The great soap opera

No-one's mentioned anything about tomorrow night, and I don't want to sit in, so I've put the feelers out. It's going to be a pain in the arse because the people I want to spend the time with are notoriously difficult to get a reply out of. It always seems to be me that takes the initiative and I don't mind that, really, but it would be greatly appreciated by me if people could be a little more decisive and reply to contact, even if they just rule themselves out.

Thankfully, MF set the ball rolling by telling us she was going to a bar with some friends of hers. KfW mentioned that she wouldn't mind going to that bar (and she's good friends with MF), so it looks like we're going with MF's suggestion.

So, there are issues... MfW has been paranoid over the past few weeks about people like MF and a few other girls feeding information back to his most recent ex-girlfriend. I don't believe this for one second, at least, I don't believe there's a conspiracy to give this information to the ex-girlfriend. If/when MfW finds out that our plans for tomorrow night are from MF and others, he might well lose his temper.

From a personal point of view, I'm a little apprehensive because I don't know who MF's friends are, but it's not out of the question that RB will be there. That might make the night, well, interesting, but I'm looking forward to this. There are a few people that have not yet said anything and it would be great if they'd come out with us, so it's fingers crossed.

Dear Landlord... (part 4)

At 10 AM this morning, my hot water and heating returned! I didn't hear anyone in the house and no-one knocked, so I assume the landlord did the work. Not that I'm complaining... I now have my hot water and heating back. It's a pity the bath isn't plugged in cos I'd love to soak in a long hot bath, but that's only wishful thinking.

Roll on January when we can find a new house.

Getting my head showered.

Finally the landlady gets back to me to tell me that she's called a heating engineer, so it's now just a waiting game. I'm back in the house now, having bought a cheap electric heater from Argos, and it's keeping my own room toasty warm, but it's going to cost me a fortune. Unlike a lot of the country, we do at least have running water, so I can move back here after staying in my sister's for a few days.

While I'm grateful to my sister for her hospitality and it was great to spend a few days running around with my nephews, I'm glad to get back here... to be able to spend time on my own, potter about, do what I want to do and get my head showered.

Tonight, I've got plans for heading out for a few pints with MfW. Tomorrow, I'll try and get M out for something quiet and hopefully something will get organised for New Year's Eve. If there's one night I really don't want to sit in the house, it's New Year's Eve.

Dear Landlord... (part 3)

Oh, a reply at last! Maybe things will look up and we'll get the heating sorted ASAP! I'm not holding my breath though.

Dear Landlord... (part 2)

Over 24 hours later and nothing back from the landlord. I've tried to leave a voicemail but can't get through, so it's yet another text, this time a simple reminder.

Dear Landlord...

OK, I've just sent a text to the landlord's wife to get our heating fixed. I'm not sure if it's the boiler or frozen pipes, but I certainly suspect the former. How long will it be until I hear back from her? I'll try and get in contact every 24 hours until I hear back.

Brrrr...

The winter freeze is royally fucking with my Xmas plans. Our house has been frozen solid since Wednesday - not hot water, no central heating and one by one, the various rooms in the house have stopped having running water. Only the kitchen remains, and that's cold water only. Even the washing machine is screwed because the hot water pipes are frozen and I'm hopping the boiler isn't broken.

Even with the thaw on, the pipes haven't let up and I'm forced to spend another night away from my own bed... the fourth on the trot. All I want right now is a good night's sleep and a couple of days on my own.

My only remaining house mate has been his usual clueless self, to be honest. He's disappeared off for Xmas on Wednesday without informing the landlord that we were having issues. Not that I'm expecting our useless fucking landlords to do anything.

Mild thing, you make... well, perhaps not.

Out last night with people from work including KfW and JB and I had a really, really good night. I was drunk and so did a lot of dancing and the funny thing is, I could have sworn that JB was letting her hair down more than usual - she's usually quite quiet and timid. We did a lot of dancing, some of it I'd classify as being quite close. I had my hands all over her, not in a rude way, and she was throwing herself at me (in dancing terms - she literally did jump on me at once point). For JB this is extremely rare behaviour, and it was good to see her let her hair down. At one stage she was dancing with her back to me and I had my hand on her tummy... I love a woman with a flat, toned tummy and JB has that in spades.

On a side note, MfW asked me if I was planning on making a move on JB because he fancied a shot himself. I told him that I had no interest... I don't. JB is a nice girl, a friend but in terms of something more than that, I can safely say that a) she's the most high maintenance girl I've ever met and b) she doesn't do one night stands (well, beyond a snog).

She's pretty and sexy, but as far as I'm concerned, she's a no-go area.

Xmas Party

It was our work's Xmas party a few nights ago and it turned out to be really, really good fun. By the end of the night I was completely drunk and I'd had a really good night. I was feeling extremely frisky and playful during the night and ended up dancing with quite a few female friends. The only downside was hanging around in  he snow for an hour and a half waiting for a taxi to show up.

For the past few months, I've been considering making a move on a girl from work. She's probably out of my league, but I think she's good company, I think she likes me and she's friends of M's girlfriend (blonde and stunning), so there's a potential to bump into her out of work, too. I've always had this rule about dating co-workers unless I thought there was something special there... well, I've no idea but I think she's worth a shot. Why mention her? Well, she was meant to turn up to the Xmas party, but was snowed in and couldn't make it. Given I was very drunk and very frisky the other evening, I dread to think what I might have done had she turned up.

In a rich man's world...

Thirteen days into December. That's less than halfway through the month and I am pretty skint. This is the fourth month in a row that this has happened. It seems that, all of a sudden, I've got loads of money just leaving my account. It's nothing sinister... I've gone through my statements and there are no mysterious payments or anything, it just seems that over the past few months, I've had more things to pay for - my credit card started taking "proper" payments due to my trip to the States earlier this year, my night class isn't cheap, I've started a savings scheme through work... all of these payments are around £100 per month, so it's unsurprising that money's tight. Running out of money before the month's half over is a bit shocking though.

Hopefully that'll change though. Both the payments for the credit card and the night class both should end this month, giving me a bit more money to play with, plus I've spent a little extra already this month on Xmas presents and a few bills too. In addition, I can see January being a quieter one, socially, giving me more breathing space.

