- Location
- Toronto, ON, Canada
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ALL USG MEMBERS
Before I get into a long Deusex rambling, the most important take home from what I'm about to say is...
1. If you have photos on USG that you don't have backed up then take some time to download them now as USG days may be numbered.
2. I have installed a new Addon for the website that will allow members to download their own photos in bulk.
----------------------------
So... here's the deal:
As many of you know, Adrian and I have been dealing with my cancer since the end of 2019. (In case you don' t know, Adrian is my husband and business partner. He's my rock, my best friend and couldn't imagine going through this all without him.)
I have had many surgeries over the past four years and countless chemo/immunotherapy treatments including doing treatments right now. While the treatments have been mostly working, I've been dealing with some expected side-effects, the worst being brain-fog. That, along with countless doctor and hospital visits, I simply can't get my work done anymore.
Being self-employed (Jockstrap Central) has been a godsend as I can't imagine going through the last four years while trying to maintain a job working for someone else. But... Jockstrap Central is also a business and a very demanding one at that and it's suffering thanks to the reasons above. Most of my job is doing photo shoots, editing photos, marketing, programming and writing lots of copy for email promotions and product descriptions. With my current brain-fog, I'm unable to program much of the time and writing copy is challenging during chemo week. While I'm able to do photo shoots, the week of chemo is out of the question as I'm tired and and go home from the hospital with a chemo bottle attached which makes them physically impossible. And there's just so many appointments which keep me from my work.
While the treatments have been mostly working, they seem to be failing lately thanks to my notoriously low platelet counts. I'm supposed to get chemo every two weeks but averaging 3 to 4 weeks as it's taking time for my platelet count to bounce back high enough before they give me more chemo (which bashes my platelets).
I've tried a number of things to boost my platelets but unfortunately nothing has worked and we are running of options. I just had a bad CT Scan report in that some of my cancer spots are growing again. We're trying one last thing with my current treatment and have a CT Scan at the end of September and if that doesn't work, there's still one more (expensive) treatment that I'll be able to try.
Regardless, at some point I'm going to lose this battle.
So... that's where we are right now with my health.
Now back to the business...
Adrian is 61 and I'm 58 and with my health issues, we were already talking about early retirement within the next few years. The plan was to sell the business, sell our house and move into a small condo we own to simplify things. We bought a trailer in a gay camp ground this spring and have been spending every moment we can up there . We've been loving it, our best friends are up there and it's allowing me to completely zone out, de-stress, stay away from my computer and just basically relax. We feed the birds (and chipmunks) up there which is better than TV and I'm at peace - I've always been a gardener, animal and nature lover. By next year, I'll have installed a garden and it will be even better. Adrian says he has never seen me happier.
As the trailer park is only open from May through October, the plan is to spend summers at the trailer and take some time traveling (as my health allows) in the winter.
Well, now with this latest CT Scan report, we're going to make retirement happen asap so we can enjoy ourselves and not have to deal with all the stress involved with running the business Keeping our other websites (like USG and a bunch of other ones) going just doesn't make sense anymore.
It's a huge decision and difficult decision but the right one. I'm disappointed about giving up Jockstrap Central, but honestly, Jockstrap Central has been in business for over 19 years now and we're also pretty damn proud of what we've accomplished.
So, what has this got to do with USG?
Well, ideally we will sell Jockstrap Central. And if whoever buys it sees some value in USG and our other websites then those would be included in the deal. If they don't want USG then it will be shut down. If they do want USG, then it could possibly continue but in what way, who knows? But the point is there are no guarantees it will continue or continue the way it is now - it will all depend on what a possible new owner wants for USG. I imagine anyone taking it over will try to monetize it in some way (i.e. sell advertising or some type of premium membership - just a guess). I've mostly kept it going for sentimental reasons. Underwear was my fetish which make me start USG which in turn, turned into a business for me.
The other minor hitch is that Jockstrap Central and USG are on two different servers. They are not cheap to maintain. To save some money and for ease of selling things off when it does happen, we're consolidating the two servers. So USG will be moved to the server that hosts Jockstrap Central and although I don't anticipate any issues with the move as my server hosting company is incredible, there is always a chance that the move goes badly and photos and more would not be able to be recovered. Doubtful but Murphy's Law and all.
At this point there is no timeline for all this to happen. The server migration will probably happen in two to four weeks but the ultimate retirement plan for us could be withing months, it could be a year.
However, my advice to those USG members who don't have backups of their photos then take some time to download your photos - just in case.
The little bit of good news is that I just bought a new addon for the USG website which allows members to bulk download their photos on USG ( It will not allow members to bulk download other member's photos.)
Here's a link to some instructions on how to use the new Bulk Photo Downloder:
usg-online.com
Will keep you posted as I know more...
John.
Before I get into a long Deusex rambling, the most important take home from what I'm about to say is...
