apps started out being used by motivated early adopters who were into meeting. Then they became mainstream - there was suddenly a ton more choice - and people started to chase the perfect guy - and it's incredibly rare that if A thinks B is a hot ten, that B also thinks the same of A. It's a bit like when saunas get busy everyone walks around and around. Now they are really a form of soft porn. People go on them to get off on the idea of meeting, not to actually meet. Hence why people disappear suddenly or ghost once the've shot their nut. I think if you want to meet people, then go out to cruise, saunas, bars, clubs, etc.. Support the businesses or we'll lose them. Can the apps be fixed? Probably not, but a lot could be done to improve them. Some kind of uber like reward/scoring/rating system - maybe gated by having to have your smartphones in close proximity to perform the rating to prevent abuse.