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Happy New Year! I hope you've had safe-but-joyous holidays with loved ones near(but not too near), and that 2022 has better days in store.

I sat down today to look back on what we did last year, and was happy with a lot of what I saw. Some highlights:

• One of our members who's a lawyer offered to weigh in on the problems older gay men face.
• We were hit with our first round of spam accounts. And our second. Thanks to everyone who's taken advantage of spam reporting to help us shut down problems as quickly as we can. We're working behind the scenes to flag more junk messages and head them off before they reach you.
• We added second homes and travel plans. If you divide your time between two locations, you can add them both and...

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My partner hasn't needed the wheelchair for three or four days. He's getting up and going about his business (watching golf, listening to pulp audiobooks) and has needed less constant attention.

So, today, I had time to look into the latest spam problems. I've had my eye on it, and I'm sorry for any of you who have been subjected to the nonsense. It's the same group of spammers, but they moved on from using one-use-only email domains to using ones @gmail.com. I couldn't outlaw all Gmail addresses, so I bided my time until I could deal with it. When I got to it today, I had to delete 650 spam accounts and the messages they'd sent. I placed blocks that should lock out this particular bunch of annoyers, so things should calm down, and I've set tasks for myself to add more general spam blocking, so I hope this will be our last round of widespread spam attacks.

Thanks for your patience with this untimely incursion. As far as I can tell, I'm...

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My partner came home Tuesday after two weeks in the hospital and eleven days at a rehabilitation center. He was still terribly weak and needed constant attention, so I’ve barely been online this week.

Naturally, my absence coincided with the latest onslaught of spammers on the site. Someone is using single-use email services to create accounts and send messages to other members. I blocked access from one service, and after a day, they started using another. And, today, a half dozen more. I plugged those holes also, but it may be a few days before I can do more than whack each mole as it pops out. Al still needs help, and, tomorrow, we’re starting our rounds of doctors’ offices following his discharge.

I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I know it makes being a member of the site less enjoyable when you get this nonsense in your inbox. (If you’re not sure what I mean, if you get a message from someone one minute after he joins the site...

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Admittedly, that’s one room over, but we take our victories as they come.My partner Al came home Tuesday after two weeks in the hospital and eleven days at a rehabilitation center. I’ve only been on...

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We've had three weeks of discovering more each day just how dangerous Al's condition was and is. I posted some of the story here:https://oldergay.men/news/forced-breakScroll down to the comments for...

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My other half’s been in the hospital with pneumonia for two weeks. That’s not quite accurate, since, thankfully, they eased COVID restrictions and I’ve spent part of each day with him. So, at a rough estimate, 41% of me has been gone. I’ve taken an iPad with me a couple of times, thinking I might do something while he's sleeping, but holding his hand and rubbing his thumb has been a full and satisfying vocation, and I haven't gotten around to more.

Each day of the last week has been a broken promise. First, we heard he'd go to rehab. I was all for this, seeing how weak he'd become, but then we heard that the rehab center only does acute care, and he's only cleared for sub-acute care. So they planned to send him to another center which, based on online reviews and conversations with many friends, has a reputation as a death trap that leaves people far worse than when they come in. And it was the only option his insurance would pay for. So he...

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We returned home safely from the Prime Timers convention, and started the week well. Al was livelier than he’s been in ages, and I was glad I’d taken him. I was settling back into routine when he st...

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Well, to be honest, from halfway home. 🙂 I might have pushed through, but Al was tired with a sore butt — not from Prime Timers Convention-related activities — so we've stopped for the night. Five a...

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Just a quick pop-in to note, if you didn't already note it, that I checked off the next Patreon poll task this week. True to form, I unearthed unforeseen difficulties (how to convince an inhuman fra...

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Following on the heels of marking people in pictures, I've created galleries from the results:

https://oldergay.men/images/members

Have a look — happy window shopping! 😀

Jeff