Still, I've seen my savings get eaten into in order to be able to survive to the end of the month, and the rest of the month is going to be busy (i.e. expensive). My finances might be something else I'm going to have to re-evaluate in January.

Party season plans.

Something I once said to USHW and have recently said to DSC is that I hate being single at this time of year. It was true when I said it to USHW a few years ago and it's still true now. This year, though, the feeling is not as bad. I have quite a few things to look forward to. I recently set in motion a plan to have a night out with my friends from work - KfW, MF, MfW, JB etc.

I also have an official work night out and another with ex-collegaues from another company (including FBS and D amongst others). I've also suggested meeting up with DSC and possibly CF as well.

Also, before Xmas, I'm expecting to meet up with possibly BW and definitely M (possibly with M's girlfriend) and juggle FP too.

Between Xmas and New Year, I'm hoping to meet up with AM and QC1 and the rest of that group and hopefully, someone will have a party on NYE to end it all off. to be honest, that's the night I'm most concerned about. I really don't want to be sat in on NYE. I don't think it's likely, but the concern is there.

That should keep me busy outside of the usual family stuff that goes on and keep my mind off the other stuff.

I'm having concerns

Sometimes I don't know if DSC knows me. Obviously, it can be hard communicating over the internet, but I do wonder. Even during the online dating phase a few months back and approaching so many women, out of the blue, DSC accuses me of chasing women who are out of my league. I think I've covered this before.

We were chatting yesterday and I genuinely feel sad for her because of her boyfriend situation. He's just either useless or clueless or a combination of both and she's settling for this because she thinks she can't do any better because (her words) "of the baggage I carry around with me". She means her kids.

I believe in all of my friends. I really don't think anyone should settle and I don't believe that a relationship where all you ever do is cry or are critical of your boyfriend or are trying to get your boyfriend to meet you halfway is a good relationship. And because of that, I am really concerned.

PostSecret

On a Sunday, I usually find myself browsing PostSecret and this week, a posted secret was something that struck a chord with me:




I do miss E, sometimes quite a lot, but I know she's happy. She's coming home next year for a bit and I'm already looking forward to it. I'll take a few days off again, well meet up and have fun.

Knowing me, knowing you... AHA!

One of my new team mates is a stunningly attractive, slim, athletic brunette. Precisely my type. I've admired her from afar since I joined the company, but she's way out of my league. However, getting to know her has been fun and she is good fun. When out with work last night, I happened to mention that she and KfW do not get along, or rather, that I had noticed that they don't get along.

The new team-mate was quite shocked that I knew, suggesting that she'd been deliberately keeping things under wraps regarding her relationship with KfW, but my opinion is that it doesn't matter to me as long as it doesn't hugely influence my relationship with the new team-mate.

I predict that she'll have questions about it next week.

Party season begins.

Now we're into December, party season begins and I am starting to look forward to the holiday season. I'm not a huge Xmas fan and by the time the 25th rolls round, I will be utterly sick of it, but I am looking forward to meeting up with friends.

I'm out with work tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to it, with the possibility of more this weekend, should the snow stay away.

Party season is good... plenty of potential to meet new people etc.

Talk about leaving it to the last minute...

Untidy housemate has just now started packing his stuff... that gives him three hours to get out of the house for the December 1st deadline. The man is an awful procrastinator.

While I get along with him just fine, I will be really, really happy to get him out of the house. The only disappointment is that he'll not be replaced and the remaining house mates are forced to find somewhere new as a result of him leaving.

Just waffling.

Unsurprisingly, DSC didn't break it off with her boyfriend, but trying to be optimistic, she seems to have taken steps forward. I don't know why she doesn't just end it though... she appears to want to, but just chickens out when it comes to the crunch.

I went out for a walk earlier, mainly to get some fresh air as I've not left the house since arriving home on Friday evening. I love the snowy weather. I love the sound and feel of the crunch under foot as I walk along the street, the way that the whole place looks brand new with the smallest of snowfalls. It's also quieter... the snow muffles a lot of sound, but there are less people out and about and, go out after dark, and you might well be the only person on the planet. Even now, looking outside, and the snow reflects every piece of available light and it's not completely dark. In a few days, it will all thaw, turn to slush and the real world will return, but for now it's just magical.

Minor, unimportant new updates.

Two things to report: DSC is apparently, right now, at her boyfriends house, breaking up with him. He's harmless, but useless and I'm surprised it's taken this long for her to get to this stage. Fair play to her though. I hope, come tea-time, that she is actually single and didn't bottle it at the last moment. She's done this at least three times already with this fucktard.

Also, messy house mate was due to move out this weekend, but so far I've seen no evidence that he's done any packing, never mind moved any stuff out of the house. I know he's here... I've heard him skulking around, but I don't hear enough movement to suggest he's actually packing. I bet he went to the toilet then went back to bed. He's a man who can easily stay in bed until tea time.

Work totty.

I have a rule about not dating someone from work. It's not just dating either... it's the odd snog or a one night stand too that I've also ruled out. It's probably a silly rule, but I value my privacy and it was people poking into me and FBS that caused me to put the "rule" in place. I'm not going to say that it's a deal-breaker. I would guess that, were I to meet someone special, that rule would mean little, but the last person who ticked those boxes was QC3.

Over the years, there have been plenty of people that I've been attracted to at work but never pursued because of my rule. You just have to look at the girls I talk about and see how many of them are ex-work colleagues: QC2, QC3, E, FBS, Pretty Blonde and Lickable Girl. Some of them I know well and some are just girls I'd bump into in the corridor.  

This was a conversation I had with a few mates when out in the pub last night. We were talking about work totty. I've been "lucky" enough to have worked alongside some really attractive and sexy girls. I've had about five different teams with my current employer and each of them has had at least one very attractive girl. 

Obviously my friends wanted to know why, if I work with attractive women, do I not date any of them. The only one I've mentioned on here so far is SSCW, but I'm not attracted to any of them enough I would break my rule for. There is a girl in work that I am interested in, a friend of M's girlfriend, and she's separated from her husband. I'd have to get more information though before doing anything.

Monsters

I've just seen Monsters and it's a fabulous film. Very entertaining, atmospheric, two great leads and Whitney Able is simply gorgeous with a fantastic smile.

More landlord fun.

