If you’ve been shopping with me for awhile, you’ll notice that from time to time I closed for shipping on Friday. Although you can still place your orders 24/7 anytime you want, I can’t always be here every business day to process and ship them out to you. And since this is, in fact, a one-man operation, this means that sometimes you’ll have to wait.

These closings are happening a little more frequently lately because I am taking frequent weekend trips to visit my mother. She will be 84 this year, and she’s been in and out of the hospital a lot the last several months. As you might imagine, she needs a lot a of help managing her affairs and making sure that the details and chores are tended to. I’m the closest relative, by distance and by blood, so it falls to me to drive across Texas as often as I can to see her.

I’ll be back Monday, April 30. Until then, have a great weekend.

You waited patiently, and now it’s here: The Aroma, Video Head Cleaner, & Leather Stripper Info section of the site now includes all of the new poppers that have been added in the last several months. I’ve also added in a new section for the Country of Origin, if it’s on the label. Check it out to find out what’s in your favorite product and where it comes from — or maybe you can find something new to enjoy.

For those of you shopping for butt plugs and dildos, I now have most of them back in stock. Click here to view the selection. In case you’re wondering, I don’t always keep them on hand because they aren’t the top sellers. But if you ever want one that is out of stock, I can usually get it for you within a week to ten days, often less.

Not long ago I had an inquiry from my credit card processing service from someone who did not recognize the charges on their statement for the things they bought from GayHankies.com. This happens every month or two. The charges actually appear on your statement from my company, BANNEL LLC. The pages on the site where you finalize your order say this. It’s also on the packing slip that is included with your order when I ship it to you. But, almost every month somebody sees the name of the company and doesn’t make the connection with the web site. Sometimes more often.

Once in awhile, I’ll get a phone call from someone who decides to call the phone number that appears with the charge. That’s fine, if you want to talk to me, although a lot of the time I’m not actually in my home-office and can’t answer the phone. Other times, when someone goes through their credit card company to question it, it leads to a “chargeback.” That means that the charge is reversed, and I am “charged back” for the value of the order plus additional processing fees. Not good, but maybe it’s part of the cost of doing business.

The reason why your statement says “BANNEL LLC” instead of “GayHankies.com” is that many customers simply don’t want to have a “gay” name on their credit card records. It doesn’t bother me either way, and it’s not for me to judge. I’m simply here to provide the best customer service I can and — of course — to preserve your privacy while I do it.