1. If you have photos on USG that you don't have backed up then take some time to download them now as USG days may be numbered.
2. I have installed a new Addon for the website that will allow members to download their own photos in bulk.
----------------------------
So... here's the deal:
As many of you know, Adrian and I have been dealing with my cancer since the end of 2019. (In case you don' t know, Adrian is my husband and business partner. He's my rock, my best friend and couldn't imagine going through this all without him.)
I have had many surgeries over the past four years and countless chemo/immunotherapy treatments including doing treatments right now. While the treatments have been mostly working, I've been dealing with some expected side-effects, the worst being brain-fog. That, along with countless doctor and hospital visits, I simply can't get my work done anymore.
Being self-employed (Jockstrap Central) has been a godsend as I can't imagine going through the last four years while trying to maintain a job working for someone else. But... Jockstrap Central is also a business and a very demanding one at that and it's suffering thanks to the reasons above. Most of my job is doing photo shoots, editing photos, marketing, programming and writing lots of copy for email promotions and product descriptions. With my current brain-fog, I'm unable to program much of the time and writing copy is challenging during chemo week. While I'm able to do photo shoots, the week of chemo is out of the question as I'm tired and and go home from the hospital with a chemo bottle attached which makes them physically impossible. And there's just so many appointments which keep me from my work.
While the treatments have been mostly working, they seem to be failing lately thanks to my notoriously low platelet counts. I'm supposed to get chemo every two weeks but averaging 3 to 4 weeks as it's taking time for my platelet count to bounce back high enough before they give me more chemo (which bashes my platelets).
I've tried a number of things to boost my platelets but unfortunately nothing has worked and we are running of options. I just had a bad CT Scan report in that some of my cancer spots are growing again. We're trying one last thing with my current treatment and have a CT Scan at the end of September and if that doesn't work, there's still one more (expensive) treatment that I'll be able to try.
Regardless, at some point I'm going to lose this battle.
So... that's where we are right now with my health.
Now back to the business...
Adrian is 61 and I'm 58 and with my health issues, we were already talking about early retirement within the next few years. The plan was to sell the business, sell our house and move into a small condo we own to simplify things. We bought a trailer in a gay camp ground this spring and have been spending every moment we can up there . We've been loving it, our best friends are up there and it's allowing me to completely zone out, de-stress, stay away from my computer and just basically relax. We feed the birds (and chipmunks) up there which is better than TV and I'm at peace - I've always been a gardener, animal and nature lover. By next year, I'll have installed a garden and it will be even better. Adrian says he has never seen me happier.
As the trailer park is only open from May through October, the plan is to spend summers at the trailer and take some time traveling (as my health allows) in the winter.
Well, now with this latest CT Scan report, we're going to make retirement happen asap so we can enjoy ourselves and not have to deal with all the stress involved with running the business Keeping our other websites (like USG and a bunch of other ones) going just doesn't make sense anymore.
It's a huge decision and difficult decision but the right one. I'm disappointed about giving up Jockstrap Central, but honestly, Jockstrap Central has been in business for over 19 years now and we're also pretty damn proud of what we've accomplished.
So, what has this got to do with USG?
Well, ideally we will sell Jockstrap Central. And if whoever buys it sees some value in USG and our other websites then those would be included in the deal. If they don't want USG then it will be shut down. If they do want USG, then it could possibly continue but in what way, who knows? But the point is there are no guarantees it will continue or continue the way it is now - it will all depend on what a possible new owner wants for USG. I imagine anyone taking it over will try to monetize it in some way (i.e. sell advertising or some type of premium membership - just a guess). I've mostly kept it going for sentimental reasons. Underwear was my fetish which make me start USG which in turn, turned into a business for me.
The other minor hitch is that Jockstrap Central and USG are on two different servers. They are not cheap to maintain. To save some money and for ease of selling things off when it does happen, we're consolidating the two servers. So USG will be moved to the server that hosts Jockstrap Central and although I don't anticipate any issues with the move as my server hosting company is incredible, there is always a chance that the move goes badly and photos and more would not be able to be recovered. Doubtful but Murphy's Law and all.
At this point there is no timeline for all this to happen. The server migration will probably happen in two to four weeks but the ultimate retirement plan for us could be withing months, it could be a year.
However, my advice to those USG members who don't have backups of their photos then take some time to download your photos - just in case.
The little bit of good news is that I just bought a new addon for the USG website which allows members to bulk download their photos on USG ( It will not allow members to bulk download other member's photos.)
Here's a link to some instructions on how to use the new Bulk Photo Downloder:
Bulk Download Your Photos from USG
I've just installed a new addon for USG that will allow members to bulk download their photos. I have never recommended that USG members hold their only copies of their photos on USG. As I've always said, USG is not a cloud service and there is never a guarantee that something could happen...
usg-online.com
Will keep you posted as I know more...
John.
a new owner will continue the parade 