Another text from one of my house mates. Apparently, our landlord has managed to arrange, on a Sunday, a viewing for 9AM tomorrow morning and then doesn't even have the fucking decency to contact me directly. Fucking appalling whore.

Facebook recommends...

Interestingly, CAB appeared in my Facebook recommended friends list today, despite the fact we don't appear to share any friends in common. I haven't even seen the girl in well over a dozen years. She looks well, though, from her one and only profile picture available to me.

Friends recommend...

I was out last night with M. As per usual, it was a good night. Visited a few pubs and had many drinks. I mentioned to M that I'd seen Date No. 1 a few times recently and the talk turned to dating - my own dating life and how he'd met his current girlfriend. He then suggested that his girlfriend had her own ideas about introducing me to her friends... possibly as a match-making exercise. I'm up for that, I think. I think M's girlfriend would give me a good recommendation too.

Meh. Again.

I’ve been very “meh” this month... while things were trundling along nicely, there’s been the odd (some might even say inevitable) hiccup. That seems to have been the way it’s gone over the past few years – things go well, then there’s a setback. This time, it’s nothing serious. To be honest, they rarely are, but that doesn’t stop it from knocking me for six. The housing thing, the dating thing, the MfW thing has all cropped up in the past three to four weeks just to knock me out of my stride. This, I think, has been reflected in my blogging over the past two months where I simply don’t have the energy or enthusiasm to blog as much as I had in the early part of the year.

In addition, the fitness thing has tailed off again due to injury. I keep meaning to see my GP about perhaps getting some physio, but I keep getting side-tracked by work.

I'll have to sort this out this week.

Re-evaluation.

Over the past few months, MfW has been my pub partner, often just the two of us heading out. MfW split up with his last girlfriend in July and since then I think it’s pretty safe to say that he’s had the horn something shocking. Nearly every weekend has seen him get in contact to go to the pub primarily to go on the pull and primarily looking for a shag, not specifically looking to meet someone new.

Ordinarily, things can go smoothly, but MfW has an Achilles heel – whiskey. When he drinks whiskey, he gets stupid. Whiskey seems to be a weakness for a lot of people. A friend’s friend got very violent on whiskey and stopped drinking it. MfW doesn’t get violent, but he can get selfish and he can be a liability in terms of trying to stay in the pub. MfW's problem is bad/stupid behaviour, not violence. Let’s not forget, it was MfW that ruined the night with NM by scaring her and her friend away

A group of us were out on recently for an occasion and MfW started on the whiskey early. Within 90 minutes of us arriving in the pub, he had deliberately nudged a friend into a group of strangers, made one of our female friends cry because of some kind of paranoia, threw his drink over a chair for no reason and ten minutes later, the straw that broke the camel’s back, tried to mop up the spilled drink with my brand new winter coat. Only my return from the toilets, catching him on, stopped him from doing it.

Suffice to say, I finished my drink and left. He sent a few text messages apologising and stuff and tried to call, but I didn’t pick up. I sent a message telling him I’d speak to him later, but there was no point in talking to him at that time. I tried calling yesterday, but he didn’t pick up and hasn’t tried to call back. We’ll have to see what this week brings.

MfW needs to be told that his behaviour was beyond unacceptable and that he needs to stop drinking whiskey. It'll be interesting to see if he pays attention to me and the rest of his friends.

The weekend just past.

The weekend with MfW went pretty much as expected. Overall, I had a good time, but MfW and his mate got some attitude on Saturday night when I wouldn’t go out a mad bender with them both, despite agreements that we would keep it civilised on the Saturday night. Both of them have a tendency to get like this, but a hard line usually works. In the end, me and the fourth person went back to the hotel for a few drinks where we exchanged banter with the cute barmaid (think a less pretty Isla Fisher and you’re about there) before calling it a night around 2AM.

The next morning, MfW and the other bloke were telling us stories of “the greatest night out, ever” but I wasn’t buying it. It really sounded like they were trying to talk themselves into it rather than make us jealous. Still, the last laugh was on us as MfW and the other one suffered greatly all day Sunday, including our flight home.

Weekend plans.

I’m going away this weekend with MfW and a few of his mates. I’m looking forward to it for the most part, but I have to be upfront and say that one specific friend of MfW’s is a complete tosser. Let’s see what happens.

Useless people. FFS.

On the back of house mate Stig announcing that he was moving out, our landlady announced that there would be a viewing a few nights ago. I was excited… getting rid of Stig plus getting in a new housemate could revitalise the house in general, not that the remaining house mate is hard to live with… far from it, in fact.

However, arriving home later that evening, the entire house was spotless. Every room had been entered, even my room which had its doors closed and is off limits to everyone. Why would a potential new housemate want to see our bedrooms?

The answer arrived the next morning as I scoured sites like Gumtree looking for the landlady’s advert for our new flatmate… the viewing wasn’t for a new flatmate, but the house had been put up for sale again.

I fucking want to kill this woman. She has been the wrong side of absolutely useless ever since I moved into the house. It has taken over 9 months for her to get us a key for the back door (meaning our only access into and out of the house was the front door). Even then, all she did was replace the lock, meaning we could get out the back door, but have no access in through it. It has taken her over a year to fix a leak in the shower and a lack of main lighting in the communal areas of the house, and when the work was carried out earlier this year, it was only done so the landlords could put the house up for sale.

We always knew that the house would be put up for sale again, so it’s not really that which is annoying me. It’s the lack of contact and that we had to find out for ourselves that’s really annoying me on top of the fact she wouldn’t fix reasonably serious issues in the house for us, but did it quickly when she wanted to sell the house.

I was absolutely livid yesterday, something I mentioned to the remaining flat mate, and he was surprised. He says that he’s used to it, but really, the entire situation is just a lack of manners. We’re going to have to find somewhere new and this time it should be easier to find somewhere as it’s now only two of us looking for a place with two double rooms, rather then looking for three double rooms as it was earlier in the year (with little success).

I’m still waiting to hear from the landlord regarding the house being up for sale. I’m not holding my breath though.

Boo! (or boooooooooo).

This weekend promised a lot. Friends were home from all over the U.K., it was Hallowe'en and there was going to be a lot of time spent in the pub, having a laugh and catch up with old friends, rounding off the weekend with a gig.

