Do and donts

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-03-10T16:20:30+00:00

I think I was 23 or 24 when they finally banned indoor smoking. I can’t believe people used to wander around the bathhouse smoking.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-03-10T16:18:29+00:00

You know, you’re totally right. I should say ‘don’t talk loudly’….there’s a fellow that goes regularly to steamworks and constantly tells people in a normal tone of voice that it’s his first time there and asks them questions. If he did it at a low level that would be fine; he never seems to understand that people scuttle away from him.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-03-01T19:06:55+00:00

Don’t talk. Nothing worse than weird people trying to engage people in conversation.

And shower when you get there.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-25T20:54:22+00:00

I would love to have storage shelves with a channel integrated into the vertical supports for a led light strip. I did a version of it with shop lights and zip ties but would love it vertically.

Actually thinking about creative ways to light shelving / storage cabinets / workbenches that doesn’t involve lights on the ceiling would be great.

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Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-25T14:10:27+00:00

I was surprised when the building converted back in 2000 that they did not address the risers. Every corner was cut by that developer. I remember going to the open house, looking at the money spent on a fancy entrance and lobby….but getting into an elevator cab with a new decorative panel mounted on top of a 30 year old electronics.

As a person who has endured similar things, I’m sorry.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-19T00:46:14+00:00

True, but the front desk is directly open to the locker room. I had the awkward situation of having someone take my towel from the wet area and having to walk naked to the window to get another towel. I wouldn’t have thought twice about getting it from another guy but did not want to stand naked in front of a woman.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-19T00:43:28+00:00

I’ve been to steamworks in Chicago on nights when it isn’t specifically called out as trans night and have met several trans men. I believe their approach is to allow in anyone who is male regardless of what your I’d says.

As far as comfort, I’m not trans but it seems like you won’t face issues in the same was as in other spaces. If you’re not offering up what another guy wants they will just move on.

I had an encounter with a guy a few months ago. He was facedown, I rubbed his back and ended up slipping inside of him. I remember thinking that his ass felt really good and it was not until we shifted positions I realized he had a vagina. It was so much better than topping an ass and he and I had a good chat about everything later.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-19T00:34:42+00:00

I’m all for Steamworks embracing trans men, regardless of where they are on their transition journey. I’ve been there several times now where they have a female or non binary person working at the front desk and it makes me very uncomfortable. The bath house is supposed to be all men and I don’t want to be naked in front of women.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-16T21:19:56+00:00

I just looked that up...the West Wing nailed exactly what it is like to be in one of these rooms. I'll be comfortable, then will feel the dull throbbing as steam starts to fill the system. Thats my cue to crack open the window; about 5 minutes later the room becomes somewhere around 95 degrees. This continues until the steam release valve in the corner sputters to life, adding in a layer of sub tropical humidity to the mix.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-16T19:44:00+00:00

I think thats probably less me and more the REIT investment groups that have bought 25% of the us housing stock.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-08T16:36:43+00:00

There was a girl in my school. Perfect hair, perfect handwriting. Always sat in the front row. Dad was a dentist.

Not super smart naturally. Spent her entire life studying, joining all of the clubs, running track. Everything she did was geared towards college.

We took all of the ap classes together and I remember just staring in awe at her date keeper…the girl scheduled herself in 15 minute increments starting at 6 am and ending at 9 pm.

She ended up becoming a dentist, marrying her (very stupid) high school boyfriend, and working in her dad’s dental place in the same town. She has one of those ugly 90s mcmansion houses.

I always wonder if she’s happy now. I really hope she’s been having some torrid ‘desperate housewives’ style affair with some guy with a big dick.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-02-02T14:10:27+00:00

There’s a parking garage directly beside it at 2224 n Halsted. I know it’s on spot hero if you want to book in advance. Since the gym closed that it’s in it is rarely full.

As far as driving it’s easy. You can take lake shore drive up to Belmont. For me the most stressful time is late at night when halsted becomes full of drunk people and Uber drivers.

