Flickr user Chris Radcliff, CC license

My birthday was the 20th. And while I can’t yet get half-price appetizers from 5:00-6:00pm at the local diner, I’m feeling markedly older. It’s not just the strange, white hair I found growing on my earlobe (how long had THAT been there?). It’s my brain.

And that, dear GeekDad, is why I need your help. See, among the well-wishers who chimed in with FB greetings was a professional friend from higher up in the publishing world. We’ve always had a great rapport and I think he likes to poke and prod me every once in a while because he can and because I usually reciprocate with little coded goodies — like that high school Calculus teacher who wrote little riddles for you and only you at the bottom of your A tests.

The thing is, I can’t solve his birthday message.

Be warned: there’s always a chance it’s slightly lewd. Also, it likely has my name and might include some sort of birthday greeting. Also, his codes are rarely super involved and so I’m fairly sure it’s SIMPLE and that I’m just being an idiot. Still, I tried not over-thinking and it didn’t get me anywhere. I also thought the two “=” signs could be “!” signs — maybe the message is somehow mirrored on the keyboard?

Okay, enough of the preamble. Here’s the code:

SGFwcHkgQmlydGhkYXksIEdhcnRoIQ==

If you can you bail out my age-addled brain, send your answer to GeekDad Puzzle Central before the end of the day on Friday for a chance to win a $50.00 ThinkGeek gift certificate.

Twitter: @garthsundem