And, well, that's exactly what happened. The only downside, as I saw it, was that 95% of the pub time was spent in student or "old men's" boozers, so the potential for meeting people was pretty much zero.

It's kind of annoying because Hallowe'en is one of those times it's easy to meet people, so I view this as a missed opportunity. The gig was good though.

Questions, questions.

I had an interesting conversation with DSC tonight about my online dating experience. She made an observation that, in her opinion, I was targeting women that she thought were all stunning and out of my league. I disagreed. There were some stunningly attractive women in my list, but I also sent messages to "less attractive" women who had more interesting profiles too. All the women messaged had a combination of interesting profile and a good picture. Some profiles were poor, but the pictures were great and vice versa. Very few, in my own opinion, were out of my league.

I pointed out Date No. 1 to DSC a few nights ago, as an example, and DSC thought she was out of my league, but Date No. 1 made the contact there. At the same time, DSC pointed out a woman she thought looked perfect for me. A woman that I thought was very reminiscent of NM from a month or so ago. My argument was that I considered Date No. 1 and NM to be of comparable prettiness on my own personal scale, so how one was out of my league and the other was "perfect" was a mystery to me.

DSC then switched tack and said that Date No. 1 was too young for me while the NM-like person was around my own age. Date No. 1 was/is five years my junior, but that put her at the lower end of the age range that I would find acceptable in dating. I had messaged younger while on PoF, but really I was just expanding my target group to maximise potential replies. The amount of women in my target age group that matched my criteria was very few.

While I like DSC to be forthright, I don't think her criticism in this case is valid. I don't know if she will have changed her mind with the extra information I gave her, but it has caused me to think about who I might have missed with my targeting of women that I though were attractive. It's important to me to have that spark of attraction, so why would I message women that weren't giving me that vibe? Was I sabotaging myself by picking women that are construed to be out of my league? Admittedly, I wouldn't have chatted up some of the PoF girls in the bar if I were out, but there have been a few that I consider to be as pretty as Date No. 1/NM with decent results.

I don't know. I'll have to give this a ponder.

Another sighting.

A few nights ago, along with DSC and MfW, I went to a local comedy night. It was good craic and no doubt my (platonic) chemistry with DSC will cause MfW to ask questions, but the talking point is another potential sighting of Date No. 1. The thing is, I’m not 100% sure that it was her. Physically, it looked like her – roughly the same height, build/figure, facially similar etc. However, when she looked at me, there was no recognition and I know she sometimes goes to these things with people from her work, but I still wasn’t 100% sure. If it wasn’t her, then she has a double that I find really cute!

Online dating... WTF?

In terms of the online thing, I’ve officially given up. Well over thirty women messaged this time around and not one single reply. What’s that all about? DSC had been encouraging me all along to do it, but she’s baffled by my lack of success. One girl did contact me who wasn’t on my radar and we have been IM-ing each other. She seems fun, but after the initial contact, it appeared that I was doing all the running. I left my MSN details with her before I deleted my account, but she hasn’t added me to MSN or sent an email as yet. I’m glad it’s over though. Towards the end it was really getting me down. Officially, I’ve had more luck chatting to random women in bars than in three months of serious internet dating site membership. Go figure.

Another blast, from a recent past.

Out with MfW again last night. He’s desperate to pull, so that’s why we went out. Nothing doing, though… a few nice looking women in the bar, but none that were approachable.

One point of interest is that I saw Date No. 1 while we were hunting for a taxi home. I haven’t seen her since our date, and she was looking quite cute. I didn’t stop to talk to her though – just a nod and a smile of recognition from the both of us and we were on our way.

Another change is imminent.

Last week, the untidy housemate announced that he was definitely going to leave the house, but hasn’t yet given us a date. That means we’re probably going to have to get a new one in, but not before the landlords complete the work to the house. Interesting times ahead in the house!

A blast from the past... Part 2

Years ago, in our first family home, a girl lived next door to us. It's safe to say that she was easily my frist crush and by god it was a huge one. It lasted years. I never did anything about it though. Why would I? She was slightly older than I was, a completely different set of friends and I was a fourteen year old pubescent oik with runaway hormones.

Only a few years ago my mum told me that I had actually asked her out, but that's just pure balls. I never did, but I can imagine that my crush was nowhere near the secret I thought it was.

Well, out of absolutely nowhere, a friends request has come in from her. I haven't seen her in easily twenty years, possibly more. No comments or messages... just a friend request.

A few interesting coincidences.

I learned a few things on Friday night. The first is that a girl I had my eye on (ish) in work is no longer married - possibly divorced and definitely separated. She's also disappearing off for a bit on a career break. My window of opportunity is almost non-existent, though I do think that she is at least a little interested in me.

The second is that I think KFW is interested in me. Her friend spent a lot of Friday night asking me if I'd date KFW, then when she was leaving, KFW's hug lingered a little more than those she gave to the others. Interesting times.

Frustration.

The house is in disarray. The work, which started almost seven weeks ago, is still in progress because my landlords are, quite frankly, fucking clueless. House morale is low. House anger towards the landlords is high.

As a result, the smelly, untidy housemate has hinted that he's going to move out, possibly to his girlfriend's, possibly to his parents'. That might put us in a quandary as our landlords are (eventually) looking to sell the house. If we lose a house mate, they might take this opportunity to put the house back on the market, then we're left looking for a place. I have seen a fair few places at a price I am willing to pay, but my flatmate probably won't go the extra few quid required to get a really nice, modern place.

Could be another frustrating few months ahead.

More online frustrations.

I'm two weeks into the four week stint I told DSC I would give Plenty of Fish a go again. She was very insistent I give it another go and to be honest, I think she has assumed that I never really tried before. I didn't have that much against it as she was being very positive. Getting back into it though is another matter. All the same frustrations from my time on PoF and Match before have all come back - lots of work on my part and none in return. The next two weeks can't come quickly enough.

A blast from the past!

Well, it’s been an interesting day so far. Just before lunch, DSC sent me a text saying she knew of an attractive, professional single woman around my age who was looking to date and that she was going to send me a photo. Then photo never arrived, but after a brief text conversation, everything ground to a halt as DSC discovered that this girl was very religious and teetotal – completely not my type. It was interesting while it lasted… all twenty minutes of it!

