Man, it seems like the week went by quick. I guess it was because I spent so much time throwing out stuff and sorting things. It’s starting to get hot enough that the AC can’t keep up with cooling the entire house all day, so my room starts to get just warm enough to be uncomfortable when I get up. I tend to sleep during the day longer when it’s hot out to avoid doing things when it’s going to get too hot to work. That’s a pretty old school evolutionary reaction to heat I think. Anyway, no need to bore you with that.

Just for future historical records this week the American government allowed some people to claim there’s a big alien cover up in some hearings, in order to distract people from the unethical/illegal/immoral things they have been doing that are being scrutinized. It’s been amusing watching the suspicious people, like myself, getting jittery and saying “Hey! What are you really doin?!” like when you see your dog with something in their mouth they don’t want you to see. I suspect nothing will come of it and none of the people who have misused their influence will spend any time in prison where they absolutely belong.

I am happy to say I do not belong in a prison, unless it’s a prison for people who you should support via the links above. I very much should be in that kind of prison. In some ways I kind of am. A prison of my own making. At any rate I hope you have a fun and safe weekend, and I will return on Monday with new content I have produced here in my cell.

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In all honesty, I just don’t get what any further cover ups are going to accomplish short or long term in the case of UFO/UAPs. If there is a cover up, it seems awfully counterproductive considering that the government now declares any UFO/UAPs within American airspace to be a threat to national security. So, by that standard, any further reports from civilian sightings should be looked into instead of patronizing the civilians that their sightings are just “swamp gas” or “tricks of the light” to which any further sightings which could constitute a security risk will end up being met with reluctance by future witnesses to report. I’m also no longer buying the whole “panic” concern if such otherworldly beings do come into existence. That’s all H.G. Wells bullshit. If the aliens genuinely wanted to destroy us, they would’ve done so a long time ago and NOT wait for us to proliferate weapon advancements like the atomic bomb.

No, I’m standing by the hypothesis that we’re not being visited because there is just too much turmoil amongst the human race right now to justify any need for such a visitation. We think about our security, but the E.Ts have to think about theirs too.

We’re just not ready for First Contact at this time.

They could be studying us, waiting until we are developed enough. I can’t help but feel like alot of intelligent life would respect the Prime Directive.

When I was Mike’s age I started dating older women.

“Older”, at that point in life, means “You both weren’t in high school at the same time”.

I recommend he try it.

Yeah, I really don’t see why the age difference is relevant, TBH, like, they’re both adults, they both seem to be single, if they’re attracted to one another and enjoy each other’s company, why not give it a shot? Sure the worst that could happen is friendships get ruined, but really, they both seem mature enough to be able to remain friends short of a really messy break up where one of them does or learns something inexcusable.

I lost about $50 worth of Patreon support because of the age gap between Reggie and Alex, and fully expect to lose more over this one. For someone who isn’t morbidly online it may not seem like a big deal but there are people with brain worms right now that will not tolerate an age gap of any amount in a relationship. Welcome to 2023.

What’s the age gap between Alex and Reggie? I knew they were both adults.

The problem with age gap, is people always lie about it. “As long as they’re both adults, it’s okay.” “Okay, so you’re okay with that 40 year old dating the 18 year old?” “No!” “Sooo…you’re a liar?”

The age difference between Mike and Rulette is fine under the “younger person’s age is at least half the age of the older plus seven” rule of thumb, whereas 40 dating 18 isn’t.

There’s nuance. If two people are in the same stage of life, and have plenty of common ground, then there’s less problem. If there’s possibility that one has groomed the other (actual use of the term, as in an older person ‘raising’ the younger person to be dependent and accept their advances), then there’s more problems. The two should be able to be relatively equal in the relationship.

So 40 and 18? Squick.

25 and 32? Less squick. 25 and 32 when both are managing separate stores and have similar interests, and the 32 year old didn’t babysit the 25 year old? I can dig it.

When I was in my 20s the “dirty old man (sic)” rule hadn’t been codified.

I’ll just say that at our ages as of meeting, my wife and I just got under the wire.

Very true. There are alot of people who get incredibly bent out of shape about the issue in various ways. There are some people who think a woman of 17 cannot be attractive, if she has the body of a pornstar. Or that if there is any sex between a minor and an adult, it MUST be 100% the adults nefarious schemes and not things like hormones and alcohol, as if someone can’t be a lost 22-year-old or a very competent and driven teenager. It’s not that I’m saying there should be no rules, but some people cannot even conceive that this kind of thing is possible, like the hot college guy who gets unsolicited nudes from the high school girl next door who is trying to seduce him, and HE’S the bad guy. It’s even funnier with drawings; draw the sexiest chick ever, and everyone will salivate…then arbitrarily declare she is 17, and suddenly “No, she’s not attractive at all, I’m not a sicko–only her age matters, not her body!” Or draw a 500-year-old vampire but make her a loli, and oh man, suddenly age doesn’t matter a whit, only her body does.