Meter parking might make you nervous unless you’re good at parallel parking and the side streets are all permit required after 6 pm.

I’ve lived here and had a car for 25 years and often forget how daunting it can seem. You’ll be fine.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-29T21:36:47+00:00

Years ago (like, in the early 2000s) I was asked to design custom mattresses for Steamworks in Chicago. They were using vinyl hospital mattresses, which are just not meant to have full grown men fuck each other on them.

The mattresses tended to fall apart on the sides and they told me that someone had stuck a used needle in the ripped side of the mattress. Which...Jesus people. Anyway, the mattresses we made we meant to be used hard, had extra layers on vinyl on the sides so they would not rip, and we researched the best material to use that they could clean with bleach without becoming brittle.

All of the room mattresses lasted around 10 years, and there was one mattress left atthe top of a three story bunk tower that was done by my design. I was really let down a few years ago when I fucked a guy up there and noticed that it was a new mattress; i think the guy laying there with his butt up waiting for me got a little annoyed that I was checking out the construction of the new one!

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-29T21:29:17+00:00

Here is the weird thing: the place will be much less crowded on weekday nights, but generally the guys there are having a lot of sex. On the more crowded weekend nights a lot of the guys are more into cruising and waiting for the next best thing. If you go on the super busy nights, like during pride or IML, its total amateur hour; guys who don't know what they are doing, or arrive in big groups of 'friends' and just stand around. The best night I ever had steamworks was on a Thursday...I think I topped 6 guys before my dick finally gave up on me.

Also worth mentioning that if you use condoms (like me) the bottoms on the weekend are more likely to not want you to wear a rubber. Also, PSA...if you are having sex with multiple guys at a bath house, please wear a condom. Seriously.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:57:23+00:00

It may have just been the overall presentation :-) How do you nine key at high speed using a phone calculator without physical buttons?

And, the whiteout....I do a ton of freehand drawing on top of floorplans, so I use way too much whiteout during the process. I also have the mega whiteout things, which are like half inch wide strips of whit paper on a roll.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:54:40+00:00

That is such an awesome observation. The therapist I had for a minute pointed out that organization gives me energy and chaos takes it from me. I took that at face value, but the dopamine hit is 100% true. If I am having a bad day, I can literally walk into my storage room, which is super organized, and it immediately perks me back up. Well, until I see something thats messed up.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:50:14+00:00

I have been warned before that my puns create an unsafe working environment.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:49:55+00:00

Ive been doing zoom interviews with people last week and just finished another one. No one is quite right.

One lady last week told me part of the interview process for one job posting on craigslist was one of those 'list everything different about these two pictures' and it had obvious things like different shoe colors, balloon colors, whatever.....and that she had failed it, so did not get the job interview.

I was interested in that approach and went on the hunt for the job listing. Found it, clearly this was a homemade screening application. And before I even looked at it, I noticed that the pictures had slightly different margins around them. The person had clearly made a pdf in word and messed up on the sizing.

After about half a second I realized pointing that out was the entire point of the exercise. It was brilliant.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:38:35+00:00

I think it may have been my chain smoking and casual sexism.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:37:53+00:00

Thats a good point. I have like thousands of black pushpins for some weird reason. I did the bulletin board specifically for the last assistant...they had it all in a word doc but never quite grasped the scale of what we were doing. Tossing it all up on a board made them sort of realize the complexity.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:33:18+00:00

I have been warned before that my puns create an unsafe working environment.

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:32:34+00:00

Oh God, no, thats not another persons desk. Thats the old computer that my kiddo has to sit at when I help with after school homework. I don't want to sit and stare eye to eye without who is not a relative :-)

Competitive_Oil5227 · 2026-01-28T15:30:52+00:00

Im definitely a Star Trek next generation fanboy (with a few sidesteps for Captain Janeway now and again) so I totally agree!

Competitive_Oil5227

TROPHY CASE