In addition, I also saw Pretty Blonde at lunchtime. It’s been a while (almost three years if I recall correctly), but a quick refresher is that she was someone I was mildly interested in while she worked at the same company as me a few years ago. I haven’t seen her since she left, though. PB was looking very well today.

Finally, another girl that works in our company is taking a career break. If she didn’t work for our company, I’d definitely be interested in her – intelligent, tall, sexy, good figure, pretty and a lovely smile. We’ve had some decent banter on odd occasions, but nothing to suggest that anything might go anywhere beyond that. There’s an outside chance I can see her out of work though as she’s friends with M’s girlfriend.

Meh.

I'm still feeling restless, leading on from this post. The dating thing is an issue as is the travelling thing and they're kind of intertwined. I really want to go somewhere warm, sunny and interesting, but I don't want to do it alone. I saw a few pictures of RB on Facebook earlier, when she was travelling the world, and I think it accurately summed up the mood I've been in - not wanting to be single, with itchy feet. Meh.

DSC says it's a winter thing... she doesn't like being single during the winter. I can't say I've ever noticed something like that - the single thing - but it's something that's definitely annoying me at the moment.

Finally!

QC2 finally got back to me, after a few months of being an email black hole. She's away on holiday for a few weeks, but will look me up when she comes back. I don't doubt this, as she does keep her promises. I look forward to it and it'll be good to catch up.

No contact from QC3, though if I recall correctly, it's her birthday today. I expect her to be in contact very shortly though.

Hmmm...

In order to satisfy my own curiosity, I asked MF if RB was home at the weekend and explained that I thought I had spotted her while I was out. Surprisingly, MF says she wasn’t aware that she was home. I always thought MF and RB were close friends. I know when friends like G come home, I’m always aware of it through other family and friends, assuming G himself doesn’t give me advance warning.

In other news, it looks like the work being carried out on the house is going to continue for at least another two weeks. Personally, I thought the jobs were two weeks of work, full stop. I’ll be having words with the landlord about this as four weeks for the work they’re doing is unacceptable.

Stig of the House

The annoying housemate last night let slip that he doesn’t think he’ll be in a job come Xmas. With the current recession and his work, which is related to the construction industry, still at an almost standstill, he’s predicting that his department will be cut from the company by then. It’s sad, but I’m quite buoyed by that statement as he’ll almost definitely move in with his fiancé (and sooner rather than later), leaving us two remaining housemates to get in someone else… preferably someone who will lend a hand around the house, not treat it like a pig sty and stick his hand in his pocket for household goods when required.

The QCs

I met up with QC1 for lunch yesterday. I always enjoy meeting up with QC1, but I really don’t see her enough. She was asking after NM, if I’d seen her again, and gave me an update on the blind date thing she’s trying to arrange (it’s still happening, but things have been made more complicated by the blind date’s sister, so the arrangements are taking more time than anticipated).

Semi-related to QC1, following on from this post, I’ve yet to hear back from QC2 or QC3. The QC2 thing is starting to get slightly annoying as emails are disappearing into the ether. I want to meet up with her, but the thing that’s annoying me is the lack of replies, not the lack of going out for a drink with her.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to get into the online dating thing again. DSC has been trying to talk me into it for the past month or so and I’ve resisted, but the being single thing is slowly creeping up to annoying levels again. I’ve said it before that most of the time, it’s not an issue, but it does pop up every now and again. The recent Near Miss thing has kicked it all off again, I think. DSC has offered to come and help me build a profile for a site… probably PoF or Match as she seems to have had lots of joy in getting messages if not dates. That was my issue last time… the lack of contact either by way of replies to my own initial contact or people getting in contact with me.

Roundup.

I've been restless all day. I don't really know why, nor what I can do to shake this feeling. Maybe it'll just pass, but I think I just need to do something out of the ordinary, just for a change of pace/scenery. I'd love to do some travelling, but the usual problem is there in that I don't have anyone to go travelling with. I did have the option of going to a relative's wedding, but ultimately the trip would have been too expensive. It's a shame though as I could have used the time to meet up with E and a few other friends again, and it's been a while since I've seen E. I do still miss her a lot.

Once the work on our house has been complete, I'm going to seriously look at my diet. I would like to lose some weight over the next few months, and I'm doing the exercise, but I think my eating habits are all wrong. There's no point in doing anything now seeing as our house is like a building site right now and the cooker doesn't even work properly. Once those are sorted, then I'll look into it. I've already done some reading, so I have a rough idea of what's required.

A thought popped into my head...

Just a quick thought about something KFW said earlier about RB dating a married man. On the night of our one and only date, while lying in bed after RB had pretty much ended any idea of dating with her baggage, RB mentioned something about Facebook stalking "a friend"... a married man and wanted to know if this would be out of order. My reply at the time, if I recall correctly, was something along the lines of "if he's a friend, then there's no harm really", but thinking about it now, it appears that she was referring to the bloke she had been dating and was the source of the baggage she was referring to.

Now I'm off out to the pub!

A coincidence?

While out grabbing a coffee and bacon roll (my usual Friday morning treat) at our local market, when I noticed RB walk in. She would be one of the last people I expected to see on a Friday morning given that she moved to London about six months ago and it's been just over two years since I last saw her, never mind speaking to her. I don't think she saw me, and I did contemplate going over to speak to her, but I bottled it.

There was an emotional response, but I can't honestly tell you what it is. Unlike DSC telling me about bumping into a recent ex of hers, this wasn't dislike or anxiety though, but I can't put my finger on it.

In two separate conversations later on with DSC and KFW, I tried explaining that I was angry with myself for feeling anything when seeing RB... after all, it was only a couple of dates, tops, and some semi-naked fumbling.

KFW talked more about RB as she's met her a few times, as seen in this recent post. Some of the stories were unsettling. KFW was trying to surmise if RB was back in the city for a holiday or more permanently. RB appears to have more than a few issues, though some of RB's so-called issues are not really issues. Dating a married man in my opinion is not a sign of "issues", but something else - a different moral code, perhaps? Not according to KFC though. It was interesting hearing a different point of view about RB, even if it was concerning. KFW did suggest that she didn't think RB was a good match for me, personality-wise. That's hard for me to say because KFW probably knows her better than I do, but apart from showing the odd bit of "interesting" behaviour, she seemed like a perfectly likeable young lady. KFW described her as being moody, bitchy and immature amongst other things.

