Greetings everyone-
I appreciate the messages that many of you have sent asking about my upcoming travel plans. I did (and do) have all good intentions on a few upcoming trips, including the New Haven/Hartford area, Portland Maine, Dallas, and Tulsa. I have taken down my Dallas and Tulsa listing for the current time as I am not ready to venture onto a longer trip at the moment, but I do want to get to both places - perhaps later in the summer or in September. I hope to be able to get to Connecticut and Maine sooner, as I can drive there, but as you all know both places still have a bit of limitations. Thank you for understanding that it is a challenging time, and thank you all for your kind and thoughtful messages.
Peter

Greetings guys. I am going to postpone my trip to Tulsa that I was planning for this coming weekend. I appreciate all of the enthusiastic messages I have received, and greatly looking forward to visiting, but this weekend will not be able to work. I am really looking forward to a visit and will reschedule as soon as I can. Thank you for understanding.
Regards
Peter

Greetings guys -
Thank you for all of the great messages and inquiries I have received from guys in and around Dallas. I definitely want to make a trip soon, but in light of the current tragedy facing our country on top of the fresh changes of reopening, I think it best to delay my trip. Please keep in touch and I hope to reschedule very soon

Regards
Peter

Greetings Guys-

I am hoping to resume offering massage soon. I would love to get anyone's thoughts or feedback.

* Have you been going to see any masseurs who are seeing clients?
* Are you a masseur who is still seeing clients? - IF so, how is it going?
* What do you thing would be considerations or precautions to going for massage?
* would we/should we wear face masks for some or all of the sessions?
* If you are a medical provider, what has been your experience, and what do you think about risks of offering massage sessions.

I would love to get anyone's thoughts. I can share feedback that I get here for others to read.

Thanks
Peter

As a summary of my Men's Health series, here are suggestions of how to stay healthy-
* Touch and massage alone are perfectly safe always
* Oral activities are not a risk for HIV, but can be for other things
* Condoms are good protection
* At least one partner taking PreP/TASP protects both and virtually eliminates HIV risk
* Asking a partner if he is positive/negative/clean/safe is not useful information
(he could have tested negative a long time ago, but is no longer negative, or could have tested positive a long time ago and is no longer transmittable.)
* Asking a partner how often he gets tested is a good question to ask
(shows how much he cares about his health and his partners')
* Asking a partner when he last went for a test is even more useful info. If he can't remember when, it is not a good sign.
* Going for testing yourself is important - It is a two way street - you can find public anonymous testing sites if you don't want to go to your regular physician. Should something unexpected come back in a test, don't panic; There are good options for taking care of things.

Bottom line - be proactive/have a strategy and you can easily stay well.

Today we look at chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis. All are bacterial and not viral, which means there is no vaccine, and no preventative therapy. Each of these though can be treated with antibiotics. Sometimes there are no symptoms, but sometimes it is possible to see a sore at the entry point. If you notice something that does not look right with yourself or a partner, its best to stop and discuss it. The only other defense in addition to looking for symptoms is frequent testing. A blood sample is needed to test for syphilis, while a pee test + throat swab + rear swab will test for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Since these infections can be localized to one area all three tests can be necessary if you have had "activity" in that area. Even if you ask your usual doctor for an STI screening, if he/she does not ask and does not suspect that you might have some throat or rear exposure, he/she may not swab that area and only give you the pee test. If you're not comfortable asking your regular doc for those tests, all major communities offer free anonymous testing/treatment sites. If you need help finding one in your area, ask me and I'd be happy to help you look them up.

Continuing my discussion on men's health concerns today with Hepatitis A, B, and C. They all can affect the liver, but are very different in their transmission, prevention, and treatment.

Hep A is the easiest to catch through fecal/oral means. If someone uses the rest room and does not washing his hands, then touches someone else, or prepares food for someone else, there is risk of transmission. Touching someones "inner glutes" can put you contact with Hep A. If you then touch your face/mouth after being in contact with Hep A, you have transmission. This is why it has always been a good idea to wash your hands and not touch your face. These are not new ideas.

Hep B is a little harder to get, but can be transmitted through intercourse. Hep C is even harder to transmit, as this usually requires direct blood-to-blood transmission, primarily though hypodermic needle sharing.

Treatment options are available for Hep A, B, and C. There is a vaccine available for Hep A and B. Consider asking your doctor about it. There is no vaccine for Hep C, and so prevention is the only option. If you use IV drugs, I respectfully encourage you to look into recovery programs.

Today we have decades of knowledge about HIV transmission, treatment, and prevention. HIV is not transmitted through casual contact, touch, orally, and certainly not through massage.

HIV antibody tests have been available for decades, but understanding results may not be as black or white as you might think. Someone who tested positive years ago and successfully takes HIV antiviral therapy will become undetectable for the virus and is not transmittable. Someone else who tested negative may have been negative at one time, but if that test happened months or more ago, things may have changed since then.

More important than a past test result is what someone is doing on an ongoing basis as a prevention strategy. Though we don’t have a vaccine,the antiviral therapy developed to treat HIV and make it untransmittable are now available to guys who have not tested positive in addition to those who have. The consistent, daily use of antivirals, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or treatment as prevention (TasP) is proven effective to prevent HIV transmission. Though this may not be for everyone, condoms, abstinence, and frequent testing are always as effective as ever.