It’s even weirder when both parties are adults. There was one YouTube guy who was demonized because a full-grown adult fangirl of his met him at a con, came on to him strong, so they banged, and then years later, she decided to call him a villain, despite her being an adult and it being entirely her desire. If I want to seem cool so I start smoking, and regret it 10 years later, that’s on me, but apparently if you have sex with someone older and later regret it, it’s 100% the other person’s fault no matter what. I think this is especially bizarre because it’s not even like it’s the historical norm; normally, women like older men, and men like younger women, so throughout all of history, there usually has been an age gap. That doesn’t mean it’s therefore morally correct, of course, that’s fallacious, but I can oftentimes understand weird hangups when they are at least a cultural relic people are attached to.

My two cents is that the main factor is maturity, not physical age. Physical age, in and of itself, is fairly irrelevant. The problem is that maturity is extremely hard to quantify, so people use physical age as a rough estimate, then get way too hung up on the rough estimate. That’s why people have more of a problem with a relationship between an 18yo and a 25yo than a relationship between a 40yo and a 55yo, despite the larger gap in physical age.

Age difference? That’s no difference at all. Now if they were both ten years younger that would be a problem.

Would it though? I think it depends on the people involved and their respective maturity levels, as well as their life experiences. My husband and I are 15 years apart in age, we’ve been married for over a decade and there’s never been a problem with our ages. We get along very well, spend most of our time together and we generally have a great marriage. (I’m the older one btw.)

(Whoops, I think I misread Caerleon’s full comment. Ten years younger would likely be a problem, yes.)

While I wouldn’t recommend it for everybody it has worked well for my wife and I. She’s a decade older and it’s lasted over 30 years. We even survived remodeling a Victorian era house (think a DIY version of the movie “The Money Pit”).

I never had a hangup about age, I always dated a few years above and below my own without concern. It only would seem weird to be an excessively different age but that’s just me. I have been in a committed relationship with a woman 4 years older for 22 years now, married for 18, and the longer we’re together the smaller the gap appears.
On a different subject, what’s the deal with Thomas lately? I get he’s a bit more intelligent than many around him but his judgmental, superior attitude towards just about everyone seems to be worsening. I’ve followed since the b&w pages so I know he has history, trauma and issues but he’s becoming almost borderline hostile. Just my two cents, I know you have a world of people to flesh out but the Thomas/Carol story has been what pulled me in and I’d hate to see him become a less-than-sympathetic figure.

Well, there’s still that whole successful-writer-ex thing lurking in the bushes somewhere. She was supposed to be coming to the store, as I recall.

She came a long time ago. Came and went.

Subjective age is logarithmic. It’s why the years seem to go by so fast when you ard old.

I will prob get blasted for my opinion, but…. Oh well. If a man is old enough that the woman by age could even possibly be his offspring, he needs to stay away. If she is a couple of years younger sure, but not more than that…..
However, I firmly believe the older woman younger man thing is perfectly acceptable. As long as he is mentally able to consent and is consenting, and as mentioned by other posters, he was not groomed by her.
When I was 18 I dated a 40+ (she never told me her exact age) woman. She was lovely and kind and every woman I have dated since then should send her a thank you card.

Any reason for the double standard? I hope you’re not going to say only men can be sexual predators.

Jackie, may I point out, It is your world, the people that matter don’t mind and the people that mind do not matter!
You tell your story, I have been here for all of it and I will be here for the long haul!
Proud supporter and will always be.

Both my wives were about 4 years younger than me. And both marriages lasted until death did us part.

Regarding age differences, there is a branch of my family where nearly all the women were grandmothers by age 30 their husbands averaged 10 years older. For the most part none of them seem particularly different to any other people I know. Cheers ~ulrich

Mike’s younger than Thomas? I wouldn’t have guessed.

There used to be a “rule” about dating with an age gap; where to draw the line before it’s viewed as a little creepy:
“Half your age plus 7” If I recall correctly.
She’s 30, he’s 24?

30/2+7 = 22.

Really up to those involved if they want to care about this made-up “rule” or not, (I mean, presuming all parties are over 16-18 depending on where you live, of course) but at least by the standard of “The Rule”, they’d be fine.

My sister is over 20 years older than me. She married a man 20 years older than her. He had a stepdaughter that was older than someone his age would typically have, so I have a niece in her 70s. She gave me a ride to doctor’s appointment in her home town, and I got to introduce her as”my little niece”.

2548 Jump The Gap.

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