The DSC conversation was slightly different. I was speaking to DSC more because I was annoyed at myself for having an emotional response rather than anything else. I thought DSC would be more critical, but she was actually supportive and suggested that having an emotional response isn't a bad thing. Acting upon it is completely different though. Acting upon it is going to be difficult if she's still living in London though, and I'd be very surprised if she had moved back home permanently, so soon after moving away.

I did mean to ask MF if she knew if RB was home this weekend, but I never got the chance to speak to her, sadly. I think RB might be home for a local sporting event, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll maybe ask MF next week if she was home, though for what purpose, I've no idea. Satisfying my own curiosity, really.

All the Qs

This is a QC-centric post, so I might as well cover them in order.

I've made tentative arrangements to see QC1 next week for lunch. She's always good company and reasonably reliable and I'm still kinda intrigued by the blind date she wants to set me up on. I think I already know who it is, so I really want to avoid a blind date scenario, but let's see what happens... if it happens.

I haven't heard from QC2 in ages... months, in fact. I sent her an email today to see if she fancies meeting up for a chat and a drink. I know she's going to be busy... she hits a milestone birthday before the end of the month, so she might not be able to come out, but the offer's out there.

QC3 is a weird one. Until recently, I hadn't heard from QC3 in years. The last time I remember speaking to her probably would have been 2003. Bloody hell... seven years and then all of a sudden it's suggestions for meeting up for drinks or lunch etc. Part of me is confused because this is all a bit sudden, but at the same time, she used to be a good friend and someone I was interested in, so why not just meet her?

Random girls.

I spoke with M earlier today about the two (single) girls that were out in his company last night as I remember one being quite cute. Sadly, it turns out that they were just two random girls that they'd got talking to in another pub and had tagged along.

Weird vibes

I was out last night wih CF, DSC and her boyfriend for CF's birthday. It was a weird night. There was only the four of us. There were some issues with CF and her friends, but I've no idea what they were... maybe DSC will provide some further information later today. In the end, rather than being a rowdy, fun evening, it was more restrained with CF being in a weird mood all evening.

The only other point worth mentioning is that M was in the same bar with his girlfriend and a few other people. I seem to remember a couple of cute ladies, too, but as I was out with CF and DSC, I really couldn't give them the time to get to know them better, even though one of them was really quite cute. I popped across for a brief chat, but nothing more than five minutes, sadly.

I had promised DSC, after a bit of lecturing, that I would try and at least go looking for potential dates this weekend, but Friday was a washout (and a work night out, so looking wasn't really an option) and CF's own less-than-happy mood meant that I didn't get to go looking.

An interesting conversation.

Sitting in the pub with a group of work colleagues a few nights ago led to a conversation about age. We were "age spotting" various people around the bar and that prompted me to remember my first encounter with RB where she claimed to be a certain age. Out of interest, I asked a friend what age RB was, to confirm my own theory. My friend confirmed that she was the same age as I'd guessed, but this then prompted a whole discussion on RB for some reason. I knew she was a bit eccentric, but from the stories I heard, the fact she went AWOL probably worked in my favour. Some of the stories were a little concerning as they painted RB not as an eccentric, but as somewhat of a self-destructive personality and she was very difficult when drunk (though I saw glimpses of this myself). She was still very cute and I'd loved to have seen where things went.

Housing progress.

Finally, after a year of ‘complaining’, our landlord has finally decided to do some work on the house. Typically, though, rather than come in, fix the things that need fixed with minimum fuss (two days work, tops), the house looks like a building site and will be this way for at least another week as they completely over-react, FFS! I think they think that by doing £1000 of work to the house, they can add £20,000 of value to it. Despite the fact that they’re architects by trade, I feel they are really wide of the mark here.

On a similar subject, one of my housemates has recently gotten engaged, so I reckon he could be out of the house by Christmas. Seeing as it’s the messy one, I’ll not be sad to see him go and getting in a new housemate should be interested, if nothing else.

Another wedding.

A few days ago, I was at another wedding. This time, rather than a friend, this was a relative’s. Once again, though, there was a distinct lack of available, interesting women there. I had a good time, but a part of me was disappointed by the lack of opportunity that weddings usually afford.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

After last week's incident with DSC and her unwarranted inclusion of her boyfriend out on a night out, she let slip tonight that his opinion of me might be as low as mine is of him - at least in terms of respect. I did try and get DSC to tell me why, but she refused to elaborate. That's going to make CF's birthday next week a bit interesting, though I'm not the sort to pick fights and as long as CF's fuck buddy isn't about, I'll no doubt make some effort in seeing if she's interested in, well, something.

I'm still a little confused as to why I'm invited out. CF and I have hit it off (platonically at least), but we've only met a few times. I barely invited DSC out to my birthday and we've become quite close in the ten months or so that we've known each other.

A long, but enjoyable weekend, finishes.

A few days ago, I went to FBS's unofficial wedding reception along with a few other friends, such as D and D's wife. It was good fun even though I still feel somewhat self-conscious around FBS, given our past. One thing I did notice, especially given my recent thoughts about meeting people is that there were no single women there. I did see a few that were interesting. I can remember one girl who was wearing this slinky blue dress who was cute and reminded me of a cross between Date No. 1 and Vicki Butler Henderson (and the two of them are similar looking too). Sadly, she's married with kids as were the other interesting women. It was just a reminder about how old I'm getting when a wedding reception has no available women.

MfW turned up later and we eventually crashed back at mine for a few beers and some late night chat. I found out some interesting things about co-workers which was entertaining, but nothing that will ever be made public. It was interesting having a chat with MfW though. He's recently broken up with his girlfriend of about two years, but is looking for someone already rather than something physical. I did joke with him about him spoiling my chances a few weeks ago with NM, but that wouldn't stop me from heading out with him again.

Moving on.

I'm in the middle of a busy weekend. I was out at a gig on Thursday, a few quiet drinks on Friday, a stag night last night and a pseudo-wedding reception tonight with FBS and D amongst othes. Mostly, these have all been fun.