Greetings guys. I hope everyone is staying well. Sometimes guys will ask me questions about men's health and STI information - apart from the whole current COVID issue. My first answer to that question is always that massage in and of itself is completely safe from STIs. Guys usually say that they understand that, but still are interested in information as they don't always have other resources where they can ask these questions. So I am always happy to share information. I have done lots of work in the past in HIV prevention/treatment/testing, having lived in San Francisco and volunteered for the national HIV information hotline some years ago. You also might find it helpful to understand how HIV and other STIs have some similarities, but really many differences from the current Corona Virus that we are all affected by. Through decades of research and experience with HIV, we have a very clear picture of how it is transmitted, treated, and prevented. 30 years ago we were in the same place as we are now with COVID, trying to figure it out. SO as there is a limit to the size of blog pages, I will break this discussion into several pieces over the next few days.
Peter

Greetings everyone. For those of you unfamiliar, Dyngas Day is a Polish-American holiday celebrated on the Monday following Easter Sunday. Most people know about Mardi Gras, also called Fat Tuesday - as the last day for parades, food, and drink before Lenten fasting begins the next day on Ash Wednesday. Well Dyngas Day, also called "Wet Monday" is the other bookend to Mardi Gras. Today celebrates the end of Lent when people can once again eat, drink, and be merry.

I was planning to go to Buffalo, NY this year, which holds one of the biggest Dyngas Day celebrations in the US, thanks to the large Polish population in Buffalo. But sadly, I am staying at home and cooking some traditional Polish food here, like pierogis and bigos - the latter of which is a sauerkraut based stew will meats and vegetables.

I do love visiting Buffalo, and hope to make a visit there soon for a belated Dyngas trip and so offer massage for clients in the Buffalo area.

Wherever you are this Dyngas Day, please be safe and well.

Regards
Peter

Greetings guys. Today's FAQ that I'd like to answer is about pricing. Many things contribute to the fees that masseurs post. Location is a big factor. More expensive cities drive higher costs. The type of massage offered as well as the masseur's experience are other factors.

Most masseurs find it uncomfortable to be asked for a discount. Though I'm sure not the client's intention, it can come across as sounding like the masseur is not worth the price he is asking. It is great that we have a wide variety of types of guys offering a variety of types of massage at a variety of rates. Look through the listings and choose a guy who appeals to you and is also in your budget. I try to keep my fees reasonable to help make massage accessible to everyone.

Guys sometimes ask if tipping is applicable. I always answer that it is completely up to you. If you really liked the massage and you'd like to offer a tip, that is great. If you really liked the massage but are not in a position to offer a tip,that is fine too. I think nothing less of you.

A tip is always appreciated but never expected.

Best always,
Peter

I have mentioned that I'd be responding to frequently asked questions, and am happy to take new questions that you send as well.

One question that clients have asked: Am I having a good time?

While I appreciate clients concerned about my pleasure, I usually will turn the question back to himand ask if HE is having a good time.

I love what I do, and love the variety of clients a get the opportunity to work with, so the short answer is yes. I am always enjoying myself, but in a different way. In the midst of the session, I am not focusing on my own pleasure, but working hard to pay attention to you, to your reactions and responses, and make sure that what I am doing is working for you.

In a similar way, your hairstylist or dentist might find it awkward if asked if he is having a good time working on your hair or your teeth. Similarly, I'm sure both love what they do, but their pleasure likewise comes from knowing that you had a good experience and are happy with the outcome.

So my recommendation to you as a client, the best way to help your masseur have a good experience is by showing him and letting him know that you are having a great experience.
Best Regards,
Peter

Happy Monday to everyone. Starting week four of staycation here on Cape Cod. I am looking forward though, and hoping to plan a weekend trip to Portland, Maine, perhaps around the end of April or beginning of May. Things have been looking good in Maine for now, and hoping that it stays that way. I will respect the current state requirements and wait until the travel/work restrictions are lifted.

But in the interim, I'd be happy to hear from guys in Maine who might be interested in a massage appointment. I'd also love your recommendations for a convenient hotel where I might stay. Things that I like to consider when booking a hotel to see clients are - Good, safe location, easy/free parking, easy to get up to the hotel room without needing me to ****** you to the room, easy to get to places for lunch/dinner between clients. Any suggestions/advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Be well,
Peter

Greetings - I hope everyone is having a good weekend and finding new things to do at home that you normally would not get the opportunity to do. Perhaps reading those books you've always wanted to read, listening to music, working out, or watching movies or videos! If we have to stay home and have down time, good to take the best advantage of it.

Officials are predicting that things may get difficult in Boston and other cities over the next couple of weeks, so please be careful and safe. We learned in the HIV crisis that changing behavior really means prevention. None of us want to find ourselves having to navigate an overworked health care system at this time. If we can take cover for a short while, it will bring long term benefits for all of us.
Be well
Peter

Thank you to those of you reading my blog. I know it can be distracting to look at all the pictures, reviews, and features to get to the blog section. I appreciate the comments that I have been receiving. I'll try to share some of them here (without names of course) along with a response.

Here is a great comment to my posting yesterday about communicating needs-

"I've been reading your excellent blog. You know of course that it takes a certain courage to go to a masseur and say exactly what you're looking for. It's bad enough just going in the first place.
But then life was not meant to be easy"

Thank you for that comment. It is a good reminder that it is often takes a lot for guys to call and come for an appointment. I try my best to reassure you that I am friendly, easy going, easy to talk with, non-judgmental, and approachable. Basically, I'm just another guy. Please feel free to call or write if you want to ask questions. When You arrive, know that my entire focus is to help you to be comfortable and have a relaxing, enjoyable massage.

Regards
Peter