Category: Planning

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Broken Links

While I was researching one of my recent posts, I discovered that a fair few places that I had used over the years to purchase items are no longer viable.  The websites are gone, the people that ran them seem to be no longer in the scene, or just gave up on the whole business side of it, because of, oh, I dunno, reasons?

Add in the fact that it’s getting harder and harder to find new businesses that have the quality of product to replace the ones that have gone by the wayside.  Sure, I could shop at established places like The Stockroom, or Damax, but the former does tend to import a good amount of their product from China, or it’s mass produced, so therefore a lesser quality (think Chinese steel) and the latter is overseas, just in the other direction.  And a bit pricier because of location, they’re usually one offs, and I’m probably only going to order one of his wares in the near future.  And don’t get me started on Swedish Collar.

Etsy is definitely a possibility, considering that a lot of people go there to sell their wares, but you have to take a chance with quality as you really don’t know the people, feedback on the reviews can be spotty, so it’s a lot like Internet dating anymore.  Separating the wheat from the chaff can be an expensive prospect.  Honestly, right now about the only things I’d be in the market for would be furniture for the future (BDSM variety) and some metal toys. 

Fortunately, none of the big box home improvement stores will be going out of business anytime soon, and repurposing stuff found there is relatively easy.  It doesn’t always even require the ability to weld.  Kink(dot)com managed to prove with plumbing supplies, one could easily construct a bondage frame that would be inexpensive, very adaptable, and fit almost anyone.  Put it in a room where it wasn’t a problem screwing the contraption into the floor and you’re all set.

I’m certainly not saying there aren’t quality vendors anymore.  It’s just I’m finding the ones I’ve been familiar with, are now gone.  But many more have taken their place, and in spite of the market being swamped with a lot of less than stellar quality wares, the fact that BDSM is becoming more mainstream does mean that there will be more stuff to choose from in the future.  One just has to shop wisely.

 

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Our ‘Chair’

A kinky friend of mine posted today about a session she and her Master had with a particular piece of furniture they own.  It easily reminded me of many conversations my Pet and I have had over the years about the inclusion of a similar piece of furniture that could be incorporated into our play.  She’s sent me pictures of different types, each more ornate than the next.  Certainly, any one of them could be fantasy fodder for any type of scene, from basic worship up to and including detailed BDSM play.

While I was composing an answer for my friend’s blog, I began relating a story about how a rather unique chair came to become a treasured memory for my Pet and I.   While I was writing, I thought instead of posting it there, I would write about it here.  So here’s the story.

It was in 2018, we were meeting in Harrisburg, PA for a visit equidistant to one another.  We were going to play, but we also decided to do a bit of sightseeing, and one of the places we went to was the Fire Museum there.  Amongst the other items in the building was a set of rather ornate chairs that apparently were used by some quorum at one time or another and were preserved for posterity by the Harrisburg Fire Department.

Suffice it to say, my Pet thought it would be a neat idea to have me pose in the chair, and take a picture, then pose with her kneeling (or sitting) at my feet and take another.  Over the years it’s been one of our favorite pictures, and considering how we like the idea of incorporating a ‘Chair of Honor’ into our plans for the future, it seemed like a good way of commemorating the occasion.

 

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We planted a money tree!

Ok, don’t get your knickers in a twist.  They don’t exist literally.  Lemme ‘splain.

After our most recent visit/trip, we determined that in order for future visits to occur and not incur heavy use of my credit cards (lodging, food, emergencies) it would be best to start socking away money somewhere to pay for them.  We’d discussed this before, but never really did anything with it.  Sure, $10-20 here and there was set aside, but bills, unforeseen expenses, and good old-fashioned emergencies occurred in between and ate up the nest egg.

So this time we made a pact and I opened a new savings account at my credit union.  A separate account that’s not tied to my personal ones that I pay my bills out of.  It needed to be accessible to me if I had to draw funds out in a hurry (through PayPal more than likely), so I also had a debit card attached to it.  Yeah, one more card to carry/keep track of.

We’re both contributing to it.  Since she makes less than I do, she kicks in what she can and I double the amount on my end.  That way it will build up more quickly and will be available come the time when she is going to travel here.  Savings accounts draw interest on balances, so as it grows, it will add to that too.

I figure by the time of her first visit in 2024 we should have a tidy sum accumulated.  And we can continue to add to it as time progresses.  In the meantime, I’m paring down my credit card debt.  Hopefully, by 2026, I can be debt free.  At least that’s the plan.