The gig was amazing. I'd spent all day not really feeling the excitement, but once there, it all kicked in. A few quiet drinks with a couple of mates was food fun, but low key. The supposed big night of the weekend turned out to be the most disappointing. It was disorganised and the people involved were, well dicks. The stag suggested a pub (the one where I met NM), there were a few dissenting voices, but no real reason why we shouldn't go. Fourteen of us managed to get in, except for the best man who wasn't allowed in as he'd worked there before... a fact he'd neglected to tell us. The party went across to that trendy bar I was in last week while me and a mate stayed behind "accidentally".

I did keep an eye out for NM or her friend, but I saw neither. I had hoped, a little, that she would be there last night. After all her friend has been there a few weeks running, so I'd hoped she would pass on the message that she'd seen me and NM would turn up herself. That was clutching at straws a little, I think, and as she wasn't there last night, I'm going to have to give up on NM and look elsewhere. Time to have another conversation with DSC, I think.

What do you want?

After more text-teasing DSC about CF or specifically, hooking up with CF, I got a text message through yesterday:

"I sense a bit of frustration... LOL"

Which is true. I am incredibly frustrated and the incident with NM recently has really not helped matters... so close, but so far. I replied:

"Yes, that's fair to say. NM hasn't helped."

"I can imagine. So are you looking for a shag, fun dating or to meet someone?"

Interesting question from DSC.

"All of the above? I like dating. It's fun. If I can get a few dates and the odd shag along the way of meeting someone, I'll be happy"

"LOL. You'll be lucky"

Hmmm... not exactly what I wanted to hear, but is it really so unlikely or unrealistic?

I fucking hate when this happens - UPDATE

Well, tonight's no longer happening. The cute friend has (unsurprisingly) cried off, giving me a Get Out of Jail Free card to play, which I did. If DSC comes online, then I'll happily explain why I've done this. I've just given the cute friend all the details. I think she disagrees with me, at least with my point of view that DSC's boyfriend is a cock. I stand by it though.

I am annoyed, but less so given that the cute friend wasn't going to be there. And it's about time the cute friend got her own tag, so it's CF from now on.

I fucking hate when this happens.

With four hours to go until I’m meant to meet DSC and her friend in the pub, I get a text message to tell me that she’s also bringing along her boyfriend. A man who, I’ve made pretty clear to her, I think is a complete cock.

There are two things wrong with this picture. The first is that I have no say in the matter. Heading out tonight for a drink and a chat was my idea, and it was my idea to being along her cute friend, to try and get her to break her routine of always staying in during the week. DSC suggested that I might bring out a few mates, to expand her own social circle and generally make the night more fun. The second is the person that’s she’s invited.

Where I do have issues is that DSC’s arbitrarily inviting along people without really asking if it’s OK. She did this before, when I had suggested we (me, DSC and the cute friend) go out at the end of June. She invited other friends, changed the venue and when I did show up, there were another four people there that I had no knowledge of. The fact that she’s done it again with someone I don’t particularly like, is a double whammy.

I’m considering not going out tonight now.

The weekend, rescued!

My weekend was rescued by two things, namely an afternoon in the company of DSC and a couple of drinks later with G and M.

The conversation with DSC was good, it was a nice day outside and things were just nicely chilled. Over luncha dna few drinks, we touched briefly on my own lethargy, but I still don’t really understand it myself, so couldn’t explain why I was in that mood to DSC. She also suggested that I try online dating again, and I really am not in the mood right now, but I suggested we leave it a few weeks and have another go. DSC got plenty of action on Plenty of Fish, so if I get her involved in my profile, who knows what might happen?

By coincidence, G was also asking about my dating status. I explained to him that it was all a matter of minor dalliances at the moment, but that I was looking a little more seriously than I had in the past. He wanted to know why and I explained that I was simply fed up of being single.

I’m meant to be meeting up with DSC and her cute friend on Wednesday, so I expect this topic to be raised again, not only with myself in mind, but DSC’s cute friend too as she’s currently single and looking (albeit in a weird and twisted way).

Meh. And lots of it.

Last night, I kinda got my plans all mis-timed, so ended up spending the majority of the evening at M's girlfriend's gathering. I didn't get to see my mate's band and the thing with NM nearly went un-tested. As it happened, we went to a really new place in town. It's where all the local celebrities hang out, and by Christ, it was horrible. The music was crap, the ambience was zero, the people were idiots. There really were very few positives. I just felt the life getting sucked out of me.

DSC had demanded that I go on the pull last night and after last week, I was really up for it all this week, but after being in that place for an hour and trying to scope out interesting looking women, I really couldn't be arsed. Plus, with no wingman to help me along, I was never going to go out there on my own. Both M and myself contacted G to see if he was going to come join us (and he makes an excellent wingman), but he never returned our texts and calls.

I quit early and, on the way to get a taxi, stopped into the bar where I met NM last week. I bumped into her friend (as she was leaving), but NM was nowhere to be seen. I had a quick drink then went home. DSC was texting me and we had a text chat for about an hour about my general feeling of lethargy.

I woke this morning with that feeling still present, along with something else. I don't know what. Disappointment, perhaps, as this weekend had promised so much but has spectacularly failed to deliver.

Fun times ahead.

Lots of things on this weekend. Was already out last night with my brother-in-law for a few pints with his brother. It was a quiet-ish night with me being in work today, but the unexpected nature of it meant that it was good fun.

Tonight, I've got a gig to go to - Stereophonics - which I'm looking forward to. I'm going with a few old work colleagues from the past, including GfW.

Tomorrow is M's girlfriend's birthday, where DSC has demanded I go on the pull, along with the very long shot of NM being in the pub we met in last week, plus a mate's band is playing too. Saturday should be a really good night and I'm looking forward to it already.

A last minute addition to the weekend is meeting G on Sunday night. M will be out as will FP (shifts permitting, of course) plus various wives/girlfriends.

All in all, it's a packed weekend... the first of about three or four on the trot. It's going to cost a small fortune, but I'm hoping it will be great fun.

Further options now appearing.

My plans for Saturday night have been compromised somewhat by an invitation to see a friend's band and an invitation to M's girlfriend's birthday. Also G's home this weekend and there's a possibility of meeting up with him. He knows M though, so if we're out on Saturday night, it's won't be an option of M or G...

The only issue is how I'm going to fit in my quick journey to the pub to see if NM is about. DSC still thinks it's a good idea, but I'm not entirely convinced she'll be there. The upside of all this social action is that the thing with M's girlfriend and my mate's band are all in the same area of town as the pub where I met NM, so I could possibly do it all. I still have to figure out the logistics though.

Decisions, decisions.

I think I've decided to see if the girl from last week will be at the same pub this Saturday night because of encouragement from DSC and QC1. She has promise, though I have this sneaking suspicion she's not going to tick a lot of my boxes.

Physically, I don't really have a type. I've dated all sorts in equal measure over the years - tall, short, blonde, brunette etc. NM was medium height, thin and blonde and very pretty. I do have a preference - tall, athletic brunettes, but I've not dated the same type of woman often enough to say I have a type.

It's the non-physical stuff that I'm not sure about and would like to know more... assuming she shows up on Saturday night. QC1 and DSC are pretty convinced she will. I, on the other hand, am not.

A girly suggestion.

Today, both QC1 and DSC came to me, separately, with the same suggestion. The big idea is that I return to the same bar as last Saturday night and see if Near Miss (NM) is there. I've wondered why they've both made this suggestion. I made it quite plain to both of them that she was fun, good-looking and sexy, and I was very keen to sleep with her last week, but I'm not convinced that she's dating material.

NM lives too far away for starters - at least twenty miles and I don't own a car - and I think she has kids. I've never been too keen on dating someone with kids. I've yet to make my mind up about whether I want kids of my own, so dating someone with kids of their own strikes me as being, I dunno, weird? Hypocritical? Plus, there was a lot of small talk rather than anything deep and meaningful, so I don't actually know her that well.

Anyway, their theory is that if NM is keen, there's a very good chance that she'd return to the same bar to see if I was about. She did seem keen, I will admit. There were hints from her about coming back to mine, and I am interested in her physically. But my own thinking is that if she really is interested enough to go back to the bar to find me, then a simple, no-strings shag or two is not what she's after. This is where my concerns are.

Maybe it's worth showing up to get to know her a bit better anyway, clarify the kids thing? Who knows how things might turn out?

Cock blocked by a mate?

Last night, me and a friend, MfW, hit the town, primarily to go on the pull. I don't do it often, much to DSC's chagrin (and AM and QC1 and QC2 and... well, you get the picture), but when I do, I'm usually pretty successful. 

Last night was no exception. We tried to get into the newest bar in town, a pretty trendy place, but as we didn't leave the house until after ten, it was packed and the queue was far too long. 

We nipped into a place across the street that had a good crowd in it. I bumped into an old school friend of mine, E3. I'd always had a thing about her when we were at school but never did anything about it.

Chatting with her, E3 was very tactile. I don't remember ever being like that before, so it was a bit weird. I was looking for other signs that might indicate she's interested, but there were none. The reason that I say this is because it was suggested at M's party a few weeks ago that we were both single and should hook up. 

Anyway, E3 left shortly after chatting. After admiring a girl that used to work for the same company as me, we eventually got chatting to two girls - a blonde and a brunette. It became apparent quite early on the me and the blonde had some chemistry (for reasons you'll discover later, I'll call her Near Miss), so at the end of the night, we went back to MfW's place.

Near Miss was very cute, wearing a thigh high flowery dress and strappy shoes and kinda, vaguely looked like actress Elizabeth Mitchell or maybe a bit of Elizabeth Banks, both of whom I find attractive.

Despite lots of (accidental) cock blocking from the brunette and MfW, Near Miss and I did manage to at least kiss. 

Anything more than that was a possibility, except that MfW pretty much managed to scare the two girls off before I could get Near Miss on her own to take things further. Near Miss was definitely up for it too, as she kept asking where I lived. "Only five minutes walk or so from MfW's house," I admitted, and SHE was very tactile before and after kissing. 

However, a few misplaced, blunt comments by MfW (not out of character, sadly) while I was out of the room, a quick girly trip to the toilet and the two girls abruptly left without returning to the living room. No phone numbers were exchanged so further contact is unlikely unless they do a bit of Facebook stalking - they know my full name and Near Miss definitely was rather keen. She's fun, sexy and good-looking, but I don't think she's dating material, though I'd like to see her again.

Being stubborn.

In having a conversation on MSN with DSC, she mistakenly thought I was talking about her little brunette friend that I've sorta had my eye on recently instead of someone else. Once again, she stubbornly repeated the mantra that I am not her friend's type.

I'm still confused as to why DSC doesn't suggest we at least have a date. I don't know if she thinks I'm actually interested, but we're both single and DSC wants us both to meet someone. If it were me, I'd suggest it to both of us. We both get on well, there's some banter whoch can mean some sparks and certainly a few people have commented on Facebook that we do spark off each other. So what if we have a date and there's no spark? At least we can say we tried.

Maybe I should forget DSC and see if I can get her friend out and see what happens?

Busy times ahead.

It's a busy few days coming up. I've got an interview about a college course early next week, followed by an outdoor gig the following weekend, with GfW. DSC and her friend are also attending, albeit separately. The week after that, I have another outdoor gig with a few people from work. The same weekend there's a kind of wedding reception for FBS where I'll be meeting up with D again. The weekend after that is my cousin's wedding and again the weekend after that is DSC's friend's birthday.

Those are all plenty of good opportunities to meet new people, but I still quite fancy a crack at DSC's friend.

DSC also mentioned in a recent conversation that she thinks I need to meet someone...

"I think you need someone... even if it's just for the company"

Maybe she's right? There's only so far that friends can take you, after all.

An eventful weekend.

I was out with a few people from work last night to celebrate a friend of mine leaving work. It was a good laugh in general, but a girl there, an ex-girlfriend of a friend of mine got very drunk and became extremely clingy. She just wouldn't leave me alone. In the end, when we were moving from one pub to another, I cut my losses and went home.

I'd also spent a lot of time chatting to DSC via text and she was telling me that her friend, the one that's piqued my interest recently, has a date tonight. I'm still confused because, while there's no huge pang of attraction, the fact she's going on a date is very disappointing to me.

Still requires more pondering. DSC is still refusing to link me and her friend together, despite trying to get both of us to consider heading outside of our dating safe zones.

On the other hand, I have a night out with FP and a few of his friends tonight. Should be a good night but I hope it's not a big night out. I had that last night and really can't do it twice in a row anymore.